DOING IT FOR OURSELVES ...
Andrew Bibby introduces Britain ’ s first authors ’ publishing co-operative , Gritstone
Anyone who aims to make their living professionally from writing knows that books are not the way to make a speedy fortune . Calculate the hours taken to research and write even a modest title and you ’ d almost certainly find yourself working for far less than the minimum wage . The Society of Authors ’ latest survey ( May 2015 ) found that average authors ’ incomes in Britain , including advances , royalties and collecting society payments , is about £ 12,500 .
It doesn ’ t help that the publishing industry is increasingly driven by commercial pressures . Perhaps there really was a time when literary gentlemen ( and a few ladies ) sat in offices in Bedford Square in London reading typed manuscripts to decide which books caught their fancy and could be added to their lists . These days , publishing decisions are much more led by the views of sales and marketing staff than they are of the editorial departments .
The real difficulty with self-publishing is the marketing aspect of the process
In general , the size of publishers ’ advances – when offered - are falling . I received £ 8,500 ten years ago from a publisher for an outdoor title I wrote for them – nothing like what I could have earned if I had spent the time involved in newspaper journalism or indeed almost any other sort of work , but still not too bad in the circumstances . I suspect I ’ d be lucky to get a fraction of that for the same book today .
We do have in Britain some long-established outdoor publishers who care about their books and try to care about their writers . However they are also obliged to operate in a tight commercial market . It ’ s really not easy being an OWPG member these days .
So are there any alternatives ? Self-publishing is certainly no longer dismissed as being simply the province of vanity writers , and indeed the Society of Authors and NUJ offer advice to their members on successful selfpublishing , as of course does the Guild . The rise of the e-book has helped . I find it hard to think of many things about Amazon that I like , but the modest monthly royalties I get through from the company for the e-book sales they make for me are certainly better than nothing .
However the real difficulty with self-publishing is the marketing aspect of the process . Writing the book is the easy bit . Finding a printer is not too difficult . Getting the published book into the shops and into the hands of book-readers is the challenge .
So half way through last year four of us who consider ourselves professional outdoor writers / photographers decided to come together to try to develop a better way to market self-published titles . What we have done is to set up a marketing co-operative . It ’ s based on the way that artists and craftspeople sometimes collectively market their works ( it ’ s also exactly the same method that dairy farmers have traditionally used to sell their milk ). Gritstone Publishing Co-operative Ltd is , to the very best of our knowledge , the first writers ’ co-operative in Britain . A company limited by guarantee established using fully mutual co-operative rules ( provided by Co-operatives UK ), Gritstone provides a marketing vehicle to enable us to bring our own books ( and only our books ) to market . There is a shared logo and a shared website - www . gritstone . coop - where our books can be purchased .
There are four of us who came together to create Gritstone . Chiz Dakin needs little introduction to OWPG members . She has served for several years on the Guild ’ s committee , currently as Vice-Chair , has won the Guild ’ s Award for excellence in photography and is also the author of several books , including Cycling in the Peak District ( Cicerone , now in its second edition ) and Outdoors Photography , co-written with Jon Sparks .
Chris Goddard is the author of two exceptionally well-researched and exquisitely hand-drawn books , West Yorkshire Moors and West Yorkshire Woods : Calder Valley , as well as a practical guide to the Wales Coast Path . He ’ s currently working on a companion title focusing on the South Yorkshire Moors , and is also preparing a series of guides to the English coast path .
Gritstone is a marketing vehicle and not a traditional publishing house
Colin Speakman has a host of published books to his credit , including the definitive Dales Way guide – appropriately enough , because it was very much Colin ’ s vision which led to the creation of what is now a very popular walking route through the Dales to the Lake District . Gritstone has just published his latest book , co-written with his wife Fleur Speakman , The Yorkshire Wolds . Almost the first travel guide to this beautiful if little explored part of Yorkshire , the book ’ s publication has been timed to link with Hull ’ s City of Culture celebrations . The book also has Welcome to Yorkshire endorsement .
Gritstone has also published two novels of mine , The Bad Step and In the Cold of the Night , two crime novels set in the Lake District both with strong outdoor themes : fell-running , mountain rescue , hill-walking and much else . My forthcoming non-fiction book about southern English landscape history , Back Roads through Middle England , is currently in production .
Gritstone , we believe , gives us a credibility which we wouldn ’ t necessarily get if we self-published alone . But there is also something more : writing can be lonely , and Gritstone provides an informal way to receive support and encouragement from our peers . The guidelines we drew up last October talk of one of our objectives being to “ encourage members to take an interest in each other ’ s work and to offer informal support and solidarity ”. We have , for example , read each other ’ s work and have also sometimes helped with proof-reading and copy editing .
14 Outdoor focus | autumn 2017