Thursday, September 07, 2006
gambling
I think, as do many others, that publishing is a form of gambling. On one level it is just plain old river boat gambling. But it is an enticingly creative form of gambling. I'd never bet on a horse (well not often, apart from the Melbourne Cup) or on a hand of cards but the thrill of backing a new book or writer or idea of a book sends a nice chilly thrill right up and down my spine. Maybe I'd be a better publisher if I also knew how to bet on horses…
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2 comments:
Andrew, I find your choice of books interesting for Black Dog, from brilliant fiction stories such as Dragonkeeper to seemingly more educational 'theme' type books, such as your sports series novels. Have you seen Scobre Press' website in the states? They have a series of sports type books aimed at reluctant readers and are looking to do a career series. Is part of your gamble trying to appeal to a wide range of audiences, or are you now attempting a more mass market appeal compared with earlier efforts? I can see your point about how publishing is like gambling, but as a writer it makes me uneasy. The odds of winning at a casino are about 1 in 4!
We're certainly expanding the range of styles of books in our list, and what's called the mass market is one of those areas. (Our "The Australian Twelve Days of Christmas" is working across the board and is looking like one of the big Xmas picture books of 2006 - congratulations Heath.) But we're not doing any less of the sort of books we started with. Thanks for the tip about Scobre Press - fascinating story of its founding. Serendipity? I think the odds at a casino are better but there it's pretty much all chance. Writing in the end I think is talent and application.
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