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Name: Mia Kilroy

SYP Role(s) 2006: Speaker

Meeting Coordinator and InPrint

Proofreader

Job Title and Company: Freelance

Proofreader and Copy-Editor,

Allison & BusbyMember of the SYP since: 2004

Likes: Lentils

Dislikes: Fascism and dishonesty

Hobbies/Interests: Music and

nature

I joined the SYP Committee 2006 because I want to:

learn, meet people, have a challenge and give back.

Favourite book(s): Down all the Daysby Christy Brown,

Earthly Powersby Anthony Burgess, Catch 22by Joseph

Heller and Tenderwireby Claire Kilroy. My sister. Faber,

June 2006. Buy or your offspring will have the charm of

Les Dawson.

Any other info: Im stunned by how much booze folk in

publishing can put away

Name: Gurdeep Mattu

SYP Role(s) 2006: InPrint

Production Manager

Degree & University: BA (Hons)

English, St Hughs College,

Oxford University

Job Title & Company: Assistant

Editor, SAGE Publications

Member of the SYP since: 2004Likes: Conversation and passion

Dislikes: Mediocrity and dullness

Hobbies/Interests: My band, Sons & Fascination, my

writing, and various other things

I joined the SYP Committee 2006 because I want to:

continue to make InPrintlook better, and help the

membership base grow as much as it did in 2005.

Favourite book(s): White Noiseby Don DeLillo

Issue

114

1

InPrintThe Newsletter of the Society of Young Publishers

INTRODUCING MORE OF THE 2006 LONDON

COMMITTEE!

Contents: More London Committee Profiles 1-2, Oxford Committee 2-3, Legend

Press Competition 4, Online Book Groups 5-6, Nick McDonell 7, Oxford Speaker

Meeting 8, Location 9-10, Dates For Your Diary 11, Ads and Events 12

Society of Young

SYPEst.1949Publishers

March

2006

Name: Nora Mahony

SYP Role(s) 2006:

Speaker Meeting

Coordinator and Jobs

Database Coordinator

Degree & University:

Italian and FrenchLiterature and Language,

Trinity College, Dublin

Job Title & Company:

Graduate Trainee,

Phaidon Press

Member of the SYP since:

2005

Likes: Most Italian things, cycling in London, Sri Lankan

food and short stories

Dislikes: Rudeness in the workplace, the Family

section of the Guardian, dogs and olives

Hobbies/Interests: Travel, photography, theatre, new

Irish fiction, cooking

I joined the SYP Committee 2006 because I want to:

make it easier for others to get involved in publishing,

as I found it difficult to relocate from Dublin to London

and get a publishing job myself!

Favourite book(s): Hmm at the moment, Ill go for

Peter Careys Collected Short Stories, or Jhumpa

Lahiris The Interpreter of Maladies.

Any other info: I grew up between Washington DC and

Dublin, Dublin being my preferred home.

Name: Rebecca Strong

SYP Role(s) 2006: InPrintEditor

Degree & University: BA

(Hons) French and

Spanish, University

College London

Job Title & Company:

Contracts and Rights

Assistant, Chorion Plc.

Member of the SYP since: 2004

Likes: Chocolate, mystery, and being totally absorbed

in a book

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Dislikes: Disappointment, the cold, and missing my train

stop because Im totally absorbed in a book

Hobbies/Interests: Discovering new cultures, wines, and

learning new languages

I joined the SYP Committee 2006 because I want to:

continue giving members a great monthly read and

continue being part of a fantastic SYP team.

Favourite book(s): The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart, We

Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver, If This is a

Man by Primo Levi, and all the Wildlife Photographer of

the Yearbooks.

Name: Tori Hunt

SYP Role(s) 2006: Web-Editor

and InPrintProofreader

Degree & University: BA

(Hons) English Literature,

University College London

Job Title & Company:

Assistant to the MD anddepartmental administrator

(editorial), Orion Paperback

Division

Member of the SYP since: 2005

Likes: Reading anything, cheese (misinterpret how you

will), good hair, being asked out for coffee, asking lots of

questions (shouldve done journalism) and being self-

referentially ironically pretentious (moi?!)

Dislikes: Deadlines (reason for avoiding above career)

Hobbies/Interests: Reviewing books, card games, dog-

walking, skiing safely, travelling with a suitcase on

wheels

I joined the SYP Committee 2006 because: I thought itstood for the Society of Young Pub-Crawlers; turns out I

wasnt far off. Also keen to hone my editorial skills

always sharper once a few units have been put away!

