Bryon Quertermous in Conversation with Holly West (Part 2)

In last week's post, I published part one of a conversation I had with Bryon Quertermous, commissioning editor at Exhibit A Books. This week, we finish up with a candid discussion about digital publishing and other titillating topics.

BQ: You're on a digital-only publisher and for some people that represents a failure. I remain bullish on digital publishing and think places like Carina Press can provide some opportunities for stories that might not be a good fit for print or mass market publishing. Do you feel like you failed by not getting a print deal?

HW: It’s a complicated thing. Yes, there is a part of me that feels that failure. I can’t sit here and lie and say I didn’t want a print deal. However, I’ve been happy with Carina Press and am currently working with them on my second novel, Mistress of Lies.

BQ: I think it's okay to admit those feelings. But you did choose to go with them over self-publishing or a micro press and I'm curious about that reasoning. (Look at me going all Barbara Walters with the hard questions).

HW: My reasons for going with Carina over self-publish are that I didn’t want to self-pub, not for my first book. I’m not a publisher. I wanted a real publisher behind me, digital or not.

BQ: People get so attached to the idea of print that they'll choose a crappy print publisher over a solid digital publisher.

HW: Oh, good point. I didn’t want to go with a very small print publisher for precisely that reason. Carina has a track record and they’ve got Harlequin behind them.

BQ: Okay, lets get back to talking about me.

HW: Are there any authors you’re hoping to work with in the future? Besides me, of course.

BQ: Well, of course I don't want to hurt any feelings by leaving some people out I might forget, but I will say that I've already been shocked at the quality of authors and submissions I've been getting for Exhibit A. There a a couple of people I'd really like to work with who aren't big names, but I feel deserve a chance to be published and, for whatever reasons, haven't had that chance yet. I don't see Exhibit A doing a Hard Case Crime and getting Stephen King to write a book for us. There are other established authors out there writing very mainstream stuff that I would be interested in getting to write something a little off for me, but we'll see how all of that works out.

HW: This is all very exciting. I say that sincerely, by the way. It must feel a little surreal to think you’ll be shaping the future (not sure how to say this) of the imprint. Defining it, for lack of a better word, mapping it’s direction. That’s a lot of power, BQ. Think you can handle it?

BQ: Not at all. It is surreal and a little freaky at times. But I'm lucky to have friends like yourself to keep me grounded. I also look to people like Ben LeRoy from Tyrus books and Terri Bischoff from Midnight Ink who have done a great job of building publishers in the mystery community without tearing down other companies or other authors.

HW: I’m intrigued by Polis Books, Jason Pinter’s new venture. I think projects like that help to elevate digital publishing. What say you?

BQ: I agree. It's like the early days of webzine publishing where there were ton of outfits out there but most of them were garbage. The ones that elevated the form and helped it gain respectability treated it professionally and either had a big name on board as publisher or editor or had big names within their pages. Jason has both with Polis. I also think it helps that Jason has the cache of a print background as well. He's not some tech upstart or one of these goobers who forms their company with a mission statement that denigrates every other kind of publisher. I'm very interested to see where he goes with it. I'm also really intrigued by MysteriousPress.com and Open Road Media that are combining the digital only stuff with trade print editions that still have some of the respectability (and advances) of the major print operations. It's a very exciting time and I wish more people saw it that way.

HW: I certainly see it that way, for all of the reasons you’ve mentioned. And I didn’t say this before but digital is the way publishing is heading. It might not be all there yet but 99% of the books I read are eBooks. I rarely pick up a print book anymore. That was another major reason I went with Carina--if all I read are eBooks, why isn’t a digital deal good enough for me as an author?

Is there anything else you’d like to say about Exhibit A?

BQ: I think I've said plenty, but I'm curious what else everyone would like to know about Exhibit A. We're still so new that a lot of people don't know anything about us. Most people know Angry Robot but don't know we're associated with them. So is there anything else YOU'D like to know?

HW: Right now you only accept agented submissions, but your website mentions an open submission period coming up. Any idea when that might be?

