Book News:
NB THIS SECTION HAS BEEN REMOVED DUE TO LEGAL NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE PUBLISHER CONCERNED, AT THEIR REQUEST.
Speaking of difficult literary organisations, I've been deeply saddened, not to mention frustrated, by the attitude of the Society of Authors to authors with ebooks to their name. They tell me that I can't be a full member because I haven't sold enough paperbacks and "at this time, we do separate e-publishing and physical publishing, because of the lack of costs involved in online publication." So, being a "real" author has nothing to do with the fact that a commercial e-publisher has agreed to publish your book or how well your ebooks perform, but it's all to do with how much your publisher is prepared to spend on their production. Looks like the costs of editing, creating cover art, marketing, staff time, conference attendance etc etc, which are just as much associated with ebooks as paper books, are meaningless to the SOA then. Naturally I've asked for my membership to be refunded and, at the same time, I told them I assumed the admin charges would be minimal as of course all our correspondence has been via email which according to them costs nothing, even in terms of people's time ... They have at least therefore had the grace to refund me in full. But I certainly won't be bothering to contact them again, at least not until they've caught up with the authorial world they're supposed to represent. Harrumph indeed.
I'm very pleased to say that The Gifting has received a positive comment from one of the people at the book launch last week. She's already read it (thank you, Claire!), thought it was a page-turning read, and wants to know when the next one is out. Gosh! I'd best get to grips once more with the final read-through of Hallsfoot's Battle then - which has rather ground to a halt due to this week's ongoing illness (see below).
Anyway, here's The Gifting's next line: His sister Isabella Montfort's tone is bitter, but he doesn't question it.
Ah, but you should, Johan, you should ... It would have saved so much trauma if you'd been paying more attention at the time, you know ...
And The Art of The Delaneys has gained a 4-star review at Goodreads - thanks, Clover. That's cheered me greatly.
At Vulpes Libris, you can read my review of The Pink Hotel by Anna Stothard, which is a seriously classy and well-written novel and I thoroughly recommend it. Meanwhile, I'm also trying to do some major renovation on my website but, in the manner of all modern women everywhere, I need my husband to come home and press all the right buttons to make it work (um, as it were). Watch this space, possibly ...
Life News:
I've continued to be as sick as the proverbial this week. All nasty cold/catarrh stuff and, no, you really don't want to hear more. Suffice it to say I left work early on Tuesday and haven't been out from the flat since. Another sleepless night in the living room on Tuesday (with some seriously dodgy moments), but I did manage to get some real rest last night, thank the Lord. I think I may have broken the back of it now, but I'm sorry to have missed (a) seeing Jane & Ang on Tuesday night, (b) going to the Wisley roses event tonight, and (c) golf tomorrow. I'm attempting to get seriously well for another opera at Glyndebourne on Saturday. No more relapses please!
What with all this coughing and snorting and ... err ... stuff, I must have got confused today as the Virgin Media connection man turned up this morning, instead of this afternoon when I was expecting him. The poor chap - he found me unwashed, undressed and with absolutely no make-up on which, bearing in mind the kind of week I've had, was even more not a pretty sight than usual. And, yes, before you say it, I did have to open the door in my dressing gown (why has my dressing-gown got a door? Boom, boom!), sigh. Anyway, even though he was only about twelve, he was totally unperturbed by this vision of horror before him (perhaps he gets it all the time?...) and managed to fix me up in no time (again, as it were). Mind you, he was probably desperate to escape, the poor dear ...
More positive news this week has been the fact that we harvested another two of the garden strawberries at the weekend and thoroughly enjoyed them. Perhaps we should buy a couple more with the PD royalty cheque, eh? Oh, and my rose pot plant has a second bud on it so it looks like we might be getting two flowers this year, hurrah!
Anne Brooke
ANNE BROOKE BOOKS: Independent writer of modern fiction
Showing posts with label society of authors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label society of authors. Show all posts
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Thursday, July 07, 2011
Launches, Lemsip and Lucozade
Book News:
Much to my relief, the launch party for The Gifting went surprisingly well last night. I was a total jelly beforehand, taking 2 sets of Quiet Life pills to try to achieve normality, and going to the loo at least 16 times before it began - but in the end everyone who was able to come seemed to enjoy it, hurrah. And, hey, I even sold some copies, plus a selection of my backlist - and even some poetry, well gosh! - so I think I've actually made a small profit. Gosh indeedy, that doesn't happen often! And everyone - as they always do once you can get them there - loved the quirky charm and fascination of Godalming Museum, which is one of the town's best kept and most interesting secrets. Definitely worth a visit if you're passing through at any time ...
