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Post by dem bones on Nov 13, 2012 12:00:00 GMT
It's not often we have any news worth the telling but this is and sadly, it's not great. Reprinted in full below, with his kind permission, an email received this morning from Derek at Wordsworth editions. ************************************* . Hi Kev, If you have a look at the website in the collection ' NEW FOR 2013' you'll see the new titles for next year. The Mystery and Supernatural series has become something of a problem for us. It has attracted more interest, correspondence and praise than the rest of our books put together, but it has become clear that it attracts a very enthusiastic but relatively small market. As a result, we see an initial flurry of sales for a new title, but we now have a long list of titles, the majority of which now trickle out, so a number are not being reprinted. Part of the problem is that sales to the export trade, which represents about half of our market, are patchy at best. We have changed the cover design to try to attract some more attention, but we are only releasing two new titles in 2013 while we consider the future of the series. I am hoping that if I can pacify my Managing Director with a careful pruning of the current list, then I may be able to get four new titles through in 2014. There is certainly no shortage of material, and the Whitehead book has got off to a good start, so this will add some weight to my argument. Thanks to you and the Vault regulars for the on-going support. Kind regards, Derek ************************************* . Well, Vault are not exactly renowned for making ourselves useful in any accepted sense of the word, but demonstrably, there are several enthusiastic supporters of the 'Mystery & Supernatural' series on this forum, and many have their own blogs, sites, faceache accounts and what have you. Perhaps, if the word gets around that the series is in peril, some of the established, far bigger and more influential boards will pick up on the story?
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Post by doug on Nov 13, 2012 14:41:05 GMT
Hi, how can I obtain permission to share/quote this mail in my blog?
take care. Doug
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Post by dem bones on Nov 13, 2012 17:24:12 GMT
Hi Doug. I shouldn't think there'll be any problem if you just remove the names. Alternatively, you might like to paraphrase it? "Word reaches the bunker that the Wordsworth Mystery & The Supernatural series .... etc" Would also be a good idea to put a link to the Wordsworth's 'Mystery & Supernatural page and remind people that, at £2.99 (euro, USA, Rest of World equivalent) for an attractively produced physical book, the series is still the best bargain to be had. That "so a number are not being reprinted" is also important because finally the series has appeal for those lovely people who only buy collectable books!
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Post by mattofthespurs on Nov 13, 2012 19:05:35 GMT
Sad news indeed. As someone who has purchased every single title that Wordsworth Publish has put out under it's "Mystery And Supernatural" imprint I really don't know what else I can do. Any suggestions would be helpful and I would happily contribute to keep this wonderful series going.
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Post by jamesdoig on Nov 13, 2012 19:41:20 GMT
Part of the problem is that sales to the export trade, which represents about half of our market, are patchy at best. That's a terrible shame. In Australia you just don't see the M&S series in bookshops any more. There is a single distributor, Peribo, which introduced a a minimum order of $300, and no one - neither the big chains or the small independents - will take them up.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Nov 13, 2012 20:03:58 GMT
finally the series has appeal for those lovely people who only buy collectable books! I think it was a mistake not to number the volumes. Seriously. Some people would then have felt compelled to collect the entire series. I am not saying I am like that. Perhaps a little bit.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Nov 13, 2012 20:05:52 GMT
As someone who has purchased every single title that Wordsworth Publish has put out under it's "Mystery And Supernatural" imprint I really don't know what else I can do. You could buy extra copies of all of them.
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Post by mattofthespurs on Nov 13, 2012 20:13:49 GMT
finally the series has appeal for those lovely people who only buy collectable books! I think it was a mistake not to number the volumes. Seriously. Some people would then have felt compelled to collect the entire series. I am not saying I am like that. Perhaps a little bit. This would be a great idea.
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Post by mattofthespurs on Nov 13, 2012 20:14:12 GMT
As someone who has purchased every single title that Wordsworth Publish has put out under it's "Mystery And Supernatural" imprint I really don't know what else I can do. You could buy extra copies of all of them. This would be a shite idea.
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Post by doug on Nov 13, 2012 20:25:08 GMT
Hi Doug. I shouldn't think there'll be any problem if you just remove the names. Alternatively, you might like to paraphrase it? "Word reaches the bunker that the Wordsworth Mystery & The Supernatural series .... etc" Would also be a good idea to put a link to the Wordsworth's 'Mystery & Supernatural page and remind people that, at £2.99 (euro, USA, Rest of World equivalent) for an attractively produced physical book, the series is still the best bargain to be had. That "so a number are not being reprinted" is also important because finally the series has appeal for those lovely people who only buy collectable books! That's an excellent idea! Thanks!! Doug
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Nov 13, 2012 20:40:40 GMT
That's depressing news. So much for my dream of a Wordsworth collection of the Flaxman Low stories.
I've seldom seen Wordsworth editions in U.S. stores. They were easier to find when I visited Canada a few years ago.
I guess it's time to order a copy of Australian Ghost Stories and any other Wordsworth editions I want that I don't already have . . .
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Post by jayaprakash on Nov 14, 2012 7:20:05 GMT
I can't see how they could have kept costs lower. The real snag must have been distribution. Many stores in India stock a lot of Wordsworth titles, but only a few M&S titles - and these only as a small trickle that seems to have dried up this year. Perhaps an e-book series with POD would help keep the line going?
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Post by dem bones on Nov 14, 2012 13:29:50 GMT
I guess it's time to order a copy of Australian Ghost Stories . . . I hope you do and that you enjoy it as much as I have! A strong selection and a very informative commentary running throughout. The only fault with it I can find is that Wordsworth toned down James' title. Australian Weird Tales is by far the more appropriate. Just reading through these posts it's glaringly obvious that when Derek mentions "Part of the problem is that sales to the export trade, which represents about half of our market, are patchy at best" he is not overstating the case. Even in London we don't see them around as much now so many of the remainder book-stores have gone. Also 'Foyles' and, I think, other majors, mark them up at above the RRP to put them in line with the Oxford classics, which is not only against the spirit of the thing, it can't help sales. But what we should bear in mind is that the series has run into difficulties before and come through (admittedly the circumstances were different). Even if it were to be cancelled, what's to stop Wordsworth filtering the titles through to their 'World Classics' series? Several wouldn't be out of place.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Nov 14, 2012 14:19:19 GMT
But what we should bear in mind is that the series has run into difficulties before and come through (admittedly the circumstances were different). What were those earlier difficulties?
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Post by mattfinucane on Nov 14, 2012 15:04:18 GMT
Dunno if it'll make an atom of difference, but I could try blogging/tweeting about it.
If only they had a Facebook page or Twitter account: somewhere like that where people can visibly register support. (Which they don't, unless I'm overlooking something really obvious. Seems an odd omission for a publisher, nowadays.)
Hmm.
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