MY PUBLISHING LIFE with Karen Sullivan

Welcome to my latest MY PUBLISHING LIFE feature, an interview with a literary agent, publisher, publicist or editor about their publishing career to date. Some serious questions, and some just for fun!

Today I'm delighted to welcome 

KAREN SULLIVAN

Publisher

at
Orenda Books

What and when was your first job in publishing?

I worked as secretary to the editorial director of Sidgwick & Jackson, and my ‘line manager’ was Gill Paul, now a well-known author of historical fiction. She effectively trained me, and I moved to editorial assistant and the some commissioning.

How long have you been working in your current job/role?

I am publisher and owner of Orenda Books, and we are almost four years old. 

Which books have you worked on recently/are you working on?

We are always working on a number of books at different stages. I just did a final read of Susi Holliday’s utterly brilliant psychological thriller cum ghost story, The Lingering, before we go to press and I’m about to do the same to Will Carver’s dark, sexy, tense Good Samaritans. I’m doing final edits on West Camel’s beautiful, charming debut Attend,  which is a bit Armistead Maupin … all character and lyrical writing. I’m also preparing Steph Broadribb’s Deep Dirty Truth, next in the fabulous single-mother, bounty-hunter Lori Anderson series, and Matt Wesolowski’s creepy Changeling, next in the Six Stories series, for bound proofs. I’m structurally editing books that we are publishing well into next year, like Doug Johnstone’s FABULOUS Breakers. It’s gloriously non-stop and never boring!

Which qualifications/life skills/experience have helped you get to where you are today?

I have a couple of degrees, including English, Economics and Psychology, which probably help! I took a publishing course at the beginning of my career, and was rigorously trained in my first job. I am a huge reader, too, and that obviously helps with story sense, and working on the structure of a book. I was a non-fiction author for years, writing about raising children and emotional health, and did some TV, etc. This gives good insights from the other side of the fence, if you like. I was a single mother for a number of years, supporting my boys on my own, so I have always been hugely disciplined and determined, and very good at time management. Mainly, though, I think I am really just very lucky to be doing a job that I adore, and working with so many talented authors from around the world. They are SO much fun, too. It’s a fabulous job!

How do you relax after a busy working day?

Reading is my main relaxation, always. Spending time with my family is also fun. I don’t go out a lot because my job involves a LOT of travel and a LOT of events, festivals and parties. I am happiest in my nightie, on the sofa. I don’t watch a lot of TV, but I have to say that the current crop of drama on at the moment is brilliant! I’m glued to The Bodyguard and enjoying The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair, and I can’t wait for the dramatisation of Helen FitzGerald’s The Cry.

What was the last book you read for pleasure?

Currently reading Ambrose Parry’s The Way of All Flesh, and I honestly can’t recommend it highly enough. It’s beautifully written, visceral, immersive, authentic, screamingly tense and quite magnificent. Ambrose Parry is the writing team of Chris Brookmyre and his doctor wife, Marisa. Enough said! On the TBR, I’ve got Laura Shepherd-Robinson’s debut Blood & Sugar, which everyone is talking about! Plus Erin Kelly’s Stone Mothers. I LOVE HER WORK!

Describe your job in 15 words or less...

Commissioning exceptional books from around the world, and editing, marketing, selling and promoting them in all formats (which is more than 15).

What have been the highlights of your publishing life so far

There have been some great highlights! One of our first books was Ragnar Jonasson’s Snowblind, translated by Quentin Bates, and it was the first book to knock The Girl on the Train off the top of the kindle charts. That was MAGIC for a debut, international author. Ragnar’s series has gone on to sell about a million copies worldwide. It was an honour to be shortlisted (twice) for Best Newcomer at the Independent Publishing Awards, and to be chosen as a Bookseller Rising Star. A seminal moment was launching Roxanne Bouchard’s We Were the Salt of the Sea (translated from French Canadian by David Warriner) at Canada House earlier this year. I’m Canadian, and the word ‘Orenda’ is a Canadian First Nations word that loosely translates as ‘the mystical power that drives human accomplishment’, so it was extremely exciting. I was bursting with pride! Otherwise, every single day, every book, every author has brought incredible rewards and multiple highlights. I’m as excited about a book selling thousands of copies as I am by a great reader review!

If you could try out any other job for one day (with no limits on money, travel etc.), what would you choose?

I wouldn’t want to do anything else. This is, quite honestly, my dream job!