Favourite book(s): East Lynneby Mrs Henry Wood: a

sensational Victorian cornucopia of love, betrayal,

murder, retribution, remorse and deceit utterly

compelling, if a little dated.

Name: Na Ma

SYP Role(s) 2006: Jobs

Database Coordinator

Member of the SYP since:

2005

Likes: Sending people books

as gifts - even to boys who I

know wont even glance at

the pages before throwing the

book amongst dirty socks, but

I still send them books with

the vague hope that they will

eventually pick them up, find

a wonderful world, and fall in

love with reading

Dislikes: Dirty socks

I joined the SYP Committee 2006 because: the SYP issuch an amazingly dynamic and productive organisation,

and I have always wanted to get involved as much as I

can.

On 18 January 2006, members of the Oxford SYP

met at Oxford University Press for their AGM and

to elect the new Oxford Committee for 2006. Deb

Sanders, last years Acting Chair, ran through the

previous 12 months events, achievements and

challenges, and a great evening was had by all.

And now, introducing the new Oxford Committee

for 2006 feel free to contact any of us with

questions, suggestions or comments:

Kate Kirkpatrick, Oxford Chair

(oxfordchair@thesyp.org.uk)

Kate is an Editorial Assistant

at Oneworld Publications,

where she edits

submissions, commissions

covers and generallydabbles in everything from

print orders to foreign

rights. Originally from the

USA, she did part of a

Physics degree before

ditching science to pursue a more practical course:

Philosophy and Theology at Oxford. She lives in

Oxford with her husband and enjoys, among other

things: good food and good friends to share it

with, drinking wine, reading books, watching

movies, and last but certainly not least, eatingcopious amounts of chocolate.

Jamie Shaw, Web Editor

(oxfordweb@thesyp.org.uk)

When not fiddling about

with the SYP website,

Jamie works at Oxford

University Press in the ELT

Dictionaries department,

under the title of Pre-press

Controller, which means

nothing to most people

but involves dealing with

pictures, schedules and sending files to

Production. Outside of work he sees bands quite

frequently, including - last year - Arctic Monkeys,

Editors, Hard-Fi, Ladytron, Kooks and The

Subways.

InPrint-March2006

2

THE 2006 LONDON COMMITTEE// THE OXFORD COMMITTEE 2006

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Emma Green, Secretary

(oxfordsec@thesyp.org.uk)

A relative newcomer to the

world of Publishing, Emma

recently started work as an

Editorial Assistant atPrinceton University Press,

having finished her degree

in French and German at

Oxford. In her spare time she enjoys reading,

travelling, shopping, and meeting friends.

Emily McLeod, Book Club Coordinator

(oxfordbookclub@thesyp.org.uk)

Emily fills a new role for

2006 that concentrates on

making the Book Clubbigger and better for

2006. See the back page

for details of upcoming

Book Club meetings!

Rachael Muirhead,

Publicity Coordinator

(oxfordpublicity@thesyp.org.uk)

Rachael studied English and

Publishing at Oxford

Brookes before landing herfirst proper job at

Princeton University Press

in Woodstock, where she

has been a Publicity

Assistant for eighteen

months. During her studies

she worked part time at

OUP, and did some work

experience at Random House. Away from

organising conferences and chasing journalists,

she plays cricket, practises yoga, drinks wine, and

struggles to learn the guitar.

Mimi Mo, Events Coordinator

(oxfordevents@thesyp.org.uk)

Mimi organises the speaker

meetings by approaching

potential speakers, setting

dates, and making sure the

evenings themselves run

smoothly.

Guy Hobbs, Social Secretary

(oxfordsocialsec@thesyp.org.uk)

After graduating in History at Cambridge, Guy fled

to South America where he learned Spanish, bar-

tended, busked, fell down mountains, dressed up

as Santa Claus and generally made a nuisance ofhimself. When the money ran out, rather more

quickly than he had anticipated, he was forced to

return to the UK with nothing more than vague

plans about becoming a travel writer. He now lives

in Oxford where he is currently writing his fourth

book and has recently been made Managing

Editor of a new series encouraging other people to

live abroad. He also harbours dreams of becoming

a rock star.

