Liza Perrat contacted me a few months ago, asking for permission to quote me in a book about her author collective, Triskele Books. I’ve been fascinated by the idea of authors forming their own publishing companies, so I asked if she’d like to guest post for us. I was eager to hear more about her experiences and share them with our readers.
Some writers take to the “indie” route easily, but others prefer to work with a team, the way it’s done in traditional publishing. But traditional publishing can be very scary these days. Not only is breaking in daunting, but “non-compete” and “in perpetuity” clauses, rigid rules, low royalties and glacial schedules can turn a lot of writers away from the whole process.
The author collective offers a way to have the best of both worlds. If you’re a “team player” who wants the control indie publishing offers, but you don’t want to go it alone, the collective may be for you. But you do need to choose your team carefully, and dedication is a must, as you will see from Liza’s story.
The Triskele Books website is stunning and professional and the covers are beautiful. I could tell they have a team that includes a fantastic designer. Triskele was formed in 2011, by UK authors Gillian Hamer, JJ Marsh and Liza, who’s originally from Australia and lives in France. In 2012, three more authors joined the team, Jasper Dorgan, JD Smith and Catriona Troth.
Although they write in slightly different genres, their books are aimed at a similar audience. All the books are “serious” works of fiction, mostly historicals, set in exotic times and places. They look fascinating.
As they put it, The Triskele Trail is a story about “a writers’ collective who made some mistakes and some smart decisions; who discovered opportunities, found friends and dodged predators in the independent publishing jungle…This is not a How-To book. This is How-We-Did-It.”
I’m so grateful to Liza for guesting for us while I recover from the flu and the loss of my mom. Liza has been amazingly gracious while I’ve been kind of a dragon-lady. Thanks a bunch, Liza! …Anne
An
Alternative Route to Publishing – The Author Collective
by
Liza Perrat
Once upon a time there were three authors. They met via an online writing group where they honed their writing skills, critiqued each other’s work, and where, attracted by the quality of each other’s writing, they gravitated towards each other. Around the end of 2011, each with manuscripts they believed were fit for the public eye, these three writers found themselves in a similar predicament.
‘Cross-genre won’t sell,’ Gillian’s agent said, of her historically-based crime thrillers with a touch of
the otherworldly.
‘Your crime novels are far too cerebral,’ one agent said about JJ Marsh’s European crime series.
‘Love it, but can’t see how to sell it,’ publishers told Liza’s agent, of her Revolutionary France novel.
Frustration at traditional publishing routes became a common topic of conversation so, spread across Europe and the UK, they got together and discussed their fears, hopes and plans.
At that stage, even as self-publishing was becoming an increasingly attractive option, the market was still littered with poorly-written, badly-presented vanity projects. They expressed their reservations about this, and about the lonely prospect of trying to tout their books in such a crowded marketplace, not to mention the frightening thought of taking on all that responsibility alone.
The idea of a team emerged. Sharing it between three, with that sense of mutual support, made it not only appealing but quite exciting. Apart, they were nothing, but together, they could make one hell of a team!
With all the administration of establishing a business, and because, legally, each member wanted to retain her own rights, they did not want to be a small press. So, they became simply a group of authors working as a team to promote their writing. Along the way, they picked up two more valuable members, and today the Triskele Books Author Collective remains a core group of five, inviting associate members from time to time, to publish under their label.
This is their story.
Getting the Author Collective off the Ground …
- High quality writing
- Professional presentation
- A strong sense of place
To brand ourselves, we chose the triskele as our logo, with its three independent, yet connected, circles. We had already designed our marketing materials when we realised that the triskele symbol is also an identifier for the BDSM community. What the heck, we thought … all welcome, BYO whip and chains!
The question of finances arose next. Even though each author retains her own rights and profits, for Triskele Books to get off the ground, there had had to be a certain financial commitment. We voted in our cash-savvy member as financial manager, she opened a bank account and we all deposited an initial float to cover website, promotional material, design and initial launch. She sends out bank statements for all expenses and, as and when we need to add funds, we all chip in equal sums.
