An Interview with Lee Harris

Don't Upset the Robots

An Interview with Lee Harris

There are several things in the publishing world that make me very happy. Number one is paying short story markets for new writers. We need somewhere to cut our teeth, after all. Number two is speculative fiction. It makes me realise that I’m not the only crazy one out there. Number three is messed up, cross genre writing that doesn’t fit neatly on a bookstore shelf. It’s the type of thing I like to read, and since it is the type of thing I write, it gives me hope.

So when Angry Robot books, the new HarperCollins imprint dedicated to speculative fiction, launched its new book line in July last year, I was happy. Then I found out that their mission was: “quite simply, to publish the best in brand new genre fiction – SF, F, and WTF?!” By this stage I was very, very happy.

So, imagine my reaction when I then found out that Angry Robot’s assistant editor, Lee Harris, also happened to be the man behind Hub, one of the few paying markets for speculative fiction short stories left in the UK?

Yup, I danced again. Then I emailed him to ask for an interview. He emailed back and said yes.

I danced some more.





Hello Lee, thanks for taking part in The Project. Can you sum up your literary career to date for us, including your current role at Angry Robot?


I'm relatively new to publishing, though I have written a small number of plays for the theatre that toured nationally a few years ago. In 2006 I formed Hub Magazine, and it was the success of Hub that led Angry Robot's publishing director to approach me to gauge my interest in the new imprint.



How does your job fit into the wider editorial team at Angry Robot?

It's a very small team, so we multi-task. I manage the website, and all day-to-day marketing of our books, and I'm co-responsible for reading author submissions, and deciding which ones we want to take forward for further discussion or publication. I manage our team of freelance proofreaders and copy editors. I also work with some of our authors on an editorial basis, recommending changes to the manuscripts and offering advice on general and specific issues. There's also a hell of a lot of admin.


Tell us about Hub. What inspired you to set it up? What are your ambitions for the e-zine?

Hub began in 2006, partly as a result of SFX Magazine's Pulp Idol short story competition. I've always loved short fiction, and wanted to bring some genre shorts to a wider audience. I had zero experience in editing a magazine, and managed to get through to publication through working ridiculous hours mixed with an unhealthy dose of sheer bloody-mindedness. It began as a hard copy magazine, though I failed to attract sufficient advertising to make it a sustainable venture - advertising sales is a form of black magic, and none of us on the magazine had that particular arte. So, despite healthy sales figures, the lack of advertising meant it couldn't go on in its physical format. I approached Orbit for sponsorship of the electronic version, and they said yes, so we were able to continue to pay our authors - albeit a token payment. I think it's very important for an author to be paid for their work, even if it's being published in a free eZine.

As for ambitions, we've reach a number of milestones recently. We're currently on our third sponsor (HarperCollins sponsored us after Orbit, and we're now sponsored by the good folk at Solaris and Abaddon Books), so we can continue to pay our writers. We recently passed issue 100, and also 10,000 subscribers. Our future plans include a podcast, a potential spin-off 'zine, and professional publication of eBooks.


What would you consider your proudest professional moment so far?

As far as Angry Robot is concerned, I think it would be the first time we bought a book series for publication based on my recommendation. Prior to that, it would be the opening night of A Christmas Carol in York's Castle Museum (I directed, and co-produced) shortly before its tour. A great cast, a great script and great reviews.


What is your literary goal?

To continue to publish great books - particularly by debut novelists. Angry Robot's first nine months of publication includes books by seven new novelists, and I hope to see this trend continue.



Publishing is a hard business to break into; in your opinion, what should someone aspiring to work in this sector do in order to maximise their chances?

Oh, I got into it by luck, so I'm perhaps not the best person to ask about this. There are so many routes. However, it's a truism that you make your own luck. I got involved (with Hub) and I persevered. More importantly, I got talking to people - lots of people. Networking is incredibly important in this business. I got to know a lot of people, and when one of them had an opportunity, I was one of the people he thought of. Make lots of contacts, and make them aware of what you are up to. Social networking is important these days (but don't just treat Twitter and Facebook as business tools - that's a surefire way to turn people off). Physical networking is even more important. Attend literary festivals and conventions. So much business is done at these events. Make yourself part of the community you want to join, and if you're serious about it, you'll be seen.

Of course, qualifying in a relevant discipline and then applying for jobs can help, too... :-)


At a time when most aspiring writers are told to think carefully about what genre they are writing in, Angry Robot states that it is actively seeking crossover fiction. Do you think this is the way forward for speculative fiction? What about publishing in general?

I don't think it's necessarily the way forward for spec fic, or fiction generally, no, but it's the way forward for us. Some imprints specialise in SF, some specialise in horror, some in crime, some in romance. We specialise in crossover (though we also have some excellent pure forms of the genre, too).



There is a lot of talk about the changes occurring in the publishing industry due to the credit crunch, the availability of e-books and the internet as a marketing tool. What are your views on this issue? Should new writers be concerned about the changes happening?

Writers should always be concerned about anything that's happening in their industry - it's important to be aware of trends, even if you choose to ignore them. Should they be worried, though? Not if their publisher is embracing the changes, no. It's not the end of the Big Book of Publishing - it's the start of an exciting new chapter!



Speculative fiction has a reputation as a difficult market to break, but worth it for the loyal readership. Do you think this is the case?

I'm not sure that I'd agree that speculative fiction is harder to break into than other genres, nor that it has a more loyal readership. Its readership is often extraordinarily loyal, it's true, but I see that in crime, in romance, in chick lit, too.



What do you think are some of the most common mistakes new writers make, particularly within speculative fiction? What could they do to rectify these errors?

There are a few - this biggest is perhaps to send your book out before it's ready. Typing "The End" for the first time is a wonderful feeling, but it's just the start of the next round. Next come the edits, and it's useful to get professional advice at this stage. Some agents and editors offer this as a freelance service if you don't have friends already in the business. You can have 40, 50 years to get your first book right if you really need it, so use the time wisely - you won't get anything like that for your second!

Also, get an agent! Do your research, ask for recommendations, but get an agent. A good agent is worth their weight in gold.



What advice would you give to anyone wanting to build a career writing speculative fiction?

Be realistic. Remember that to sustain a career in writing you're almost certainly going to have to have a full-time job in the background as well. Pick twenty novels at random from the shelves of your local bookshop. Eighteen of those authors have "proper" jobs. Of those eighteen, sixteen of those proper jobs are full time. Seriously - you're not going to get rich doing this, unless you are extremely fortunate!



And finally, where do you personally go from here?

The kitchen - it's time for me to make the family breakfast. But after that? I'll continue to oversee Hub and to help Angry Robot publish some of the best crossover fiction around. Ask me about future ambitions in a year or so - currently I'm having too much fun doing what I'm doing now to worry about what I'm going to do after.


Big thanks to Lee for taking the time to answer my questions! Hub can be accessed here and is definitely worth a look for all speculative fiction readers and writers out there. If you’d like to know more about Angry Robot and their authors, then head on over to their website to find out more (and if you still haven’t read Triumff yet, then I’m going to sulk and glare at you). For anyone wishing to stalk Lee, you can find his website here, and he also tweets.