ASSIGNMENT FEEDBACK SHEET
for MA Publishing assignments:
Student number: 210048960
Module Title and code: CRW7021M The Journey of the Book
Assignment Title: A portfolio containing a case study of the journey of Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library throughout its entire publishing process, following the contemporary publishing cycle.
Total word count (excluding bibliography): 4241
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A portfolio containing a case study of the journey of Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library throughout its entire publishing process, following the contemporary publishing cycle.
a. Literary Agency
b. Editing and Editors
c. Covers, Interior Design and Production
d. Marketing and Publicity
e. Metadata and Legal
f. Sales and Distribution
g. Bookselling
h. Readers: After publication
Introduction
This portfolio aims to provide a critical reflection upon the journey of The Midnight Library throughout its publishing process. The portfolio will be formatted to follow the contemporary publishing process, showing interconnectedness between each separate component. All scholarly references will be grouped within the bibliography.
Overview of the contemporary publishing process
“Publishing, as it is generally understood, is the commercial activity of putting books into the public domain” (Feather, 2006). Publishers themselves, are ‘entrepreneurs of ideology’ (Bhaskar, 2013). The original Publishing Cycle was described by Robert Darnton (1982) as “a communications circuit that runs from the author to the publisher, the printer, the shipper, the bookseller, and the reader”. This cycle remained mostly unchanged, until the advance of the internet, and e-books such as Amazon’s kindle. Research shows that many readers prefer a printed hard copy – Nielsen BookScan data reported a 2.1% increase in print publishing industry value from 2017 to 2018 (Flood, 2019), which gives hope to modern publishers today. These publishers follow a modernised version of Darnton’s cycle: literary agent, editing, covers and interior design, production, marketing and publicity, metadata and legal, sales and distribution, bookselling, and the readers. For the purposes of this portfolio, each segment of the modern publishing cycle has been applied to a case study: The Midnight Library (Haig, 2020) and critically analysed using theory from The Content Machine (Bhaskar, 2013). A manuscript navigates the path, beginning as a rough Word document. It ends as a complete text, gleaming from the attentions of many skilled editors and designers, produced as a handsome hardback with an eye-catching jacket. Bhaskar (2013) alludes to the idea that ‘publishing can never be divorced from content’, and that it is the role of the publisher to make works ready to sell.
Literary Agents
No figure is more influential than the literary agent (McGrath, 2021). The agent is the central figure in the literary field, the intermediary between author and publisher. Their business is selling and licensing rights to a variety of media at home and abroad on the behalf of their client authors with whom they have a contract (Clark & Phillips, 2020). They negotiate deals, check authors’ advance payments and royalties, and chase debts.
The agent acts as a gatekeeper within the industry and carries out initial filtering for the publisher (Bhaskar, 2013). They’re the first step in the cycle as, without them, authors would have to undertake the mammoth task of not only writing their book, but creating legal contracts, ‘selling’ the idea to publishers, and liaising with editors back and forth. The role of the agent is one that
ultimately benefits both writer and publisher (Rennoldson, 2020) as it enables ease of transaction. The Agent is the stage of the cycle that shows a huge amount of interconnectedness between each phase: the author may only be in contact with the Agent, who in turn is in negotiations with editors, marketing, PR, production, cover design, and even legal.
Haig’s agent is Claire Conville, founder of UK based literary agency Conville and Walsh. C&W are a leading international literary agency, representing an eclectic range of bestselling and awardwinning authors (C&W, 2020). Haig has worked alongside Conville since The Girl Who Saved Christmas, published in 2000. Publishing is about judgement, taste, aesthetics and the exercise of reason (Bhaskar, 2013) and it is arguably the Agent who is the puppeteer holding the strings –Conville stated that “stories manifest our higher consciousness – we frame our life and death through them” (Pryor, 2021). This influence is seen in The Midnight Library, which is a truly moving novel framed both by Haig, and his agent, Conville’s perspective.