Jason Mitchell, InPrint Liaison(inprintliaison@thesyp.org.uk)

Born and educated in Manchester, Jason studied

publishing at Stirling and has since worked for six

years in academic publishing, currently at Taylor &

Francis. He has a fondness for Indian food, world

cinema, the John Rylands Library, first editions,

the Super Furry Animals, Doves and repeats of

Columbo.

Nadeem Ahmed, Treasurer

(oxfordtreasurer@thesyp.org.uk)Nadeem is a student at Hertford College, Oxford,

where he has been pursuing his various academic

interests in Philosophy, having previously studied

Oriental Studies at London University. His other

interests include classical music and creative

writing. His aim is to increase the Societys overall

profile and enhance Oxfords position in the

publishing and literary world.

The final word goes to the new Oxford Chair, Kate

Kirkpatrick: If the February Speaker Meeting was

anything to go by, this year promises to be a

roaring one for the Oxford SYP. In addition to a

brilliant line-up of speaker meetings, we've got

cracking social events on the books, a resurrected

Book Club, and a committee full of enthusiastic

and dynamic people. We're determined not only

to keep the good times rolling, but to keep the

SYP growing, too - here's to a great 2006 and we

hope to see you soon!

InPrint-March2006

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THE OXFORD COMMITTEE 2006

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InPrint-March2006

4

INPRINT IS BECOMING BIGGER AND BETTER!The SYP Committee has been reviewing InPrintover recent months and considering how we can make

it better for our members while keeping it cost-effective. We are planning a complete redesign, and

issues will now be bi-monthly: look out for the first fabulous new edition in May. And remember, if

you or anyone you know (whether a company, agency or individual) is interested in sponsoring an

issue ofInPrint, there are many options available from placing an advert or running a competition to

sponsorship in return for an article/feature get in touch by emailing inprint@thesyp.org.uk. All

questions, comments and suggestions welcome.

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Glencora Bailey describes a growing interest

that is being fuelled by the World Wide Web.

A decade ago, talking about books took place

mostly in the classroom, in living rooms, in

coffee shops any public place where people

of similar interests could physically get

together to talk. Other kinds of literary

discussion that did not involve face-to-face

human interaction took place between the

pages of books, magazines and newspapers,

predominantly in the form of essays and

reviews, interviews with authors and letters

to the editor. These continue to flourish, but

there is now an additional forum of

communication: the Internet. Of course, the

Net is by no means a new phenomenon, but

now, with online connection fees

competitively lower than ever before and

access to computers more easily available to a

greater variety of people, usage is most

certainly more widespread than it was ten

years ago.

The Internet holds great potential for those

who want to talk about books and reading;

its the perfect medium for it in fact, filling

some kind of middle ground between the

spark and immediacy of a public dialogue,

and the privacy and impartiality of a printed

discourse. Whether it be through message

boards, book clubs, weblogs, chat rooms or

forums, online book discussion manages to

retain that sense of privacy and

contemplation that is so much a part of the

experience and act of reading, while at the

same time containing a sense of dynamism

and participation that might perhaps be lost

in the printed forms of media. Online, web-

users can type in their thoughts or idea, see it

published instantly, and potentially get an

immediate response.

The implications of this are surely nothing

but positive. Online book discussion is yet

another way of celebrating the pleasure of

reading and bringing books to life for a wider

audience. Not everyone necessarily knows

people with whom they can talk about books,

nor has access to the printed materials that

might be available to them so the Internet

opens up a dialogue that simply might not

have existed for many. And its not just these

social factors but also the very nature of

reading itself, the fact that it is such a solitary

activity, that poses barriers for

communication. Even for the people most

connected with other people and materials

associated with books, it can be hard to

initiate discussion, often because peoples

interests are so wide-ranging. Book-lovers

may be members of a silent community, but

it is by no means a dying or stagnating one

ideas and passions do thrive and the

Internet can help to nurture it. If youve read

a book and want to talk about it, the chances

are you will find a site that might facilitate

the expression of your thoughts; its another

channel through which to initiate active

engagement with books. Plus, its highly

democratic.