Our biggest mistake in the beginning was everyone trying to do everything. After losing a website, dragging books across London on a hot Saturday afternoon and putting noses out of joint by forgetting to use “REPLY ALL” for emails, we soon learned it was better to assign tasks to individual strengths. Each had a skill, and we should focus on that.
So, our admin girl now draws up monthly workplans, assigning each member –– based on her particular skills –– certain tasks, which the others know will be done to the best of her ability.
The Nitty-Gritty of our Author Collective…
For the actual book-writing aspects we basically hold each other’s hands throughout the process. We critique, edit and advise on each other’s drafts before they go for final professional proofreading. You might think that four editors could be counter-productive, but we all try and keep in mind what the author wants to achieve, and how we can help her to get there.
For marketing and promotion, we share the workload. In today’s crowded marketplace, an author has to shout pretty loudly to be heard over all the other voices, and it’s hard to keep thinking up new and witty things to say. Being part of a group means there is no lone wolf crying into the wilderness; we take turns out there, spreading the word, which leaves more time for actual writing. We argue. Not often, but we do. However, among five voices, we always find a solution.
Each writer self-publishes her own books. Choices regarding print and/or e-book, distributors, exclusivity or otherwise, translation rights, etc., are all up to the individual author. So far, we have all shared the same designer, but that’s not mandatory. Of course, we examine and discuss all the options together, but it’s as simple as that.
We have come to rely on each other for all these things, and take comfort in the knowledge that these mammoth tasks are far less daunting when shared. Not only that, but the pressure not to let the others down is even more of an incentive.
Tips for Writers Considering an Author Collective …
- First and foremost, we believe you should look at quality, or level, of writing. Don’t join with someone who can talk the talk and has a thousand Facebook and Twitter friends, but who lacks the skill, or ambition, to match your level of writing.
- One of the main reasons many people self-publish is to maintain absolute editorial control. All members of your Collective should be dedicated to quality and making each book the best it can be. It’s a good idea to say that all members must unanimously agree on any decisions concerning the Collective, and that you will never publish a book that does not have the full backing and agreement of the others.
- Look at diversity of skills. Who can do what? Who has business sense, financial nous, organisational skills? Who can market, and where?
- Don’t collaborate with anyone you do not like as a person. You might adore their writing, but if the very sight of them irritates you, it’ll never gel.
- Ask yourself if you would be happy to go into business with these people. Because even though this isn’t a company set-up in the strict sense, the commitment is identical. There’s a lot of work and energy involved in self-publishing, and no ship can afford to carry unseaworthy passengers.
- But the most vital question is: who is reliable? Basic trust has to be the foundation stone of a workable Collective. You need members who can be honest about every aspect of the game; who are not afraid to tell each other the unpalatable truth. You also need people who are trustworthy on an emotional level. The route to independent publishing is bloody hard work, so someone will always be hyper, another despondent and another neutral. Whenever one hits a wall, she needs to be able to rely on the others to prop her back up. And of course, you have the slightest doubt that any of your colleagues might high-tail it to Rio with the Collective booty, best not to consider working with them.
Founding a Collective is not something to be taken lightly, but with a team of like-minded, motivated people, it is becoming a truly viable option in today’s publishing world.
Our Author Collective Two Years Down the Line …
Eighteen months after launching the first three Triskele Books, our strategy seems to be working. In addition to practical advantages such multiple critiquers, editors and proofreaders, not to mention the emotional benefits of being able to crow or cry to sympathetic ears, the key gain has been the mutiplying of our marketing network.
We have launched our titles in sets of three or four, every six months. Each book carries an ad in the back for the others in its set, as well as a complete list of all Triskele titles.
People seem to respond more positively to the concept of a Collective rather than just another self-published book. Our sales are on the rise, we have supportive and enthusiastic readers, books ready to publish through to 2016, and a queue of authors lining up to jump onto the Triskele team.
We’ve gained valuable advice from successful independently-published authors, swapped marketing and networking opportunities. We’ve grown to depend on each other whilst retaining our individuality.
Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves and letting out books stagnate on a hard drive, we have taken on the publishing industry, our way. Independently publishing novels to a professional standard has proved to be hard work, frustrating and exciting. We’ve shared the angst, the uncertainties, the mistakes, and learned a lot in a short time.
