Meet Sara-Jayne Slack - Founder of Inspired Quill
SARA-JAYNE SLACK is the founder of UK publishing house, Inspired Quill. She strives to set new industry standards through eco-friendly, people-oriented and quality-driven inclusive publishing. She’s also a Digital Marketer and has created the online course Casual To Committed, where she teaches authors the basics of how to turn casual readers into committed fans without getting overwhelmed.
Sara-Jayne and I met through Facebook group, Women Writers, Women Books. I wanted to learn more about the people behind-the-scenes in the publishing world, but didn’t have the foggiest idea of where to begin when it came to the publishing houses themselves. When she replied to my post, I was little anxious to send her my list of questions. Would she blackball me for being so inquisitive? Are my questions even worth her time? But, Sara-Jayne put me ease. She made the entire experience so open and honest, I left the interview feeling a little more confident in myself as a writer, an interviewer, and supporter of indie-publishers. We’re all human, just trying to figure out how to navigate our ways through life…
Your publishing-baby, Inspired Quill Publishing, is a small publishing company based out of the U.K. What type of literary works do you represent? What makes I.Q. unique in the writers and works it represents?
When IQ first opened it doors to new writers, we opened them for everything. Crime, Fantasy, Poetry, Literary – we were happy to publish anything we liked the look of.
But we realized fairly early on that there’s a big difference in marketing poetry to Literary Fiction, to Fantasy. So while we still represent quite a wide variety of genres, we represent writers and books that champion non-tokenistic diversity (and by extension, mindful writing).
Inspired Quill started out as a blog? This sounds fascinating! How did you transform it into a publishing house? Why?
IQ used to be a book review blog, back when I was studying for my undergraduate degree in English. I figured I was reading the books anyway, I might as well share my thoughts. It became far more popular than I anticipated, and a few of my college friends started writing for the site – we ended up posting 3x per week with book reviews, literary thoughts, new releases we were looking forward to, etc.
During all this, I was in contact with a lot of authors – both indie and Big-6 (as it was back then). I heard so many horror stories about the industry – everything from royalties not being paid properly to having no say over cover or editorial process – that I was filled with a righteous rage (you know the sort that being in your early 20s tend to elicit!) and vowed to do something about it and create win-win situations.
The opportunity came during my Masters degree at the same University. I was fortunate enough to be offered a place on an Entrepreneurial scheme, and that gave me the confidence and basic business knowledge to set up the company properly.
In your bio stated you'd never work in the publishing industry unless it was your own company. This bold, inspiring statement obviously came to fruition. What motivated you to start your own publishing company instead of working with an existing one? What were some realities you discovered when you took on such a competitive/financially-risky endeavor?
There were (and continue to be) quite a few harsh realities. It´s incredibly difficult to make any money. Even almost nine years later, I haven´t paid myself anything for the thousands of hours of work I´ve put in to the business. Part of this is due to not having the knowledge to make a real go of it back then, and not having the time to do so now!
The other reality is that publishing is not about reading books and being creative all day. I’ve been known to spend a solid 16 hours sat in front of an Excel spreadsheet to make sure that the authors get paid fairly and on time.
But there have been some amazingly positive discoveries, too. The feeling of community and family that I’ve done my best to foster between the IQ authors is really felt in a genuine way, and most other indie-press owners are likewise super lovely and supportive of one another. It goes a long way to know that you’re not alone!
The other big myth [about working in the publishing industry] is doing events. For small publishers, events are ridiculously hard work, and we never make a profit (when taking author royalties into account). We pay for transport, table cost, up-front for stock, and quite often membership as well as table costs. Considering we make at most 3.10 per sale, it’s difficult to make the cost back… but they’re imperative for networking and getting facetime with our readers.
Owning your business has some perks and pitfalls for sure. What are some things you love about starting your own company? What are some not-so-fun things about it?
I’m in the odd position of owning a company…but it not being my day-job! The thing I love about owning IQ is that I can do things my way – when I see something in the industry that I don’t agree with, I’ll do my best to reverse the trend, even if it’s in a tiny way. The not-so-fun things are when a book doesn’t sell as many copies as you feel it deserves (spoiler: they never do!) Not even for the business profitability, but for the author. The pressure of knowing that you can do everything ‘right’ and still not get results is difficult when it happens so often.
Publishing as a whole can be brutal - competitively speaking. Selecting, promoting, and thus releasing works by established or debuting authors seems like a gamble - there's no assurance money spent will be recouped. How are you able to take such risks? How do you compete nationally? Regionally (across Europe)? Worldwide?
