World Cup agony and a nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse.

The Death feast rocked!

No, really, I had a ball, spoilt only by the 3 day hangover I went through after it.

I’m too old for this now, I can’t do it like I used to anymore.



Whatever.

I’ve still not heard from the publishers I sent my covering letter to, but then again, it is only 3 weeks.

Patience is a virtue Reggie.



I was looking at another address to send the manuscript off to and came across a publishing outfit that require a short biography along with the usual bumf.

A biography?

What does one write in a biography, apart from the obvious tripe?

Well, apparently one divulges all the printing triumphs one has collected over the years and the writing courses one has attended and resulting diplomas achieved.

Unfortunately my portfolio on both accounts is both slim (as in non existent), dusty, (as in the sum of my triumphs are but dust) or already consigned to the cyber graveyard; so what was I supposed to write?

It was a puzzler and no mistake.

After much thought and pondering, I just binned the idea. I don’t know what would be more demoralising, the paucity of entries in my biography or the rejection letter thus resulting?



Now onto a more cheerier note.

My blogging buddy, fellow Struggling Author forum scribbler and literary confidant, Teresa Geering, (Tee) has made publication!

WAHAY !!!

The Eye of Erasmus is now in print and available to buy at all good suppliers. Check out this trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5ppmXEhrVI&playnext_from=TL&videos=BQBPJPAWt-0&feature=sub

Well done Tee, I am SO glad for you. After all those years of trying you finally made it.

Good on yer.

Speaking of Struggling Authors, Richard from the web site has offered to spruce up my Blog with some extra pages and the like.

So, bearing in mind that I am an absolute duffer at computer stuff, I graciously took his very kind offer up.

So who knows, perhaps the next bog will be accompanied by extra pages?

Wouldn’t that just ROCK, dear reader?



Yes Reg, it would.



Have a good one.

Reg



PS. Doesn’t that just so “Not Rock” with England’s dismal effort at the World Cup?

I thought so too.

I'm back.

I'm back.
Blog to follow sometime.

Doomed, we’re all doomed and the Death Feast!

Doomed, we’re all doomed and the Death Feast!




It is with heavy heart and humble bearing that I have to report yet another failure to reach the seemingly unattainable goal of publication. No reason given this time, just a plain, “We hate you, we hate your work.” email that crumbled my prior confidence and self esteem quicker than an awkward premature ejaculation.



The whole question of whether I want to go ahead with a POD outfit is now moot, but to be honest, I wasn’t too happy with the idea in the first place. It all seemed so threadbare and “off the cuff” and my reservations would only have increased if I had put pen to paper with them.

Perhaps I will one day, due to my massive lack of talent, have to move as my ability takes me, (i.e. self publishing… Bah!) But at this moment in time I don’t feel good about it.

Whatever, the dream is dust for the time being and the workhouse calls…



On a more buoyant note I’m off to the Death Feast tomorrow. This was the festival which involved me scribbling a couple of band write-ups for the organiser in return for a VIP pass for the 3 day event.

VIP pass sounds all very red carpet but it basically means I’ll just get drunk with the bands after they’ve played and in the spirit of Dionysus swear undying devotion to a couple of the drummers. I’m quite sentimental when I’ve had a few I’m afraid.

So I’ll be drowning my failings and regaining my denial about my literary gift with Dani, (our organiser and Darling of the Death Feast), Holger, Ads, Carsten, Jan, Bjorn, Connie and a whole army of long haired weekend anarchists. Check it out:



http://www.deathfeast.de/de/deathnews.html



So that’s that then.

Needless to say the covering letter, synopsis and first three chapters are away already; so the dream does live on, all be it now among the ruins and shards of my dashed hubris.



Have a good time peeps, I will.

Catch you al next weeks

Reg :-)

Update... ... ... ...

They were in touch yesterday, they're checking my stuff now so hold tight!

Tan y lan Homesickness

http://boyfromthebay.wordpress.com/2010/06/02/tan-y-lan-homesickness/

Never regret anything, because at one point you wanted it.

So it’s like this...

Richard from Struggling Authors mentioned a publishing house that wanted to make contact with, err, struggling authors, (stop groaning). I checked their website out and although they didn’t mention horror in their list of desired material, they didn’t actually write that they don’t want horror either.

So I sent my synopsis and  first three chapters off with a nice covering letter and a sack of aspirations that would smother a blue whale.

After a couple of days I went back to the website, (as I often do when I’m planning my all-conquering invasion of the literary world) and noticed that they’re a Print on Demand publisher.

“Oh” I said to myself whilst banging my head against the computer table. “Not good.”



I know I’ve explained Print on Demand before but for the untried it goes like this. A traditional publishing house takes on a book, prints lots of them and distributes them to bookshops. It has a large initial financial outlay but also has the advantage of being able to get the books on the shelves where the people can see them and buy them on the spot. This obviously helps with marketing and advertising. This is the tried and tested route of most publishing houses and if a writer is lucky enough to be picked up by this sort of operation, then good on him/her/it.



Print on Demand is, as the name implies a system whereby the author sends his work in which is then stored on a massive data base. If and when a customer wishes to purchase said book it is printed on the spot and whisked off in the post. The advantages of this are that there is no initial financial outlay, no wastage in materials and storage area and no worries about the size of the word count, (the bigger the word count, the thicker the book, the fewer books fit on shelves). The disadvantages of this are many though. Most POD authors do it off their own back and don’t always have access to good channels of distribution or marketing contacts. So one might have a good book but who is going to have access to buy it outside of the family and friends? Also, if a mistake is made in the original draft with spelling or grammar, or God forbid with formatting, then this only comes to the fore AFTER the book is printed.

If I were to write a small book as a gift for someone, it would be an ideal present, but to build an empire with it has its limitations.



So, as you can imagine, I was subtly disappointed at this and also at my haste to send it off without my usual rigorous tests and checks. Then I noticed this line:



“We are a traditional publishing venture who will undertake all the necessary editorial, design, production and marketing to see a title through to publication and beyond.”



Mmmmmm….

Is this a POD publisher who takes it a step further? Traditional to me means, “Take book on, print book, sell in bookshop”, so how can a POD publisher be traditional? What exactly is their set up?



I don’t know, they still haven’t said yes or no to the full manuscript yet so I am jumping the gun a bit here.



Whatever, if they do want to run with a horror story, (and remember, they didn’t actually write that they don’t want horror stories) and they want more of me, then there’ll be some pretty searching questions going in, I can tell you.



Take it easy.

Reg ;-)