Guidelines for Writing a Pocket Essential Guide

Bear in mind that there are only a limited number of books we can publish a year so please don't feel frustrated if your brilliant idea is not taken up by us for publication. This section is here to show you how to submit ideas to us, and how to present the text if you end up writing a Pocket Essential.

(Note that I have angled this towards people submitting ideas for Film subjects, but we also publish PEs about Ideas and History. We also have a limited number of PEs on TV, Sport, Business, Music and Literature.)

Contacts

General Enquires: Enquiries@pocketessentials.co.uk
Series Editor: Mel McGinnis (contact the editor)

Mailing address:

Pocket Essentials
18 Coleswood Road
Harpenden
Herts AL5 1EQ,
UK

Background

First, I would recommend that you read existing PEs to give yourself an idea of how the books should look and feel. For a single subject, look at the Quentin Tarantino PE. For broad subjects, look at the Animation PE. We have also recently extended the series to include some hardbacks on titles like The Knight's Templar.

Each PE is around 40,000 words including the index. [Note: an index is usually required]. It should be well researched, and there should be a balance between the life of the subject, technical/anecdotal information, and the subtext (if any). If you can bring anything new to the subject in the form of interviews or new research, then that would help your submission, and the book's sales.

Although we are always looking for ideas, we plan months ahead, and in 6 month chunks. Therefore, we commission in November/December for July-December titles, and in May/June for January-June titles. Virtually all correspondence is via email.

All text files/manuscripts must be supplied as Word documents.

Submitting Ideas

We are always happy to consider any ideas you may have for future Pocket Essentials. As you can see from our schedule on the website, we are very open to new ideas and subject matter. Please bear the following criteria in mind:

• What marketing opportunities are there? i.e. When is the director's next film out?
• Do you have access to the person, and can supply exclusive interviews?
• Is there a cult/hardcore following that we can exploit? Does a fan club, or specialist magazine, or shop exist?
• Are people obliged to read it? Are there set books by the author on the school curriculum? Is it a film director taught in Universities?
• Is the subject currently a top
ic of conversation? Are the media all over it? Will they still be interested in a year's time?
• Most importantly, are there more than 3000 people out there who would spend money to read the book you want to write?

Once you have thought about this, please send a brief prose outline of your proposal and samples of your writing to the appropriate email (listed above). Copies of sample articles and books to be sent to the mailing address.

If we like your idea and proposal, we will ask for a breakdown (see example). Very often, we get the same ideas from different people. In this case we base our decisions on the proposal, the breakdown and the samples sent by different authors.

Sometimes, the publisher and editors come up with ideas which they would like an author to write. In this case, we send out an email to all the authors who submit ideas, and ask for breakdowns.

The Contract And Payment

Half the advance payment is paid on signature of the contract and the other half upon publication. The advance is a payment against royalties. The PE must sell about 3000 copies before it breaks even. As soon as your PE idea has been agreed and scheduled, a contract will be sent to you (usually by email). You print two copies, sign them, send to the publisher, and invoice him for BOTH the signature and publication advances. The invoices will go on the publisher's to-be-paid list. The signature invoice will be processed at the end of the calendar month. When your PE has been published, the publication invoice will be paid at the end of that month.

Advance Title Information

The first thing you do after you send off the contract, is to write the Advance Title Information text, and the list of subjects to go on the front cover.

Advance Title Information goes to book distributors and websites around the world. Distributors give them to their reps to show the book buyers. The text is also used as the basis for the back cover of the PE, is put on the Pocket Essentials website, and goes in the catalogue for booksellers.

• You can write the Advance Title Information using the example as a template, and then send it to our editor.
• Obviously, you cannot fill in all of it - just what the book is about, your biog details, and the marketing points.
• Text should not exceed 250 words.
• Also supply a list of interesting and appropriate titles to be put on the front cover of the PE.

[Sample Advance Title Information]

Writing Style

Informal, light, enthusiastic, opinionated (but not to the point of being obnoxious). Have fun. No academic, high-falluting words and phrases allowed - the PEs must be accessible to all.

Structure and Text Formatting

We have put together a generic House Style Document for all Oldcastle Books titles which is available in Word format. [House Style Document]

Note, mark and learn. And feel free to ask if you have any questions.

