SCRIPTORA: assisted publishing with SWWJ

Mary Rensten, Vice President of the Society of Women Writers and Journalists, talks about the Society's assisted publishing arm, SCRIPTORA.

In 2004 my first novel was accepted for publication. What a thrill! After nearly thirty years as a journalist and playwright, I had tackled a new genre ... and found success! I began a second novel, and jotted down ideas for further ones; nothing could stop this roller-coaster. Oh no? What was that saying about Pride coming before a Fall?

The publisher went out of business ... and my manuscript went back to the drawer, where it sat for a couple of years; I went back to writing drama, rather than experiencing it. Forget it, Mary, you are not a novelist.

Hang on, though ... the book was accepted, therefore it must be good enough for publication. The problem was ... no other publisher seemed to want it. So, what now? Vanity, in connection with publication, was a dirty word; but how about self-publishing? Other people, quite reputable writers, were now doing it. It was worth a try. I dug out the manuscript, freshened it up, took it to a printer. Two weeks later I collected the fifty copies I had ordered and brought them home in the boot of my car. My local independent bookshop, now sadly no longer there, agreed to stock the book and gave me a launch, to which the local press came. My photo, and a lovely plug for the book, appeared in the weekly newspaper, The Hertfordshire Mercury, and it was reviewed very favourably in The Woman Writer, the quarterly magazine of the Society of Women Writers & Journalists (SWWJ), an organisation which has been supporting writing professionals since 1894.

I had by now garnered some very useful information about publishing, which would be helpful when I set out to get my second novel into print. But that was not yet: I was only about halfway through! In the meantime though, perhaps I could use my new-found knowledge to benefit others in the SWWJ, members who were seeking publication in a genre new to them, or poets who were finding it difficult to get their work published in book form.

I drafted out a plan for this venture, giving it the publishing name I had used for my own book, and presented it to the SWWJ Council. They liked the idea ... and the name. SCRIPTORA (SWWJ) was born! You won't find the word in any dictionary ... well, not yet anyway! It is derived from scriptor, Latin for writer. Published writers back then being, as far as we know, male, there was no need for a feminine form of the word. No problem: add an 'a', and you have it ... SCRIPTORA!

We published our first book, After The Battle, a volume of poems by prize-winning Sussex writer Fay Marshall, in 2010, and in 2012 , Susato, a semi-autobiographical, lyrical novel by Liverpool poet Alfa, which has since been translated into German. We now have ten titles on our list, and six more - four novels, a book of poems and an autobiography - currently awaiting publication. Yes, it's a small concern, but it is a growing one, and our authors can be proud to have their work published by us, knowing that, before being accepted, it has gone through a rigorous vetting process by professional Readers, as with any submission to a commercial publisher, making this an 'assisted' publishing facility, rather than a self-publishing one.

So, how does SCRIPTORA work? Members send for an Application Form and Notes for Writers, then submit their work, together with the names of two people of literary standing who will endorse it. The manuscripts, preferably sent as email attachments (although hard copy is acceptable), go to two Readers. If both consider the work worthy of publication, it will move on to the next stage, which may well involve some 'tweaking' and/or re-writing; that done, the manuscript has a second round of reading, and if it passes that, it is then prepared for the printer. 

Throughout all this the writer has help, advice and general mentoring from our experienced editorial team, who will ensure that our publications, whether paperbacks or eBooks, meet professional standards in content and presentation. The only charge for this service is, at the moment, an admin. fee of £15! The bulk of the cost, though, aside from the ISBN, is paid by the author. He/she pays for the Readers' assessments - at a special rate to SWWJ members of £12 per hour, with £50 for an initial critique - and then for the printing and any artwork for the cover.

As with all publishers, the writer has to play his/her part in publicising the book; here again we give assistance, through the SWWJ press and social media contacts. Blogs, together with Twitter and Facebook, are proving to be a wonderful, far-reaching, and generally free, way of spreading the word about new work. Writers are, for the most part, retiring, modest people, but we are learning not to be so ... and this beguiling, easy-to-use 21st. century technology is helping us no end to overcome our shyness!

Alfa's Susato has had very good sales, particularly in Germany, poet Doris Corti's much praised Avenue of Days has sold out, Alex Rushton's dystopic novel, Sunrise at An Lac, has had brilliant reviews, and my own novel, the book that started the SCRIPTORA ball rolling, was republished commercially two years ago as Letters from Malta, and became an eBook best-seller in Australia!

I am so pleased that I took that first step into publishing: I love to see other writers being successful and it's good to think that SCRIPTORA is contributing to their success.


For more information and contact details go to swwj.co.uk Click on 'About Us' and scroll down to SCRIPTORA.

Mary Rensten is a Vice-President of SWWJ