I'd try to break into the broadcast media with my books - TV rights, Book of the Week slot on Radio 4, Woman's Hour drama, get a mention on Open Book (Radio 4 again). Also I'd get Meryl Streep to play Sally Howe in a film adaptation of Plotting for Beginners - but then I do have a vested interest in that!

Oh I second everything you say, Sue, though I'm not divulging my casting preferences - see dovegreyreader on 'Needle in the Blood'.

Emma, you seem to be doing all the right things. I do have possible suggestions for the future, however.

An advantage of working for a small company - and for yourselves - is the opportunity to express 'hands on' creativity. Examples are your developments in IT processes, extensive layout work for non-fiction books, jacket design and Rob's creative writing.

My thought is to regard the business not as fiction and non-fiction, but publishing and 'book packaging'. The latter is my assumed term for the commissioning, design, assembly and publishing of non-fiction works. And it is in book packaging where your creative skills could - and I imagine do - come principally to the forefront. Perhaps, through collaborations with other publishers, and printers, you could leverage your expertise and strongly develop this side of the business. Similarly, collaborations with design departments of universities might be mutually beneficial in gaining resource and sharing work experience.

Snowbook's jacket design 'service' is presumably a creatively satisfying avenue of revenue generation, but if it is a distraction from developing the overall business, then I would aim to phase it out - or, again establish collaborative resources to free you from 'routine' chores.

A reduction in the output of your fiction publishing might be implied - in the short term - as this is presumably also labour intensive, particularly in regard to editing and copy proofing. (Clearly, it depends upon staffing considerations and sub-contracting options.)

In regard to 'fiction submissions' evaluation, perhaps an author feedback system comparable to the reviewer scoring used within the Arts Council's excellent YouWriteOn site could be achieved in a non-onerous manner - even for any MSS rejected after, say, the first page.

Kind Regards, Derek

Derek, you are kind to leave such a long and thoughtful post. There's a problem, though, with your packaging suggestion.
We don't like it when companies position themselves in the supply chain and do little more than add cost. Packaging, to us, is not a worthy end in itself. Dear god, pulishers do little enough given that we (as an industry) outsource design, content, distribution, print and almost everything else. If we also outsource origination and editorial, then, honestly, I don't think publishers deserve to survive.
I'm also loathe to agree with you about moving away from jacket design - not for any creative reason, but because its cash flow profile pretty much cancels out the core business' extended cash flow cycle. Instead of waiting for 180 days, it is a pretty much instant inflow. Far from being peripheral to the business, I intend for it to be central.
I do appreciate all your thoughts, though.

Derek, I'd go even further than Em. Your idea is very interesting and thought-provoking, and I'll go away and think about it in case there's a way of making it work for us. I really appreciate such solid and thoughtful suggestions.

Doesn't what to do depend on what you want?

Do you want to be creatively satisfied, well respected, richer than Croesus? (Are these mutually exclusive?).

Do you want to work 7 days/week, 5 days a week, 1 day/week, 1 day/year?

Do you want to be BIG or small?

Does it have to be books, rather than other media? Could you leverage existing skills into other areas (cover design into website design, product packaging design, T-shirts; I bet the project management skills you've got could work in radio/TV production?)

For what it's worth, it seems to me that the key things for you are enjoying and being proud of what you do, having a positive emotional engagement with your (don't like the word) products.

It's your bus - only you can decide where to drive it (but you'll have a fan club out here if you carry on the same way as you've gone so far).

Emma,

Strikes me that your strategy is pretty perfect. I'd go heavy on the hub part, building a community online for the key niches you choose to publish into.

If it were totally up to me, as non-fiction loon, I'd probably try publish more politics and current affairs stuff but I reckon I'd not make as much cash doing it! I'd be happy but poor!

Eoin

While Derek's views are indeed thoughtful and comprehensive, it worries me that he seems to think cutting back on fiction publishing would be a way to go. As all fiction writers will tell you, ours is the toughest market to operate in, and we are perpetually frustrated by the marketing departments of big publishing houses who only want the next Da Vinci Code or Harry Potter or Zadie Smith or what you will. A small press like Snowbooks, not hidebound by the innate conservatism and inertia of big companies, is a treasure and a godsend and I would hate to think you would for one moment consider cutting back on fiction.

As for YouWriteOn, I'm sorry but most submissions are utter dross and most editorial comment is even worse. I once put a short story on there which I knew was really bad, just to test it out, and it got top ratings across the board. Why the Arts Council supports it heaven only knows.

Do NOT diversify. Expand in the direction you are already doing so well in. Forget book packaging.. cut out that particular middleman. You`re dead right there. Do remember, if it ain`t broke, don`t fix it and you are as hell ain`t broke, Em. At this stage you are still a beginner and building.. you have begun incredibly well but do not change from building the house you have started - just make it a mansion. Or an estate.