Of course, online book discussion is like

anything else on the Internet because there

are no restrictions on what people can think

or say, the types of conversation vary

enormously from site to site, which does pose

some problems for people looking for a

particular level of communication. There are

still a number of ways in which online book

discussion could be improved. Many sites are

used predominantly for swapping

information connected with books, such as

where to find certain editions of books,

recommendations about other books and

authors, and information about resources,

organisations and events. This is often the

case on author websites, where students and

avid readers meet to search for information,

making them invaluable tools for readers. Yet

it is surprising how few author websites have

really developed beyond the role of

imparting information. The fiction writer and

journalist Jeanette Winterson has a great

website (www.jeanettewinterson.com),

which not only contains information about

her books, but also logs her journalism and

includes a thriving message board. The latter

seems exemplary of the kind of board that is

successful, and its uniqueness perhaps reveals

a gap that the web and its users might be

InPrint-March2006

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ONLINE BOOK DISCUSSION

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able to fill over the coming years. The site has

space for readers to post their own writing as

well as room for general discussion not

solely on Wintersons books and seems to

have cultivated a following from its users. Her

website functions in a similar way to a

weblog, in terms of the extent of the

discussion amongst users (see also

www.inwriting.org/weblog, a personal

weblog full of insightful discussion).

Other sites that are also portals for debate

can be found at www.online-literature.com

and www.bookspot.com, which hold a lot of

information and discussion, but somehow

lack the sense of community and permanency

that the more personal weblogs and author

websites boast. Nevertheless, they remain

valid as places where people can go to

express their enthusiasm and criticism of

certain books and ideas.

Book clubs and forums seem to exist

somewhere in the middle, between the

specialisation of weblogs and author websites

and the general sites dedicated broadly to

books and literature. Here readers can

gather to discuss any variety of books, but

can participate in a prolonged exchange of

ideas, rather than just a one-off posting. Oneproblem with the many online book clubs

and forums is that they require a fee to join,

which seems to defeat the whole purpose of

Internet communication in the first place.

The crucial benefit of the Internet, and the

quality that gives it its edge over other forms

of communication, surely, is its inclusive

nature; without that, it ceases to have the

same impact. Newspaper sites such as the

Guardian and The Times, both wealthyorganisations, have, by contrast, developed

online book clubs that are free and accessible

to many more people

(www.talk.guardian.co.uk and

www.timesbooks.typepad.com).

It seems then that different kinds of

discussion are out there, albeit in a

fragmentary way. Most of the good sites Ive

chanced upon havent been through search

engines or sites likewww.readinggroups.co.uk, which simply

refer you to other sites on the Net. There is

definitely a market for more book discussion

sites to be developed, and for more effective

ways of sifting through the resources that are

already available. Doing a basic Google

search, for example, does not always lead to

some of the most interesting, thriving sites.

Perhaps over the next decade, web-users

themselves might develop an online network

for book-readers, helping to fulfil the

potential for electronic book discussion that

is currently demonstrated in little pockets

across the web.

InPrint-March2006

6

ADVANCE NOTICE: LONDON SPEAKER

MEETING & BOOK SIGNING:

A DEBUT AUTHORS PERSPECTIVE

Wednesday 26 April 2006

How does a debut author get their book

commissioned? Do editors and agents

feel they are taking a risk when they

enlist a first-time novelist? How easy is it

to market, publicise and sell a first book

when the author is unknown? Or are

there distinct advantages to dealing with

a brand new author and project, rather

than an established name? Join us for this

exclusive event on debut authors where

we will be discussing these questions and

many more.

Speakers include John Bennett, author of

Sea Otters Gambolling in the Wild, Wild

Surf(Vintage) and his agents David

Godwin and Cathryn Summerhayes from

David Godwin Associates; and Dean

Carter, author ofHand of the Devil

(Random House Childrens Books) with

his editor Charlie Sheppard.

Books by both authors will be available

for sale at a discounted price with the

chance to get your copy signed. Please

join us for a drink and a chat from 8pm in

the Pitcher & Piano, Dean Street, Soho.

Wednesday 26 April 2006, 6.30 for

6.45pm in the Gallery, Second Floor,

Foyles, Charing Cross Road.

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Alexis Clements reports back from an evening with

a talented new author.

Nick McDonells first novel Twelvewas a

phenomenal success, particularly in light of the

fact that he was only seventeen years old when hewrote it. Ample hype and numerous well-

pedigreed quotes appeared in magazines and

newspapers across the US, Europe and further

afield. The quote that follows his name in just

about every review and on both of his book covers

(his most recent, The Third Brother, has just been

released in the UK) is one taken from the late

Hunter S. Thompson: Nick McDonell is the real

thing Im afraid that he will do for his

generation what I did for mine. Those are pretty

big shoes for a seventeen-year-old kid to fill.When I asked McDonell, who just turned

twenty-two this February, about that quote, he

told me and the audience attending his reading in

North London, that the rest of it (presumably the

bit hidden by the ellipsis) was too obscene to

print.

