Well, I did it today. I sent the manuscript of my second book to the publishers for their initial review. Email confirmation was received this afternoon that they had got it along with the usual waffle of terms and conditions etc. It usually takes them about six weeks to make a decision about whether or not they want to proceed to publication. I will tell you right here and now – they won’t!
There will be very good reasons for them to decide against publishing ‘the Ghillie’s flybox’, as my latest literary work is provisionally titled. Publishers are in the business of making money, and that means selling shed loads of books. These days, eBooks account for a large proportion of any author’s work, mainly because they are cheaper and more convenient for readers. Large format hard backs with lots of colour plates are horribly expensive to manufacture, meaning they are very expensive and do not sell well. Add to that the small number of potential buyers and you can see the publisher would struggle to turn a profit out of this book.
Don’t think I am being defeatist here, far from it! Presuming the answer form the publisher is a polite ‘no’, I will gird my loins and plunge into the murky world of self publishing. I’ve done a lot of research on this option and it looks to be a good idea for someone like me who writes for a very niche market. Lots of hoops have to be negotiated and some money spent, but it is feasible thanks to modern technology. The days of setting up huge lithographic printing presses for long runs are history for book publishers unless you are on the best sellers list. The massive clanking Heidelberg’s have been replaced by print to order technology.
So what is this next book about? I have delved into my stupidly large collection of fly boxes and selected 500 patterns which I have used to good effect of my lifetime of fly fishing. The dressings for each are in this book, along with a photo of each fly. The photos are the big issue for me, five hundred patterns photographed then made into plates, each one numbered and titled and linked to the text. Talk about a labour of love! Most of the flies are for brown trout and sea trout plus some salmon flies and patterns for rainbow trout. Some are well known flies that every angler has in their box, some are local variations and others are my own designs which have proved to be successful.
It will take months to bring the book to the market but I am actually looking forward to the inevitable snakes and ladders of the process. I would hate to be a struggling writer who depends on the next check from the publisher, that must be extremely stressful. This is just a little side hustle for me, something to entertain me when there is no fishing.
Claretbumbler 
Given the premise of the book it would appear to be very niche to me, but good luck with it.
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Given the premise of the book it would appear to be very niche to me, but good luck with it.
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Given the premise of the book it would appear to be very niche to me, but good luck with it.
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Given the premise of the book it would appear to be very niche to me, but good luck with it.
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Given the premise of the book it would appear to be very niche to me, but good luck with it.
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Thanks Steve. Not expecting anything, I just wanted to put all these patterns into one place.
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I have know idea why it sent the previous comment five times.
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looking forward to it very much.
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cheers Gavin, this one is proving to be a bit of a slog!
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You tie a lovely fly Colin and they deserve to be seen. If you go the self publish route I would be interested in hearing about how it goes. Like you I like to write about my fishing experiences and have a couple of short books ready. No joy with publishers yet though. Good luck with your latest project.
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If i do end up self publishing I’ll drop you a line and we can keep in direct contact as I work through the process. Sounds like you are just about ready to take the plunge.
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That would be really helpful Colin, thanks.
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Fingers crossed Colin. Still enjoying your blog.
Sent from AOL on Android
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Hopefully I’ll get the book published by the end of this year, all going well.
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All the best with it, Colin. I’d love to know how your journey unfolds as I’m considering something similar. I’m a long way off from a complete manuscript – but a publisher friend of fishing books has already suggested that self-publishing is the most appropriate avenue in today’s (depressed) market. That seems to accord with your expectations.
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hi Justin, I’ll happily share any tips or advice on self publishing as I go through the process. There is a lot of useful info out there but I expect there will be many hurdles to overcome. I am not the most digitally literate of people, so frustrations as highly likely, but I’ll keep you abreast of events.
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