Ask the Author: Elspeth Grace Hall
Answered Questions (8)
Elspeth Grace Hall
Would rather not give that out in public... my email is for personal use. pm me on facebook www.facebook.com/ElspethGraceHall
I'm sure if you friend someone on goodreads you can send private mesages.
I'm sure if you friend someone on goodreads you can send private mesages.
Elspeth Grace Hall
Hi Randall, course I remember you. Firstly well done and secondly be careful. You need to ask for a draft contract and go over it with a fine tooth comb. Some "profit shares" actually demand you pay part or all costs up front and then pay you back in % of royalty (which will never materialise) others will publish your book, list it on amazon/lulu and then say you have to pay all marketing. Then you are left with the choice of either keep the small royalties from online sales which will die out after about a year or invest the royalties in marketing which may or may not work. On the other hand there are genuine small publishers that in order to publish as many books possible with limited resources will sign a royalty share contract (I'm on a 50:50 contract) they publish the book and market it. You get your percentage of the royalties and they recoup their costs with their percent. In this case the post sales royalties is a form of insurance for them. If you turn out to be a flop they have only lost the cost of the print run. If you are a moderate success (ie. they recoup their costs in 6 months) they may ask you for a second book on a slightly bigger (for you) royalty share (starting rate for a paper back is 12% to the author according to google). If you are a runaway success then they may offer you an upfront payment for your next book.
Check the publisher out through reviews of their previously published stuff. If they have a book in your local library then that's a good indicator. Ask them how long they hold the rights. I have a 10 year contract on each of my books which means if a bigger publisher comes along and says "hey we like your stuff and by the way can we have your back catalouge." then I can only sell them any previously published book if it is older that 10 years or forfeit any royalties I make to my current publisher for the remainder.
I hope this helps. Elspeth
Check the publisher out through reviews of their previously published stuff. If they have a book in your local library then that's a good indicator. Ask them how long they hold the rights. I have a 10 year contract on each of my books which means if a bigger publisher comes along and says "hey we like your stuff and by the way can we have your back catalouge." then I can only sell them any previously published book if it is older that 10 years or forfeit any royalties I make to my current publisher for the remainder.
I hope this helps. Elspeth
Elspeth Grace Hall
Actually originally it was going to be called The Adventures of Puss-Puss volume 1. But my publisher pointed out that this was an archaic form of title, I dithered for an age. Lack of a proper title actually delayed publishing for 4 months! Eventually the publisher said "in one sentence what are the 3 things this book centres on" my response was "A cat, a rainbow and a mysterious splashing." . She did her magic and hey presto a title was born.
I have never forgot that simple rule for a title. I have in the pipeline several books and I have been able to title them all with out hesitation. In fact one grew from nothing more than a title!
I have never forgot that simple rule for a title. I have in the pipeline several books and I have been able to title them all with out hesitation. In fact one grew from nothing more than a title!
Elspeth Grace Hall
Count the tadpoles, doodle, watch the cat, go bird-spotting. Basically anything but write, the activity is usually related to the book subject and I always carry my Dictaphone so if inspiration does hit I don't loose the elusive muse looking for paper.
Elspeth Grace Hall
Seeing children's faces. I often read to my daughter on the bus back from the library so I'm fairly used to other children sidling up on the seat behind, but its a special feeling when the book I happen to be reading is my own.
Elspeth Grace Hall
edit edit edit. If you haven't spent 20 x the amount of time you did creating on editing you will never get a publisher interested. Also don't sacrifice your dream to make it fit a certain publishers standard there are so many niche publishers out there keep looking. I spent 2 years sending synopsis after synopsis to Publishers.
Elspeth Grace Hall
The illustrations for Volume 3. Also I have the skeleton of a story based on farm animals. Not sure yet if it will be a volume of short stories or a chapter book I don't plan on working much on it until I am properly settled in at the smallholding.
Elspeth Grace Hall
We adopted a cat which had been thrown into our hedge wrapped in a plastic bag. As we were watching her interact with the wildlife in our garden we noticed some odd habits. It made me think as to how she would have coped had her previous owners carried on a short way down the road and thrown her onto the canal bank.
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