Conville & Walsh
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A Shed of One’s Own a Sunday Times Bestseller
Conville & Walsh are delighted to announce that Marcus Berkmann’s A Shed of One’s Own has reached #10 on the Sunday Times paperback…
The Peppers Hits Richard and Judy Bookclub
We’re delighted to announce that The Peppers and the International Magic Guys will be part of the Richard and Judy Bookclub this…
Angelmaker
Nick Harkaway’s new novel is out. All Joe Spork wants to do is live…
Three on Branford Boase longlist
We are delighted to announce that three of our authors are on this year’s longlist for the Branford Boase Award: …
Before I Go to Sleep Hits #1 Spot
We’re writing with the exciting news that Before I Go to Sleep is this week’s Sunday Times #1 Bestseller. The debut novel by
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The Reader Reports
It’s been the usual busy and successful year, with a number of new authors achieving publishing contracts through the agency, and various debut novels receiving some of the highest industry accolades upon publication in 2011.
In 2011 we received just under 4,800 part manuscripts via the Submissions Department. As I’ve said in earlier accounts, these are what we consider our “talent pool”, which others – wrongly, in my opinion – insist upon calling “the slush pile”. Out of that total, I was able to recommend that 144 typescripts were worth further scrutiny by our agents.
Those recommendations came from right across the spectrum: from non fiction, childrens’ and young adult, to commercial and literary fiction. Of the 4,800 or so received, most manuscripts were of middling quality, and in these very competitive times we have to concentrate on those manuscripts that are felt to be exceptional in terms of writing, and very near the finished article. We endeavour to be as positive as possible about those that don’t meet our criteria, and I hope that we’ve been able to provide some useful guidance and technical advice to enable a number of authors to improve their manuscripts. We are always open to receive fresh drafts of previously seen work. The door is never shut. We sincerely regret that we are not able to offer more in the way of guidance to even more authors, but we simply don’t have the resources to deal with more manuscripts on a personal level. In the coming year, however, we are pledged to improve our communication and advice to unsuccessful authors, as we are obviously anxious not to lose contact with authors who fall only just short of industry standards.
A number of authors are still under active consideration, but of the debut authors recommended by me last year, three have achieved publishing deals, and will be published in the spring of 2012.
It may be interesting to authors to know that those three recommendations came nearly 12 months ago. So why the long delay between being accepted for representation by the agency and eventual publication?
Well, firstly there is the careful work undertaken between agent and author further to shape the final draft so that both are as confident as they can be. When the book is as good as it can be, it’s ready to submit to editors. Things can move very quickly if more than one publisher is interested and a buzz of excitement starts to build. But this can also be a slow process, involving both author and agent doing the rounds of publishers until a book finds an appreciative home. The publishing house then takes over, with further editorial work, involvement with the marketing and publicity departments and finally arriving at proof copies for final scrutiny. It is pretty rare that a book is published within a year of submission to editors.
Later this year we’re planning to provide a case study of a book from the moment of submission to us all the way through to the appearance of a book in the shops, to give a fuller picture of how the whole process works.
In the meantime, what were the three talent pool first novels that will be published in 2012? It gives me great pleasure to report that they are:
These three wonderful debut novels – each so strong, yet each so very different - maintain my annual average. For in my five years running this department, I am happy to say that fifteen debut novels have passed through my hands and on into those of willing buyers around the world.
Of course Conville & Walsh Ltd has always been interested in first novels, ever since Clare Conville here received DBC Pierre’s first novel unsolicited, and watched VERNON GOD LITTLE go on to win the Booker Prize in 2003. So Clare Conville, via her fruitful association with both the Faber Academy and the Guardian Masterclasses, has in 2011 discovered Rachel Joyce’s brilliant first novel, THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY, which Doubleday UK will publish in March 2012, and she has also today seen SJ Watson’s superb debut, BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP, near the sale of a million copies worldwide. Meanwhile Patrick Walsh has recently sold Saira Shah’s first novel, THE MOUSEPROOF KITCHEN, to Harvill Secker for Spring 2013 publication and continues to extend his list of non-fiction delights, ranging from Professor Dave Goulson’s charming memoir of life as a field biologist, A STING IN THE TALE, which Jonathan Cape have just bought for 2013 publication – another spot by my department, I’m delighted to say – along with Dr John Bradshaw’s summer 2012 bestseller, IN DEFENCE OF DOGS, and an amazing memoir, 104 HORSES by Amanda Retzlaff, which will appear from Harper Collins in 2013.
Over the years, I’ve tried to work out if there are any common factors to the successes via the Submissions Department at Conville and Walsh. What’s the magic? Is a good plot an imperative, or dialogue, atmosphere, structure, voice, or genre?
In the books that have passed through my hands to publication, there seem to be two stand-out elements: what I would term narrative flow (which is closely allied to narrative pace) and memorable characters. For me, the narrative has to have a large presence, and although there have to be digressions from that narrative throughout, if an author digresses too much a novel will start to fall apart. Balancing narrative flow whilst maintaining narrative pace is far from easy to achieve.
As for characters I can, without having to think too hard, immediately recall a host of people who have entered my life through first novels in the last few years, and who are now firmly embedded in my psyche. These include:
The irascible and frustrating Felix in THE BREAKING OF EGGS by Jim Powell (published March 2010 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and featured on the Culture Show’s Pick of Best New Novelists); Danny and the tragic Yan in HEMISPHERES by Stephen Baker (published by Atlantic UK and shortlisted in 2011 for the inaugural East Midlands Book Award); the lonely and troubled Manda in OUT OF A CLEAR SKY by Sally Hinchcliffe (published by Macmillan UK; BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week); the truly unforgettable Harri in PIGEON ENGLISH by Stephen Kelman (shortlisted for the Booker Prize, amongst numerous other national awards, after publication by Bloomsbury in 2011); and, looking forward from today, the vividly drawn Jonathan and Theo in THE OTHER HALF OF ME by Morgan McCarthy (Headline. May 2012), the distinctive wild boy Kim, in THE SEA ON FIRE by Howard Cunnell (Picador, March 2012) and the superbly real Tom and Izzy in THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS by M.L. Stedman (to be published April 2012 by Doubleday).
So send me your books, and I promise to pan them for gold. In closing, I can only thank these authors, and the equally talented others not mentioned in this note, for enhancing the quality of my reading experience and for allowing me to enter the worlds of their imaginations.
David Llewelyn, Reader at Conville & Walsh
05 Jan 2012