Paul Whybrow
Full Member
I came across this startling initiative, which offers a salary to writers taken on by a new publisher called De Montfort Literature:
De Montfort Literature: a new publishing model
De Montfort Literature – Start your novel career
Founder of the venture is Jonathan De Montfort, a hedge fund manager, who intends to hire five to ten writers, who will be mentored while writing a potential bestseller. He took four and a half years to write his own novel, which will be published by his own company.
My initial reaction to this development in publishing, is that it's a very attractive deal for struggling writers. I'm as poor as a church mouse, so the thought of being paid £2,000 a month for doing what I love sounds like heaven. It's impossible to disagree with what De Montfort says about his own reaction to the current state of publishing, when he'd written his story and was wondering how to sell it:
‘That’s when I started looking into the market place, and the process of sending stuff to agents, which is so hit-and-miss. It’s a literary lottery, and my thought process was that it was an insane way to do business.’
I have a few misgivings about what he proposes. For a start, candidates for the programme will be chosen partly by psychometric testing, which is a highly dubious way of deciding whether someone is suitable for a job. Try googling 'Psychometric tests how to fool them.'
What no one tells you about psychometric testing
Secondly, whatever you may think about Jonathan De Montfort's literary aspirations, his publishing venture is a money making experiment that he doesn't intend will fail. Hired writers will be expected to produce stories that are, more than anything, commercial—likely to appeal to the maximum number of readers. This could mean close monitoring of the language a writer uses, with the plot steered towards what De Montfort's mentors think will be trendy—as decided by some mysterious algorithm. Forget artistic freedom, you'll be expected to jump through whatever flaming hoop they hold up. Your finely crafted story could be steered in strange directions, with irksome add-ons to the plot—"Put in some gunships in this scene."
Thirdly, although the website looks transparent and honest, there's a vagueness about what percentage of sales an author will make:
'Authors will receive fifty per cent after all costs are taken into account i.e. salary, production costs and marketing.'
At first glance, this looks fair enough, but I've heard some real horror stories from the world of ePublishing, where an author's percentage was eroded by extortionate spending on marketing—leaving them with very little—though the publisher raised its profile using its client's money.
Lastly, and I'm being a bit bitchy here, looking at the book cover of Jonathan De Montfort's first novel Turner I'm unimpressed. Also, there's no need to add the qualifier 'mildly' to 'superstitious' in the description of the plot, as it detracts from the potency.
All the same, it's impossible to ignore that the £24,000 salary is more than most writers earn from their books, so despite my doubts I'm going to apply. What have I got to lose? Grinding poverty, that's what!
So, why do I keep thinking: If a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is.'
What do you think of De Montfort Literature?
Can you see any drawbacks?
What does @AgentPete make of this venture? Literary agents are left out of the deal.
De Montfort Literature: a new publishing model
De Montfort Literature – Start your novel career
Founder of the venture is Jonathan De Montfort, a hedge fund manager, who intends to hire five to ten writers, who will be mentored while writing a potential bestseller. He took four and a half years to write his own novel, which will be published by his own company.
My initial reaction to this development in publishing, is that it's a very attractive deal for struggling writers. I'm as poor as a church mouse, so the thought of being paid £2,000 a month for doing what I love sounds like heaven. It's impossible to disagree with what De Montfort says about his own reaction to the current state of publishing, when he'd written his story and was wondering how to sell it:
‘That’s when I started looking into the market place, and the process of sending stuff to agents, which is so hit-and-miss. It’s a literary lottery, and my thought process was that it was an insane way to do business.’
I have a few misgivings about what he proposes. For a start, candidates for the programme will be chosen partly by psychometric testing, which is a highly dubious way of deciding whether someone is suitable for a job. Try googling 'Psychometric tests how to fool them.'
What no one tells you about psychometric testing
Secondly, whatever you may think about Jonathan De Montfort's literary aspirations, his publishing venture is a money making experiment that he doesn't intend will fail. Hired writers will be expected to produce stories that are, more than anything, commercial—likely to appeal to the maximum number of readers. This could mean close monitoring of the language a writer uses, with the plot steered towards what De Montfort's mentors think will be trendy—as decided by some mysterious algorithm. Forget artistic freedom, you'll be expected to jump through whatever flaming hoop they hold up. Your finely crafted story could be steered in strange directions, with irksome add-ons to the plot—"Put in some gunships in this scene."
Thirdly, although the website looks transparent and honest, there's a vagueness about what percentage of sales an author will make:
'Authors will receive fifty per cent after all costs are taken into account i.e. salary, production costs and marketing.'
At first glance, this looks fair enough, but I've heard some real horror stories from the world of ePublishing, where an author's percentage was eroded by extortionate spending on marketing—leaving them with very little—though the publisher raised its profile using its client's money.
Lastly, and I'm being a bit bitchy here, looking at the book cover of Jonathan De Montfort's first novel Turner I'm unimpressed. Also, there's no need to add the qualifier 'mildly' to 'superstitious' in the description of the plot, as it detracts from the potency.
All the same, it's impossible to ignore that the £24,000 salary is more than most writers earn from their books, so despite my doubts I'm going to apply. What have I got to lose? Grinding poverty, that's what!
So, why do I keep thinking: If a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is.'
What do you think of De Montfort Literature?
Can you see any drawbacks?
What does @AgentPete make of this venture? Literary agents are left out of the deal.