Submitting Text

When you submit text ask yourself "Would I be happy with seeing this in print as it is?" When the answer is "Yes" submit it.

Submit the text to deadline. If you submit your text earlier than the deadline, your editor will be very happy with you and praise your name.

The Publication Process

• Text is delivered 5 months in advance of publication.
• The text is copy-edited by the editor, who may suggest changes/rewrites where appropriate.
• The text is then proofed by somebody else. Again changes/corrections may be suggested.
• The text is typeset and a PDF is sent via email to the author to look for corrections.
• The book is sent to the printer and a month later it is on sale in the shops.

(This version: February 2005)

Sample Breakdown

Introduction:

Source of word cyberpunk
Context of science fiction (Golden Age, Bester/1950s, Ballard & Delany/1960s, Russ/1970s)
William Burroughs
Context of noir (Chandler, Big Sleep, Hammett, Maltese Falcon, Howard Hawks - plug for Noir Fiction...)
c.5000 words

Chapter One: Consensual Hallucinations

The Core Reading
William Gibson (Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive, Burning Chrome and second trilogy)
Bruce Sterling (Schismatrix, Islands in the Net.)
c. 5000 words

Chapter Two: The Cyberpunk movement

A selection from: John Shirley. Eclipse trilogy,
Lewis Shiner. (Frontera.-Deserted Cities of the Heart).
Rudy Rucker. (Software, Wetware, Transreal).
c. 5000 words

Chapter Three: Cyberpunkettes (dodgy title?)

Pat Cadigan, Mindplayers, Synners, Fools, Tea from an Empty Cup
Gwyneth Jones, Escape Plans, Kairos
Wilheminia Baird
Amy Thomson, Virtual Girl
c. 5000 words

Chapter Four: The British are Coming

Kim Newman, The Night Mayor
Simon Ings, Headlong, Hothead, Painkillers
Jeff Noon, Vurt., Pollen, Nymphomation, Pixel Juice.
c. 5000 words

Chapter Five: Postcyberpunk

Neal Stephenson, Snowcrash, Diamond Age, Cryptonomicon
Bruce Bethke, Headcrash
Jon Courtney Grimwood, Lucifer's Dragon, neoAddix, redRobe
c. 5000 words

Chapter Six: Cyberpunk goes to the Movies

Blade Runner
Johnny Mnemonic
Strange Days
The Matrix
Videodrome
Tetsuo
Akira
c. 5000 words

Reference

Books on Gibson
Storming the Reality Studio
Checklist of cp books?
Webpages

Sample Advance Title Information Sheet

Introduction Sample Text

This is a sample of how introductory text is formatted.

Woody Allen: Dicing With Death

'Any man over 35 with whom death is not the main consideration is a fool.'

It is easy to find out whether or not a joke is funny - you either laugh or you do not. It is an instantaneous reaction.
But what happens in that instant? What idea or insight are you laughing at? Jokes can tell you a lot about the people telling them, as well as the people laughing at them.
Jokes are like dreams, according to Freud, because they give expression to disagreeable elements that are usually prevented from entering consciousness.

It is rare for a comedian to come through the 'funny' barrier, to be recognised for the insight and emotion contained within a joke. Consider, if you will, the jester in Shakespeare's King Lear, who tells the truth in the guise of jokes and witticisms.

Nobody takes comedians seriously. In the rare instance when a comedian takes a serious dramatic role they are often very good because their craft and timing is so finely honed it works as well for drama as it does for comedy. Think of Jerry Lewis in Martin Scorsese's King Of Comedy.
In a joke, the ideas are implicit rather than explicit. A joke must also seem spontaneous no matter how painstakingly laboured and crafted. So, in this series of contradictions, it must be assumed that comedy is actually drama dressed up. The comedian conceals how serious his thoughts are. The joy of Woody Allen is that he is a comedian who reveals serious thoughts and makes us laugh at the same time.