Plus I met the lovely Hilary from Vulpes Libris for the first time, which was a delight - and Hilary very kindly bought me a puffin in a snowglobe to add to my growing collection - thank you, Hilary, and I absolutely love it!
And my evening was truly complete to find my first official review of The Gifting - many thanks, Amos - that's very much appreciated.
Here's the next line of The Gifting:
She is in mourning, but he knows it is time for her mourning to end.
Though, as it's Isabella we're talking about here, we can never really be sure ...
This week, The Art of the Delaneys also gained a review at Three Dollar Bill Reviews - thank you, Indigene. And I've finished off my edits to my literary romance, Dido's Tale, and have sent that back to Bluewood Publishing.
NB THIS SECTION HAS BEEN REMOVED DUE TO LEGAL NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE PUBLISHER CONCERNED, AT THEIR REQUEST.
Talking of tricky situations, I must say I'm rather irritated by the attitude of The Society of Authors, who have decided to offer me Associate Membership only as my e-publishing and small press print-on-demand record are not deemed good enough for Full Membership. Hmm, not much reactionary nonsense there then ... Ho hum. Talk about making an author feel good (um, not)! Anyway, I've complained about this approach - which does seem to discriminate against a lot of perfectly reasonable authors just because they're not with the "mainstream" press - but I don't expect a positive response, as I suspect the modern times may not have caught up with them yet. Ah well.
This week's meditations are:
Meditation 545
The Philistines
are an uncertain folk.
They decide one thing
and then another.
Firstly, King David’s
a noble bloke
and then his fame’s
not worth the bother.
So when you sit
making up your mind,
weighing the scales
of what to do
stick with the choice
you eventually find,
take a deep breath
and see it through.
Meditation 546
The people of Israel
rejoiced so much
they brought
numerous sheep to kill
which gave all the folk
a party or two
but, for the sheep,
something less of a thrill.
Life News:
Good news! The house in Elstead has accepted our revised offer (double hurrahs!) and we are back on the trail of conveyancers and mortgage surveys, the latter of which takes place today. Though I must say our initial visit to our new conveyancer was rather downbeat as the receptionist couldn't have been more disinterested in us if she'd tried - I hope the actual solicitor is rather more enthusiastic ... This is the third time we've been in this position over the last year, so I'm really hoping it's third time lucky, please God. I can't take yet another disappointment ...
We've also had a lovely coffee and chat with the neighbours upstairs whom we didn't manage to get to see at our previous party - so hello, Lesley & Kit, and we must catch up again some time.
Less good news (for me, selfishly) - though it's totally brilliant for her! - is that my lovely colleague at work, R, has been promoted in the echelons of management and will therefore be moving upstairs, in every sense. It's wonderful news, but heck I'm really going to miss her ... Selfish sob! The office begins to be a vast desert with only a faithful few left, alas ...
With my mind still on the concept of change, but on a far more trivial level, I'm sorry to see the end of the first series of the very classy crime drama Scott & Bailey on Sunday night TV. Fantastic to see three strong female leads in any programme, and I'm going to miss them hugely. There'd better be a second series or I'll have to chain myself to something at ITV, perish the thought.
Meanwhile, the thrush family outside the spare room window is thriving - we think there are two or possibly three chicks in the nest and they're making rapid progress, which is delightful. They seem to have no fear of us opening and shutting the window though we're trying to be as quiet as possible. I really hope our neighbourhood fox (lovely though he also is) doesn't get them.
Oh, and post-launch, I have a stinking cold, dammit!!! So I'm on the Lemsip, Lucozade & Sudafed run, and hoping a miracle cure arrives shortly. Still, whilst I'm snorting and snuffling into my tissues (delightful image, I know ...), I can ponder on the mysteries of why on earth my phone isn't being hacked at the moment (shocking though the facts of the matter appear to be), seeing as everyone else's apparently is - can it be that my life is really so incredibly dull?? Hmm, I must start making more interesting calls, obviously ...
