A coupleofweeksafterthat,therightstothebooksoldinternationally.
Trantercalled:“TheAmericanswantit,theEnglishwant it, but also
theywantanotherbookin 10 months.Canyoudoit?”
Baileysaid:“Yep,I candoit,let’sdoit.”
Shefeltshehadtosayyes.“I’dalreadywrittenone,soI guessI could
probablymakeanotheronehappen.”
Withthedealbehindher,shethoughtthewritingforherfirstbook
wasover.If thepublisherboughtthebook,theymustloveit.Right?
Butshewastold,“Yeah,weloveit butwestillneedyoutochange
a wholebunchofstuffinit.”
Thatcanbefrustrating.If youchangeonebitofa crimenovel,with
sevenoreightsubplots,thenthere’sa cascadingeffectwithmanyparts
needingfixingandrewriting.
“Ifyoupulloutsomething,youhavetocheckstructurallythat
everythingelsestillmakessense,”shesays.“Ifindeditingsortoftedious
buta rewardingkindoftedious,likeundoinga massiveknotina neck-
lace,whichisfrustrating, but once you do it you’re happy.”
Thebestseller
TheDarkLakecameoutinMarch2018,featuringGemmaWoodstock,
a detectivesergeantwhoinvestigatesa murderwhosevictimshehas
connectionsto.
NewYorkJournalofBooks: “TheDarkLakeis a thrillingpsychological
policeproceduralaswellasa leapintothemindofa womanengulfed
w it hg u i lt.”
Thedetectiveis a complexcharacter,somethingofa star,baggingher
firstserialkillerearlyinhercareer.Sheisa goodcopbutherpersonal
lifehasfalsehoods,includingcheatingonherpartnerwitha colleague.
Theplothaslayersuponlayers.WereadthatGemmaknewher
victim,Rosalind,atschool.Andit wasasa teacheratthesameschool
inruralVictoriathatRosalindbecamea victim.Wearealsotoldof
Gemma’sboyfriendfromschool.Hisdeathisa mysterytothereader.
Thesecondbook,IntotheNight, alsowithGemmaWoodstock,mate-
rialisedwhileBaileywasworkinga mainjobatMrSmith.“Itwasa small
productioncompanywithtwogreatguys.Wewererunningthislittle
independentshoptogether.I workedwiththemanddidthewriting;
thatwasa bitmoref lexiblethana full-timeagencymanagementjob.”
Thethirdbook,Where the DeadGo, came out in August 2019.
Themoney
“Unlessyousellinternationally,it’sreallyhardtomakea livingoffjust
writing and selling books,” says Bailey. “The market here is just not big
enough.We’re 24 millionpeople,
andtheproportionof themwhoread
regularlyisnothigh.Thenonly
apercentageofthemreadcrime
fiction, leavinga smalluniverseof
potentialsalesandaudience.
“Everyonehears ofthe big
successstoriesbutthere’ssofew
ofthem whomake big bucks.
And thenthere’sthischunkinthe
middlewhohavedonereallywell
andhaveinternationaldealsand
makesomedecentmoney.
“Afterthat,there’sa crazylong
tailofpeoplewhohavewritten
a b ookanddoneallofthesame
amountofeffortassomeoneelse
buttheyonlysella thousandcop-
iesandmakenothing.
“I’mnotatthetopbutI’vesold
internationallyandI amina fortu-
natepositiontohavea seriesand
peoplehavereadallthreebooks.”
Theadvertisingindustrypays
wellforthosewho’vebuilta career.
And,Baileysays,it’salmostimpossi-
bleto matchthatfrom writing books.Whatnext?
“I’mworkingawayonanother
crimebook,”shesays.“I’vealso
gota contractwithAmazonfor
anaudiobook.”
Foranaudiobook,theprocessis
thesameasprint.“Ijusthaveto
writea bookthey’llturnintoan
audiobook.Basicallyit’sjusta differ-
entdistributionmethod.”
BenNaparstek,director,con-
tent Australia, Audible, says
mystery/thrillerisoneofthetop
threegenres.
“Itseemedlikea no-brainerto
commission oneof Australia’s
leadingnewcrimenovelistsforour
AudibleOriginalsprogram,”he
toldAdNews.
“AudibleOriginalsarespecifi-
callycreatedtobelistenedtoand
theybuilduponthe 400,000+
titles we offer in Australia.
Inspiredbytheboominaudio-
bookandpodcastlistening,writ-
ersareincreasinglypublishing
theirworkaudio-firsttoincrease
theiraudience.
“BeforejoiningAudible,I ledthe
digitalandcontentbusinessesfor
EdelmanAustralia,soI wasexcited
bySarah’scommitmenttoa career
combiningagency-sidebrandmar-
ketingwithwritingforconsumersof
audio entertainment and novels.”“It’sreallyhardto
makea livingoff
justwritingand
selling books.”http://www.adnews.com.au|March 2020 13