[Publisher] Angry Robot Books

They certainly seem to be back in business with a vengeance now:

http://angryrobotbooks.com/2014/11/wesley-chu-re-signs-with-angry-robot-books-in-six-figure-deal/

Any new developments on AR? I'm still considering them for a big fantasy project. But I'm still wondering about their business backers and recent performance.

A friend of mine recently sold her portal fantasy to them.

I'm published with them (one book already out and another being released in November), no complaints so far. The company is now part of the Watkins Media group, owned by an American investor by the name of Etan Ilfeld.

They also publish Kameron Hurley and Wesley Chu who you might have actually heard of (as opposed to me, who you almost certainly won't have!).

I've read this thread. Any other comments about personal experiences with this press, either pro or con? Feel free to send me a PM. And if you want confidentiality, you got it. Thanks!

I'm still there and still happy

Well, another friend of mine who had a couple of books with them does broach his disappointment in the amount of marketing and attention he got during the process. (Then again, I think he might have hoped they might be equal to Big 5 publishers when they really are a niche press in terms of market penetration).

They're like any other publisher I guess - if you sell well, you will be loved. If not, adios!

THM, if you had to pick one: do you get the idea he got less marketing he was promised or might expect with a press of this size, or did he have an unrealistic expectation? Nothing like putting you on the spot, huh?

I just bought and read an Angry Robot book after reading a glowing review on Tor.com's Facebook page. It was not a good experience.

It wasn't totally amateur hour, but the book desperately needed developmental editing, and my interest kept wandering to the point that I made a list of basic copyediting mistakes. I don't claim I only read books with no mistakes, but I do claim that if a book keeps me well involved, I don't notice the mistakes.

The most obstreperous was misspelling "whoa" as "woah." In a contemporary story using a younger character's POV, that might be excusable or even make perfect sense. Unfortunately, this was a fantasy set in a medieval-style world. To me, that means whoever was running the spellchecker must have told it that "woah" was a correct spelling. I'd say that's a failure of editing, and it wasn't the only one.

I won't bore you with the rest of the list, but I won't be buying another Angry Robot book. Just a data point for those authors trying to decide if Angry Robot will publish their books up to a standard the author is willing to accept. It wasn't terrible, it was just disappointing.

For those who may be interested, there are big changes ahead at Angry Robot. Marc Gascoigne, founder and publisher of Angry Robot Books, has announced that he will be leaving the imprint at the end of the year: https://www.angryrobotbooks.com/2018/11/big-news-from-our-head-robot/

From recent job vacancies that have been posted by parent company Watkins Media, it looks like the imprint is re-locating to London with a new team of people at the helm.

Yep, it's been confirmed that it will be a whole new team based in London.

CameronJohnston said:

Yep, it's been confirmed that it will be a whole new team based in London.

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Are they keeping any of the existing editorial team? My crit pal is with AR and has recently been assigned a new editor she was hoping to keep working with.

I have to admit, I'm curious to see how these changes unfold for Angry Robot. They've definitely put out some good books, and I hope that aspect continues.

waylander said:

Are they keeping any of the existing editorial team? My crit pal is with AR and has recently been assigned a new editor she was hoping to keep working with.

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A lot of their editors are freelancers, so quite possibly.

PeteMC said:

For those who may be interested, there are big changes ahead at Angry Robot. Marc Gascoigne, founder and publisher of Angry Robot Books, has announced that he will be leaving the imprint at the end of the year: https://www.angryrobotbooks.com/2018/11/big-news-from-our-head-robot/

From recent job vacancies that have been posted by parent company Watkins Media, it looks like the imprint is re-locating to London with a new team of people at the helm.

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Whew, those are some really low wages by London standards.

I'm sad to see the Robot Overlords leaving Nottingham. It's always nice to see parts of the industry outside of London, and I feel like publishing and the arts can really flourish outside of the big city. But there's no denying that there's a ton of networking potential in London so I'm wishing them tons of luck going forward!

EMaree said:

Whew, those are some really low wages by London standards.

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They really are. I'm not sure you're going to get an experienced commissioning editor for that sort of money, which is rather worrying.

30K for an experienced editor!! I know publishing is not well paid but that is very poor

Just that makes me a bit nervous to approach them now. Maybe in a couple of years, after I see how they manage the move.

PeteMC said:

They really are. I'm not sure you're going to get an experienced commissioning editor for that sort of money, which is rather worrying.

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That's actually not out of line for small publishers.

For very small publishers, definitely. AR burst onto the scene in a big way, so we might tend to expect higher pay rates from them with this move to London.

For comparison, it might be educational to see what editors will be paid (in a general estimate) at the new Erewhon SFF small press.

Just adding a little note to advise that I've been informed Angry Robot will continue to have open submissions periods going forward with their new team at the helm.

Am I wrong in thinking that they've dissolved a YA imprint? I think I read that somewhere.

triceretops said:

Am I wrong in thinking that they've dissolved a YA imprint? I think I read that somewhere.

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you are correct. The YA imprint was Strange Chemistry back in 2014 https://www.tor.com/2014/06/25/bgff-strange-chemistry-closes/

Open door submissions for the month of May https://twitter.com/angryrobotbooks...lTTgUrXnqCnh0c2p_4E3t2BBeqCJ7ydJULda50enHhFPk

It's a completely new team there now, right? I might have an old shelved novel I'll submit to them. I didn't submit in their last open door, as the rules indicated not to resubmit previously rejected work and I had a novel that had been rejected a year or two previously by them by my then agent. They did make nice comments about it, though. It's since been rewritten/re-edited and shelved, so I might submit it to their next open door. Considering it's a new team of editors, hopefully that will be allowed.