“Available to read on Kindle now!”
“Available in all good book stores!”
I cannot wait to be uttering these immortal words in the very near future!
Followers of my Social Media Channels will have already been made aware that I intended to establish a publishing company. Well, it’s here! I am delighted to announce that The Furious Publisher is the first company in what is now The Furious Engineer ‘Group’, I guess. Next step, world domination…? For all the right reasons , naturally!
It would have been born some weeks ago, in fact…but Companies House ‘upgraded’ their filing and registration system a few weeks ago…and yes…you guessed it, it immediately stopped working! However, the upgrade is now stable (or reversed), and the backlog has been cleared. Rejoice!
In the months that I have been participating in the frustrating ‘query’ process which all too many authors endure, it has become clear that the traditional publishing model more resembles a gatekeeping model. I don’t claim to know everything about the publishing industry, but am confident that I know enough to realise there’s a better way. My own experience with my first novel is that I sent 36 query letters, and abjectly failed to convince anyone to even ask for my manuscript, never mind read it! You may already know, but an author doesn’t send an unsolicited manuscript to publishers, as publishers require that submissions come from agents. The agents I have ‘communicated’ with (a VERY loose term) reveal that they can expect over 200 submissions a week, and so they don’t want manuscripts either (for obvious reasons). Instead they ask for a short synopsis (including all the twists and reveals), an elevator pitch, and a blurb. On that basis alone, they will either ask for your manuscript, or respond (eventually…well…some of them) declining to consider your work. The art of blurb-, synopsis-, and elevator pitch-writing is clearly an art form I am yet to master, I accept.
There are many reasons as to why the submission process must be so, but these reasons do not need to be tolerated. I’ve created The Furious Publisher to facilitate a different way of doing things. A fresh take on self-publication if you like, which I can’t wait to share with you as the next few months unfold…
Like this website, The Furious Publisher will be split into two imprints – Science and Fiction. The Fiction imprint will feature my novels…I am so close from sharing the first one with you…so close in fact that it hurts!! The Science imprint will feature both practical and academic safety engineering guides and books from authors other than me (but from me as well, of course!)
I don’t yet know how large The Furious Publisher will become. But I can’t wait to share with you my novels and safety engineering handbooks in the first instance. Please do sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of this page, so you never miss the latest news and releases! Thank you so much.
Yours, in writing…
Matt
