#WorkInPublishing Week: Emma from Snowbooks
This week is Work in Publishing Week, a national campaign by the Publishers Association to inspire people to consider careers in the world of books. Find out more about opportunities on the Publishers Association website, or read on to find out more about working in indie publishing!
Today we're hearing from Emma Barnes at award-winning UK indie Snowbooks. Snowbooks started in a spare room in Hackney in April 2003 and soon moved to a couple of rented desks in a business incubator on Old Street -- before it was cool. They hired staff, signed up authors and their first books hit the shelves in 2004.
What is your job title, and what does your role cover?
I am the MD of Snowbooks, and also of makeourbook.com and consonance.app. There's one member of staff at Snowbooks -- me. I do everything, from cover design and layout to fulfilling orders and running royalties.
How did you get into publishing?
I used to work as a management consultant, so it was only a matter of time before I broke and started an indie press.
What would you like prospective publishing professionals to know about the world of indie publishing?
It is incredibly hard to make enough money to live on. And unless you're a better person than me, a lack of money crimps creativity. I've managed by having a mosaic of incomes. Diversifying into publishing management software is both rewarding and lets me eat.
What is your top tip for people who want to work with books?
Interrogate your feelings to understand exactly what it is about books that you like. The production? the people? your legacy? Then keep that in mind for when times get tough, and don't compromise on it. Otherwise you may as well go back to your corporate job...
Last, but certainly not least, what’s the most exciting thing you’re working on at the moment?
The Book Lovers by Steve Aylett. It's endorsed by Frankie Boyle, Alan Moore, Robin Ince and Michael Moorcock, amongst others, and I hope it reaches people, because, as Michael Moorcock has said about it, it's "entertainment for everyone who believes there is nothing worth reading any more!"
