Press Reviews of Book 2 - Cambridge Evening News

Ana made the write move publishing her own book

Ana Fischel’s children’s books have broken the first rule of self-publishing by selling thousands of copies - and even attracting the attention of Hollywood. “Just don’t call me the new JK Rowling,” she tells Paul Kirkley

Mention the words “self-publishing” in certain literary circles and you’re likely to get the sort of reaction normally reserved for war criminals, military dictators and, in extreme cases, Jeffery Archer.

The “vanity press” has long been viewed as the runt of the publishing litter - a clearing house for people whose work would never make it onto a literary agent’s desk, let alone into bookshops, were the authors not willing to stump up the cash themselves.

But what happens if one of those vanity efforts turns out to be the work of, to use the new industry standard cliché, the next JK Rowling? Increasingly, book collectors are taking no chances - especially in the area of children’s fiction - with self-published books that have barely sold a handful of copies changing hands on the internet for up to £100.

The press review copy of Ana Fischel’s debut novel, Isabella Zophie and Le Cirque de Magique, is listed on eBay at twice that figure - an indication, perhaps, that the Cambridge-raised writer is closer than most to entering the rarefied orbit occupied by the likes of Rowling, Jacqueline Wilson and Philip Pullman.

In fact, Fischel’s recent history has its own fairytale quality. Despite publishing the book herself through the small Pen Press imprint, the former Cambridge schoolgirl quickly found herself at the centre of a snowballing phenomenon. Have received rave reviews in everything from The Guardian to Best magazine, Isabella Zophie and Le Cirque de Magique - the first of seven projected books in the Zartarbia Tales series - was listed at number three in Border’s bestseller list, and has now sold upwards of 7,500 copies since last October.

“I was completely taken by surprise,” says Ana, 34. “We sold around 5,000 copies in the first couple of weeks. It was really unexpected. We discovered that we were number three bestseller in Borders and I asked if that was just in the children’s department? And they said ‘no, that’s everything, from all those thousands of books’.

“At the Cambridge store, they ran out of books. They said the only signing they’d had that was more successful was Jacqueline Wilson.

In addition to the £200 tag for the press review copy, the first edition of the book was also listed on eBay at £90 - even though it was still available in the shops for a fiver. But it wasn’t collectors who were driving the sales success of Le Cirque de Magique - it was a far more important audience.

“The feedback from children has been fantastic,” says Fischel, who has already plotted all seven books, each one based around one of the seven deadly sins. “They’re for older children, they’re quite dark and the back history of Zartarbia is quite complex.”

While Le Cirque de Magique dealt with the dangers of an excess of pride, the second book in the series, Isabella Zophie and the Hotel Gastronomic, released this week, is a cautionary tale about gluttony.

“They’re fantasy adventures, but we are trying to tackle issues that are very important to children’s lives,” says Fischel. “For example, with gluttony, we’ve taken the attitude that a little bit of what you like is good for you, but if you overeat or eat the wrong food or don’t exercise then you’ll be in trouble.

“And the next one’s based on envy. It’s looking at celebrity lifestyles, and the way people aim for things that are not important, rather than wishing they were somebody else.”

As well as writing the books, Fischel also gives them their unique look by providing her own illustrations.

“Generally, I’ll draw out the characters first,” she says. “I just find it easier to get the mannerisms and personality. There may be 10 different versions of the character before I rest upon the final one.

There are a lot of quite adult references in them. What I wanted to do was to create books that would not just appeal to children but to the parents as well. To be honest, a good 40 to 45 per cent of our sales are to adults.”

These days, any books with a crossover readership of children and adults will inevitably draw comparisons with Harry Potter - particularly when there are seven in the series.

“Obviously, it’s very flattering when someone says that,” muses Fischel. “But, to be honest, I think a book has to stand up in its own right, and the harshest critics are always the kids. They don’t listen to what a newspaper or magazine says - they’re going to judge it for its own worth. Of course, I’d love to have some of the success that JK Rowling’s had!

“To be honest, the reason there are seven is because of the seven deadly sins. Seven is a number that always comes up in folklore. But at the end of the day, that and the fact they’re aimed at children as well as adults is really where the similarity ends.”

Certainly, Fischel’s background has little in common with Rowling’s famous struggle against the odds as a broke single mum. Born in London, she moved to leafy Bassingbourn when she was 10. Her mother, Jane, worked at Addenbrooke’s Hospital while father Patrick continued to commute to London.

The young Ana attended Bassingbourn Village College, followed by Long Road College and CCAT in Cambridge. She later graduated with a degree in illustration and filmmaking at Edinburgh College of Art, and spent several years in Paris and London staging art exhibitions and writing poetry.

In 1999, she gave birth to her daughter Isabella Zophie - whose name she later used for the heroine of the Zartarbia Tales - and married Robert, a barrister.

Soon after, the family - including stepdaughter Luzjka, now 12 who also features in the books - moved to Spain to open a small exclusive hotel in a converted river mill. But the runaway success of the first Zartarbia book has now forced them to close the hotel to concentrate full time on publishing. (Robert is now Ana’s manager, where his duties extend to dressing up as a giant crocodile during promotional activities and signing sessions. “He loves it,” she insists.) Of course, any self publishing success story is bound to attract attention. So have the sharks from the larger publishing houses started circling around The Zartarbia Tales? “I can’t really comment on that at the moment, to be honest,” say Fischel, coyly. “I’m not being funny, but it’s not an area we can comment on.” She is more forthright about possible film rights: “We’ve been in talks for a good 10 months now with a Hollywood film producer,” she reveals. “He’s coming over to Spain in a week’s time. So that’s going well. Again, I can’t say too much about it but it’s a very, very strong possibility.”