Write stuff

Lifestyle – There is a saying that everyone has at least one book in them, but very few people know how to go about getting that book published. Award-winning author, Marguerite Tonery, tells Bernie Ní Fhlatharta about the publishing company she has set up to address this issue.

Have you a manuscript written that’s gathering dust in a drawer because you don’t know what to do with it or where to send it?

If you do, you are not alone. It is often the case that writing is the easiest part while getting published is the challenging part of the process of getting your book out to the masses.

Many well-known writers have their own rejection stories. It’s hard to believe now that the first Harry Potter book by JK Rowling was rejected by no less than 12 publishers!!! The series went on to sell almost 500 million copies worldwide, and has been translated into numerous languages.

The biggest problem people have according to Marguerite Toney of Tribes Press, is that they just don’t know what to do with their manuscript — be it hard copy or a document on their laptop.

Marguerite, a Galway woman who is an established children’s’ writer, just went ahead and published her own work online and following the success and the demand on her books, she got them printed.

No doubt it was her own personal experience that led to her setting up Tribes Press, which is a godsend for anyone who is facing into the complex world of publishing their own work.

Tribes Press is a self-publishing company that publishes, translates and promotes fictional work. At the moment, it is sticking to fiction as it is Marguerite’s own genre, it’s what she knows, and this makes sense as she is very methodical in her approach to everything she does.

This approach may well come to her pre-publishing life when she worked as a bio-chemist before becoming a psychologist. Though equally it might have come from her upbringing in a home where both parents were self-employed.

“I grew up in a home where the business model was discussed around the kitchen table. My parents valued hard work. I have a creative mind and a business head,” she explains.

It’s no surprise then that once Marguerite had navigated how to get herself published, she wanted to share that experience with others or at least take the hard work out of it for them.

For various grading of fees, Tribes Press will help people get work published, starting with the basic package offered which is providing an editorial assessment. There is no doubt that some works are probably best left unpublished!!

Marguerite has a team of people working for Tribes Press and she stresses that she doesn’t do any editorial assessments, saying she’s not qualified to do so for a start.

She enthuses about the professionalism and abilities of her team, most of them working from home.

“You couldn’t possibly translate work or assess it editorially in a busy office environment. It’s the type of work that lends itself to working from home.”

Tribes Press has the know-how to assess, edit, design, publish and even market works of fiction.

“Many do self-publish, but many people make basic mistakes like forgetting about ensuring there’s a barcode on the book and that it gets an ISBN number, which identifies each individual book and establishes copyright.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.