Anne Brooke
Much to my relief, the launch party for The Gifting went surprisingly well last night. I was a total jelly beforehand, taking 2 sets of Quiet Life pills to try to achieve normality, and going to the loo at least 16 times before it began - but in the end everyone who was able to come seemed to enjoy it, hurrah. And, hey, I even sold some copies, plus a selection of my backlist - and even some poetry, well gosh! - so I think I've actually made a small profit. Gosh indeedy, that doesn't happen often! And everyone - as they always do once you can get them there - loved the quirky charm and fascination of Godalming Museum, which is one of the town's best kept and most interesting secrets. Definitely worth a visit if you're passing through at any time ...
Plus I met the lovely Hilary from Vulpes Libris for the first time, which was a delight - and Hilary very kindly bought me a puffin in a snowglobe to add to my growing collection - thank you, Hilary, and I absolutely love it!
And my evening was truly complete to find my first official review of The Gifting - many thanks, Amos - that's very much appreciated.
Here's the next line of The Gifting:
She is in mourning, but he knows it is time for her mourning to end.
Though, as it's Isabella we're talking about here, we can never really be sure ...
This week, The Art of the Delaneys also gained a review at Three Dollar Bill Reviews - thank you, Indigene. And I've finished off my edits to my literary romance, Dido's Tale, and have sent that back to Bluewood Publishing.
NB THIS SECTION HAS BEEN REMOVED DUE TO LEGAL NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE PUBLISHER CONCERNED, AT THEIR REQUEST.
Talking of tricky situations, I must say I'm rather irritated by the attitude of The Society of Authors, who have decided to offer me Associate Membership only as my e-publishing and small press print-on-demand record are not deemed good enough for Full Membership. Hmm, not much reactionary nonsense there then ... Ho hum. Talk about making an author feel good (um, not)! Anyway, I've complained about this approach - which does seem to discriminate against a lot of perfectly reasonable authors just because they're not with the "mainstream" press - but I don't expect a positive response, as I suspect the modern times may not have caught up with them yet. Ah well.
This week's meditations are:
Meditation 545
The Philistines
are an uncertain folk.
They decide one thing
and then another.
Firstly, King David’s
a noble bloke
and then his fame’s
not worth the bother.
So when you sit
making up your mind,
weighing the scales
of what to do
stick with the choice
you eventually find,
take a deep breath
and see it through.
Meditation 546
The people of Israel
rejoiced so much
they brought
numerous sheep to kill
which gave all the folk
a party or two
but, for the sheep,
something less of a thrill.
Life News:
Good news! The house in Elstead has accepted our revised offer (double hurrahs!) and we are back on the trail of conveyancers and mortgage surveys, the latter of which takes place today. Though I must say our initial visit to our new conveyancer was rather downbeat as the receptionist couldn't have been more disinterested in us if she'd tried - I hope the actual solicitor is rather more enthusiastic ... This is the third time we've been in this position over the last year, so I'm really hoping it's third time lucky, please God. I can't take yet another disappointment ...
We've also had a lovely coffee and chat with the neighbours upstairs whom we didn't manage to get to see at our previous party - so hello, Lesley & Kit, and we must catch up again some time.
Less good news (for me, selfishly) - though it's totally brilliant for her! - is that my lovely colleague at work, R, has been promoted in the echelons of management and will therefore be moving upstairs, in every sense. It's wonderful news, but heck I'm really going to miss her ... Selfish sob! The office begins to be a vast desert with only a faithful few left, alas ...
With my mind still on the concept of change, but on a far more trivial level, I'm sorry to see the end of the first series of the very classy crime drama Scott & Bailey on Sunday night TV. Fantastic to see three strong female leads in any programme, and I'm going to miss them hugely. There'd better be a second series or I'll have to chain myself to something at ITV, perish the thought.
Meanwhile, the thrush family outside the spare room window is thriving - we think there are two or possibly three chicks in the nest and they're making rapid progress, which is delightful. They seem to have no fear of us opening and shutting the window though we're trying to be as quiet as possible. I really hope our neighbourhood fox (lovely though he also is) doesn't get them.
Oh, and post-launch, I have a stinking cold, dammit!!! So I'm on the Lemsip, Lucozade & Sudafed run, and hoping a miracle cure arrives shortly. Still, whilst I'm snorting and snuffling into my tissues (delightful image, I know ...), I can ponder on the mysteries of why on earth my phone isn't being hacked at the moment (shocking though the facts of the matter appear to be), seeing as everyone else's apparently is - can it be that my life is really so incredibly dull?? Hmm, I must start making more interesting calls, obviously ...
Anne Brooke
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