In conjunction with our latest release of Triskele Books at the Chorleywood Literary Festival, we’ve collated everything we’ve learnt –– our mistakes, our successes, our experiences ––into a short eBook titled The Triskele Trail.
by Lisa Perrat (@LisaPerrat) December 2013
Liza grew up in Wollongong, Australia, where she worked as a general nurse and midwife for fifteen years. When she met her French husband on a Bangkok bus, she moved to France, where she has been living with her husband and three children for twenty years. Her stories have been published widely in anthologies and small press magazines. Her articles on French culture and tradition have been published in international magazines such as France Magazine and France Today.
She has completed four novels and one short-story collection, and is represented by Judith Murdoch of the Judith Murdoch Literary Agency.
Spirit of Lost Angels is the first in the historical L’Auberge des Anges series set against a backdrop of rural France, and published under the Triskele Books label in May, 2012. The second in the series –– Wolfsangel –– was published in October, 2013, and Liza is working on the third novel in the series ––Midwife Héloïse – Blood Rose Angel –– set during the 14th century Black Plague years.
Liza reviews books for the Historical Novel Society and Words with Jam magazine.
E-mail: liza.perrat@gmail.com
Website: www.lizaperrat.com
Blog: http://lizaperrat.blogspot.com
Twitter: @LizaPerrat
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/liza.perrat.5
I've heard the term collective before, but never knew what it meant. I'd say trust would definitely be one of the most important things, followed by dedication. Lacking either of those things would bring the whole business to a halt.
Thanks for this very intriguing post. I love this idea. Just imagine the leap in quality that would occur if every self-pubbed author had four high quality editors & each author bought into the policy that no book was ready for the world until all partners agreed. Wow. Also, I bow to the partner who found the cover designer.
Thanks for your comment, Alex J. Cavanaugh. Trust certainly is probably the most important thing for us… total trust in each other is mandatory in such a collective.
Hi CS Perryess, glad you enjoyed the post. We believe the "collective" effort certainly does raise the quality of our books.
Fascinating idea- it's something to definitely think about – but as others (and the post) have emphasised you would definitely need to be all at the same standard.
Excellent post!
Liz, thanks for such an interesting and informative post. Your creative approach opens yet another door for writers as publishing continues to evolve & change.
Once again, a superb column on something that is new, intriguing, and not often profiled in our writing world. Thanks, Liz!
I would think it would be like choosing a room-mate — the wrong choice is disaster and financially painful to say the least.
I am happy the collective turned out so well for those three ladies. I have terrible luck in choosing room-mates so I would be afraid to join one. Thanks for a fascinating post.
Alex–Some people may be turned off by the word "collective" since it makes some people think of Karl Marx 🙂 But it just means a joint partnership. It can work really well for people who work well as a team.
CS–That's just what I thought. It's like a critique group going pro. A fascinating idea.
Liza–We are so grateful that you shared your experiences with us. I understand you're about to fly from France to Australia, so you may not have time to stop by again, but thanks so much for the guest post!
Emily–Good to see you here! Yes, the most important thing would have to be the same level of professionalism all around.
Ruth–That's it: another possible path. This is a great era for publishing options.
Melodie–Thanks for stopping by, and yes, I haven't seen enough about this as a possibility, but I think we'll see more of this in the future.
Roland–LOL. Yes, it would be very like choosing a roommate. You need to be very careful and consider many different factors. It could be a disaster.
What a wonderful idea! As several of the others have commented, finding kindred spirits who can walk the same talk can be challenging. Definitely food for thought!
Phyllis–I'm still happy being with a small publisher, but if I ever decide to form a collective, I'll let you know. Thanks!
Joanne–The secret is finding other people who want to be 100% professional with their writing. Not that hobbyists don't often do well with self-publishing, but with a collective, everybody needs to commit to serious hard work.
Lexa–Thanks. A partnership can be tough–like a marriage. But when people are serious about making it work, I think they can work magic. I think the Triskele authors have done that.
This is a great idea. Anne, if you start a collective, will you please consider me? I have a writer friend I'd trust with my life (and she's a good writer too) so that makes three of us already.