I am fully aware that I stand in a super privileged position. I have a day-job that leaves me just enough energy at the end of the day to work with IQs amazing authors. I’m able to take bigger risks because I keep our costs as low as possible (without compromising quality or fairness) and because I don’t pay myself.
We’re able to compete worldwide because I’ve learned enough over the last almost-nine-years to not go after every shiny thing (and therefore dilute my time), and because my day-job career is in digital marketing, I’m able to mentor the authors in long-term marketing opportunities and best-practices. We’re building a castle, not a straw hut. 😊
International publishers or rather, those based outside the U.S. typically have different practices, rules, and methods in which they work with their writers. What are some differences between U.K. and U.S.A. publishers? Similarities?
Within the indie publishing circles, I don’t think there are any specific similarities or differences. Being small means we can adapt much more simply to market trends and best-practices (anyone else remember how long it took the Big 6 to adapt to eBooks?). The rise of worldwide paperback distribution, and the cross-border opportunities afforded to us by eBook aggregators mean that even specific geographical markets are merging rather than further niching.
Selecting writers in a select genre can be hard enough from submissions received for local (U.K.) writers. Do you accept or consider writers from outside the U.K.? Why? Why not?
We currently work with writers all over the world. UK, USA, New Zealand, Australia to name a few. The biggest considerations (outside of writing quality of course!) are simply whether we’re able to distribute to the author’s location, and also whether my timetable and time zone differences mean we’re able to have Skype meeting when required, without it being at 2am!
Some writers are disillusioned into believing traditional publishing through one of the "Big 5" is the only way to go if/when you're published. How could you dissuade such an assumption? What do you find most writers excitedly discover once they work with a small publisher?
To be honest, I’d never try to dissuade writers from aiming to publish with the Big 5. I get a lot of shade thrown my way in the industry for even saying (and doing so from the start of my publishing journey!) that self-publishing can be an amazing opportunity for a certain type of author.
The excitement tends to come from authors when they realize that Inspired Quill genuinely cares about their publishing journey, and not just the destination of getting a book into print. Without exception, there’s always a happy rejoinder when they realize how collaborative our process is – we believe it’s an integral part of the journey, and of the author’s development.
Building a name for any entrepreneurship can be challenging if not downright scary. What are some lessons you learned during the early stages of Inspired Quill's development?
Don’t take yourself too seriously! As a woman in her early twenties, there was no way I’d be taken seriously if I tried to emulate the older men in the same space. There are still times now where I have to brush aside an annoying comment (although folks asking if I’m the intern has decreased the older I get!) but overall my network tends to remember me because of my energy and optimistic enthusiasm. I see a lot of jaded people in the industry (you’re right, it can be super brutal and thankless), and it’s heart-breaking.
Often money, time, resources (or a combination of the three) are the biggest set-backs for new writers and/or business owners. If none of these were an issue for Inspired Quill, what are some "wishes" you'd grant for yourself and your business?
I would wish to have the means to hire a small team to work with me. With three to five people all working full-time would allow us to expand Inspired Quill and publish more amazing authors, but not grow to such a size as to become a faceless entity. That’s super important to me.
We’d also go to many more events (including academic conferences), and have more presence at workshops, university talks, library drives etc. We’re a social enterprise, so the dream is to be able to give back to our communities in a robust and lasting way.
Ms. Slack kept my wheels turning throughout our interview. With every question she’d answer, another dozen would swirl in the back of my mind. She’s worked hard to make her name in a tough market, but hasn’t let the challenges hold her back or change what she believes to be true in being a successful publishing house. While I’m still in the trenches of rejection-ville and sometimes wonder if it’ll ever payoff, I’ll remember Sara-Jayne’s journey. I read a quote that sums it up for me: “Success doesn’t just come and find you, you have to go out and get it…”
Check out IQ’s newest releases: Down Days (Craig Hallam - Mental Health) and Letters From The Light (Shel Calopa - Sci Fi).
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Simply Sally
“Half the time, I’m making stuff up as I go along. Granted, I now have almost a decade of experience and deep knowledge of best-practices within the marketing world, but that doesn’t mean I understand every nuance of the industry. Being an indie press also means we don’t have the resources to purchase the shiniest new data from whoever about the state of the XYZ market or readership surveys, so playing by instinct is a bit of a double-edged sword!
But that does mean that I have to constantly be learning and improving, which is never a bad thing in life!”