MACMILLAN NEW WRITING UPDATE

The post about Macmillan New Writing prompted a lot of interest.

I posted a link to the post over at Authonomy. People chipped in with comments and then Will Atkins, commissioning editor at Macmillan New Writing, posted an update:

"... Yes, we publish people like Brian McGilloway, who, miraculously, write a novel a year (Brian's third crime novel is about to come out from Macmillan, MNW having published his first two); but we also publish the likes of Ann Weisgarber (just long-listed for the Orange prize), whose debut took seven years to write. MNW has acquired, to date, eight second novels from its debut authors, with three of those authors, so far, going on to be signed up by Pan Macmillan on a multi-book contract, on conventional terms, with an advance. More will follow this year."

I think the fact Will Atkins took time out to post the information is an indication of the values which impel the MNW imprint.

So, there you have it:

• 8 second novels
• 3 novels from Brian McGilloway, of which the first two published by MNW
• 3 MNW authors achieving multi-book contracts with PanMacmillan

Ryanair? Sounds more like a space shuttle to me.

To get a good bit of the background to MNW see this post by Richard Charkin, then CEO of Macmillan, and this book by Mike Barnard.

Have a good weekend.