Published by Mare & TerrasLondon | SE9

© 2014 Lucy MacDonald

All Rights Reserved

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(5) Hello & Welcome

(6) the Contract &Getting Started

(8) the Finances &Where the Money Goes

(10) Editorial

Marketing & Publicity (12)

Design & Production (14)

Rights & Sales (16)

And Finally... (18)

Mare and Terras | London

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At Mare and Terras we pub-lish original, topical and

innovative illustrated books that are dedicated to a gloriously eclectic mix of disciplines from art to cookery, horticulture to architecture. We believe in a perfect synergy of content and form, design and concept. Our books aim to inspire and provide a home for the visual and cre-ative arts alongside authoritative commentary.

At Mare and Terras the image and the word share the crown.

We have written this guide to welcome our potential authors. We say ‘author’ although we know many of our authors may be un-used to being referred to as such. We know a lot of our authors hail

from a vast array of other profes-sions that may not have a funda-mental relationship with the pub-lishing industry. Despite this we hope you enjoy writing your book and in order to make the transi-tion as smooth and as successful as possible this guide will compre-hensively expand upon what our publishing process will involve. In this guide we will discuss the contract, the finances, the editorial process, the marketing and public-ity, the rights and sales, the design and the production.

Initially we would recommend, if you haven’t already, that you consider hiring a literary agent. An agent can instruct on the contractual matters and are a solid investment for anyone pursuing a long and fruitful career in book publishing. We especially recom-

mend seeking literary agencies that specialise in illustrated books. We currently have a good rela-tionship with both Bright Literary Agency and Lucas Alexander Whitley Literary Agents but there are plenty of agencies of which we are more than happy to consult and do business with. There are comprehensive literary agency directories available at writersandartists.co.uk andagentsassoc.co.uk

At Mare and Terras the image and the word share the crown.

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The contract, whilst it firmly cements our re-

lationship in legal terms, is a great launching point for our project and is vital to a healthy and construc-tive working relationship. As such we always take care in how we approach these initial stages of ac-quisition.

An offer will have been made because of a love and a re-spect for your work, but it will have been tempered with a cool head and rigorously scru-tinised from a commercial point of view. Essentially an of-fer will be based on an under-standing that a strong appetite exists for your work and based on a belief that we are best placed to exploit that appetite. We take care in drafting our contracts and an offer will be therefore, negotiable but only

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to a certain extent. Looking for manoeuvre in aspects of the contract is expected but there will always come a point where the proposal no longer becomes a viable project for us to proceed with. So discussion at the contract stage gives us both a chance to weigh up our objectives and our priorities and to clarify our obligations to one another over the process of publication.

Please take the time then to understand the contract in de-tail and to discuss the propos-al with your agent. Although all efforts have been made to make the contract readable and sturdy please do feel free to contact us if there are any areas you feel are unclear. We understand that it is a lengthy document so we have high-lighted some areas that you might want to spend more time

looking at. However we always warn potential authors never to try to read individual claus-es in isolation from the main body of the contract. We also recommend the comprehen-sive and thorough resources available to authors at societyofauthors.org There will naturally be more regular consultation with yourself at the acquisition and at publication of the book be-cause these stages, in between, our team will be beavering away getting the book ready and getting the public ready. Everyone will be working simultaneously and collabora-tively over a gestation period of usually 9 – 12 months depend-ing on the scale of the project. You will hear from editorial, design, marketing and public-ity with updates throughout this process. Although people

are working simultaneously at times the process will be slow and steady at other times fast and furious and we will have more to report back.

We would like to take this opportunity to stress the im-portance of the punctuality of the manuscript or your work. Our team will be working on your book at the same time you are and will be relying on seasonality and trends in other sectors. These are crucial to the structural and commercial in-tegrity of the project. The later the manuscript arrives the less effective the money and time spent by the publishing house becomes and this can severely jeopardise the success of the book. No one in this scenario wants this to happen so ulti-mately we ask you to please give us your best work and your most punctual work.

Subsidiaries rights for illustrated books will differ from other areas of the publishing industry. You are less likely to see audio rights or large print rights occur in our contracts where as you may see more emphasis on merchandising rights.

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(10%)

(10%)

(39%)

(35%)

(1%)

(5%)

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The pie chart should indicate in the very broadest terms

the average use of the initial in-vestment Mare and Terras intend to put into the project. We hope that this gives a context to your advance and shows what areas any negotiation in the contract will impact upon. All books will have a bespoke and unique break down of expenditures but this in general explains our business plan for your book. This en-sures a strategic and commercial approach and provides the best possible opportunity for the book to succeed.

Importantly you will want to know when you should expect your advance payments. Mare and Terras, as with a majority of other publishing houses in other areas of the sector, pay an advance that will be set against future agreed royalties. These royalties are only

payable if the book sells enough copies to ‘earn out’ the advance and this ensures that the initial investment is amortised. At Mare and Terras we deliver advance payments in thirds: a third on signing the contract, another third on delivery of the manuscript and the final third on the day of publication.

“Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.” - Henry David Thoreau

You will notice larger expenditures on production costs for illustrated books in comparison to other areas of the publishing industry. This is due to the high-end nature of our products both in e-formats and physical publishing. Even if our primary focus for your book is digital the production costs will still be substantial to secure the visual integrity of the project (see Design & Production p.15)

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Our editorial depart-ment are notoriously

very wise, obviously so as they, in all likeli-hood, brought our attention to you. They are on the cutting edge of trends and have an astute ar-tistic awareness of what is missing in the current mar-ket. They are ded-icated to curating the best possible product and are,

by their very na-ture, fastidious with

the finer detail.

As the gatekeepers and cultivators of our list and

our identity as a publishing house, they know exactly

what is needed and required and they are not scared of innovation or of risks. Your artistic vision for your work is very important and your editor

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will be more than receptive to suggestions to a variety of ap-proaches but they must agree with the brief for the initial investment and therefore best addressed as early on as possi-ble.

After pitching this book to senior management on the back of a great deal of market research and competitor anal-ysis the editorial team, after receiving the go ahead, will then set to work with the nitty gritty. During this time, the editorial team will be man-aging proposed budgets and schedules, they will be work-ing with the project editors and the art directors, creating picture research briefs, man-aging in-house and out of house contributors and they will be managing the clearance for permissions for both text and illustration. They will be briefing photography shoots, indexers and illustrators all the while keeping the project

on track. They will also be proofreading or managing the proofreading process. Edit-ing and proofreading can be a lengthy process. Because of this, often, bearing in mind the project’s requirements, the copy-editing and proofreading may be tendered to freelance practitioners. Once the proof-ing stages are complete the editor will be in charge of the final sign off for the project to publication. They will be keep-ing you updated throughout this process and will be your go-to person for any concerns or for any information you may require.

“We are what we repeatedly do, excellence therefore is not an act but a habit.” - Aristotle

editorial@mareandterras.co.uk

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To say that our mar-keting and publicity

departments are fantastic would be an understate-ment.

Our marketing team don’t just find the audience for your book - they are experts in creating audiences too. We have spent a lot of time at Mare and Terras setting up highly functional and mature channels to de-velop ‘discoverability’ for your book. This is part of a market-ing and publicity infrastructure that is dependent on a formula of hard graft and creative flair and at all times underpinned by a critical understanding of the project at hand. We will engineer reviews and conver-sations within relevant com-munities and develop publicity from industry experts and journalists.

A substantial amount of time is spent on search engine optimi-

sation and metadata, which are in many ways administrative and bibliographic work. When done well and considered early on in the process of publica-tion, they can be key to devel-oping the desired discoverabil-ity of the book and they can be a work of art in itself. Market-ing will also write copy for the book blurb, advance informa-tion sheets, point of sale mate-rial, website and social media outlets (Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest in particular). These activities are key to building up an awareness and strong customer relationships and they can work more efficiently than larger and pricier kinds of advertising which will always be subject to budget and will scale with the expectations of the project.

The market and consumer research at the outset will be in order to set the best publi-cation date and to target our

You will notice specific publicity obligations mentioned explicitly in the contract to enable the publicity team to organise tours, appearances at book fairs and book signings where appropriate. We require these kinds of assurances because they are necessary and savvy business moves on both our parts. Such a commitment is not something we would ask for if we did not feel that it would have a substantial impact on the chances of a successful book.

marketing@mareandterras.co.ukpublicity@mareandterras.co.uk

efforts towards the most recep-tive consumer. This will mean defining in specific terms the ideal audience whilst being very careful not to alienate any potential buyers from other markets. It is a balance that demands dexterity and accura-cy and will be crucial to decid-ing where we position the book in the market.

We will ask you to fill out an author questionnaire at ac-quisition that will help the marketing and publicity teams in the initial stages of their campaign development. We are aware that our authors come from all kinds of profes-sional backgrounds and the insight into your contacts and circles of influences will be a significant advantage. We like to know these kinds of details as early as possible so that our actions can be as informed as

possible. It is to everyone’s benefit when we are liter-arily and metaphor-ically on the same page. The marketing and publicity teams then collaboratively implement a structured and bespoke plan. We need to be able to act with agility and with purpose when seeking marketing and sales opportunities and our effectiveness requires trust and mutual respect. As such any regular and extensive consultations will have a negative and slowing influence on the project.

“The best advertising is done by satisfied customers.” - Philip Kotler

We believe peo-ple value beau-

ty in all its forms. Mare and Terras em-

brace the ephemeral and the eternal, the

physical and the digital. Occasionally our list has encompassed projects that have oscillated between the digital and the physical and successfully married the two. With your manu-script or work we will be exploring all the relevant avenues to get your book into the hands of the peo-ple who will love them. Our consideration is the integrity of the work and is one of the reasons why our design team work so close-ly with the editorial team.

