Case Study: Bookline & Thinker

We could not exist without Lightning Source.

While we are a fairly traditional publisher of fiction, we are quite untraditional when it comes to choosing the work that goes to print. Rather than select the manuscripts that we think have the best plot, character and writing style. We rely on book clubs to help us. We have a network of book club readers and, we ask them to read the early chapters of submissions and tell us their thoughts. It’s raw reading for them, no editing of punctuation, grammar or spelling. Sometimes readers tell me they love a work, while other times they give a firm thumbs down.

We are unique in letting readers into the publishing decision. But we can only do it because of print on demand. Added to this, we can only do it because Lightning Source have such good distribution channels and we can get the books to retailers.

All our writers are debut, they have no footprint, no fans of their previous fiction. I should also add that they have all studied creative writing at university. It’s not that we think you need creative writing classes to be a good writer, but it means we are not overwhelmed by submissions, and our readers can cope with the work we send them.

No one has ever brought readers into publishing in this way. But why not? It’s readers we are trying to please and if they give our manuscripts a thumbs up then I believe I can find other readers just like them who will also like the novel (especially when it’s been edited, proofread, formatted and bound within a lovely cover).

However, finding readers in a market flooded with new titles, is never easy. I love all our books and, while some have swum with the big guys, others have sunk with little trace. If we had to stick to the traditional model by specifying a print run, we could be left with thousands of books climbing our walls. Fiction is a gamble, probably more so than non-fiction. Sometimes editors get it right and sometimes… well, you know the outcome. But it is about taking risks, putting out that title that you hope will take the reader to another world, make their heart beat a little faster and perhaps even make them smile. Lightning Source helps us do this.

Yvonne Barlow, Hookline Books, Bookline & Thinker.