Unggghhhhhh
Would someone please tell me how a month can disappear without so much as a bye-your-leave? I've been away for almost half of it, but what happened to the other half I can't imagine. I can't bear to write more about it.
Hell's teeth!
Another lovely launch tonight – Mersey Minis Vol. 2 - LIVING. It's at the World Museum, which is frightfully smart and really lovely – very generous of them to host us. A marvellously apt place to launch a Mersey Mini, given the international flavour of the writing and the quality of the editing and illustration. Fiona and I are very proud of these little books and so thrilled to have such enthusiastic feedback from readers, reviewers and colleagues.
However, back stage all is not smooth. For one thing, the Mersey Minis website has vanished - all people will find now is a cute little message that says 'back soon' or something similar. Not ideal. The air has been blue in Capsica Towers for the last couple of days as we try to track down our webmaster.
I'm going away on Friday and have about 5 weeks' work to do before I go. So I wake at about 3.47am most nights and spend some time (feels like years, probably 3 mins) fretting and wondering if I should get up and do something or get more sleep. The sleep usually wins, eventually.
This morning I discovered that the two rooms I thought I'd booked for my cousin and I are not booked. But lots of other people are. Booked, that is. So the house is full, and the house next door. So we might be camping for two weeks instead; Romania has had the hottest June on record, but what's the betting it will then break into the wettest July? Soggy camping. Ah well.
It all makes good fuel for the autobiography. Not that I intend writing one – it's such hard work, trawling through one's past. Hard and painful. Not pleasant. Quite apart from the question of whether anyone would want to read it (answer: a very few very very good friends, perhaps).
Must go and iron something to wear later. Can listen to the Archers while I'm doing so.
However, back stage all is not smooth. For one thing, the Mersey Minis website has vanished - all people will find now is a cute little message that says 'back soon' or something similar. Not ideal. The air has been blue in Capsica Towers for the last couple of days as we try to track down our webmaster.
I'm going away on Friday and have about 5 weeks' work to do before I go. So I wake at about 3.47am most nights and spend some time (feels like years, probably 3 mins) fretting and wondering if I should get up and do something or get more sleep. The sleep usually wins, eventually.
This morning I discovered that the two rooms I thought I'd booked for my cousin and I are not booked. But lots of other people are. Booked, that is. So the house is full, and the house next door. So we might be camping for two weeks instead; Romania has had the hottest June on record, but what's the betting it will then break into the wettest July? Soggy camping. Ah well.
It all makes good fuel for the autobiography. Not that I intend writing one – it's such hard work, trawling through one's past. Hard and painful. Not pleasant. Quite apart from the question of whether anyone would want to read it (answer: a very few very very good friends, perhaps).
Must go and iron something to wear later. Can listen to the Archers while I'm doing so.
Geek chic at the Italian Club
Last night saw the first event under the Geek Chic banner, celebrating the launch of Mersey Minis with the help of the brilliant Eithne Browne, who read from the books amidst funny, sharp-edged comment; Rebecca Sharp provided the music - beautiful sounds from her Celtic harp; while Eithne and Rebecca provided nourishment for the soul, Rosaria Crolla and her staff fed the audience with delicious Italian food, good wine and the best coffee in Liverpool.
The whole idea was the brainchild of the lovely Gemma Aldcroft, who is determined to create a civilised social scene in Liverpool for those of us who are not happy with getting pissed and shouting inanities over impossibly loud music. Hurrah for Gemma!
For me and Fiona it was wonderful to see the enthusiasm and pleasure that everyone showed for our gorgeous little books. I hope that Deborah Mulhearn, the series editor, was delighted with her reception and the audience's very evident appreciation of her work.
A huge thanks to everyone there last night for making a great evening and the first of many to come.
The whole idea was the brainchild of the lovely Gemma Aldcroft, who is determined to create a civilised social scene in Liverpool for those of us who are not happy with getting pissed and shouting inanities over impossibly loud music. Hurrah for Gemma!
For me and Fiona it was wonderful to see the enthusiasm and pleasure that everyone showed for our gorgeous little books. I hope that Deborah Mulhearn, the series editor, was delighted with her reception and the audience's very evident appreciation of her work.
A huge thanks to everyone there last night for making a great evening and the first of many to come.
