With only 3 days left to subscribe for Esperanza Street, a gracefully-written, Philippines-set bildungsroman from debut British author Niyati Keni, we thought we’d quiz publisher Stefan Tobler on the ins and outs of publishing debut authors.
Why are you particularly keen that &OS does more to find and support debut authors like Niyati Keni? Do you think this is something the publishing industry is weak in across the board, and/or a potential niche for smaller, independent publishers to tap into? Are smaller publishers more or less able to take a risk on someone with no track record?
Stefan: I don’t think the publishing industry is bad at publishing debut authors per se. I think the publishing industry (industry being the key word!) is bad at publishing authors that don’t fit certain expectations. It’s pretty bad at publishing literary fiction in general, of course! (Because the commercial truth isn’t pretty for publishers either…) So that’s why And Other Stories is keen to publish anything we think is special in the world of fiction, whatever its format, original language or the experience of the author. Small, nimble independents have the wonderful privilege of being able to publish primarily based on the writing they love and believe to be of real value rather than short-term commercial concerns.
What’s different/challenging about publishing a debut author, as opposed to someone who already has at least one book out? Finding them in the first place, i.e. plucking them out of the slush pile when their submission doesn’t come with an eye-catching review quote from a famous name, or promoting their book with the lack of the same? What can the authors themselves do to help the process along?
ST: There are always so many manuscripts sent in directly to us or via agents. Either way is fine by us. Niyati’s came in via her agent Euan Thorneycroft at AM Heath. I didn’t know Euan personally or Niyati but I and the team read and loved the book.
If I’m honest, the thing that probably works best of course is when a writer or translator or critic or [?] we trust tells us about another writer who we should publish. That manuscript will definitely get a lot of attention.
In that case, was it the quality of the writing alone that led to the contract for Esperanza Street, or were there other considerations, i.e. anything that Niyati herself ‘did right’?
ST: She simply wrote a great book. So easy, right?!