Along with many business models, the book publishing industry has seen a dramatic overhaul in recent years. With the introduction of laptops, tablets and mobile devices, the way we read and the methods in which we access our reading material has changed. And where once there were dozens of publishers and agents working to help new writers reach a traditional hardback and paperback audience, today there are a handful of major publishers whose businesses appear to be driven more by marketing than literary aspiration. So what is a new writer to do when their work doesn\u2019t fit into the business model that requires a ready-made Instagram or YouTube following to get them a book deal?
\nSelf-publishing is one option. It has become very sophisticated over recent years and there are many companies offering routes to becoming a published author. But it can be a lonely and often depressing experience for those that have spent years working alone with a keyboard. And that can be daunting.
\nBridport based Siobhan Harrison is one of many local writers who have experienced the knockbacks from publishers who \u2018don\u2019t want to take a chance\u2019 on a new author. So, with encouragement from those who had read it, she decided to self-publish her first novel Carnaval under the pen name S A Finlay and followed that by producing an audiobook for the title.
\nIt was a huge learning curve. However, having learnt the basics of the publishing industry from first principles, type-setting, design, ISBNS, formatting print and ebooks, commissioning and producing an audiobook and making all her errors publishing her own novel, she decided she didn\u2019t want the whole process to be just a vanity project. So she then put all that experience into publishing a second novel by another local writer Bardy Thomas. She followed that by commissioning and publishing her first Anthology If This Then That and followed it up with her first non-fiction book by locally based photographer and writer Robert Golden. At which point she decided to join the Independent Publishers Guild.
\nSiobhan brings more than a writer\u2019s creativity to her business. She named her company WriteSideLeft because she is irritated by the \u2018compartmentalisation\u2019 of thinking and lifestyle associated with whether someone is \u2018in the \u201ccreative world\u201d or not\u2019. Her day job uses a financial qualification whilst her publishing and writing are creative. \u2018In real life, you need to use all of them to operate\u2019 she says.
\nWriteSideLeft explores a theme of intergenerational issues, and she is determined to mix the age range, especially in her anthologies. \u2018I really love the idea of introducing new young writers\u2019 she says. \u2018Their writing is raw. I don\u2019t interfere with that. You get the odd young writer hitting the big time, but I think it\u2019s tougher for them to know which\u2014always online alleyway\u2014to turn down. Their experiences, thoughts and interactions are Insta- fragmented\u2014disorientated.\u2019
\nSiobhan\u2019s authors range from a remarkably talented seventeen-year-old student from The Sir John Colfox School to seasoned writers with a wealth of life experience. \u2018I like the idea of a conversation between the older generation and the younger generation\u2019 she says, \u2018#baby boomers versus (and with) #snowflakes\u2014in fact, that\u2019s what literature is\u2014a conversation down the ages.\u2019
\nThis year Siobhan is working on two anthologies: one on the theme of Asylum and the other on the theme of Christmas. \u2018I am looking for stories and poetry on the theme of \u201casylum\u201d\u2019 in terms of human connectedness\u2019 she says \u2018whether that\u2019s on the private stage\u2014tucked up with your smartphone or a cup of coffee\u2014or at large, publicly or politically. Asylum actually means \u201cinviolable\u201d. I\u2019d like a mad bad and dangerous to read Brexit one\u2014we must all have stories to spin about that. I like irony and dark humour and satire. That\u2019s my thing.\u2019 Her interest in satire and comedy she says is because \u2018it\u2019s the only response when you have a bunch of cartoon characters running America, the UK, Russia etc. So what is the response to that for our time?\u2019
\nAlthough writing a cyberpunk novel herself at the moment, she thinks there is a lot of \u2018better talent than me\u2019 out there. \u2018I don\u2019t have any vanity or ego when it comes to me and writing. Which makes me a solid editor or gatepost\u2014I\u2019m just a gatepost. My original aim was two books a year, and if I consider anything I write to be good enough I\u2019ll do that as well.\u2019
\nFor more information about current and future books visit www.writesideleft.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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