The reading took place at a small pub in Kentish

Town called The Pineapple. Hidden among a

swathe of tiny townhouses, the pub hardly seems

the kind of place a future Hunter S. Thompson

would be caught dead. Big Words At ThePineapplehas been hosting readings of poetry

and literature for almost two years now.

Christopher Fowler, who organises the readings

along with Richard Thomas, told me that he

wanted to keep the tradition of the famed

readings that used to go on at Filthy McNastys in

Islington alive in the city. Of course, Filthy

McNastys sounds a lot closer to

Hunter S. Thompson than The

Pineapple, but times change.

Its hard to talk about

McDonell without referencing his

literary pedigree. When it comes

to English language literary

fiction, you cant do much better

than Grove/Atlantic Press, the

publisher of McDonells two

novels. Grove/Atlantic was

formed in February 1993 with the

merger of Grove Press and

Atlantic Monthly Press; it now

publishes about eighty new titles

per year. The two presses, as well

as their merger, have a long

history of publishing Nobel and

Pulitzer prize-winning authors.

Morgan Entrekin, McDonells editor and the man

behind the merger, has also worked with the likes

of Bret Easton Ellis and Will Self; McDonell is often

compared to the former.

Its also hard not to mention the influence of

McDonells father on his career. Terry McDonell,Managing Editor ofSports Illustratedand good

friend to the likes of Hunter S. Thompson and

George Plimpton, is a powerful figure in

publishing. Though I didnt bring this up at the

reading, it came out on its own after the question

about the Thompson quote, when he spent a few

minutes laughing about his fathers connection to

crazy uncle Hunter.

As the questions went on, McDonell spoke

about his idea of completing what he saw as a

trilogy surrounding the character Mike, whoappears, though in different forms, in both his

novels. In the first, hes a rich-kid turned drug

dealer who caters to the children of New York

Citys wealthiest families. In the second novel, The

Third Brother, hes an intern at the Asia bureau of

a major magazine and gets sent to Bangkok to

find the story behind the governments crackdown

on drug tourism. The second novel shifts gear

about halfway through as Mike returns to New

York in 2001 just in time for the events of

September 11, and finds his brother suffering amental breakdown. McDonell expressed a strong

desire to kill the character off, in either guise

perhaps revealing his own desire to shed the

themes of privilege and youth that fill both stories.

Its difficult to say whether or not McDonell will

join the ranks of the literary figures to which he is

so often compared he is only twenty-two years

old after all. Hes spent a couple

of summers working as an intern

with major US magazines both

in the US and in Asia (and

happily admits to using that

experience in the second novel,

though the first is not

autobiographical), trying to

gain some more life experience.

But with ample charm and two

novels already finished, its

difficult not to believe that this

young man may yet live up to all

those expectations.

InPrint-March2006

7

A BRIGHT YOUNG THING RETURNS TO THE STAGE

Picture taken by Terry McDonell

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Jason Mitchell tells us what happened

when the Oxford SYP got Lucky.

The Oxford branch of the SYP kicked off its

speaker meetings for 2006 with a talk byLucky Dissanayake to a packed meeting

room at Oxford University Press on 8

February. Lucky, Founder of London

publisher Dakini Books, gave an

entertaining and highly personal insight

into the importance of the media in

publicising, promoting and marketing

books from the perspective of a small, very

media-driven business.

Lucky began by taking a number of

questions from the floor, which ranged

from the most cost-effective use of an

authors time, how to get books reviewed

and the best ways to get national press

attention to maximising publicity on a

farming title. After outlining her colourful

career history to date formerly magazine

publisher, running a TV station overseas,

working for BSkyB, and working for the

Telegraph in the 1980s before setting up

on her own she based her presentation

on the issues these questions raised.

Beginning with the best ways to attract

national press coverage, Lucky stated the

book must be topical. She published a

book on Formula 1 that has been highly

successful due to a combination of the

sports popularity (some 350 million F1 fans

worldwide) and hiring the best F1journalist in Mark Hughes (buying into the

writers contacts and address book). All this

has attracted around 1.5 million of free

publicity.

