Terry Whidborne is the author and illustrator of Tasmanian Faeries, an illustrated hardback book that gathers ‘eye witness’ accounts of faery encounters in Tasmania, as collected by the fictional author Lady Plummage. Whidborne spoke to Independent Publishing about his book, from its genesis as an idea to working on producing the book with Forty South Publishing, and shares useful advice to other authors and illustrators interested in self-publishing large format illustrated titles.
Can you introduce your book Faeries of Tasmania and the inspiration behind it?
Tasmania had always been on my radar to visit. It was also on my partner’s radar to not let me visit, as she knew I would most likely not come back to Brisbane.
I’m originally from the Beatrix Potter area of the UK, and my partner knew I would find the Tassie temperature and landscapes alluring—a little home away from home. After lots of sweaty summers in Brissie, it finally came to the crunch of visiting the Apple Isle. After some travelling around Tassie, we stumbled upon Westbury. I say ‘stumbled upon’, as my partner didn’t know I had been secretly scouring the internet for an interesting home. One just happened to be in Westbury, which has a rich history dating from the 1800s. It also has a large Irish history.
As an avid watcher of Antiques Roadshow, I’m always fascinated by the stories behind the objects shown, which is sometimes followed by a high estimated value, which is followed by me yelling ‘SELL IT!’ to the flatscreen.
So, the stories behind objects of history do pique my interest. Westbury has lots of objects, some as large as having the only traditional village green in Australia. It got me thinking about the stories behind the people and their beliefs arriving in Van Diemen’s Land.
With my love of fantasy being woven through everyday life and the Irish mythology of the faeries somehow being here, made for a solid idea. With that in mind, I didn’t want to create yet another faery field guide, there are too many out there already, I really wanted it to be different. What’s the point in just doing what others have already done and done well?
Books about faeries are mainly by one person who has seen these magical creatures. I wanted to open that up and say, faeries can be seen by anyone; seeing them in everyday life was of interest to me. It just a matter of being at the right place at the right time.
My angle is to have eye witnesses—just plain everyday people—tell of their faery encounter, and to have a much bigger story building behind through an Edwardian chocolatier named Edith S Brown. Her story will grow from book to book.
Lady Plummage is the glue holding all this together as she’s not only our reporter of faery encounters, she is also an avid collector on everything Edith.
The first book is just an introduction to the bigger world.
What has the reception for your book been like?
It’s been amazing. The Tassie people are right behind it and thoroughly enjoying the idea of having their own faeries residing in their state.
Inside the book I have maps of where these strange creatures have been spotted, which is another touch point for locals to identify with. They have really embraced it. A lot of time has been spent making sure that every photo or pattern created has some sort of Tassie connection. It could be a pattern on a vase, or simply a shot of an area well known to locals.
I’ve been visiting the bookshops around the state. They’re all loving the quality and how the book has built another world within theirs. It does cross a large demographic of readers and obviously bookshops love that. The book could have just been for the younger audience, but actually reaches much further.
The excitement goes both ways too. I was chatting with a local who had bought the book and read it from start to finish that same day. She mentioned how much she enjoyed it and how much she loved it being part of Tasmania. When I mentioned book two, a big smile spread across her face. It’s such a joy to see that. I really do get a kick out of it.
Can you describe the particulars of how you published Faeries of Tasmania?
I always get excited about a new project. I totally immerse myself and let my mind go where it wants with it. I try to keep the naysayers at bay. You will come across them and you must stick to your original idea. Believe in yourself. Throughout my life I have had naysayers pop in and out, planting that rotting seed, blocking the flow. You have to keep going. You can always go back and change things but don’t stop your brain from flowing. I find watching a film to be the same. You are in that moment, in their world following their story with gun fighting or sword clashing, when all of a sudden, the screen pauses and you hear, ‘Want a cup of tea?’ . That moment has gone. Keep it flowing and keep disruptions to a minimum.
Once I had my project roughly in my head, I created a flow chart of the pages. Basically, I mapped it out with small boxes marking where the images can go. This can give you an overall feel and balance to the book. Have it too heavy with images at the front or back will make it feel odd to the reader.