If your publishing life was a book, what would the title be?

The Orenda, but Joseph Boyden already did that! J

Sometimes my life feels like a thriller, with so many nail-biting, tense moments, and a roller-coaster plot, coupled with elation, distress, pride, happiness, euphoria … and some incredible characters! Let’s call it The Orenda Roadshow!

Thanks so much for taking part, Karen!

Look out for more MY PUBLISHING LIFE features coming soon.

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If any literary agents, publishers, publicists or editors would like to take part, please contact me through my blog or Twitter for the full list of questions.

MY PUBLISHING LIFE with agent Julia Silk

Welcome to my new feature, MY PUBLISHING LIFE, an interview with a literary agent, publisher, publicist or editor about their publishing career to date. Some serious questions, and some just for fun!

Today I'm delighted to welcome 

JULIA SILK

Literary Agent

(in association with MBA Literary and Script Agents)

What and when was your first job in publishing?

As an production editor  on medical journals at Chapman & Hall. I had no medical background at all but I learned a lot and got very good at diagnosing the patients on Casualty and ER before the characters themselves did!

How long have you been working in your current job/role?

I’ve been an agent for 14 months, working in association with MBA Literary and Script Agents.

Which books have you worked on recently/are you working on?

The books I’ve sold in my first year include a pregnancy book that will empower women to advocate for their rights in pregnancy and childbirth; a brilliant dual-timeline reimagining of Wuthering Heights; and the first two titles in a heartwarming new women’s commercial fiction series by an author I’d been watching for ages and who became my first client when I made the move from publishing to agenting. I also have a client who’s writing a thriller that I’m really excited about – we’re describing it as Apple Tree Yard meets The Night Manager. She’ll be delivering her first full draft in September and I can’t wait to read the whole thing!  And I have two completely amazing literary fiction titles out on submission at the moment, about which editors are so far saying lovely things, so fingers crossed.

Which qualifications/life skills/experience have helped you get to where you are today?

Mostly perseverance. Also learning to just go ahead and do stuff, rather than asking permission; learning to exceed my remit, to take the initiative. I’ve worked in lots of different areas of publishing – bookselling, production, editorial – as a result of which I can usually see situations from all sides, and I really enjoying finding solutions to the kind of problems that often arise from people not seeing things from all sides! And I’m very sociable, which is pretty crucial in this business, and equally interested in the detail and big picture.

How do you relax after a busy working day?

Ah yes, relaxing, I remember it well. I have two small(ish) children and by the time the oldest is in bed I don’t have a huge amount of evening left. I’m often catching up on work reading as I’m always behind on submissions but I’m also addicted to Netflix, and will often stay up too late watching my latest fixation – this week I’ve been mainlining season one of Top of the Lake so I can catch up with season two on iPlayer next week.

What was the last book you read for pleasure?

I’ve just been reading Lucy Caldwell’s linked short stories, Multitudes, and I’m recommending it to everyone – it exposes so much we prefer to keep hidden about ourselves. It feels almost as if she’s in your head – quite painful but also compulsively readable. Also, I finally read Renée Knight’s Disclaimer, which I thought was so clever and multi-layered, and the way she constructed the ending was masterful; a lesser author would have left off earlier, but she just kept building and building to it. It pleased me greatly. Non-work reading is just as important as reading submissions and client work – your judgement is compromised if you don’t have context.

Describe your job in 15 words or less...

Reader, editor, business manager, hand-holder, catalyst.

What have been the highlights of your publishing life so far?

One highlight was launching Orion’s digital crime imprint The Murder Room – it folded after three years or so, but I learnt SO much in both practical terms and about myself. But the best thing for me was probably making my first sale as an agent in a six-way auction to Penguin; I always finish that story ‘and then I woke up’.

If you could try out any other job for one day (with no limits on money, travel etc.), what would you choose?

Dressmaker. I love the magic of a well-cut garment, how it can change the way you feel, transform your whole day. Imagine having the skill to do that for people.

If your publishing life was a book, what would the title be?

It would be called Try Again. Fail Again. Fail Better. Publishing people love to quote Samuel Beckett’s famous line, because this industry is as much about failure and rejection as it is about success – and each enhances the other.

Thanks so much for taking part, Julia!

Look out for more MY PUBLISHING LIFE features coming soon.

If any literary agents, publishers, publicists or editors would like to take part, contact me through my blog or Twitter for the full list of questions.