Adventures
... in publishing
Six months ago when Ian Ridley asked me to get involved with the small sports book publisher Floodlit Dreams that he runs with Seth Burkett, it was a no brainer.
I had got to know both Ian and Seth over the years. I first met Ian through his wife Vikki Orvice who had been a director of Women in Football - although our paths crossed only briefly in 2018 as sadly cancer took her from us too early. Ian and I in fact first bonded through the early years of his widowerhood, sitting in the café of our local cathedral over tea and buns, and talking about life, grief, the universe and everything.
I got to know Seth later. He has a fantastic back story which you can read in his wonderful book The Boy in Brazil. I hope he won’t mind me saying but as well as being super-talented, he’s kind, calm, and ever helpful and hard-working.
One day in 2022 just after the Lionesses’ victory at Wembley, Ian called me and said ‘I want you to write a book about it,’ and the result was The Homecoming. That’s every writer’s dream. No pitching, no hustling, no chasing an agent: instead, a publisher calls you and says, ‘Please write a book for me’.
We wind forward to 2025 and my getting involved with Floodlit Dreams. In the six months since I joined, we have published There’s Gonna Be a Show by Jimmy Mulville (logline: ‘It’s the Odyssey, but Everton FC is Ithaca’), and we’ve announced the publication of 1996 by Tony Adams (logline: ‘Thirty years of wisdom, sobriety, growth and giving back by the former captain of Arsenal and England’).
My role has involved proper entry level work, as it should for someone new to the industry with a lot to learn. I’ve run the social media, pitched to book festivals and done look-and-learn as Seth and Ian have discussed production, paper quality, print quantities, pricing strategies and as our brilliant publicist Laura Lees has conjured up amazing appearances and media opportunities for our writers. Here are the lessons about publishing I’ve learnt.
1. Big Names Sell. However, the book must also be good - never compromise on this. Most publishers care about quality writing - we certainly do at Floodlit Dreams - and want to give stand-out newbies their chance, just as Ian did with me. But Big Names Sell. We have some thinking to do about our future list, but one way forward is to use the sales from a book by a Big Name to help bring to market new writing.
2. Writers: be low-ego and good author to work with. I found out after The Homecoming was published that before he approached me to write the Lionnesses’ book, Ian had approached a Big Name - someone well known, a fantastic writer in a different genre, someone who ships books, someone whose books have been adapted for TV. If I was Ian, I would have approached them too. Be flattered that you’re next on the list. And Ian having come to me, it was up to me to prove I could deliver. I worked hard. I listened to and actioned his feedback. I met every deadline on the nail.
3. Find your home on social media. It used to be X, but engagement has declined. It’s not TikTok because we’re small and can’t produce enough short videos on a regular basis. It may be Insta which seems to have an audience for our content. Facebook is TBC as the effect of consent-or-pay plays out. And of course there’s BlueSky which doesn’t get huge pick-up, but is relatively civilised. Which is best for us? At the moment it’s a rapidly changing area but Insta is of increasing interest to us, although our numbers remain (as on all our accounts) small.
4. Perfect stock control is the goal. This isn’t rocket science. It’s the kind of thing that comes up in The Apprentice and that people get stunningly right or badly wrong. Here’s how it plays out in our world. Your latest book gets a shout-out by Richard Osman on The Rest is Entertainment. Sales spike. Shall we press the button on another 1000 copies? But it’s a two-week lead time for production. Will the spike still be going then? Stock control is part art, part science, and one of the most important things you do as a publisher.
I am still learning, but I am enjoying every step along the journey. Marketing 101 says I must end with a Call To Action so you know what to do: check out our socials, our website, our books. I would also love to connect with other publishers, or other small businesses who are walking a similar road to us. And whatever your line of business, let me know your thoughts on this article.
This article also appears on my LinkedIn.