This Barbie Is in Publishing

by Desola Coker

As a woman working in SFF, I often get asked about my role in publishing. Questions range from the ins-and-outs to my feelings on the state of the industry, and of course, the ever popular can you read and publish my manuscript please? Sometimes, I get asked about my journey. 

Honestly? I don’t know how I got here. I wish I could say that I had a spiritual calling to work in the publishing industry, but I didn’t. Yes, I’ve loved books my entire life – I can vividly remember being five years old and asking my parents to buy me a copy of Green Eggs and Ham in the Heathrow WHSmith – but working in publishing didn’t cross my mind until I was nearing the end of university and realised my future had to be actualised into something other than going to school. It took a year of arduous applying, constant writing and rewriting of cover letters and online application forms that asked me for details they could just read in my CV before I got the role that landed me at Angry Robot Books. Two years later, I’m still here and I’ve moved up into a role that takes me a step closer to my career goals. But with that step comes a lot more Responsibility. Now I’m looking for new voices to fill the Angry Robot list, finding my place amongst the other editors. What do I want to commission? What do I want to champion, and who?

Submissions have started trickling in, samples and full manuscripts. In them, they carry possibility. They await judgement. They await an opportunity. They await my opinion. 

They remind me of one fundamental fact: reading is hard. 

Reading is much harder when you must consider much more than just your own enjoyment from a short sample. You must think past yourself and about the author, the message they are trying to portray in their book, and the audience. Where will this book be in eighteen months? How is the market going to change by then? What titles do I see this book being placed next to? How can I help the author achieve their vision? Can I help the author achieve their vision? 

As a department, editorial carries a lot of weight. These submissions are more than just words on the page, they are dreams. They are a chance. One of the first things I learned about publishing is that nothing is set in stone: the industry is based almost completely on hypotheticals to make money. Technically, everything is fake. You can guess, and you can predict, you can do the most for a title and nothing for another, but nobody knows what will happen until the book is out there. Audiences react differently to things that have worked before. Everything is based off an opinion, and the editor’s is one of the first an author will get on their work. 

Early into my career, people asked me for my opinion on submissions, and they actually listened and considered what I had to say. To put it quite frankly, I was gagged. 

Me? You’re asking me for my opinion? The girlie whose favourite book is probably Twilight and regularly wears Edward Cullen earrings to the Very Professional™ office? The Unofficial Gen Z advocate for bubble tea? Her? Are you sure? 

Of course they were sure. In publishing, your opinion is a powerful tool. It is the way you perceive the industry and the way you gauge the potential of a submission drawing its cannons and making a bang in the industry. Even if you aren’t sure of what you’re saying, you’ve got to act like you are, and bring evidence in the form of a pitch as backup.

By chance one day, I was set on emptying the Angry Robot open submissions inbox. I remember the day vividly because of two things: 1) It was the day Renaissance Act I by Beyoncé came out and 2) It was the day before I was getting adult braces. I was armed with exquisite music and impending tooth trauma, and it was enough to tackle the eight hundred or so submissions we had left.

These Deathless Shores, my first acquisition at Angry Robot, snuck up on me. I hadn’t found anything that the editors were looking for just yet, and despite the good music keeping me going, I was beginning to feel like I wasn’t going to find anything to suit their tastes at all. But then I found it. I read the pitch and my interest was piqued. Then I read the first fifteen pages and I knew I needed more. A gender-bent retelling of the Captain Hook origin story, filled with treachery, revenge and a nefarious child with everlasting milk teeth settled into my brain matter. 

We requested the full manuscript, and it maintained its atmosphere. I read it over one weekend, and came back to the office full of opinions, almost all of which I rained down on my manager Eleanor Teasdale (who made me namedrop her in this) in the following days. She trusted what I had to say and read the book, and she agreed that it was good. We did our due diligence: reached out to the author, who, by this point had gained a brilliant set of agents that we had worked with before. Eleanor handed me the reins: you found it, she said. You lead. 

Armed with the advice she and the other editors gave me, I did what I had to do. I drafted the contract, scheduled the welcome call, introduced this writer into our roster of AR authors. I’ve been leading the cover drafting process based on what the author wants, helping them visualise their dream in a book cover. I’m (gently) nagging the sales team about things we can do in the UK to boost the author profile. These are all things I’ve learned before, things I’ve worked on before, but now I’m leading these processes, stepping into footprints of those who I’ve shadowed over the past two years. 

These Deathless Shores has been announced and will be out in the world in summer 2024. We’re in the middle of looking at covers, I’ve somehow gained dibs on a first born while doing this and I’m pretty nervous for it to be out, but I’m having fun giving my opinions, seeking the potential of the book on the market. 

So here I am. One AQ deep, Edward Cullen earrings and a set of braces later. My opinions have led me well so far.

And I think I’m doing ok. But most importantly, I think I’m doing ok for the authors I get to work with. I hope my opinions are improving their books and not hindering them. The aim ultimately is to draw the magic out of their work  and present it to readers, who will be as excited as I was when I first made my parents buy me Green Eggs and Ham. 

Desola has always been a keen reader of new worlds, which is why she studied American Literature at the University of East Anglia. SFF has been her favourite genre for years, with a particular love for Urban Fantasies and fantastical Dark Academia books such as Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House. As well as this, she loves faerietale/folklore, romantasy, adventure filled mysteries, and has a soft spot for retellings, especially those written by authors from underrepresented backgrounds.

She is excited to join and start supporting the Angry Robot team. Find her on instagram: @dess.reads.