Welcome to our chat with Bob Sanders, CEO of Mundania Press. www.mundaniapress.com
[clyons] Welcome Bob, Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us on WRN.
[BSanders] Thanks for giving me the chance to speak to you!! First off forgive my spelling errors in advance :) I've prepared some information, and I'll cut & paste that into the chat and afterward I'll take some questions.
Ready? Here we go!! My agenda is:
Publishing History (Overview)
Mundania Press History
Mundania Press Operations (What separates MP from other publishers)
Mundania Press Future endeavors
Q&A
Publishing History Or How Did We Get To Here From There?
Prior to the Internet's development publishing was a hugely elaborate undertaking requiring vast sums of investments of time, and money. An author submitted a manuscript to a submission editor, if the editor accepted the work advances were discussed and the author was handed a fully funded book tour to a number of large cities. The tour would spur sales, and the better known the author the more 'bankable' the author would be for the company. Then the Internet happened.
What that did for publishing is it gave the publishing industry a wonderful flexible tool for advertising, but it also put the larger publishers into a box they have yet to climb out of.
As you know the large publishers are only looking for 'formula' material. They believe that it will be successful for them. And I agree, if the definition of successful is to "keep up with the Jones'" then they are doing well. However this has given birth to a boom in the segment of publishing that are small (defined as less than 10 titles), & premium presses defined as 11 to 100 titles). Visions are different, tastes are different, and clients are different. The days of paying huge royalties are behind the industry. Unless the name itself is a draw (i.e. Bill Clinton) then a 'juicy' advance is not in the low 6-figure area, a far cry from the millions of the past. The work of promotion has been placed on the shoulders of the author. So in addition to being a talented writer, today's author must be author, sales, and promotions focused.
End of the history lesson and a great segue to: Mundania Press History.
MP was established 08/2002 by Dan Reitz and myself to publish "Pornucopia" by Piers Anthony. "Pornucopia was written and originally published in the late 80s early 90s. Due to how it was distributed (see www.piers-anthony.com for the full story) it was fetching large prices ($500+ per copy) on e-bay. Piers wanted more people to read his work. So we offered to publish the work. In short we had so much fun doing it Dan & I decided to continue to publish.
We have two ground rules 1) If the business ever stops being fun, it's time to quit. Dan & I have over 20 years of history and to put that above a business isn't right. So we
don't.
2) Don't lose money. We are solvent, in all of our time inbusiness we have paid all of our bills on time, and we've grown from one book in 2002 to over 75. Currently, our production schedule will bring us to close to 400 titles by the end of 2006.
We are growing. Our impact on the industry as a whole is profound. In 2003 when we attended our first EPIC (www.epicauthors.com ) convention there were very few successful companies publishing in softcover & hardcover editions. After we started reviving the 'traditional publishing' method (offer any format that customers are willing to buy to pay for the investment) a number of e-book only publishers do not offer softcover and hardcover editions of their works. We remain competitive in the marketplace due to our focus on quality, quality, quality.
Look another transition?
Mundania Press Operations (What separates MP from other publishers)
We accept less then 2% of submissions to us. Why is that? Well we don't want to shotgun our way to success. We only publish those titles that we want to read, our acceptance process not only tests the material to be published but we also review contacts with the author too. Is this someone we can work with? Is this someone who will do what needs to be done to promote the material? What investments will the author make to place their title above the other titles in the marketplace?
I'm sure there will be many questions in this area so please feel free to ask them during the Q&A section.
My last section is: The Future
We will expand into audio markets and leverage the Mundania Press author's fans to expose them to prior published works and to the next generation of author market. We want to attract the fans of Piers Anthony, Louise Cooper, Robert Adams, etc and introduce them to authors such as Cyndia Depre, Jeff Strand, Vicki M. Taylor, and other great authors. Outside of "Tor" we are Piers' largest publisher. That's a real accomplishment considering how far we've come in a little over 2 years.
Okay now I've introduced myself, and Mundania Press. PLEASE feel free to ask any question you'd like, I'm a straight talker. Q&A time!! :)
[doug] Is MP open to overseas authors?
[BSanders] Doug, Yes we are. As a matter of fact if you take a look at ourauthor's page you will find a number of authors from "Down Under"!!
[doug] No I am not Antideluvian, I am in UK.
[BSanders] Please check out our submissions page for details. If you have any questions please let me know bob@mundania.com
[vettes] I am reading Jeff Herman and although I am not published he recommends getting a web site do you agree?
