Eliza Anyangwe, editor-in-chief of Fuller: Zara Rahman, British-Bangladeshi author; Blathnaid Healy, publisher and co-founder of Full Set
By Erin L. Cox, Publisher | @erinlcox
Journalism has long been the feeding ground for great nonfiction books, expanding the readership for great reporting, criticism, and personal essays.
Last fall, Publishing Perspectives reported the launch of the independent nonfiction publisher Full Set which combined the experience of co-founders Blathnaid Healy and Eoin Purcell in journalism and publishing, respectively, in one unique publishing house.
As Purcell said to Publishing Perspectives, “Our experiences have given us a very real understanding of the market dynamics of the media business and what is valuable to audiences.”
Last week at the London Book Fair, Full Set announced their partnership with the award-winning global newsroom Fuller to launch a publishing program of three essays to be published globally in ebook, audiobook and paperback print-on-demand.
Founded in 2015, Fuller is dedicated to groundbreaking reporting that catalyzes positive change for women and gender-diverse people, reporting on issues that greatly impact women and gender-diverse people.
These three essays Full Set will be publishing will be published originally on Fuller as part of its monthly topic-led editions, then published as a standalone title by Full Set.
“Full Set was founded at the intersection of publishing and journalism and we’re privileged to partner with Fuller on this exciting initiative to bring its journalism to new audiences,” said Full Set publisher and co-founder, Blathnaid Healy, speaking about the partnership, at the London Book Fair. “Fuller is known for its award-winning and impactful journalism, which leads to real world change. Eliza and her team have a track record of taking on new and ambitious projects making them the perfect partners for this pilot program.”
The first essay, written by Berlin-based writer Zara Rahman, will center on motherhood.
“As a small, independent newsroom, Fuller has always been interested in partnerships,” said Eliza Anyangwe, Editor-in-chief of Fuller. “As the challenges for journalism deepen, the pilot with Full Set provides us with an opportunity not only to explore new revenue streams but also to reach new audiences and to create a body of work that meets people in a myriad new ways. The incredible accomplishments of the Full Set team across journalism and publishing have given us the confidence to step into the unknown. I’m excited for the journey ahead, starting with Zara Rahman’s essay.”
In response to a question posed by Publishing Perspectives about market viability for these publications, Healy responded, “The news industry has tried micropayments for standalone articles with mixed results. Through this partnership, Full Set and Fuller are creating specific products that unbundle long essays. This creates an opportunity to market these high-quality, thoughtful essays through different and new channels for journalism. This is a pilot for both organizations and we’re excited to see how audiences respond. We’ll be doing a lot of experimentation with how we reach audiences with these products across the three essays.
Further titles will be announced closer to their publishing dates and will feature work from Fuller’s forthcoming editions.