BQ: Not yet. It's such a huge undertaking and they just finished up the latest Angry Robot Open Door so it probably won't be until later this year. But that doesn't mean unagented authors are out in the cold with me. While I won't take unagented submissions blindly, I will be on the lookout for good work. I've already reached out to a couple of unagented writers I know about novels they've written and I'll be traveling to a number of conferences that have pitch sessions to hear about the books that are out there. I know the submissions I get from agents will also be sent to the big New York houses where I won't always be able to compete for them, but I can leverage my editorial input and personal involvement by finding the great books before they get to that stage.

HW: Everything in publishing takes FOREVER. Is that the case with Exhibit A or does the fact that you’re a smaller house make things a bit more expedient?

BQ: To a certain extent we can be more flexible and get books out quicker, but the biggest problem is the huge lead times the distributors need for getting these books into the stores.

HW: I was mainly talking about submission turn-around times, at that sort of thing. It makes sense that you’d have a little flexibility there.

BQ: Unfortunately, with a smaller operation the response times tend to be even longer because none of us have assistants to take care of a lot of the busy work. The day-to-day operations of the publisher consume most of the official work day so submission reading and manuscript editing come on nights and weekends.

HW: I feel sorry for anybody employed as your assistant. (I had to end this with some snark, of course).

My thanks to Bryon for taking the time to chat with me. And be sure to check out Exhibit A's releases, it's a great list. I'm definitely looking forward what's in store for this publisher.

Bryon Quertermous in Conversation with Holly West (Part 1)

You might know Bryon Quertermous (AKA my arch-nemesis) from his shameless self-promotion and whining on social media. But he recently took over the editing reigns at Exhibit A Books, the crime fiction imprint of Angry Robot Books. So now, we have to be nice to him.

The two of us recently got together for a little pow-wow via Google docs (hence all of the typing references) and discussed Exhibit A, publishing, and, of course, Bryon's favorite subject: himself.

What follows is part one of the (mostly) unedited transcript of this monumental event.

HW: Ok, first question: Quertermous is a weird last name. Where’s it from?

BQ: My father.

HW: Elaborate, please.

BQ: I've heard a variety of different stories, but the most realistic of them seems to be that it's French from my Louisiana relatives. Though I'm not entirely sure someone didn't just make it up.

HW: I can already see I’m a better typist than you are.

BQ: Brilliance comes at a cost, and in my case the cost is proper typing skills. Do you use the proper setting for your hands and everything?

HW: Why, yes I do. Thanks for noticing.

BQ: My paralyzing wrist pain and elbow cramps are reminders of how awesome I am. You don't get to experience that.

HW: True. Ok, let’s get on with the “interview.”

BQ: No. My turn for a question. Tell me about your name. Holly West sounds fake. Elaborate.

HW: My birth name is Holly O’Neill. My husband’s name is Mick West. I married him so that I could have a cooler name (and he married me for the greencard). Win-win!

BQ: Sounds like true love. Holly O'Neill sounds like a 90s sitcom name.

HW: Actually, O’Neill is still my legal name. I’ve been married 15 years and I still haven’t gotten around to changing it. Which should give you an idea of how lazy I am.

BQ: Oh, I already had a pretty good idea of how lazy you were. So in the interest of conflict of interest and such we should probably mention that at one point I was employed as an editor by your publisher [Carina Press], though we never worked together. Thank god.

HW: Yes, I don’t even believe in God and I’m still thanking him for that.

BQ: You certainly weren't the reason I left, but it certainly hastened my interest in outside opportunities.

HW: Speaking of outside opportunities, you’re the new editor at Exhibit A Books. I have to say, after weeks of your shameless teasing on social media, the announcement wasn’t a total let down. Are you enjoying your new job?

BQ: The readers of this interview won't see it, but as the interview has gone on, my typing has gotten better and yours has gotten much worse. Is it drinking time already?

HW: I noticed that too, but no, just coffee (so far).

BQ: So yes, Exhibit A. I was hoping that all the build-up I got carried away with on social media wouldn't dampen the announcement, but everyone seemed to be duly surprised that a real publisher found it in their best interest to hire me. What was your first thought when you heard the news?

