PR RELEASE – OCTOBER 2010
NOVELIST BECOMES DIGITAL PUBLISHER
Susan Barrett, an experienced novelist, has responded to the present difficulties experienced by fiction writers in reaching their public. She’s created WritersReadersDirect Ltd, an independent digital fiction publishing company which bypasses entirely the logjam on the desks of literary agents and traditional print publishers.
Susan says, "Nowadays sales departments rule publishing houses. It is no longer enough to write well and entertainingly. If you do not have a track record of massive sales, you are not likely get through to print. First time novelists are sometimes taken on, in the way punters bet on outsiders. The initial glow soon fades if the books don’t leap off the shelves."
She's thankful that she began her writing career in easier times. Her seven novels were published in hardback and paperback in the UK and USA. She sold film rights on her first novel and has written natural history and children’s books with her husband, wildlife artist Peter Barrett. When her last two novels hit the buffers, she realised she was not the only novelist experiencing difficulties in reaching their readers.
She decided to take action on behalf of other writers in the same situation. Her belief is that there are many readers who appreciate the kind of writing that sales departments disregard. WritersReadersDirect aims to link these writers and readers.
WRD exists solely in the form of its website: www.writersreadersdirect.com.
How it works
Writers submit, for a £5 fee, completed, previously unpublished novels and short stories. If accepted, their work is uploaded on to the site. Readers can download a title to read in PDF or ePUB format on their computer screen or handheld device such as Kindle, iPad, Sony Reader. Downloads cost from £1 for short fiction to £3 a novel. Each time a title is downloaded, the writer earns a royalty, 75p for short fiction and £2 per novel. The best fiction will share the virtual shelves with the not-so-good so a filter system is in place. Readers can write reviews and award stars. An eye symbol alongside the title signifies work recommended by the editor – the WRD’s eye view.
Please spread the WRD !
Contact Susan Barrett editor@writersreadersdirect.com