Marion Boyars Publishers Basics:
Marion Boyars Publishers, a UK press founded in 1975, publishes an average of ten books per year; an average of eight of those are fiction. The average print run for fiction titles is 3,000, though reprints can take this number up to 10,000 or so.
This profile was completed by Catheryn Kilgarriff, director.
Press Description:
We are a long established, independent literary publishing house, with a reputation for publishing brave, articulate books often ahead of their time. Famous books and authors include Hubert Selby Jr,
Last Exit to Brooklyn, Requiem for a Dream, and his other books, Ken Kesey,
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and
K: The Art of Love by Hong Ying.
What Marion Boyars Publishers Is Looking For:
Diverse, often fiction in translation, from the Turkish, Chinese, Dutch and Greek. If a book can be characterized as a genre book, we probably will not be able to publish it because of the commercial competition from the large presses. If a book is totally unusual and about a world unknown to most English and American readers, for example,
The Flea Palace by Elif Shafak, we will jump over all the hurdles to publish it well.
What Marion Boyars Offers Writers That Commercial Presses Don't:
We usually get funding for authors from outside of the UK to visit and publicize their books. We are seen as groundbreakers by many of our fellow editors in the mainstream, commercial publishing houses, who often buy mass market rights from us. We are often a very short cut to mainstream success for our authors. It still works well for them to choose us to publish their next book -- we continue to support them. We provide a great deal of editorial help and structural assistance.
Number One Thing Most Likely to Put Them Off a Manuscript:
Manuscripts that show males sexually manipulating very young women.
Number One Thing Most Likely to Put Them Off a Cover Letter:
Bad spelling and grammar. Over pompous assertions for their work.
Number One Thing Most Likely to Spark Their Interest:
Genuine hope that we will like their work -- the shorter the letter the better.
Address for Submissions:
Marion Boyars Publishers, 24 Lacy Road, London SW15 1NL. Attn: Catheryn Kilgarriff (Director), Rebecca Gillieron (Fiction Editor), Kit Maude (Non-fiction Editor)
Other Notes on Submissions:
SAE essential for a reply. Agents not strictly necessary because if you are coming to us for a deal it is likely you have already exhausted the imagination of the mainstream press. What we do with a book is entirely different, and agents do not have much to add. Their only job is to get large advances out of the big houses and if they have failed at that, you shouldn’t be needing them any more.
Additional Advice for Writers Interested in Submitting Work:
Try writing all kinds of different works -- cultivate recognition by journalists. We are currently talking to a writer who has written three novels, one of which won the Somerset Maugham Prize, but the other two failed to sell and his large press dumped him unceremoniously. He then decided to write a TV play, two episodes of a murder TV show, is currently writing a screenplay for the BBC, and has a documentary lined up to accompany the non-fiction book we are talking to him about. Along the way, he has picked up recognition, a following from a regular radio slot, and a lot more writing skills. He is still not yet ready to write another novel, but his family has eaten for the past four years and he feels good about himself.
