If visitors to this website care to click on the title page for Equinox they'll get an audio-visual introduction to a book that has a fascinating pre-publication history. The bottom line, as it were, is that rights to this book were sold to around 25 territories prior to publication, often for record sums, by the author's UK agency, Blake Friedmann.
I first heard about Equinox at the 2005 Frankfurt Book Fair in quite strange circumstances. I had turned up for a meeting with the author's agent, at which I was promptly offered a glass of champagne. This was a very unusual start to business-as-usual, and I didn't think it was just because they were thrilled to see me; so, being mildly inquisitive, I asked what the celebration was about. I was told that they were selling a book for record sums at the fair to European publishers, with auctions for even more territories also under way. I asked about the book, and they told me it was a thriller. Being a competitive animal (and obviously knowing nothing about the book), I immediately asked whether they'd consider splitting ANZ rights. They seemed surprised by this suggestion, but the agent I was talking to said it was possible, and then dug about in her folders and dragged out what I think was their last A5 reading copy for me to take away with me. This copy contained the first half or so of the manuscript (the balance was meant to be finished by the following January).
I then went on with my meeting, and for the time being thought nothing more of Equinox. I think I assumed that, if it was sold to an Australian publisher, it would go to a multinational.
After Frankfurt, I had a break in Italy for a week or so, and chanced upon a copy of Dan Brown's Angels And Demons in the hotel we were staying at. I had never intended to read any Dan Brown, ever, but I felt drawn to doing so this time. To my astonishment, I thought the book was well written, intelligent, and well done. Then I thought I'd better read the Equinox manuscript. I did so, and felt the same things I'd felt upon reading the Dan Brown: it was not even vaguely the kind of book I would normally read, but it was very hard to put down (in both senses). Strangely enough, that was what I'd felt in 1999 when I read the first sample chapter of the manuscript that became Shantaram.
When I got back to Australia I had a lot of post-Frankfurt things to do, and some time passed before I thought seriously about Equinox again. I assumed that the ANZ rights must have already been sold, so I asked the agent tentatively what the story was. When I was told that rights were still available, I was astonished. I quickly made an offer, and then found myself in an auction. I won the auction with a bid of $40,000, against -- I later learned -- HarperCollins. This was either a very good or a very bad thing, depending on your point of view.
There was yet a further twist to the story. When I was first given the reading copy in Frankfurt, the author's name was pseudonymous, and there was no mention of an Australian connection. It was only later, back in Australia when I enquired about the availability of rights, that Michael White's name and identity were revealed to me -- and the fact that he was now an Australian resident (and citizen). This concentrated my attention considerably: all of a sudden, we had the prospect of publishing a well-known author, living in Australia, who we'd be able to tour and promote. Without knowing of these prospective benefits I may not have bid at all -- and I certainly wouldn't have bid as much.
Later, we brought Michael over to the Pan Macmillan winter sales conference, I started talking to selected media about him months in advance of publication, and we produced over 10,000 chapter samplers for the trade. None of this would have happened if he'd been a foreign, first-time author.
I expect Equinox to do very well -- so well that our initial print-run is 12,000 copies. It's our lead title for the year, and we're throwing the kitchen sink at it. I suspect that it will appeal to readers of thrillers in general, and Dan Brown fans in particular -- especially given my own experience. And I've since learned that Michael is a friend of Dan's. So the auguries are good.
One last thing: I've been amazed by the number of people who've been excited to hear that Michael used to be a member of a UK band called the Thompson Twins. I'd never heard of them. In fact, the only thing I can remember about pop music in the 1980s is that most of it was crap. Go figure.
Henry Rosenbloom