A negative of the literary agent is that an agent has to in some way, align themselves with the authors they represent. Many literary agents do not provide their clients with written agency agreements, relying solely upon the agency clauses that will be inserted into publishing agreements. This level of trust means an agent has a ‘fiduciary’ duty to the author, and must avoid conflicts of interest (Authors Guild, 2018). Agents filter texts – they’re the ones who make selections to pass along to editors. They consider how the content may be framed for the audience, and how amplified the text may become. This also means that agents have a huge level of control – most writers have neither the time nor the inclination to stay abreast of all the changes taking place within the industry (Thompson, 2010) and so they rely upon their agent to make decisions on their behalf
Editing and Editors
The editor: the individual responsible for bringing the book to the house, who sculpts the text and makes critical calls on its presentation (Bhaskar, 2013). The editor is a key player in the publishing process, much like the literary agent. Most remain unseen to readers, and many have speciality fields that they work within. A publisher depends on its editors to provide a sufficient flow of publishable projects to maintain the planned level of activity, for example 15 to 30 new books annually per editor (Clark & Phillips, 2020). Editors are urged to find “gap-filling” books or create ideas for books that could be used to help meet the targets set for them (Thompson, 2013). Editorial standards and styles vary widely, as do the roles of editors, other editorial office staff, and reviewers (Benson & Silver, 2013). The editor represents the author to the house, and the house to the author – and the reader to the author (Ginna, 2017).
Canongate has an editorial team of 9 (Canongate, 2021), Megan Reid, Assistant Editor, worked alongside Francis Bickmore, Publishing Director, with Matt Haig on The Midnight Library. Leila Cruickshank, Managing Editor, also project managed the process. It can be assumed, that Reid was first editor, overseen by both Bickmore and Cruickshank, whereas Bickmore, as Director, was the one to accept the manuscript from Haig. Canongate is a British publishing house, based in Edinburgh, Scotland – Haig was born in the North of England, Sheffield, making this book truly British. Unlike new authors, Haig has rapport and influence with his editorial team, as they have edited and published many of his previous novels including Reasons to Stay Alive (Haig, 2015) This relationship provides both Canongate and Haig with an advantage – he knows the team will take his manuscript, due to his previous success, and the team know his work will be profitable not unlike his other novels.
The editor, then, is a connector – a conduit from writer to reader – but also a translator, improving the communication from each to the other. Depending on the size of the publishing house, the tasks of the editing team could be carried out by a singular editor, or split between multiple individuals (Ginna, 2017). What Canongate did successfully was edit The Midnight Library in a way as to make the story make sense with a relatable and likeable main character without compromising the meaningful message Haig was trying to portray through themes such as regret, hope, and forgiveness (Waterstones, 2020). The editors filtered original material to meet the demands of the story set forth by Haig – he reflects on life decisions, and the meaning of life, but with a light touch The Midnight Library is written regarding relatively new territory – only in the 2010’s was “a world with good mental health for all is a vision that will take a global movement to achieve” recognised by the Mental Health Foundation (Smith, 2019). The range and nature of publishing must at some level be socially conditioned, just as it is conditioned by the range of possible technologies (Bhaskar, 2013). Whilst reproduction is tightly controlled to create profit, primary production is given a degree of creative autonomy to adapt to market conditions and the audience (Ryan, 1991).
Covers, Interior Design, and Production
Book production is the process of turning a raw manuscript into a final printed product, or e-book – through editing, design, formatting, and printing – known as the production umbrella. The key elements of the value chain of publishing are the acquisition of intellectual property, editorial, design and production, marketing, and sales, and publishers will control these functions directly. Publishers can combine stages of the value chain, for example, editorial, design, and production may be combined into one function (Clark & Phillips, 2008).
Between advertising, guerrilla campaigns, product placement, and social media, it’s become extremely difficult to get noticed, much less remembered. To be successful, covers not only have
to stand out amongst all the clutter, but they also need to make a connection with their audience (Singer, 2011). They need to engage the reader through inspiration. They need to pique the readers’ interest. Readers will filter works based on their appearance – so it is often important for fiction novels especially, such as The Midnight Library, to adhere to genre tropes.
Cover design typically starts with a meeting where the title and subtitle are refined, then moves to a series of design presentations where different concepts are presented, one or two are selected, then refined (Klems, 2016). Editorial, design, marketing, and sales representatives all have to agree that the cover is right. Editors tend to speak on behalf of the author; however, marketing and sales tend to hold the most weight as publishers understand their informed market perspective that book covers are a sales tool. Agents are able to negotiate “consult” for their client, within their contracts, however even without this, if an author isn’t happy with the cover, it will most likely be changed. The Midnight Library’s various covers all designed by Rafaela Romaya, in-house editor for Canongate Books.