Thank you for so many great comments. It's brilliant that so many people are interested in the idea of author collectives.
I am another one of the Triskele gang and I know just how lucky I have been to have found this group. But of course, it didn't happen overnight. We spent a long time getting to know each other as writers and critiquers before the idea of a collective even began to cross our minds. And several of us already had some experience of working together on Words with Jam magazine – which also had its origins in the same amazing on-line critique group that gave birth to Triskele.
Anne's right – it's a lot like a marriage. You have to work at it every single day. But the rewards are huge.
Thanks again for giving us a platform, Anne.
Catriona Troth
Thanks Liz and Anne for such a fabulous post. I particularly like the idea of joint authorship growing out of the mutual editing/critique function, which is one of the best things to happen to me.
A fellow author from my superb critique group is so gung-ho about just getting things done, she encouraged me to join her… well, what would you call it? We put our books on the same website (four of us now- the Independent Bookworm), encourage each other a lot, and mutually achieve slow-blogging nirvana by rotating the duties. Joint critique and publish, no- and cover designer, that's a great idea to consider. Just so many aspects of support that an indie-author needs.
But the best part, I would say, is proving the agents and trad-pub folks wrong by achieving success. Good on you as they say, Liz! And paper books sometimes too, don't think I missed that part.
Anne, my sincere sympathy on your loss.
Lisa did a great job of explaining something I'd never heard of. Although not connected to the collective discussion, I've often wished I had a partner to write books with because there's safety in numbers, right? 🙂
Thanks for your post on what is a collective and how your team went about creating it. It sounds like a good way to make sure that the quality of the work and marketing is tops. It's a bit daunting out there as a self-pub writer. I've made sure that I have a cover designer, editors and seek help on formatting. My novel is in book form and ebook. I work hard for my book while I finish up edits on the proof for the next one. I'm proud that it was chosen by librarians as their book read for 2013. I consider many other writers as part of my team. Collective is an interesting concept. Do you have any legal rules,etc in addition to mission?
Catriona–Thanks for stopping by and congrats on your success with Triskele! Your book should make a great guidebook for any group of writers who want to follow in your footsteps.
Trekelny–Banding together is a great way to promote books, and blogging partnerships really work. Ruth and I have benefited so much from our collaboration here. And good critique groups can help writers in so many ways.
Claude–Thanks. No matter how old somebody is, their passing causes a kind of shock. I do think the collective is a great idea. So far I've only partnered with one person at a time. Having more people involved would lighten the burden, but also multiply the possible headaches. People would have to choose very carefully.
Fois–I hope your friend will buy the Triskele book. How great to have a guidebook for future collectives to benefit from the experience of these authors!
History–Major congrats on being chosen for the Library reads. It's true that most indies put together their own team, but the collective gives equal responsibility instead of one person hiring the others. That works for some personalities and not others. I'm sure the Triskele book gives pointers on the legal questions. Of course UK and EU laws may be different for partnerships than in the US. If Liza stops in again after she gets to Oz, maybe she can let us know if there were legal hoops to jump through
Anne, so sorry about your loss, this is surely one of the worst losses to go through in anyone's life!
And thanks Liz, for bringing your experience to us, I'm fascinated by the collective idea. I dream of finding partners in publishing and nothing would make me happier than promote other people's books if/when I believe in them, that they are truly quality writing!
Of course, I realize that this is a dream very similar to the one young women harbor when they look for their Prince Charming…And that an authors collective would be like a marriage. But it would be so much better than going at it alone – everything would become easier, the editing, the book cover, the book cover blurbs, the twitter campaigns, the Facebook postings etc etc
Yes, Anne, if you ever think of creating a collective, count me in!
Before leaving a comment, I sent this link to a close friend who is in the process of doing what Lisa and Triskele has done. Stellar way to get through the process with strong support. There is always power in numbers. Lisa, good luck to all your efforts 🙂
Christine–As the member of a former business cooperative, you know exactly what's involved here. You ran an art gallery as a cooperative for several years. You had dedicated people, but I think you all discovered it was harder than it looked.
JJ–Thanks for stopping by and answering Historywriter's question. Very smart to keep legal complications out of it as much as possible, especially since you're in different countries. We all really admire what you've accomplished.