HW: I’m at a loss for a snarky response for once. I was surprised but also very happy for you. It seemed like a great opportunity and probably a good fit. Time will tell about that, eh?

BQ: Eh, indeed. To be honest I was a little worried I wasn't the right fit based on their initial wave of releases that seemed to be geared toward thrillers, which is not my strong suit, and less toward what I saw as the Angry Robot brand I was a big fan of. But after being assured I could mold the list in my image, just as the previous editor had done, I was sold. I also felt more comfortable when I went to the UK to meet everyone in person and realized they're just as twisted as I am.

I also have to say, that once I went back and read the early books from Exhibit A, they were less glossy and vapid than I thought thrillers generally are so my prejudice was cracked.

HW: You see BQ, your prejudice will be your undoing. And I like the line “I could mold the list in my image.” I always knew you had a God complex.

But about that list. We’ve talked about it and you don’t seem to be into historicals (which I find tremendously insulting, of course). Exhibit A has a few historicals out there. Has that come to an end with your editorship?

BQ: It's funny you mention that because when I was sitting with Marc Gascoine, the publisher of Angry Robot and Exhibit A, we were talking about this and I mentioned I wasn't a fan of historical fiction. Our larger publishing overlord, Osprey, has a long history of publishing just the sort of thing I wasn't interested in so Marc pushed me to find out if I really didn't like historical or if I was just mouthing off stupidly. It turns out, I kind of do like historicals if they're gritty and weird and not of the standard historical templates. I'm a huge fan of steam punk and diesel punk and stuff like that so there will certainly be more historicals in the pipeline as we go along.

What I would really like to see is some Civil War era crime fiction.

HW: That brings me to my next question. Your dream manuscript just flew into your inbox (by carrier pigeon). Tell me about it.

BQ: Wait, no, it's my turn for a question dammit. With your tattoos and cursing and drinking and whatnot, you seem like the least likely candidate to write historicals I'd imagine. Where did that come from and will you ever write a contemporary crime novel?

HW: 1) Yes. I will write a contemporary crime novel. 2) I’d been interested in 17th century London since I was a teenager. I’d always wanted to write about it, so I did. But I think one of the reasons I had so much trouble selling MISTRESS OF FORTUNE is that it just didn’t fit into what you call the standard historical template. My heroine is gritty and sometimes not very likeable. There’s a twist at the end that shows just how gritty she is. But the message I kept getting was that I needed to make her more likeable. I needed to make her more sympathetic. She’s not a bitch but she’s also not very nice in some respects. Girl does what she needs to to get by, you know? But agents were looking for a more charming protagonist. More Jane Austen-like, I guess.

BQ: That sounds like just the sort of book I'd like to read if you hadn't written it. Do you believe in all of the fortuneteller hocum that's in the book?

HW: Not at all, and neither does Isabel Wilde, my protagonist. She’s a charleton. I believe in science, BQ. I thought we covered that at Bouchercon.

BQ: So back to my dream acquisition. That's a hard one and people have been asking me about it A LOT lately and I'm always at a loss for an answer. I'm intrigued more by voice than anything else, but I like dark voices and quirky voices and goofy voices. I think I'm less a fan of gimmicky post-modern stuff than I was initially, but just a good story told well. Also, one of the nice things about being a smaller publisher is I don't have to wait for my dream submission. I have the luxury of taking manuscripts with potential and working with them and helping the author in a way they might not get with a bigger house and I think that's more rewarding than publishing a perfect manuscript that lands on my lap. (Though I wouldn't mind one or two of those a year to keep the budget in tact.)

HW: Ha, suddenly I’m at a loss for words.

BQ: I do that to people quite a bit. I come off all snarky and mean and it's easy to respond to that and then I hit in with some genuine emotion and it always throws people off.

I think I'll leave it on this touchy-feely note. Join us next week for part two of the chat, when we discuss digital publishing, Bryon's plans for Exhibit A, and decide once and for all who has better typing skills. - H