Persona

It must be stated that this persona is not the real Woody Allen. Yes, Woody Allen wears the same clothes in private life as he does on stage, but that does not mean that the persona and the person are one and the same. Just as the tramp is not Charlie Chaplin, and the elastic-faced lunatic is not Jerry Lewis, Woody Allen is no loser. He uses this persona to mask his own personality and to mirror our own. Comedy is a mirror into which we see our own faults and foibles.

In fact, as if to make the point that the persona is not Woody Allen, recent movies have shown the persona being performed by Kenneth Branagh in Celebrity, and John Cusack in Bullets Over Broadway.

Film Sample Text

This is a sample of how film text is formatted. (Obviously, this is very short.)

Everyone Says I Love You (1997)

Director & Writer Woody Allen

Cast: Alan Alda (Bob), Woody Allen (Joe), Drew Barrymore (Skylar), Lukas Haas (Scott), Goldie Hawn (Steffi), Gaby Hoffmann (Lane), Natasha Lyonne (DJ), Edward Norton (Holden), Natalie Portman (Laura), Julia Roberts (Von), Tim Roth (Charles Ferry), David Ogden Stiers (Holden's Father), Scotty Bloch (Holden's Mother), Patrick Cranshaw (Grandpa), Billy Crudup (Ken), 101 minutes

Story: A lot of people fall into and out of love with the wrong and right people. Skylar, a romantic, leaves soft Holden for animalistic criminal sociopath Charles Ferry, and then returns to him. Von leaves actor husband Greg to be with her fantasy man Joe (who knows her deepest thoughts via Lane's eavesdropping on Von's psychoanalyst sessions), only to return to her husband. To express their internal emotions, they break into song. Being a romantic comedy, everybody ends up okay, except the people who end up dead.

Subtext: Err. Everyone sings "I'm through with love," but they are saying, "I love you."

Background: There are many recurring themes/ideas in this: New York has rarely been so beautifully photographed; Joe goes out with the wrong type of women (nymphomaniacs, addicts, lunatics); fantasy compared with reality in Joe's relationship with Von; death and "the void" at Grandpa's funeral; Joe and ex-wife Steffi are better friends than lovers; a party where everybody is dressed as Groucho.

The Verdict: Of Allen's recent films, I find this the most disappointing. It is romantic, and it is whimsically funny, and it has a great cast, but it feels very thin, and nothing much happens. It does, however, have one sparkling, magical moment which will remain with me for the rest of my life - when Joe and Steffi dance on the bank of the River Seine in Paris. As they step and twirl, like a latter-day Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Joe lets go and Steffi floats up into the air. This is worth the price of admission alone, which is why I give it… 3/5.

Sample Contract

MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT made this October 13th 2005 between Oldcastle Books Ltd, 18 Coleswood Road, Harpenden, Herts AL5 1EQ (hereinafter called "The Publishers") for themselves, their successors and assigns of the one part and

NAME OF AUTHOR
(please supply post address and e-mail details)

(Hereinafter called the "Author", which expression shall where the context admits include the Author's executors administration and assigns)

WHEREBY it is mutually agreed as follows respecting the work in the pocketessentials series entitled:

NAME OF BOOK

(Hereinafter called "the said work")