I then created some sample images, as this is my strong point. I knew the images in my head would be interesting to the right people. This then took me to creating a couple of sample spreads and the cover. I set some lorem ipsum (placeholder text) for now to get an idea of word count within each short story.
I now had a good structure to build the book on. I knew the look of the book, the layout of a page and a sample story for tone.
This was followed by building a pitch document—a document that summarises your book with samples of story and also images. It’s a snap-shot of the book, which helps you solidify what it’s about without creating the whole book.
The next step was to find a printer and distributor. There are a few companies that can do this, but I was after a company that would get behind the product as well. Tasmania was the obvious place to look.
I found a niche company in the south who were very Tassie proud and published only Tassie-themed books. They were also a pay-for-service company. This was ok with me; as a self-publisher as I would still be in control of the quality and have final say with what I wanted.
I sent them a general email asking if they were taking on any new books, with no mention of the faery book that I had in mind. I ended the email with a link to my website, which has various projects in progress, one of which was the book.
They responded with a liking to the Tasmanian faeries project I had mentioned on my website. I took a trip down to Tasmania to meet with them. This is where the pitch deck comes in handy. They loved it and totally got the idea. They understood the strategy I had in place and the multilayered touch points. And, luckily, they had a great editor. Grammar is the chink in my armour. So, they were able to fill all the gaps that were missing to creating the book and placing it into shops.
From there we agreed they would distribute across Tasmania, which was my initial goal. I would focus on the mainland at a later date. They presented some nice paper stock that would complement the book and hold the colour well. The rest was easy from there. A lot of design work followed by edited text and illustrations being placed into the layout. All of this I did myself to keep costs down. Final checks were done and the final PDF was sent for printing.
They have been placed into Tasmanian libraries and various book shops around the state. So far, so good.
Why did you decide to go down the route of publishing the book yourself?
I wanted control. I had a clear vision for the book and its quality as a keepsake. I’ve illustrated books in the past, where there have been unwanted fingers, changing things. I knew what I wanted and the only way was to do it myself.
It wasn’t daunting to put a book together as I know how to design and create the final artwork. I’ve had lots of experience whilst being an art director in advertising to know how these things work and understand how print works. Before working through the ranks to become an art director, I was an artworker, putting together print ads or brochures and making them print ready. Times have moved on now and that’s all done on the computer, which makes it much easier for anyone to put a book together. Knowing the fundamentals of setting type and grid systems etc. certainly is a bonus.
The brand of the book was important to me too. When I created the original idea, I thought about the brand it should have. Self-publishing let me do that too.
The decision to only do printed books and not ebooks was a conscious one. I may be short changing myself with ebook sales, but it just felt right for me to keep to the quality I’ve set up. It wasn’t the money that drove me to do this, it was to hold in my hand a physical book that will be kept and loved and slowly age. It may sound all sentimental and nostalgic, but that’s what I wanted.
Was traditional publishing an option you considered and if so, why did you decide to publish the book yourself?
Considering the theme of the book, Australia would be the only place I would have used traditional publishing. However, there are not many publishers who would have taken on this project: I haven’t seen many books like the Faeries of Tasmania coming from Oz.
In the early days I did look at a couple of publishing houses and even sent the pitch deck. I heard nothing back. It soon dawned on me from a business perspective, that it may have been too risky a book for the costs or they just didn’t get it.
I quite often go into book shops and look at the style of books being sold. Many are paperback with only a handful being of high quality. When I say ‘high quality’, I mean cloth cover and ribbon with gold foil front and back, these types of books are mainly for the classics like Peter Pan, Wind in the Willows or Alice in Wonderland. Unlike mine, which is unknown and a risk.
My brain was thinking differently about this book and traditional publishing wouldn’t have suited it. Now thinking back, I’m pleased it went this way.
I knew what I wanted for the book and the only way to do it was self-publish.
What advice would you have for someone with a similar concept considering publishing a large format, illustrated title?
Follow what you love
It took me a while to understand that I should follow what I love. Previously, I’ve altered ideas to suit others to only not be content with the outcome.
