Personality and The Black Dog - By Karen Tayleur [15.12.2010]
I was lucky enough to work as an editor at black dog books for eight years before I took the jump to become a full-time author. It took me so long to leave because it was such a great job. What I think distinguishes black dog from other publishing houses is that a) it is an independent Australian publisher and b) its strong editorial culture. Being independent and Australian meant we had the freedom to bring Australian stories to readers without pandering to an international market. And of course, good stories will transcend geographical boundaries, so many of those Australian stories travelled internationally anyway.
I’ve written two books since I left black dog in February this year. The first book was a look at the Burke and Wills story which was fascinating, as I had been to many of the locations they visited on their trek North. The second book was my latest YA, a book called Six, which was released in October.
All books at black dog start with a meeting between the publisher, an editor and the author. My pitch for Six was simple — ‘Six teens, one car, five seatbelts’. They got the idea and we went from there. A friend pointed out recently that this book is something that has been brewing for years. I finally felt compelled to write it with the advent of my own kids hitting the road with their P and L plates. This is the story of what happens to a group of teens after a Year 12 After Party and the lead up to that event. If it makes one person think twice before they get into a car, then I’ve done my job.
black dog have a strong Internet presence with a great website, blog and Facebook commitment as well as author and illustrator book trailers. I plan to create a book trailer for Six — in the meantime you’ll find one for my last YA book, Hostage, which you can find on YouTube. It’s a lot of fun — my daughter wanted to know when the film was due for release. It does have that feel about it.
The best thing about being a black dog author is that I know I can ring up any time and talk to my editor or the wonderful Jessica in publicity. Writing at home full time can be isolating, so having that lifeline there is important. Sometimes I ring for specific information, but other times it’s for a quick injection of ‘life out there’ and I always hang up with a smile on my face. When I think of black dog, the one word that comes to mind is ‘personal’.
Subscribe to our RSS feed
Follow us on Twitter