The White Ladder Diaries by
Ros Jay
pbk out August 06
(White Ladder Press)
at £9.99
Subtitled 'The pain and pleasure of running a business,' this is the true
story of how Ros Jay and husband Richard Craze founded White Ladder
Press. Already established as freelance writers, their plan was to publish
quirky non-fiction where the readers would be both entertained and
informed.
From the onset, they found that small companies and individuals such as
independent booksellers were helpful and polite, but dealing with the
conglomerates was an ongoing challenge. One wholesaler refused to
stock their first book despite the fact that it was featuring heavily in
everything from parenting magazines to The Times.
They also discovered that sending mailshots and faxes to most bookshops
is a waste of cash: booksellers receive dozens and tear them up each
morning. They prefer to order direct from the wholesaler but if the
wholesaler isn't stocking your book...!
Meanwhile, they had the dubious pleasure of dealing with a slow-acting
high street bank and, at one stage, threatened to move to another. A
candid clerk at the bank's call centre told them that there was no point:
`To be honest we're all as bad as each other.' Their credit card machine
eventually arrived, ten weeks late. Worse was to come when they were
given a phenomenal amount of promotion, whereupon most of their
phone lines went down.
This immensely readable diary (I read it from cover to cover in a single
day) will appeal to anyone who wants to understand more about the
booktrade and about the ups and downs of self employment. It's
entertaining and accessible, and by the end you're rooting for them to
succeed.
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The White Ladder Diaries by
Ros Jay