I could have done a faery field guide, but I wouldn’t have had the same amount of fun as I’m having now. The inclusion of the faery eye witnesses, maps, models, intricate patterns, a chocolate brand and the mysterious chocolatier in Hobart, excites me. Book two will go even further, which is really exciting. It’ll be a long journey, but one I will never tire of.
I’ve basically put into this book everything I love doing.
Understand your target audience
Before I began even putting stories together, I needed to understand the target audience. What do they like? How do I connect with them? What type of book should this be? How can it be different? How many levels can this book connect with people? Once I figured that out, it became easier to form the structure of the book.
Put together a pitch deck
Apart from helping to solidify your book, it’s a great way to show someone, who knows nothing about it, to get the idea.
It can be just a couple of pages, as long as it gives a great snap shot of the overall project. They need to understand the idea quickly as most people in the industry don’t have a lot of time. If they are interested, then you can follow up with more content. This document can be used to show distributors, printers and even shops.
I’m fortunate enough to able to create images that grab people, that is my hook. As you can imagine, my pitch deck was loaded with eye candy as it’s quicker than reading. The idea needs to be strong to back up the images.
Do your research
Go and talk to the shop owners with your pitch deck. I did this with a couple of shops and they gave great insights, which were invaluable. They know their customers and what sells. Most are happy to talk about your book, because at the end of the day, they need to sell them.
Create a website and social platforms
If you haven’t already, put together a website. Talk about your project and upload a couple of images. Be selective with your images. Keep the text to your story brief, a taster, let’s say. Think of it like a front cover of the book. It needs to be eye-catching. Then have a link at the base of your emails that goes directly to it.
Talk about your book on social. Follow other publishers to see what they are doing. If you want to create high quality books, follow book binders and people that are passionate about how a book looks and feels in the hand.
Some behind the scenes images and videos of how you create your art is good content.
Design/artwork
If you can, do it yourself. You’ll save a lot of money as it can be very time consuming to layout a book and to get it ready for print.
Also, invest in a good monitor that has good screen calibration. What you see on your screen may be quite different to what is printed. I can’t stress that enough. The last thing you want is a piece of green grass coming back as teal. Unless you wanted it that way.
Distribution
The biggest hurdle I found as a self-publisher was distribution. Without it you may as well not publish the book, unless you are doing it for the enjoyment of family and friends. Distribution was my main priority. I have to sell enough books to at least pay for itself. Good quality picture books are not cheap.
Try and find one that has passion about books and more importantly, passion for your book and its themes.
How have you approached getting Faeries of Tasmania stocked in bookstores?
Tasmania was already sorted via the company I went with. I’ve only just begun working on the mainland shops. It’s going to be a slow process as I’m doing everything on my own, but I’m up for it.
How have you approached the marketing of Faeries of Tasmania, both online through the book’s website and otherwise?
Again, with the company I went with, they have been spruiking the book around for me. I also have social channels and a website. Dymocks and Fullers in Hobart also did large window displays on the book just before Christmas, which went really well. They looked great!
So, I guess Tassie and especially Hobart with the tourism increasing after Covid, has been good, but the book isn’t that well known on the mainland and that’s my next focus.
Mainland Australia is far greater than Tassie, so, I’m now looking into placed ads online and in traditional magazines that have the right fit with the book. I have sent a bunch of books here and there across the mainland, but I need to reach more shops.
What are you working on next? Is there anything you will do differently for the second book?
I have a few things happening. Firstly the second book for Faeries of Tasmania, which will be a little different. It’ll have more story with regards to Edith S Brown, our mysterious Hobart chocolatier. I’m also working with the Port Arthur Historic Site with a couple of the faery stories.
The faery books do take a long time to create as I am building props and other items to help immerse the reader into the world. It needs to feel as real as possible.
With regards to doing anything different to the faery book, I don’t think so. Maybe I’d get a better proof from the printer, as I did see a slight shift from their digital proof to the final print. Other than that, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.
I also have a children’s book, which my partner wants to get printed as she simply loves the story. It’s just a matter of illustrating and putting the book together. But everything needs its own chunk of time allocated to it. The Faeries of Tasmania book has soaked that up a bit.
Finally, I have an exhibition later in the year, which will be faery-focussed with some of the props in the book along with artwork and prints.
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