[BSanders] Vettes, in today's market YES, focus should be paid on your Bio, and your works!! You need to be just as talented at promotions as you are in writing. I know for some it's a stretch and that's where a solid publishing company comes into play.
Mundania Press provides some web information but I really recommend the author take the bull by the horns and promote themselves as well in as many ways as possible.
[doug]What genres are selling well in US for you? It seems to be child abuse autos and crime here.
[BSanders]Doug, well for 'us' is a relative term. Due to the fact Piers Anthony was our first author we've had longer to build our Sci-Fi/Fantasy line. Our Horror and Mystery is selling quite well too!! But romance is really catching up. So to answer directly your question Sci-Fi/Fantasy we simply have more books in that area.
[doug] I ask because I have a modern gothic ready and a children's work in progress.
[BSanders] We currently don't have any children's (young adult yes) material so it would be harder to place that work with us. Remember our business model is to cross sell toauthor fan bases.
[doug] I was in fact thinking Potterishly. 10-14 +
[BSanders] We don't have aggressive sales in that area for us. But if you had a detailedmarketing plan we would consider it.
[doug] Yes thanks Bob. The best is to submit and let you have the opp'ty to refuse what?
[BSanders] Yeppers.
[doug] many thanks
[BSanders] :)
[Cherry_Dumas] how many submissions does MP get from authors in a months time (rough estimation hehe), especially from new authors?\
[BSanders] A lot. :) Our slush pile used to take less than 10 days to go through, now takes at least 30 to 40 days to go through. We get approximately 75 to 200 a week in submissions. However the slush is just phase 1 of our review process. So I don't want to give the impression that you will have an answer in 40 days. That's just to get it reviewed by one of our slush editors.
[Cherry_Dumas] wow...that gives a better perspective of what the authors are up against hehe thanks!
[BSanders] Well as I mentioned MP accepts less than 2% of our submissions we are always looking for quality works!!
[doug] Quality is so subjective. Do you mean literature, or just a page turning good read?
[BSanders] LOL well I love to watch Sci-Fi movies...by most standards "Eye Candy". The last movie I saw was Kung Fu Hustle...not a classic, but I paid to see it. So I gage 'quality' by what the customer base likes. I'm not talking cookie cutter stuff, but is ita page-turner, and can it hold it's own. Our internal process is very good at weeding out those that may not fall into this category. For example two editors and either Dan or myself have to all rate the work a 10 or it gets rejected. Once the work passes that gate we still review the market of the work and see what's selling. We also mark trends. What is the market looking for?
[clyons] Bob, marketing and promotion have become so important. We recently discussed distribution issues for small press. Can you tell us a little about that?
[BSanders] Wonderful question. The three best tools an author can have are 1. Busniess Plan 2. Marketing Plan for each book!! 3. And finally a Media/Press Kit.
Now let me expand on these.
In a small press world the staff isn't there so in MP we all have to network together, a true team approach. I think doing it by yourself is a very big hill to climb. As the publisher I approach the promotions aspect from ALL of our titles and constantly work with the major booksellers and indy stores. There is a lot out there to overcome. For example B&N flips availability to "non-returnable" BUT I KNOW we are listed in Books in Print as "Returnable" so it's a B&N internal issue. This is due to Print on Demand and how the industry feels about it. That is changing but it must be addressed from a marketing/promotions standpoint. I think also like minded authors should cross promote each other's material. It gives authors greater reach, which is exactly what the major book stores are looking for...trends. This will get your books to the shelves faster. Due to the fact the MP is less than 3 years old we do face a lot of battles before the industry has confidence in us. But as we add more best selling authors, and continue to lead the industry by providing such avenues as hard covers, trade paperback, e-books (multi format) and (someday) audio this will only make us stronger to support the authors efforts in this area. I hope I answered your question.
[clyons] Yes, thank you.
[vettes] Back to your submissions. Does everything submitted go immediately to the slush pile or is there an edge to prevent it?
[BSanders] Yes. We have a process that is unique to MP so I won't discuss it in detail but, at a high level it is assigned to slush from there it is read and a one page review is done on it passed to our Senior Editor. Then we assign the ones that make it to Phase 2 to an editor that reviews it. Again a form is filled out with details on why they give the feedback they do. If it passes that gate it is reviewed personally by Dan or myself and we must rate it a 10. We each check our feedback and determine if it's something we want to risk money on accepting. If you're rejected don't take it as a rejection of YOU. It may be a fine (for example) poetry, or children’s work, etc but it may not fit for us in the timeframe we think it should. If that's the case we will reject it.
