Amy Boucher Pye

Tag: Authentic Media

  • A Year in the Life of a Book

    20160921_122512Last week I sat in a darkened room, heart pounding. The setting was familiar, for I had attended the Christian Resources Together gathering many a year previously in an editorial capacity, sometimes thrilled when “my” authors would win awards in the various categories, and sometimes gutted when they were passed over. Last week, however, I wasn’t an editor but an author. And my Finding Myself in Britain: Our Search for Faith, Home & True Identity was up for the Christian living book of the year.

    Alexandra McDonald from Macmillan Distribution presented the award, and as she announced the three shortlisted books I feared those next to me could hear my heart beating. “And the nominees are… There Are no Ordinary People by Jeff Lucas, published by CWR,” she said, and I thought, Jeff, Jeff, he’s an amazing, fantastic author and speaker. I will smile when they call his name. She continued, “Finding Myself in Britain by Amy Boucher Pye, published by Authentic Media, which you received last year.” Oh, I thought, she remembered how each participant found a book in their room! She continued, “And Katharine Hill, If You Forget Everything Else Remember This, published by Muddy Pearl.” Ah, I thought, another strong contender – Katharine’s work with Care for the Family is so important, and Muddy Pearl is a great little publisher.

    And the winner is…

    As we waited, both Rachael Franklin next to me from Authentic and I noticed that Alexandra looked like she was mouthing, “Finding…” I thought in the split second, Could it be? Could my book really have won? Oh Lord I can hardly believe it…

    “Finding Myself in Britain by Amy Boucher Pye, published by Authentic Media!”

    Donna Harris, who runs Authentic Media, grabbed my hand and up we went to receive the award. She said a few words, and I tried to garble out my thanks. With so much adrenaline pumping, and the lights so bright, I was not terribly articulate – I have empathy for Gwyneth!

    With Donna Harris, I am here amazed and stunned and grateful.
    With Donna Harris, I am here amazed and stunned and grateful.

    What I wanted to share was how Steve Mitchell and the folks at Authentic Media were the only ones willing to take me on as an author. I had a fantastic US agent who had shopped around an idea for my first book to 16 publishers – but 15 said no. And Steve and the team said yes, and thankfully he and I soon said “goodbye” to my original proposal. With his many years of retailing experience, he advised me to write a through-the-year account of life in Britain as an American. A sort of Michele Guinness-meets-Bill Bryson. My marching orders complete, I set about writing it.

    Most of the Authentic team, current and previous.
    Most of the Authentic team, current and previous.

    The writing and rewriting wasn’t all smooth sailing. I would draft a chapter and send it to Steve (by the way, not an editorial practice I necessarily recommend because of flow and voice, but with our tight timeframe and the trust we’d built previously it worked for us). He read them and give me loads of feedback, such as, “Hey, I feel like you’re trying to import Minnesota to England. I know you miss it, but…”

    When he and I finished going through the chapters, I sent it to about ten beta reviewers, three of whom were writers/editors. I’ve written elsewhere about my hide-under-my-duvet response after the first thirteen-page response! But my reviewers were so right in their comments, and I was thrilled that one of the reviewers became my editor, Jennie Pollock. She helped me sift through not only the editorial feedback, but she pushed me to find my voice and go deeper. That she’s a lovely Englishwoman who spent several years in the States only added to the experience.

    img_20160916_071541And then to the design and cover art and copyedit (with a few tears by me over British style – yep, really) and boom, it was time to think about marketing and sales. With the market changing so much and the UK losing probably 150 Christian bookshops over the past five years or so, the author can’t expect the publisher to be their only means of spreading the word about books. I had a wonderful marketing team headed up by Kate Beaton. My publisher was so fantastic with the campaign, not only, for instance, providing point-of-sale materials to bookshops but creating bookmarks and laminated recipe cards as well as giving me a huge sign for the book for my speaking engagements.