She stressed that Dakini Books has a

business model unlike the majority of

publishers. In an industry where there is a

general oversupply of titles, her strategy is

to publish only two to three titles per year,

and to put an immense amount of focus

and time on promoting each one.

With regard to getting book reviews,

Lucky stressed that thousands of books get

sent out to reviewers only for them to

finish up on their shelves. To get a review,

a book must physically stand out: it should

be a good product in terms of quality

paper and design of the cover. Thepublisher should research the names of

each reviewer of each relevant title, pick up

the phone, pitch the book to them and get

it into their hands. All of this time is well

spent and has paid dividends in her

company.

Several of the key points Lucky made are

as follows:

Avoid using PR firms: she used to hire

them at a cost of 3,0004,000 a month

and she found they had no passion for the

product. Press releases written by PR firms

are a hard way to get noticed, and are far

too generic.

Bookshop events are generally a waste of

time for the author. Amazon is a great

bookselling machine and the Internet is a

great leveller it should be utilised if

possible.

All media outlets TV, radio, and

newspapers have short attention spans. If

a book is topical or controversial it will do

well (the flurry of books on Islam post 9/11,

for example).

Independent bookshops will always be

more receptive to new ideas than the

chains.

Useful partnerships can often be

lucrative: with Luckys knowledge andexperience of TV, she approached a

channel involved in F1 broadcasting and

negotiated a deal for publicity of the book

in return for a split of the sales revenue.

Lucky rounded off a highly informative

evening by outlining several

misconceptions within the media (the first

being that publicity guarantees sales) and

gave us the benefit of her wide experience

on the nature and relationship of the

media and publishing industries.

InPrint-March2006

8

THE MEDIA AND THE MACHINE

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Our Northern Correspondent, Lucie Barnes,

shows us where its at in the world of books.

Similar to discussing good wine, there are many

variations, opinions and mixtures when

expressing the passion of a story, but alas, it all

gulps down to personal taste or does it?

Theres the all-important plot to consider, as

well as the emotionally-charged character

development, and not forgetting the taste of

palpable suspense in writing. Before one can

scream HOUSE! I mean BESTSELLER!, we

must address the issue of location in the novel.

The humble situation of location in novel-

writing is an entity which, in my opinion, is

most important of all, for the simple reason thatit pulls the reader to a point of familiarity and a

point of bearing, literally. Ah, but surely it is the

way in which the story is written, and the plot,

that emphasise the location, I hear someone

protest. Of course; but if the analogy of good

wine is adhered to, one could say it is the way

the grape has been grown and its location, as

opposed to the physical grape used, that

matters; and this also is true in a broader sense.

What is my point? Simply this: all ingredients

are needed to make a story good and this

article is a rally-cry in defence of a settings

contribution to a novels success. So, I shall don

an A-line black skirt, some hooker-heels, dye my

hair black, and slap on the flaming red lipstick,

then shout from the roof-tops LOCATION,

LOCATION, LOCATION!

My inspiration for this article came from a

recent interview opportunity I had with

Maureen Lee, a fiction novel writer from

Liverpool who in previous years has written

sagas about families living in wartime

Liverpool. A beautifully interesting woman,

whose emphasis on location in her novels

actually turned it into the Unique Selling

Proposition (USP) for the books, which, when

one gets to thinking, is not atypical, and is

evident in many, many famous books. Christ

Church College is the most visited landmark in

Oxford, due to the sheer use of location in the

Harry Potterfilms. I would definitely give

weight to the argument that cries this is downto the location of filming as opposed to location

emphasis actually in the novel. However, in my

view, Rowlings stories scream Oxford and

nowhere else.

To Kill a Mocking Birdby Harper Lee has an

inspirational plot, with heart-wrenching,

emotive characters. Its emphasis, importance

and relevance, however, is drawn from the

political climate of its location the Deep South

of America and the melting pot of racism

facilitated by it. A lot of people can relate to, or

imagine, this era, and immediately in their

minds pictures are painted and images

conjured up about what the story could be. The

same applies to Maureen Lee, writing about a

typical Liverpudlian family at the time of the

war, in the grim-up-north terrain of Bootle;

the readers mind is taken directly to the heart

of the matter and the plot, which centresaround its location.