The Midnight Library has many covers, and whilst they all share similar features, they’re each very different. The UK hardcover version (see appendix 1) has the title in yellow lowercase font, and iconography of a building in the centre of the cover. The UK paperback version (see appendix 2) has similar iconography; however, the book title is in uppercase yellow. The winter edition (appendix 3) bears the icon of the building still, but the title and author name are in uppercase silver metallic font – and specks of snow adorn the cover. This shows that with each reprint, the cover is edited slightly – leaving important aspects of the cover which help define the brand of the book. This includes the building, with the shadow of a cat, the colour of the cover being a midnight blue, and the tag lines – or subheadings – “One Library’ and “Infinite Lives”. The choice to edit the cover design comes perhaps from the success of the book – with over 2 million copies sold (Haig, 2021), the use of the cover for need of assisting sales is less important due to other mitigating factors that will be discussed later in this portfolio.
The interior design choices are also interesting. As with most novels, each new line is indented within the text, and the font size and style are typical. The Midnight Library was typeset in Minion by Palimpsest Book Production, and printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd. There are many excerpts included, and as the novel is written in third person ‘omniscient’ perspective, they are stylistically designed to stand out to the reader. For example, the lead character, Nora, writes a suicide note. When presented to the reader, is has its own page, and is in italics. Every design decision helps frame the novel for the reader. The cover helps readers perceive genre, themes, and content, whilst interior choices help the reader determine important information.
Publishers are not only capitalists. They also need to be aesthetes and intellectuals, cultural mavens, trend watchers and astute critics (Bhaskar, 2013). Bourdieu (1993) describes publishers as working in the field of ‘restricted production’, polarised between making money and gaining cultural legitimacy
Marketing and PR
The first step to marketing books is the creation of a ‘brand’ for the author. Publishers have to be able to demonstrate to authors the efficiency of their marketing efforts, and their ability to manage an author’s brand (Clark & Phillips, 2020). The challenge is to create and raise ‘brand’ awareness.
Social media has been pivotal in the rise of the brand of the author. For the first time, authors are not enigmas, hidden in the shadow of their publishers. We as the reader can follow them online, keeping updated on their daily thoughts, or perhaps progress to a new work. Matt Haig, for example, has 744 thousand followers on Instagram, and 464.4 thousand on Twitter. Say, for example, Haig has an engagement rate of 1.8% (statistic taken from Creator IQ), 13.5k of his followers will see and engage with his content at the time of posting. If Haig were to create a prepublication campaign to create buzz around his product and generate pre-orders, simply posting to his Instagram could see 13 thousand pre-orders. The obvious negative to this availability of authors is that perhaps the public won’t like their true self, and their book sales and visibility suffer because of this.
Many marketing techniques are low cost – especially for big budget publishing houses. At Canongate, Alice Shortland is Marketing Director in charge of campaigns for authors – a promotion which she achieved due to her successful efforts with The Midnight Library (Comerford, 2021). Haig’s book went viral – a feat every marketer wishes to achieve. When a campaign goes viral, word of mouth across social media, buzz in news articles, and celebrity endorsement occur often with little to no money spent. The Midnight Library went viral on Tik Tok – the hashtag #themidnightlibrary has 5.5 million views, and #midnightlibrary has 3.8 million. This is free brand awareness. Technology facilitates direct to consumer marketing and a dialogue with readers and users. Publishers can connect with individuals within the audience, to inform publishing decisions and increase marketing cost-effectiveness (Clark & Phillips, 2020) and ultimately higher ROI (return on investment).
The importance of the author’s brand identity cannot be overlooked. A strong author brand is a credible signal of quality to book buyers, which means more authority, more influence, and ultimately more sales.
Metadata and Legal
The literary agent would be in charge of creating contracts on behalf of their client, to the publishing house via the editor. These typically include clauses on fees, royalties, and advances for the author – of which Haig received £600,000 (Moss, 2021), and the publisher may want the author to warrant that they are the original creator of the work, that it hasn’t been previously published, and that it won’t infringe the right of any third party. Many warranties in a publishing contract will be directed at the issue of content liability, in the event that a work contains legally problematic material. In The Midnight Library, Haig’s copyright has been established, and asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act (1988), which means Haig signed that the intellectual property within the book is his, and his alone. The publishers also issued a statement within the printed book regarding copyright holders, offering the opportunity for errors or accidental omissions to be corrected for future reprints.