    For a real joy over the last year was getting to speak at events at bookshops; I loved meeting people around the country and hearing a few of their stories. Ali Caesar at Quench in Wokingham hosted the first launch, with the next-door coffee shop, The Grange, filled with people chortling over the US/UK quiz she arranged. I was so grateful to go to Streatham and Marlborough and Hove and up to Glasgow on these jaunts.

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    With one of the best reps in the business, Lawrie Stenhouse.

    csfjza_weaafpzr-1It’s been an amazing journey and as I look back over the past year my heart fills with gratitude to God and to all those who have helped with the publishing and distribution and the getting-the-books-into-people’s-hands. And of course to those of you who have read it! I love how readers become friends as we share in finding ourselves wherever God has placed us.

    To God be the glory.

  • Behind the Scenes: The First Draft of Finding Myself in Britain

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    Photo: Boris Anthony, flickr

    Authors, editors, and the *&^$ first draft.

    Having worked in Christian publishing for over two decades as an editor, I’ve had contact with many an author. In my early days I worked with some highly strung first-time ones – those who define the stereotype of oversensitive, defensive, and not wanting to kill their darlings. I’m remembering one whose book I edited in the early days of the internet, when I would plug in the cord into the phone socket and dial in my clunky Mac laptop to download my emails. Each time I opened my emails I’d find another range of missives from him, written with passion and angst as he argued every little change.

    I found the experience draining.

    When I moved across the pond and started as an editor in the religious books division at one of the huge conglomerates, I was stunned to hear my boss, the publishing director, say, “I only commission authors I enjoy.” Really, I thought? Well that must leave out a lot of people. But as time passed and as I inherited many projects from covering a maternity leave, I could see his wisdom. Those projects where the author and I clicked, where I could see their passion and integrity, were those I loved working on, and which seemed to go swimmingly – even if we had a lot of rewriting and editing to do. Because we trusted each other, the editing process was a conversation – and the book benefited.

    Those projects where the author and I didn’t gel so well, however, could suck the life out of me. For instance, I endured many a long, exhausting conversation with one agent, who claimed her author was receiving rotten treatment, that we were failing him, yadda yadda yadda – and this before the book even hit the bookshops! I wonder if she ever realized that she was thwarting her author’s project with the publishers.

    And now, after those years as an editor, I finally got to be an author with my first book-baby, Finding Myself in Britain. The process was long and hard, but full of trust and feedback and uncovering my voice. My commissioning editor was Steve Mitchell, the MD of Authentic Media, who came up with the idea for the book. He knew my passions – for prayer and issues of identity in Christ. He also has two decades of retail experience. All of which led him to say, “Write your unique angle as an American in the UK. Make it a through-the-year look at us.”

    10460850_10152372674802129_1515780501205436786_oSo I had my marching orders and launched in exactly a year ago, going to Spain to El Palmeral for a week of intense writing, enjoying the sunshine and the hosts and guests – and hearing their stories of Harvest and clergy life and the difference between Yorkshire and, say, Lancaster. When I got back, I sent Steve a bunch of chapters for his feedback, and we continued to work in this back and forth manner, me writing and him assessing, as I created my first draft.

    I was stunned by some of his early comments, for he was able to see what I couldn’t – namely how much I missed my family and friends in Minnesota. “I feel like you’re transplanting Minnesota to England,” he said of my early chapters in what was then called View from the Vicarage. “We want to hear what you think of us,” he continued, “not so much what you’ve left behind.”

    Ouch. But he was right, and I rewrote, and rewrote some more. Once we were happy with my first draft, I sent it off to 10 reviewers, a mix of friends from the Woman Alive book club and three editor/writer friends. I sent off my manuscript to them on the Friday night and had a 13-page response from one speedy reviewer by Saturday afternoon. I was stunned at her insights and fast response – so stunned I had to take myself to bed, lest I become one of those defensive, irritating first-time authors I mention above.

    And next time, dear reader friends, I’ll share how I handled that feedback and what I learned – and how I managed not to alienate my editor-friends!