When you interview an author, knowing that

their stories are set in a city you also hold dear,

its impossible not to laugh and giggle about its

quirky characteristics, as there is a common

ground to work with and reference point to

come from. Maureen Lees latest stories are set

in contemporary times, with the heroines

coming from both Liverpool and New York.

Chatting about the bars they frequent and the

streets they walk up and down was just so

warming, welcoming and familiar. To talk about

getting warm and fuzzy over a city is simply

bizarre, and may have something to do with the

craziness of northerners and their homing-

pigeon attitude; another article, for another

time perhaps.

The reason for getting overemotional about

ones home is completely psychological.

Because what makes us receptive to the location

in a novel is what we know about the locality orplace and what the social and cultural norms

surrounding it are. For example, Maureen Lee

knows that Liverpool in the war was grim (in

the broadest sense of the word) because she

grew up in it. You and I may know its

grimness, because of what we understand of

the industrial north and Liverpools impact as a

port and trading city. We know what its cultural

identity is through history books, and social

descriptions of it abound throughout theatre,

literature and education.Humble apologies if my argument stipulates

that all novels musthave a familiar location in

order to succeed if that were the case, the

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NOVEL IDENTITY: LOCATION, LOCALITY, PLACE

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whole genre of Science Fiction and Fantasy

would have to be abolished. Location, and its

relevance, is simply a place whereby the story

brings the reader to a point of reference, be

that Liverpool, Oxford, New York, or the Planet

Zelda, and it may still draw the reader to a

point of familiarity. The writers of Sci-Fi have a

battle on their hands, in that their location hasno current bearing for people, so location must

be emphasised more in order to bring the

readers referencing into focus. How many of us

have ever been to a deserted island? Well,

William Golding only needed to use the

immortal words of deserted and island, to

make us tingle at the thought of it and convince

us that we were in for a thrilling time;

therefore, centrally there would be suspense.

How different the story would have been if the

plane crashed in, say, Everton football ground

at Stanley Park!

I was intrigued to hear Maureen Lee

comment on the enthusiasm of her publisher

and their desire for a saga about Liverpool. We

could speculate that, at the time, the

marketplace was such that local stories were

prevalent and in peoples mindsets. In addition,

the publishers themselves were keen on local

authors writing about the local areas: write

what you know, warts and all. This is incrediblytelling and strengthens my argument, because

it ticks the box for evidence that location, no

matter where, can be the branding of a book

and appeal to all areas, all people, and all

cultures. World Peace anyone? If only.

I could not stake claim to the title of

Northern Correspondent if I did not get in

somewhere a reference to the ever-faithful

derogatory jovial banter, concerning shandy-

drinking-southern-pansies versus them-

northern-nancies. Unfortunately, Maureen Leefailed to indulge my curiosity when I asked

about her now living in the south and writing

about the north with questions such as Do you

know who reads your books? and Would you

say there was a north/south literary divide?

What can I say? I find humour in provocation.

She agreed on the north/south divide, but more

socially and in attitude people apologise far

too much in the south; people call each other

affectionate names like love and duck in the

north. Imagine the scene: 6ft 3 builder boards

the bus to Moss Side, Manchester, and the

equally huge bus driver takes his fare and offers

the nicety thanks, duck. I swear, I have heard

it! Maureen Lee was quick to emphasise that

her followers reside the world over and no

literary divide existed. Although mildly

disappointing, it is reassuring to know,

otherwise the marketing teams in publishing

houses would be up the Thames (note the

southern reference) without a paddle.

Taking the reference a bit further, the MintelReport of July 2005 into Where the British go

on Holiday makes for some interesting reading,

and highlights how important location actually

is to us. When abroad, 40% of people are likely

to visit museums, churches and old buildings,

while 62 % take in a local delicacy. This is an

anecdotal reference, but what it throws up in

terms of peoples perceptions of the importance

of location highlights location importance

highlights the social aspect of that importance.

People go on holiday because of the location,

and while it may appear that we never purchase

a book solely because of its setting, of course in

reality we do because location is important

to us, whether is be in a novel, or in our

holidaying.

Predominantly, most authors find solace in

using a familiar location as the courtyard of

their story, which gives them a window through

which to view the plot and characters. As for

why authors elect to write about theirhometowns, Maureen Lee put it well when I

posed the question:

'In one sentence, define what Liverpool

means to you?'

'Well, it's home, isn't it.'