Unfortunate titles No. 69
This ranks high in the list of titles to which time has not been kind. The delicious Richard Ingrams mentioned this on Quote Unquote the other day, and now it is flying round the internet:
Mr. Pink-Whistle Interferes
Author: Enid Blyton
1st Edition: 1950
Publisher: George Newnes
Illustrator: Dorothy M. Wheeler
Genre: Fantasy
Mr. Pink-Whistle Interferes
Author: Enid Blyton
1st Edition: 1950
Publisher: George Newnes
Illustrator: Dorothy M. Wheeler
Genre: Fantasy
Book launch - want to come?
The next launch – for Mersey Minis Vol 2 LIVING) is on Tuesday 26 June, and if you'd like to come I'd like to see you there. But (here it comes, the catch) we don't have unlimited space and the invitation list is long. If you'd like to come, contact me by posting a comment here (say if you don't want it published - I see all comments before they go on here) and telling me why you should be at the launch. If you have a convincing reason, I'll be delighted to send you an invitation. Convincing reasons include a promise to buy books, for instance, but I'll look forward to your imaginative justifications.
Have a look at the volume 2 LIVING blog (link opposite) to see how cute these little books are, and how much people love them already.
Hell's bells and buckets of blood
Jumpin Jehosephat.... It's more than a month since I last posted. Just show how angst-ridden the publishing life must be.
We're coming up for the deadline of the Mersey Minis competition - only a few days to go – and the entries are now pouring in from anxious writers longing to be in LONGING (volume 3). There's some great stuff, some dull stuff, and some odd stuff. Good odd, and bad odd. But by and large the standard is pretty damn good.
It's been fun getting entries, since I get a sneak preview before they all go off to the judges next week. I've tried to give people hints in the blog (www.merseyminis.com) as to the prevailing trends, and what is still virgin territory, and it seems that people are reading and – huzzah! – taking note.
We're getting wonderful compliments about Mersey Minis from every direction – which is delightful, heartening, and augurs well for the series. Have a look at the various book blogs (see links opposite) for the ones that have come in via email.
On 20th June there is an event in Liverpool to celebrate the first volume and give the audience a sneak preview of the second volume which will be out on the 26th. Tickets from The Italian Club on Bold Street...
We're coming up for the deadline of the Mersey Minis competition - only a few days to go – and the entries are now pouring in from anxious writers longing to be in LONGING (volume 3). There's some great stuff, some dull stuff, and some odd stuff. Good odd, and bad odd. But by and large the standard is pretty damn good.
It's been fun getting entries, since I get a sneak preview before they all go off to the judges next week. I've tried to give people hints in the blog (www.merseyminis.com) as to the prevailing trends, and what is still virgin territory, and it seems that people are reading and – huzzah! – taking note.
We're getting wonderful compliments about Mersey Minis from every direction – which is delightful, heartening, and augurs well for the series. Have a look at the various book blogs (see links opposite) for the ones that have come in via email.
On 20th June there is an event in Liverpool to celebrate the first volume and give the audience a sneak preview of the second volume which will be out on the 26th. Tickets from The Italian Club on Bold Street...
John Kremer on how to get published
people often asked how they can get published, and many assume that there is only one way – getting a publisher to accept your manuscript. Due to advancing technology and evolving trends in the publishing, bookselling and reading worlds, there are now many options. John Kremer, whose weekly (free) ezine on book marketing is always worth a read, has produced a list of eight ways to get your book into print:
"You have eight options in publishing a book:
1. Self-publishing. Getting your own printer, publishing your book, and marketing it. That's how I've published six editions of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books.
2. Set up your own publishing company. For example, my company: Open Horizons.
3. Print-on-demand printer. You self-publish but you use a POD printer to produce copies 1 to 100 copies at a time. For example, Lightning Source or AdiBooks.
4. Print-on-demand publisher. You pay a POD publisher to publish your book. For example, iUniverse, Lulu, Xlibris, Infinity Publishing, etc. For example, Infinity publishes John Kremer's Self-Publishing Hall of Fame (also available as an ebook download from BookMarket.com).
5. Sell rights to a small publisher and let them publish and promote your book. For example, New World Library, Santa Monica Press, etc. I sold the rights to High-Impact Marketing on a Low-Impact Budget to Prima Publishing (now part of Random House).
6. Sell rights to a large publisher and let them publish and promote your book. For example, Simon & Schuster, Random House, etc. I sold rights to The Complete Direct Marketing Sourcebook to John Wiley.
