20 - When Passion Meets Business, with Daphne Tonge

In 2015, Daphne Tonge started a small "book crate" subscription service out of her London living room, with a tiny pool of subscribers. Today, Illumicrate is a well-known specialist retailer, with a thriving fanbase and strong industry presence, which has laid the groundwork for Daphne's next co-current venture: Daphne Press, an independent publishing imprint run on the same values and with the same marketing savvy. In this detailed, question-loaded interview, Daphne kindly joins us to talk the nitty-gritty of building not just one, but two industry-shaping small businesses, and how it might impact genre fiction in future.The founding of Illumicrate, and Daphne’s storyA bit about book production, what they can or can’t doHow does IC choose and acquire books for its crates?What IS a crate book – is there such a thing?Buliding a book community“Social media doesn’t help” but it does?Crate market in the usa – why so small?UK versus USA book cultureSetting up an independent press, makign the leap from Illumicrate to Daphne PressThe importance of editors, and why Daphne wanted to get that exactly rightWhat exactly do trad editors DO? Scott breaks it down.Editors jobs are complex and very poorly paidWhy Daphne doesn’t acquire world rights atm (it’s a good and noble reason!)What Daphne looks for in author submissionsDaphne’s surprising tip for how you best catch her attention with your submission!Why Daphne Press doesn’t currently accept indie submissions (but hopes to in future!)Daphne’s love for indie books and authors generally