No matter which way one turns, it is location,

location and then some more location that

defines and gives life to a story. Returning full

circle to the cheesy wine analogy, it is the key

fermenting ingredient in plot and character

development, and the catalyst for its worth isfound in the writing of the author.

In fact, as with a bottle of wine, let's label all

novels with their location, and distinguish

bookstore sections not by fiction and non-

fiction, but by their governing location - what

fun! It would probably help actually - anyone

been to Blackwell's in Oxford recently?

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InPrint-March2006

Alexis Clements

Glencora Bailey

Jason MitchellLucie Barnes

Tom Chalmers

EditorRebecca Strong

Contributors

Disclaimer: The Society of Young Publishers would like readers to note that any views expressed herein do not represent the opinions of the

society as a whole and only reflect the opinions of the individuals who have submitted material.

Society of Young Publishersc/o The Bookseller

Endeavour House189 Shaftesbury AvenueLondon WC2H 8TJE-mail : mail@thesyp.org.ukWebsite: www.thesyp.org.uk

Printed by:Abbey Green, Old Woking, Surrey

ADS AND EVENTS

Issue

114

Production ManagerGurdeep Mattu

LONDON SPEAKER MEETING

Wednesday 29 March 2006

BEHIND THE SCENES: GETTING BOOKS TO

READERS

Marchs meeting will investigate the companiesthat keep the sales and distribution of books

ticking over. Where are books and ISBNs stored,

and how does the info get to the

shops/web/library for the reader? To enlighten

us, we will have a sales rep telling us about

selling in, a distributor to inform us about

storage and distribution, and a representative

from Nielsen Bookdata to tell us what they do

with those millions of ISBNs!

Wednesday 29 March in the Meeting Room, 3rd

Floor, Foyles Bookshop, Charing Cross Road.

6.30pm for 6.45pm wine provided. 3.50 for

non-members, free for SYP members. Join us

afterwards for drinks, 8pm onwards in the

Pitcher and Piano, Dean Street, Soho.

Society of Young

SYPEst.1949Publishers

LONDON BOOK CLUB - Monday 13 March 2006

Join us to discuss Long Way Down by Nick

Hornby in the basement caf of Waterstones,

Piccadilly on Monday 13 March 2006 at 7pm.

Editorial

Board

RebeccaStrong

GurdeepMattu

MiaKilroy

ToriHunt

ClaireShanahan

LouiseRhind-Tutt

TobyRhind-Tutt

OXFORD SYP LITERARY PUB CRAWL

Friday 17 March 2006

Help us celebrate Oxfords rich literary history in the very place

that inspired many of the citys greatest authors the pub!

Oxfords dreaming spires are steeped in literary tradition. A

bewildering array of authors from Wilde to Waugh, Shelley to

Self, and Lewis to Larkin, have stumbled between the citys late-

night haunts in search of inspiration. The SYP intends to spend

an evening following in their meandering footsteps and

upholding the fine traditions established by these giants of

British literature, and it also happens to be St. Patricks Day so

theres no excuse!Join us on Friday 17 March for an evening of carousing,

complete with a QUIZ and PRIZES! All members and non-

members welcome. 7pm for 7.30pm, starting at Far from the

Madding Crowd, 10-12 Friars Entry. Look out for further details

at www.thesyp.org.uk.

OXFORD BOOK CLUB Wednesday 5 April 2006

The next book for discussion will be The Poisonwood

Bibleby Barbara Kingsolver. Everyone is welcome toattend what is a great opportunity to meet and

socialise with fellow Book Club members, both those

who work within publishing and those that do not.

Join us on Wednesday 5 April, at 6.30pm in Borders

bookshop caf, Oxford.

OXFORD SPEAKER MEETING -

Wednesday 12 April 2006

JOURNEY OF A PUBLICATION - WHAT IS

PRODUCTION?

When you pick up a publication in the bookstand,

do you ever wonder how it gets produced? Ittakes time to get a manuscript ready for printing

and many steps are involved. This meeting aims to

give jobseekers a glimpse of what career

opportunities there are in production, as well as

give writers an idea of how long it takes to get

published! Whether an author, editor, or marketer

- or someone aspirant thereto - this meeting will

offer you insight into just what makes books

happen.

The speaker will be Carmel Tildesley from The

Imago Group. Wednesday 12 April, 6:30pm drinks

and nibbles, 7pm talk, Gallery Room, Oxford