7. Self-publish your book only as an e-book. For example, my new ebook on distribution: Book Marketing 105: Choosing a Book Distribution System — This vital mini-guide includes criteria for deciding how you will distribute your books. Also includes complete information on 30 book distributors, 4 library distributors, 89 book publishers who also distribute for other publishers, 3 sales representatives to the chains, 27 bookstore wholesalers, 34 library wholesalers, and 23 Spanish-language wholesalers. Plus a sample book distribution contract. Ebook download, $30.00.
8. Blog your book. Rather than publishing your book on paper, you could simply blog it using a free or paid online blogging service. I'll be doing several books like this in the coming months."
John adds that he could write a book about each option. Each has pros and cons, and apart from major strokes of luck each option needs some (actually, quite a lot of) knowledge to get the best result for you. The option you choose will depend on your objectives, your personality and the book(s) you want to publish. As John points out, he has used different options at different times.
You will hear stories of being stung - or completely screwed - by hard nosed or (at worse) amoral operators, be they mainstream or niche. You will also hear stories of happy experiences and successes ranging from the modest to the headline-grabbing.
Some of it is luck, most of it is about hard work, research, and contacts. There is masses of information – much of it honest and helpful – on the net and on bookshelves; there are lots of people in the publishing, writing and selling worlds who are generous with advice and concrete help.
The aggravating facts are that no-one but you can make the decision; that whichever route you go for, it will mean lots of work; and that before you talk to anyone in the publishing world it's essential to have done your initial research. t the very least, this means snooping around bookshops, online or 3D, to see what's already out there, and to see what the fashions are in book design, hot topics and so on.
You can sign up for a free sub to John Kremer's book marketing ezine at http://www.bookmarket.com
"You have eight options in publishing a book:
1. Self-publishing. Getting your own printer, publishing your book, and marketing it. That's how I've published six editions of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books.
2. Set up your own publishing company. For example, my company: Open Horizons.
3. Print-on-demand printer. You self-publish but you use a POD printer to produce copies 1 to 100 copies at a time. For example, Lightning Source or AdiBooks.
4. Print-on-demand publisher. You pay a POD publisher to publish your book. For example, iUniverse, Lulu, Xlibris, Infinity Publishing, etc. For example, Infinity publishes John Kremer's Self-Publishing Hall of Fame (also available as an ebook download from BookMarket.com).
5. Sell rights to a small publisher and let them publish and promote your book. For example, New World Library, Santa Monica Press, etc. I sold the rights to High-Impact Marketing on a Low-Impact Budget to Prima Publishing (now part of Random House).
6. Sell rights to a large publisher and let them publish and promote your book. For example, Simon & Schuster, Random House, etc. I sold rights to The Complete Direct Marketing Sourcebook to John Wiley.
7. Self-publish your book only as an e-book. For example, my new ebook on distribution: Book Marketing 105: Choosing a Book Distribution System — This vital mini-guide includes criteria for deciding how you will distribute your books. Also includes complete information on 30 book distributors, 4 library distributors, 89 book publishers who also distribute for other publishers, 3 sales representatives to the chains, 27 bookstore wholesalers, 34 library wholesalers, and 23 Spanish-language wholesalers. Plus a sample book distribution contract. Ebook download, $30.00.
8. Blog your book. Rather than publishing your book on paper, you could simply blog it using a free or paid online blogging service. I'll be doing several books like this in the coming months."
John adds that he could write a book about each option. Each has pros and cons, and apart from major strokes of luck each option needs some (actually, quite a lot of) knowledge to get the best result for you. The option you choose will depend on your objectives, your personality and the book(s) you want to publish. As John points out, he has used different options at different times.
You will hear stories of being stung - or completely screwed - by hard nosed or (at worse) amoral operators, be they mainstream or niche. You will also hear stories of happy experiences and successes ranging from the modest to the headline-grabbing.
Some of it is luck, most of it is about hard work, research, and contacts. There is masses of information – much of it honest and helpful – on the net and on bookshelves; there are lots of people in the publishing, writing and selling worlds who are generous with advice and concrete help.
The aggravating facts are that no-one but you can make the decision; that whichever route you go for, it will mean lots of work; and that before you talk to anyone in the publishing world it's essential to have done your initial research. t the very least, this means snooping around bookshops, online or 3D, to see what's already out there, and to see what the fashions are in book design, hot topics and so on.
You can sign up for a free sub to John Kremer's book marketing ezine at http://www.bookmarket.com
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