Brexit caused many regulations to be reviewed and reformatted, however most UK copyright works will be protected in the EU and UK due to the UK’s continued participation in the international treaties on copyright (GOV.UK, 2021). Whilst the UK is a member of several international conventions on copyright, there are two that relate mostly to publishing and authors, the Berne Convention, and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (IPO, 2021). Authors automatically get copyright protection when they create original literary work, and it is important as it protects work and stops others using it without permission. Copyright also creates monopolies, which reduce risks, incentivise investment, and protect returns (St. Clair, 2004). Assignments of copyrights involve the transfer of ownership of copyright; licenses involve the granting of an express right to do something that would otherwise be an infringement of copyright. All publishing agreements should be in writing – a good written agreement provides evidence of the contract, ensures parties are of one mind, and reduces the risk of a dispute (Taylor, 2012).
Copyright laws must be consistent with prevailing markets and technologies, because technologies play a large role in creating consumer demand; markets then satisfy that demand (Patry, 2011).
To be effective, copyright laws must be based on the world of digital abundance, streaming rather than owning, and piracy in the terms of free pdf copies online. However, Hargreaves (2011) noted that laws designed more than three centuries ago are today obstructing innovation and economic growth. The current copyright regime cannot be considered fit for the digital age when millions of citizens are unknowingly in daily breach of copyright and confused about what is allowed and what isn’t. Therefore, it is arguable that whilst current copyright laws protect authors to a certain degree, reform must happen to protect creators online and worldwide. At present, copyright simply protects the monetary value of work.
In advanced economies like the UK’s, innovation is crucial to competitive edge. That makes Intellectual Property policy an increasingly important tool for stimulating economic growth (Hargreaves, 2011). Publishing is a matter of investment, in intellectual property, paper, presses, etc. (Patry, 2011) meaning publishers are willing to take risks if they believe they will receive profit. In order to grow creative businesses globally, they need efficient and effective digital markets to hone, where rights can be speedily licenced and effectively protected.
Metadata is hugely important in today’s digital age. Whilst there are still 967 physical independent bookshops in the UK (Bloom, 2021), a huge proportion of the sale of physical copies of books come from online purchases. Metadata acts as a filter between the author or publisher, and what consumer-facing channels such as retailers and libraries present to their consumers to help aid their spending choices (Pearce, 2020) when contributors apply for an ISBN number. Book metadata covers a vast array of nearly 4,000 individual data points ranging in classification and specifications – much like search engine optimisation for other products. Using Amazon as an example, consider this: Amazon utilise an automated search algorithm, named A9. This search algorithm provides consumers with not only the product searched for, but also products that are relevant to the original search. When metadata is applied correctly, the book attempting to be sold should be atop this similar products list. Essential metadata to include: title, subtitle and edition number, contributors, category and subject codes (BISAC), keywords, format, review quotes, audience code (ONIX), and age range (if applicable). Metadata must include an ISBN number –International Standard Book Number. ISBN is a product identifier used for ordering, listing, sales records, and stock control purposes. The ISBN identifies the registrant as well as the specific title, edition and format (ISBN, 2021). This filters books (Bhaskar, 2013), helping wholesalers, retailers, and consumers find a book in a category they are interested in.
So, for The Midnight Library, the basic metadata should look as follows. The Midnight Library: The No.1 Sunday Times bestseller. Canongate Books; Main edition (18 Feb. 2021). By Matt Haig (Author). Literary Fiction (BISAC code FIC019000) and Contemporary Fiction (BISAC code FIC000000). The Sunday Times Number One Bestselling Worldwide Phenomenon, Readers’ Most Loved Book of 2021, Winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction (Keywords in bold). English Language. Paperback, 304 pages. “Beautiful” Jodi Picoult, “Amazing” Joanna Cannon, “Absorbing” New York Times, “Thought-Provoking” Independent. Audience codes 01 (general adult). ISBN code 978 1 78689 273 7. The use of the correct metadata helped The Midnight Library become one of the best-selling books of 2020
Sales and Distribution
The term ‘sales’ in publishing covers three segments: selling, rights sales, and sales channels. Each of these segments will be reviewed in this section. The key aspects in distribution are customer care, accuracy in order fulfilment, speed and reliability in dispatch, physical production of the product, economies in dispatch, and credit control (Clark & Phillips, 2020).
