31 December 2008
Lewis Carroll and Self Publishing
Carroll sort-of self published his books. "Sort-of" because it was the kind of deal which later seemed to fade out in publishing, only to re-emerge in the last few years with outfits like Lulu.
Macmillan & Co.
Macmillan & Co. were his publishers. They are now one of the big boys but at the time Carroll chose them in the early 1860s, they were a fairly new house, founded in 1843. So they had been going about twenty years. They had a stable of authors and good relationships with booksellers and distributors.
No Editorial Input
But Carroll did not receive any editorial input from Macmillan, and had to bear all the costs of illustration, paper and binding himself. It cost him a fortune.
When I first learned that he'd paid for it all himself, out of his rather meagre salary, I warmed to him. Here he was, a totally unknown author, believing in himself and prepared to take a risk.
He was painstaking about the production of his books, ensuring that the illustrations should be on the same page as the text to which they related, and making sure that every detail was as perfect as it could be. Nothing but the best.
Macmillan & Co.
Macmillan & Co. were his publishers. They are now one of the big boys but at the time Carroll chose them in the early 1860s, they were a fairly new house, founded in 1843. So they had been going about twenty years. They had a stable of authors and good relationships with booksellers and distributors.
No Editorial Input
But Carroll did not receive any editorial input from Macmillan, and had to bear all the costs of illustration, paper and binding himself. It cost him a fortune.
When I first learned that he'd paid for it all himself, out of his rather meagre salary, I warmed to him. Here he was, a totally unknown author, believing in himself and prepared to take a risk.
He was painstaking about the production of his books, ensuring that the illustrations should be on the same page as the text to which they related, and making sure that every detail was as perfect as it could be. Nothing but the best.