Once I stumbled upon the book signing event by Jasmine Richards, I didn’t have to think twice before booking my ticket. Events such as these represent the rare occasion that I get to physically interact with notable players within the UK children’s book publishing sector. The last time I was at a related event was over a year ago in Birmingham for the Black British Book Festival. That was before Wafunk Publishing. As at then, I was convinced I wanted to play a role in the children’s book publishing space but the how wasn’t yet clear. A lot’s happened since then specifically with regards to my conviction as it’s been further reinforced by Funke’s rapid development.
In the last few months, my desire for a role in the Children’s Book Publishing space has taken on a form even though it’s a work in progress. Starting Wafunk Publishing with a few basics in place such as a website, explainer video, visual presentation deck remains a milestone. I say a milestone because its gone from abstraction to something tangible. What evolves from there is part of the process – learning and refinements to attain the right product or service fit. Notwithstanding, those basics have been useful for my 1-prospect-a-day outreach; one win from that was meeting Jasmine Richards following our initial email exchanges.
The event with Jasmine at the Book and Kulture pop-up shop was very interactive and insightful. For some background, Jasmine has over 15 years of experience in the Children’s Book Publishing space. She’s worked extensively with publishers like HarperCollins and overseen the birth of dozens of Children’s Books. Today, she runs StoryMix, a studio dedicated to the creation of Children’s stories that put kids of colour in the centre of narratives filled with joy and adventure.
Highlights from our interaction are below
On how the publishing space works
When a publisher agrees to publish your work under its brand, they pay in advance, bringing their editorial, branding, illustrators and marketing team on board. In exchange, the publisher gets different rights including geographic, formats (ebook, audio, paperback, apps…), merchandise, film… depending on what is agreed upon. In addition to the advance paid to the author, there is also a royalty split for every sale. The author is also almost guaranteed to have his or her book stocked by major book stores like Waterstones.
Publishers often adopt the throw spaghetti against the wall and see what sticks approach when it comes to books. In other words, there’s no guarantee that your book will be successful enough to make a return on their investment. An author, book title or series could literally be the one bankrolling a publisher.
On transitioning from self-publishing to a publishing deal
It was inspiring to hear the story of how Tola Okogwu went from self-publishing to securing a publishing deal for her books. That was good to hear as it reinforced the essence of different approaches. An author who’s made concrete efforts to get her book out there and built a captive audience presents a good value to a publisher, I’d imagine.
On my approach to getting authors to allow Wafunk Publishing re-purpose their paperback into Apps
Getting authors of children’s books that are non self-published to have their books in a format such as Interactive Story Apps would have to come via the publishers. In other words, when an author signs with a publisher, in exchange for an upfront sum, royalty split and other pecks of working with established publishers, the author gives up control over some of the IPs. So, an agreement may cover enhanced e-books (Apps), audio and paperback. What that means is, to do anything with those would entail getting the permission of the publisher which could come at a cost for licensing the IP.
Lastly, I got a few direct introductions to notable organisations, events and publishers who’d make for a great addition to my network as I continue my journey. I look forward to the next course of networking event as I continue my integration process within the space leading to the right product and service fit for Wafunk Publishing in due time.