Markets and technologies change, in a symbiotic way (Patry, 2011). This applies to publishing –unless demand for a work is shown, it will likely not be produced – or produced en masse. Sales forecasting is part of a risk assessment and decision for a publisher. Publishing books is a matter of careful inventory management, balancing and manipulating supply and demand in the marketplace so that its products and activities will safely navigate elastic pricing structures to make a profit (Bhaskar, 2013). Sales teams within publishing houses need to stimulate the visibility of products – for example, on Canongate (2022)’s website, The Midnight Library is featured prominently. Physical bookstores remain important for visibility (Clark & Phillips, 2020), however they rely on wholesalers, whereas online retailers now dominate sales for niche or older titles not regularly stocked in high street stores. Publishers sell books on the following terms: firm orders, sale or return, and eBooks (sold under license) Key account managers will push suitable books to each bookseller – e.g., Waterstones.
As mentioned in Legal and Metadata, the author-publisher contract sets the terms for the publisher to license rights to other firms. These rights allow the licensees to exploit the book across different vehicles, by media, territory, and language (Clark & Phillips, 2020). However, in consumer book publishing, where most contracts are drafted by agents, the publishers may have access to less rights – agents may choose to retain certain rights on behalf of the author. For consumer books, sales may depend on retail exposure and purchase prompts within physical bookshops. Search engine optimisation is also key in terms of promoting book titles. The top five sales channels are the Internet, bookshops, supermarkets, direct sellers (e.g., publishers’ websites), and other shops. The Midnight Library is available via each of these mediums. It was printed in the UK by Clays Ltd., a company who provide package benefits to publishers – “Clays provide a range of services to support the publishing supply-chain … working closely with publishers to ensure the most effective route to market … and to minimise risk by reducing inventory” (Clays, 2021). Whilst Canongate, Haig’s publisher, is a part of the Independence Alliance, they outsource printing and distribution to maximise profitability, as they are an independent publishing house. Their books are distributed by The Book Service.
Bookselling
Bookselling tends to be referred to as the commercial trading of books. Booksellers are passionate about their jobs, and love book culture. However, because of this, they are often taken advantage
of, paid minimum wage and expected to work long hours (Indeed, 2022). The effects of the internet and associated technologies continue to have major implications on the ways in which books are sold (Clark & Phillips, 2020). Internet retailing has hit physical bookstores – reducing the opportunity for in-store ‘impulse’ purchases. Online retailers benefit from something known as ‘the long tail’ – a simple metaphor for how online can offer a near-infinitely large selection of books whilst physical shops can only accommodate so much (Davies & Sigthorsson, 2013) Whilst consumers may be purchasing online, they are at least buying hard copy books over eBooks. Meryl Halls, managing director of the Booksellers’ Association in the UK stated “I think the physical object is very appealing. Publishers are producing increasingly gorgeous books” (Handley, 2019).
The Midnight Library was sold and promoted in both high street and online retail spaces. Waterstones repeatedly sold out of the book, having to refer people to their online website to purchase. Amazon still has Haig’s novel on its bestseller list – meaning people are still making that purchase.
In 1997, the Net Book Agreement was abandoned (Bullock, Jennings & Timbrell, 2019), introducing price wars to the bookselling market. This enabled sellers to price more competitively and opened access to reading for people who may have not been able to previously afford to buy books. Bookselling is about the amplification of the text, providing an outlet for multiple books, and copies (Bhaskar, 2013). The retailer is the final step between the publisher, and the reader.
Readers
After a book is published, it is wide open to interpretation by readers. Haig’s work was amplified by critics’ reviews and high ratings, gathering an immediate following and readership. It was ranked in the ’10 best novels’ list for 2020 by the Independent (2020), which again, amplified the novel to an even bigger audience. Film rights for The Midnight Library were optioned by Studiocanal and Blueprint (Wiseman, 2020).
After a book is successful, usually an audiobook will be released, and film or TV adaptations. Translations follow, and whilst the opportunity to share fiction between languages is incredible, ‘cultural translation’ (Pernerstorfer, 2012) refers to a book being transferred into a new cultural context, and the issues that may arise. The Midnight Library has been translated into 28 languages (Haig, 2020).
The journey of the book does not end with the reader. Its life will continue beyond, through the author, review cultures, adaptations, translations, and features – in games, or television.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the publishing industry is a business of selection. The problem is that in an industry preoccupied with growth, the only criterion that seems to matter more than any others is sales (Thompson, 2013). There are disappointments and costs in an industry where numbers rule, and where short-term growth and bottom-line profitability assume more importance. How books will be produced and delivered, who will do what and how, and where publications will fit into the symbolic and digitally led environments that will emerge in years to come are all questions to which, at present, have no clear answer.
Appendices
Appendix 1 (Amazon, 2020).
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