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Hope for the best – Part 2
July 16, 2010
Firestorm - There is a problem with my post in part 1. The worst case scenario isn't that the publisher says no, it is that they say nothing.This could occur if the manuscript or SSAE gets lost in the post, although that's unlikely. I may joke about them, but Royal Mail are usually pretty good.The more depressing alternative is if the manuscript gets stuck in the slushpile and left unread. For a good assessment of how this could happen, see "The Sobering Story of Myrtle the Manuscript" by Tappan King. It's a good read, not just amusing but also useful for anyone considering writing. However it's a completely nerve-wracking article if you have a manuscript on submission. Be warned.This worst case scenario comes with the difficulty of politely and delicately chasing an editor about a book, while notRead More
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Hope for the best – Part 1
July 14, 2010
Firestorm - As you probably already know, the book is sitting with a publishing house at the moment, and with luck I will hear back later this month about whether they want to publish it. Given that, why all the contingency planning?Hope for the best, plan for the worst.The best is if they pick the book up. The worst is if they pass.If they say yes, then great. The book gets published by people who can make the most of it. My marketing and distribution (trivial compared to what a publishing hosue can do) are simply there as a base that they can take over or integrate with their own contacts.If they say no, then the book is adrift. If I haven't planned ahead, then all the marketing and distribution I set up is lost. At that point, final galley or not, the book simply becomes another unpublishedRead More
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Why so nervous?
July 12, 2010
Firestorm - I had an interesting chat last night about getting published, from a friend trying to give me a pep talk. After all, he said, since the manuscript's already been through this once, why be so nervous? Surely it can make its way through the slush again, and at least we already know it is publishable.Well, I definitely have good reason to be nervous, because the answer to the second question is both yes and no.There is a brilliant analysis of the slushpile and what it takes to get out of it on Slushkiller by Teresa Nielson Hayden (scroll down to 3. The Context of Rejection)Going through her fourteen point list, I don't need to worry about items one to ten (covering illiteracy, plagarism, and authors with "problems") which are the reasons for 95-99% of slush rejections.This leaves three moreRead More
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Publishing options
July 9, 2010
Uncategorized - After getting a few questions on chat about how I intend to proceed, I will cover the details here.The full manuscript is currently with a publishing house. If they pick the book up then release options and marketing will obviously change; and improve a great deal since they have significantly more options.However, if they don't and I end up going with the local imprint, here are the pencilled in details (obviously subject to change):The book will be released in print and ebook formats, including Kindle, with a short-run printing rather than purely POD.Pre-orders will be taken online through established ecommerce partnerships.The release would be late Q3 prior to christmas, which gives a few months to release ARCs and galleys, and build buzz.As mentioned, if I go with them I'd be doing aRead More
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Board Migration
July 8, 2010
Uncategorized - After an interesting technical issue with nabble, I have moved the forum to Proboards. The new forum is at:http://vhfolland.proboards.comUnfortunately content and threads were lost due to the glitch. I have migrated the remaining content, but if you have a question or comment that has not made it across, please visit the new boards and repost.The nabble forum will be deleted shortly to avoid confusion or misuse.Read More
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A brief interview
July 7, 2010
Uncategorized - I've just done a brief interview at whohub:http://www.whohub.com/vhfollandI'm also in the middle of an interview for solelyfictional.org about my self published writing from the nineties. I'm not sure how relevant my experiences back then (photocopiers and combbinders) still are in the age of Lulu and Createspace, but it is part of a series. Comparing notes with other writers is always interesting.Read More
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The current situation
July 7, 2010
Publishing - Because things have moved very fast, I was looking back through the blog and realised this is the one place where I haven't covered what happened. To clarify the timeline of events, here is a quick summary:I got a book deal from Bewrite at end of April/start of MayFirestorm went through the editing process to final galley in May and June.I started marketing in June, getting requests for ARCs and galleys.June 22nd the book was released by Bewrite, with the suggestion I should find a full print publisher, not P.O.D.June 23rd Discussions occurred with a mainstream publishing house, resulting in a request for the full manuscript.June 24th The manuscript was sent out, with a suggested response in four weeks.Rather than put all my eggs in one basket, I also looked into self-publishing butRead More
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An anthology and still waiting.
July 5, 2010
Firestorm - Three weeks to wait until I hear back from the publisher, and not much else I can do on the novel itself until then. Meanwhile I've started getting my short stories into an anthology. If I end up self publishing, I'll give it a limited release through the website on POD and e-book to accompany the novel. Done that way it won't cost very much, and it's a useful way to boost the novel. However, this won't be released for a few weeks yet, since I've got to sort out cover art and either beg a favour from an artist or dive into iStockPhoto for raw materials. I'm also holding off for three weeks as I'm not sure whether releasing it would affect whether the publisher would be willing to pick up Firestorm.Read More
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Airshow and the update
June 28, 2010
Uncategorized - I didn't attend Biggin Hill Airshow due to the travel warnings and the temperature. Instead I've been doing the basic administration work: producing a master list of all promotion and planned promotion, costing up self publishing in case it becames necessary, and tidying up some of the online sites. Other than that, I've been trying to get some more written on my next project. It's simply difficult to know what to do when everything about this book is currently up in the air. I don't want to launch anything like a book trailer or the short stories when I don't know who is releasing the book and when. Until then, things are on hold on promotion while I work like mad on the less interesting parts like logistics.I should have a definite answer in four weeks.Read More
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Biggin Hill airshow, publishers and a preorder possibility
June 25, 2010
Uncategorized - Well, since last Friday, I've visited a museum, arranged an interview, worked on a book deal, lost a book deal, got another publisher interested, arranged a fallback... And this weekend is the Biggin Hill Airshow. Now I was planning to go along and flyer it, link up with a few acquaintances, push the book mercilessly on them and possibly get bought drinks for actually getting the deal. And, of course, come away with a few preorders and several interested book sellers. Instead I'm wondering if I really want to go. I can't exactly flyer without a publisher or release date confirmed. It's not easy to get to from where I am and, I will be honest, I actually prefer open airshows like Bournemouth where there is a lot more room for the aircraft to perform. On the other hand, if I turn up andRead More