Questions for Nicolas Cheetham, CEO of Head of Zeus

[AgentPete]

If you have any questions (apart from “will you publish my book?”!) for Nicolas Cheetham, CEO of Head of Zeus Books, post them here and I’ll ask him on the show tomorrow.

 

[Ancora Imparo]

What's selling well at the moment? I know all sales of print books, e-books and audio have gone up (some by a lot) under lockdown. Has he seen any trend towards a specific genre?

 

[Emily]

Do you accept brown envelopes? (or is that only an Irish thing?!)

Is there a certain amount of hesitancy amongst publishers to move forwards with accepting books for publication thanks to the worldwide blight (an agent said somewhere recently that it's even harder to push things over the line with all that's going on)?

 

[Hannah F]

Head of Zeus can very much hold their own amongst the Big 5 publishing houses. How, in their opinion, do they manage it when many other independent publishers struggle?

 

[Andy D]

There seems to be such a broad mix of titles on your list, is that a conscious decision? Do you worry about what the next trend will be, and in the current climate is that even more difficult to predict?

And / or How well has your digital-led philosophy helped you over the last nine months?

 

[RK Capps]

I recently read one editor's tip for a debut writer was "trust the reader." Do you have any writing tips?

 

[Jonny]

In your opinion which trends are becoming tired, and equally, which are hot / up-and-coming?

In 2021 do you expect to see a tidal wave of manuscripts set in post / mid-pandemic dystopian societies?

 

[AgentPete]

Thanks - all will be asked!

 

[RK Capps]

Have a great show!

 

[Eva Ulian]

@AgentPete One last question, if you can fit it in. Apart from SF what other genres is he partial to and willing to publish?

 

[AgentPete]

@AgentPete One last question, if you can fit it in. Apart from SF what other genres is he partial to and willing to publish?

They publish across the board, Eva. That was their remit from the start.

 

[Eva Ulian]

Yes, I noticed that while looking at their books and besides you asked similar questions anyway. Interesting!

 

[Hannah F]

Thank you @AgentPete for asking our questions. He certainly gave very full replies and interesting ones too!