1. The Author hereby grants to the publishers the exclusive licence to publish the said work in volume form (including electronic & internet rights) throughout the world.
2. The licence shall endure during the legal term of copyright from the Publishers date of publication.
3. The Author hereby warrants to the Publishers that the said work is in no way whatever a violation or infringement of any copyright belonging to any other party and it contains nothing libellous and agrees that he and his legal personal representatives will hold the Publishers harmless from and indemnify them against all actions, claims and demands which may be taken or made against the Publishers in respect of any infringement of copyright or libel.
4. The Publishers agree to publish the said work at their own expense within 12 months of signature of this agreement, unless prevented by circumstances over which they have no control or by mutual agreement.
5. The Publishers shall pay to the Author in respect of the said works the following royalties:
   1. On Home Hardcover and Trade (Demy & Royal) paperback sales up to and including discounts of 49.9%: 8.5% of the cover price.
   2. On Export Sales & Home Hardcover and Trade (Demy & Royal) paperback sales at 50% discount or more: 10.5% of the price received.
   3. On Home mass market (A & B format) paperback sales up to and including discounts of 49.9%: 6% of the cover price. NB - this is the usual format
   4. On Export Sales & Home mass market (A & B format) paperback sales at 50% discount or more: 8.5% of the price received
   5. On electronic sales direct from the publishers or third party websites: 15% of the price received
   6. On remainder sales: 10% of the sum received at above cost. The Publisher shall give the Author an opportunity to purchase some or all of the remainder copies at the remainder price, this option to be exercised within 28 days of notice being given to the Author.
      No books shall be remaindered within 12 months of publication.
      No royalty will be paid on copies remaindered at below cost. No royalties will be paid on copies given away in the course of promoting the said work.
   7. An advance on account of all payments due to the Author of £500 (Five Hundred Pounds) payable on delivery and acceptance of manuscript and on presentation of an invoice for £500.
      (NB - Overseas writers will need to submit a Double Taxation form to their local authorities to avoid tax being deducted at source in the UK)
6. The Publishers shall render statements showing all royalties and other monies due to the 31st December in each year after British publication and within 4 months of such dates shall pay all monies due to the Author, except if the sum is less than £25, they may hold it over until the following royalty period.
7. The Publishers will divide the net sums from the granting of sub licences as follows:

   	Author	Publisher
   a) Other U.K. paperback publisher:	50%	50%
   b) Other U.K. hardcover publisher:	50%	50%
   c) Overseas Publisher:	50%	50%
   d) Bookclub:
   i) where bookclub manufactures:	50%	50%
   ii) where publisher manufactures:	10% of net receipts
   e) Condensation in Volume Form:	50%	50%
   f) Large Print:	50%	50%
   g) Anthology & Quotations:	50%	50%
   h) First Serial rights:	80%	20%
   i) Second Serial rights:	60%	40%

Any excerpt, abridgement or condensation of the Work in 7(e), 7(h) and 7(i) shall be subject to the editorial approval of the Author, such approval not to be unreasonably withheld.
All monies received in respect of such sales and due to the Author (providing the advance under 5(iv) has been earned) shall be paid to the Author within 30 days of receipt of such monies by the Publishers, except for sums under £25 and all payments due under 7(g), which may be retained until the next regular royalty payment.

8. The Author shall receive on publication 10 copies of the said work direct to his home address gratis and be entitled to purchase extra copies at 50% discount for their own use or to resell.
9. The Author will deliver the manuscript by...
10. If at any time the Publishers allow the said work to go out of print or off the market and shall not have reprinted a new edition within 6 (six) months of receiving written notice from the Author then all rights in the said work shall revert to the Author, except for any existing licence agreement or contract entered into by the Publishers prior to the date of such reversion.
11. Options - n/a
12. If the Publishers fail to comply or fulfil any of the provisions in this agreement and shall not within one month after written notification from the Author rectify such failure or if they go into liquidation other than a voluntary liquidation for purposes of reconstruction only, then in either of these events this Agreement shall automatically terminate and all rights in the said work revert to the Author forthwith, who shall be free to licence any other person to publish the said work, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained or implied in any part of this agreement and without prejudice to any claim which the Author may have for monies due and/or damages and/or otherwise.
13. The Author hereby asserts his moral rights to be identified as Author of the said work and the Publishers undertake to print with due prominence on every edition of the work published by themselves the words: "The right of ***** to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988" and to include the following copyright line "©200* The Author"
14. This agreement shall be interpreted according to the laws of the United Kingdom.
15. This agreement shall be binding upon and for the benefit of both parties and their respective executors or administrators or successors in business and assigns, but no assignment shall be binding on either parties without the written consent of the other except that the Publisher may assign this agreement without the written consent of the Author to a parent affiliate or subsidiary company or to a purchaser of all or substantially all of its trade division assets.

As witness the hands of the Parties:

Date: ../../....

Publisher -

Author -

Example Coverwords
(Taken from The Pocket Essential Hal Hartley)

1. The Unbelievable Truth
2. Trust
3. Theory Of Achievement
4. Surviving Desire
5. Ambition
6. Simple Men
7. Amateur
8. Flirt
9. Henry Fool
10. The Book Of Life
11. No Such Thing
12. Kid
13. The Cartographer's Girlfriend