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But as with any new physiog-nomy establishing itself in the book industry, it has to justify its format and remain a com-mercially viable object.

There are not many e-reading experiences that can com-pete with a beautifully crafted physical book but this hasn’t stopped us from developing other formats and keeping a wary eye on the future of e-reading. At the moment the e-reading tablet technology cannot completely keep up with the ambition and aesthet-ics of illustrated books in gen-eral but this is an area that is developing rapidly. Because of this our design and production team will develop both phys-ical and digital formats the processes of which can depend on two fairly disparate skill

sets. When approaching digital technology innovation we value the expertise of professionals and thus the production costs can equate those of physical production costs. This is espe-cially true if we are considering building and maintaining a designated website or devel-oping an accompanying app. This dual approach to digital and physical will also ensure that the project is scalable and ensure that demand in future years can be easily appropri-ated. This will make certain that at all times, when people encounter our books in the physical and the digital, they are struck by the quality.

The dedication to the crafts-manship of our books is some-thing of which we at Mare and Terras are incredibly proud. This kind of approach depends

on an awareness and apprecia-tion of the detail such as ap-propriate paper weight, bulk, opacity, and grain direction. Yet our design and production team responsibilities will scale to include the visual planning of the entire project from acquisition to final sign off, for mock ups to typesetting, pro-ducing sample spreads, and looking at readability, organi-sation, navigation and consis-tency. We may in certain areas of the design use freelancers. Certainly to ensure a fresh and dynamic approach to cover design we would look outside and inside our company for the best fit. Because although we wouldn’t ask people to judge our book by its cover, we hope people would be encouraged to pick ours up because of it.

“Demolish the rules but keep the tradition,” - Alexander McQueen

design@mareandterras.co.ukproduction@mareandterras.co.uk

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And we employed him. And then we employed

some more people just like him. Now we have a rights team that is the best in the business. Our books come with a reputation for innovation and visual indulgence that is known the world over. Because of this our books are sought after and valued in many territories and regions. Our experienced rights team know these markets very well and their ability to spot and target the most receptive potential mar-kets to exploit is unparal-leled.

In order to sell the rights to your book globally the rights team will be using their es-tablished relationships with commissioning editors and sub agents in other territories.

You will find the rights that we intend to sell globally referred to explicitly in the contract. Selling rights will provide extra security and revenue for the book before we have even gone to publication. The selling of rights also provides you and us with some extra income whilst also expanding your global presence and reputation. If this is something you’re already lucky enough to have and enjoy then bringing our attention to the detail of this in the author questionnaire will improve our actions.

Along with selling the rights to your book across the globe our rights team will also be com-prehensively protecting your intellectual property. Whether the threat to your intellectual property is small or large, do-mestic or foreign, we have the scale and scope to fastidiously

A global markets expert, a skilful salesman and a ruthless intellectual property protector walk into a bar…

Consulting other publishers in other territories may even result in a possibility of co-edition publishing. This can help extend the print run and lower production costs per unit.

rights@mareandterras.co.uksales@mareandterras.co.uk

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get to the root of the problem. To do so we use systems such as digital rights management and digital watermarking that crawls the web 24/7 searching for copyright infringement. As our business depends on a strong defence against piracy and guarding of intellectual property this is a mutually ben-eficial act.

We may be up to date with for-eign markets but that doesn’t mean we are neglectful of our domestic ones. Once the mar-keting and publicity teams have constructed and tapped into the demand for the book, it is then imperative that the public are able to act on their desire. Enter our sales depart-ment. Their fundamental role is to exploit their established relationships with booksellers both traditional and non-tradi-tional and create easily acces-

sible channels for purchase. Their rela-tionships with booksellers are constantly reinforced by the

strength of our pre-vious books and are almost impossible for self-published authors to replicate. This infrastructure relies upon trust from the booksellers that our sales team can deliver the book the public want and that they have an appreciation of the logistics of book distribution.

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This isn’t a bad team to have batting for

your book. As creators of great books we’re hard to beat. We are not quite the guardians of the galaxy but we are getting close. We are here to ensure that your creation doesn’t atro-phy and doesn’t rot away unheard of, unloved, unre-alised and half formed.

As of the moment we cannot imagine that the self-publish-ing route is an attractive option to our authors and certainly not a clever business move. It is certainly much rarer for authors of illustrated books to overcome the deficiencies of the current tablet display effec-tively. But for the printed book, and despite the innovation in print-on-demand technolo-

gy, please do not for a second believe that the self-publishing model is simple.

As clear proof of the com-plexity of the process one can simply look at the amount of ‘middleman’ author services that are the manifestly selling departmentalised publishing services for large fees. It may be tempting to pay for a bit of marketing here, a bit of proof-reading there but nothing can replace the value of holistic clear project management from start to finish. Ultimately we are certain you will be thrilled by what our team of experts, with the resources and the expertise, hungry to make your book a success, are capable of achieving. So lets begin shall we…

And Finally...

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