Publishing Unfiltered: When Reviews Don't Equal Sales

Book Sales, National Reviews, and a Rebellious 100-Year-Old Professor 📚

A very happy Friday Scribblers,

It’s been a wild, wild week. I'm thrilled to share some exciting news! I've been accepted as a British Council fellow to attend Jaipur BookMark in Jan-Feb 2025. As the only independent publisher from the UK selected, I'm truly honoured. From the upcoming novel ‘The Others’ by Sheena Kalayil, to ‘Disobedient Women’ by Sangeeta Mulay and poetry books such as ‘Cracked Asphalt’ by Sree Sen and ‘(un)interrupted tongues’ by Dal Kular, we love championing diverse and international voices. Who knows… perhaps a translation project is on the cards for us!

We spoke to BBC Radio Guernsey about their gorgeous interview with the late Laura Fish and they have made a permanent record of her conversation here - a wonderful example of the rich empathy and cultural research in her novella here, do check it out.

Before we wind down for our Christmas break next week, may I tempt you with our cosiest feminist fantasy? ‘The Finery’ by Rachel Grosvenor features a 100-year-old, slightly cranky professor who brings down a dictatorship with her sentient wolf - because someone had to do it! Use code 12DAYS12 for 12% off at checkout and add some literary rebellion to your holiday reading.

I’ll be posting books until Friday 20th of December, and beginning to send out more books around the 28th.

We had some very good news coverage this week, so much so that my friend told me I ‘could not complain about the business for the rest of the year’. Fair enough! (But can I just-)

Let me ask you a question. Is a review - or a recommendation - in a national newspaper enough to make you go out (or go online) and buy a book? And if not, why not? Let me try and impress you…

Literary Novella, 'Lying Perfectly Still' by the late Dr Laura Fish is in The Guardian's 'The best books to give as gifts this Christmas', with Irenosen Okojie describing it as a 'complex study of an aid worker returning to South Africa' and a 'wonderful reflection of [Laura's] gifts'.

The Bookseller AND LoveReadingUK named 'Lying Perfectly Still' in their December Staff Picks, and it was also chosen for a Bookseller Discover preview this month.

We sent this and other great coverage to 250 booksellers, our book rep team, and of course, splashed it across social media. That generated about 6 book sales from the wholesaler (meaning we’ve already had that income a few months back - they hold stock in their warehouse for any bookshop orders).

That’s kind of in keeping with our experience of nationals - which genuinely will always be the hardest thing to achieve in publishing, and will always make me do a happy dance. Don’t get me wrong: I sent the happiest email to Irenosen for this :) Great to see Laura’s legacy being carried by readers (she came across the book after it was gifted to her by a friend!)

See our past post about what happened when we received our first ever Guardian review of feminist fantasy ‘The Finery’ by Rachel Grosvenor (mini version - it prompted Waterstones to pick up an additional 12 copies and WH Smiths to say ‘let us know if it blows up’. ‘Blowing up’ apparently meant in the hundred thousands.

This and numerous other examples over the past few years leads me to conclude that even when you do receive space in the dwindling book pages of national newspapers, they do not have the same power as they used to.

This reflects a broader industry trend: readers are more likely to discover books through online channels and social media than traditional print reviews.

So why does everyone in the book trade ask for national reviews?