  • Life in Publishing: Changes and a Big Reveal

    The only constant is change, and nowhere is that more true than in Christian publishing. My newsflash: In a couple of weeks, my freelance contract with Authentic Media for commissioning/acquiring great Christian titles is coming to an end as they narrow their focus primarily to children’s books, Bibles, and DVDs.

    image001When Rob Bootes from Koorong, Authentic’s Australian parent company, came to me four years ago asking if I wanted to join the team, I said no – being an editor was in the past, I thought, for I wanted to be a writer. A few months later he got in touch with a different proposal, and on a whim I said yes to one day a week consulting as a commissioning editor/publisher – for three months! Crazy me; I so got the timing wrong. It’s been a fab four years as I’ve worked on such amazing books as, in the early days, How to Like Paul Again by Conrad Gempf and Am I Beautiful? by Chine Mbubaegbu, and more recently Digging for Diamonds by Cathy Madavan and the forthcoming The Only Way is Ethics series by Sean Doherty.

    I’ve seen in these four years that I don’t have to approach my life-with-words in a black-and-while either/or way; it can be a both/and prospect of being a writer and an editor – the two roles feed each other creatively. Although I’m sad to say goodbye from an editorial point of view, I’m thrilled that my association with Authentic will continue with me as an author.

    For as many of you know, Authentic are publishing my first book this autumn – woo hoo! Here with my Big Reveal (well, some of you have seen this already), is my fabulous wonderful cover. I hope you love it as much as I do. Writing for Authentic has been a dream process, as it’s been a team effort with Steve Mitchell, Kate Beaton, Lawrie Stenhouse, Liz Williams, and Becky Fawcett on the Authentic side, and Jennie Pollock as my freelance editor. (Liz and Malcolm Down are no longer with Authentic either, as the narrowing of the focus included the elimination of their jobs too.)

    findingmyself_cover_vivianhansenSteve Mitchell, managing director, believed in me as an author, and last autumn took a punt in signing me up for my first book. (I recount my Tangled Writing Journey [yes, it deserves capital letters] here if you’d like to read the background.) With his over twenty years in Christian retail, and with my over two decades’ experience as an editor, we worked together to come up with what we hope will be a cracking good read. I wanted to write a devotional or a memoir; he suggested instead that I focus on my unique angle. Write, he said, about being an American in the UK, and while doing so I should incorporate my story and the spiritual insights I’ve gleaned with my cultural observations about this small island. There’s even a chapter about plumbing.

    My publisher likes to say that Finding Myself in Britain: Our Search for Faith, Home & True Identity is a bit like Michele Guinness meets Bill Bryson. I love that characterization, not least because Michele is one of my heroes, a magnificent writer and speaker who humbled me with her foreword. Here’s a bit of what she says:

    There were moments when Amy’s honesty and pain choked me, others when she made me laugh out loud. From toilets to tea and tennis, drizzle to driving, reserve to religious observance, sarcasm to self-deprecation, queuing to cricket, not to mention language, class, and vicarage oddities, it’s all there – the British foibles that make other nations think us bizarre… Yet in Amy’s gentle hands it’s a revelation – funny, challenging, surprising, chastening, and cheering.

    Yes, I’m excited about finally being a Proper Author who has written a book. Look for the finished product in October, from bookshops or from here at my website (or at the big online retailer for pre-pub orders). I owe so much not only to the Authentic team but to my editorial friends and encouragers.

    So although I’ll no longer be commissioning for Authentic, I’ll work with them on the launch and marketing of Finding Myself in Britain. I think back to a decade ago, when I went through what felt like a massive redundancy when Zondervan eliminated my editorial job. At the time my world was rocked, for so much of my identity was intertwined with my role. I’ve now seen how the Lord has worked through the years, honing me as he’s helped me pursue my deep desires such as writing. And how he’s even “enlarged my territories” (if I can use the Jabez language without anyone cringing too much). I trust that he’ll use this present change for my growth and flourishing – but I am making sure I take the time to grieve the passing of the season, as is right and proper to do.

    Yet I also know that losing my contractual freelance work might just be the boot-to-bum that I need to pursue some other dreams – such as a master’s in Christian spirituality. Watch this space!