Maggie–Thanks for telling us about Windtree Press! It sounds as if you learned some valuable lessons. Definitely having each member share the financial responsibility is crucial. Also, you'd have to make sure nobody had any "queen bee" tendencies, or it could feel very constricting. Interesting that your biggest take-away is that it made you a better writer. That's a big plus.
This is so interesting. I would think that trust would be the number one issue. Trusting others to do as they say and to tell the truth. Discovering and taking advantage of members strengths is very smart. Creating a small group of people who absolutely have your back is brilliant and I would think very freeing. Thank you for sharing your story.
Thanks so much for a host of interesting observations, and astute assessments of the relationship.
Yes, it IS based on trust, and respect. As Catriona says, that's what drew us to each other – admiration for each other's writing AND critiques. When you find someone who can make you better than you are, grab them with both hands. OK, the marriage analogy has gone far enough!
The 5 of us make a good team because we are honest. We tell each other when things aren't quite up to standard and insist we all keep aiming higher.
As for legal issues, we didn't want to become a legal entity as we live in 3 different countries and the complexities would be a nightmare. So we work together, contribute equally to costs and efforts but have no official obligations as a collective. And two years on, it's working pretty well.
Thank you, Anne, for hosting us today, and provoking such an absorbing discussion.
I really appreciate you sharing your story. Like you, when I joined indie publishing in 2011 I wanted a team and started a cooperative with two other authors. Only one of those two is still with us, but five others have now joined. The three things you described which I have found most important are: 1) make sure everyone gets along and is willing to make joint decisions; 2) make sure everyone has a similar commitment to producing quality books on a regular basis; and 3) work out the money in advance so that no one person ends up being the one to pay.
Windtree Press has made this journey much more rich and safe for me and I hope the others as well. I have always believed that like-minded people with the same goals will go farther together than separately. It isn't as easy as being on your own, but I believe it makes me significantly better.
What's interesting to me about this is I have several author friends I've known for a while and we often do this without even realizing it. We talk about covers, editing, and read each others books for issues that range from continuity to copy editing. And I didn't even realize we were doing something like this on a smaller scale.
I've always prefered working with small publishers for the collaboration I get. And when I indie publish something it's 100 times harder to feel secure in releasing a book.
But this kind of collaborative effort is very interesting, and one I think will be getting more attention in the future.
Ryan–I'm like you: I prefer working with small publishers. But collaborating would make it much less scary to go it "alone". I do think collectives are the future. This post got picked up by the Passive Voice and in the thread there, someone mentioned a collective that's run by Ursula Leguin and friends. If somebody of her stature is doing it, there will be more.
Thanks for posting about it. I agree and I think we'll see more of this.
ryan–I agree.
Sherrie–It's not ony a "thing" but a trending thing. Go for it!
Wow, I'd never heard of this before! I think it could be a great option… and just the fact there are options makes me happy.
I'm so glad you posted this because I've been seriously thinking about doing this with some friends, but I had no idea it was an actual "thing." This makes me very happy to see. Thanks so much!
This is a terrific concept. The writing team of Brit Darby has done something similar for several years now. Two individual authors, previously established with traditional publishers, got back our book rights and went the indie route when releasing our titles as e-books. We did cover design, editing, e-formatting and marketing on our own. An added twist is that we also co-write books as Brit Darby, so we are set up as an LLC for business purposes. It has been a positive experience on every level, as we have similar interests and writing styles, but bring respective strengths that benefit us both individually and as a team.
Jennifer–I'm with you: the more options the better.
BritDarby–What a wonderful story of collaboration! I'll check out your books.
Good to see authors not letting themselves be beaten by the difficult circumstances we all find ourselves in. Good luck to the collective.
Me-Time–I felt the same way. These are authors who are thinking creatively during a time of upheaval in the business. They deserve to do well.
Thanks so much. My mom was generous to a fault, and she taught me that helping others is the best road to happiness. So if I helped a few writers with this post, I'm carrying on her tradition.
L–Sounds as if you had a mother like mine. She was amazingly generous to everybody. These authors are being generous to each other–and themselves, by forming a company that makes their work the best it can be.