Top(3) The future?
A bit of the future was predicted above. I will give my course at Alston Hall (27-30 August 2004) and, Rev. John Cree has set up his committee. I have no idea what the future might bring for A.S. or my Shakespeare book. In June 2003 I sent off the introduction and the first few pages to two publishers. In August I received rejections from both, for the following reasons. I quote:
(i) Sutton Publishing
5 August 2003
Dear Ms Moorwood,
Thank you for sending the proposal and outline for your book on Shakespeare's ancestry. I have considered it carefully and decided not to take the proposal any further. It struck me as a book that would appeal largly ( sic ) to a fairly dedicated audience of Shakespeare ancestry enthusiasts. As our books are intended for a broad general readership it would not make a very good fit for the range of marketing and selling approaches that we employ.
I wish you every success in placing the book with another publisher.
Yours sincerely,
Christopher Feeney
Senior Commissioning Editor, History
(ii) Manchester University Press
19 August 2003
Dear Ms Moorwood
Re: Shakespeare's ancestry, life and Lancashire links
Many thanks for sending in the material. It is an intriguing read; unfortunately it is not one that MUP can take on.
I have talked about it with a colleague and with an academic. Although the material could be ground-breaking, MUP would not be best placed to exploit/promote your findings. You really do need a trade publisher, one with the resources to back up your findings and then be able to market them effectively. If the information you have unearthed is so explosive, MUP would probably be buried by the ensuing publicity.
Apologies for this somewhat brief response. I earnestly hope that you secure the interest of a larger publisher in the future.
Yours sincerely,
Matthew Frost
How extraordinary. As my husband Alan commented after reading both: "Do I understand that one rejection was because they thought they wouldn't sell enough books, and the other because they might sell too many?" Quite. My immediate thought about a publisher capable of coping with the publicity was Harry Potter, but I decided that the first logical place to start was with (materials for) A.S.'s biography and put this on a web site. Peter Duxbury was happy to oblige.