[Vicki_M._Taylor] I have a comment. MP stands behind its authors. They take a risk on us and for that we're grateful. MP also helps invest in our marketing by providing review copies and advanced reading copies so that we/they can distribute to reviewers. It's a team effort between the publisher and the author. That's why a marketing plan is so import to have up front. MP wants to be part of that marketing plan, because they want to make your book a success. Off my soapbox, lol.
[BSanders] <----- Claps for Viki!! Thank you for such kind words about MP!
[Carol] Does MP only publish fiction?
[BSanders] Currently yes. We would like to follow our business model of attracting top professional (respectfully referred to as the Old Guard) to promote and help establish the New Guard (new authors) that model works best in fiction. AND it is another reason MPis attracting the type of talent as quickly as we have!!
[Carol] It almost sounds like a mentoring situation, at least for promotions.
[BSanders] Yes and no. Piers Anthony does not get directly involved with his fellow authors at MP but his presence and his buying fans sure do!! That coupled with the fact that any of our authors can say they are published by the same company as Louise Cooper or Piers is a boon in this industry!!
[Carol] Ah. I see. TY
[Mark Wakely]Bob, don't sell yourself short regarding mentoring. My experience with MP has been nothing but positive. You have been willing to answer all my question, and returned all my phone calls. MP has been great for me.
[BSanders] Thanks, Mark, we really do want to function as a team. Any addition to our 'family' must take the same view. It shows when we contact (phone, e-mail, etc) perspective authors. It's just one more area we look at. :) We have the best authors out there!! I really believe in that. We are willing to help your success is our success!!
[Denning] You think the traditional (big house) publishing business is going to get hammered by Internet technology and POD?
[BSanders] Hmmmm, well it would be popular to say YES. But no, like any business they will change where they have to. They have in many regards changed the way they do business to match changes in the industry, and let's face it, they have the bucks to shape what the future is. However small presses have grown due to the fact they are not looking for 'cookie cutter' type books. The big boys are playing it safe, and because of it they are losing market share to small presses. In order to change this trend they will have to take more chances...I don't see them doing that. I do see them taking less of a profit...after all one Da Vinci Code or Purpose Driven Life can cover a lot of flops for them and STILL make money hand over fist. We in the Small Press world must work smarter. Must define different work structures, Must work closely together to advance a cause. PMA is wonderful for this.
Thanks! Didn't Amazon buy Booksurge? What is Bezos up to?
[Bsanders]Well my guess is that Amazon wants to compete more against what it must see as a threat from Google’s Print program. So it's going to focus on the small press market place as a resource to invite small presses to the table. In light of Amazon's other investments and programs I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with that. After all there are many people upset that they cannot find a real person to talk to when they have an issue.Small Press may lose 'some' ground but not much.
The way I see it is if small press REALLY wants a seat at the NY table then we need to ban together and form a very real coalition that can allow publishers to focus, on issues such as marketing, promotions, sales, etc. And it would only help the authors reach many more customers.
How about one more question then I'll give some closing thoughts?
[clyons] What is the most important thing for authors to remember when submitting?
[BSanders] Be sure to review the submissions guidelines. If publishers don't want submissions then they (usually) close them....but if they do then they have their guidelines posted for a reason. If you try to beat the system then you are saying a lot to the person you're asking to invest in you. Not all of it is good. If you follow the submission guidelines and wait the time frames (check periodically is great!!) then be honest with yourself if you're rejected. ALSO be sure you mention if you have a business plan, marketing plan, media/press kit. I can't stress that enough!!
In closing let me touch on those for a minute.
A business plan should focus on YOU and your profession as a writer. How much time/effort, money etc you are willing to invest in yourself. BE HONEST. Then follow your plan. A marketing plan is to focus on those resources you've identified in your BP for your book that's detailed in the MP. Again BE HONEST!!!!! Finally and this is key when you have your media/press kit invest in yourself.
Search the Internet to tie your books to current events. Media & Press are looking for ways to keep an audience just like you are. If you help them in that one goal then you are standing head & shoulders above your peers. Failing to understand this is a killer. Radio & TV don't really care about your books...they care about who is watching them. SO give them something to watch. If the Pope is in the news....then find an angle and use it to promote your books!!!!
[Denning] Aha! Thanks, Bob! Current events is a good idea!
[BSanders] I highly recommend the following:
"The One Page Business Plan" ISBN 1891315072. IT is very helpful.
[clyons] Thank you Bob! You have been a gracious and informative guest.
[Bsanders]Thanks so very much for having me today!! If you have a question that I didn't answer please feel free to contact me bob@mundania.com