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Can I change the world tomorrow instead, please?
Brain no work. Late night. Early start. Getting old. Not even boozy. Long train journey. No words. Pictures instead.
Lovely Richard Gwyn at the launch of his book, Deep Hanging Out, in the Cardiff Waterstone's last night.
More delights below the cut.
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Deep Hanging Out book launch
I am excited to announce that we are holding a launch for Richard Gwyn's Deep Hanging Out at Waterstone's in Cardiff (The Hayes branch) tomorrow at 6.30pm. Everyone is welcome. There'll be an author reading and free drinks.
There have already been some great reviews of Richard's book:
"A really great story, fantastic. A fabulous ripping yarn that deserves to be read because it's just a really great properly-told story . . . fab."
BBC Radio Two Weekender
"Captures the languid confidence of youth, privilege and artistic ambition... Gwyn's humour is dark and knowing."
thelondonpaper
AND we are looking forward to reading The Guardian review sometime this week and seeing Richard's piece that he is writing for the Top Tens column.
Deep Hanging Out is going to be out in stores 1st March so look out for it!
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"More fun than any other mock author biography on the face of this or any other planet..."
That's what the lovely Bookmunch had to say about Lint. It's a humdinger of a review, click here read it now...
Don't forget, the great Lint giveaway starts on Myspace today!
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Free Lint! And Bill Posters!
Hey Snowbookers! In a twist of logic only he could have come up with, the late Jeff Lint is going to be giving out free copies of his Steve Aylett-penned biography Lint over at his Myspace profile from Monday.
We think it's a stupid idea, but what are you going to do?
If you don't want to be absorbed into the mighty Myspace empire, there's still plenty of fun to be had at Snowbooks' own Jeff Lint tribute page. Check it out!
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You asked for it, you get it.
Oh yes. 'My cats: a profile'.
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By popular demand: Sales force of 1
The people have spoken (see 'Hating the UberList' comments)! Here is a post combining two of the requests - how we manage with a sales force of one and whether sales reps are a necessity or not. More posts will follow about the other requested areas soon.
To set the scene: Snowbooks doesn't have a sales force. In the beginning that wasn't through lack of trying. Back in 2003 I tried hard to interest companies like Derek Searle, and publishers who offered a third-party deal, in our little fledgling company. I promised 10 publications and sales of £150,000 a year. People couldn't have been keener to run a mile - and, as I recall, were bloody patronising.
So like all small business we did what we thought best to survive.
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Hating the Uber-list...
Regular readers may remember that the document which controls my life is the Uber List - that which contains all I have to do. It's looking perilous again, so I'm resorting to cunning means to get another Tick against the list, by transposing one task to this blog. The task in question is called 'Blog posts' - it's a list of things I feel I should blog about at some time. (See, it's complex - lists within lists. I don't know whether that's better - it keeps the main list manageable - or worse - I click on a task only to find ten more beneath it. It's like the Psycho corridor that never ends. Sort of.)
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Loving the backlist...
Still haven't got your copy of the Edgier Waters?
Here's a review from The Scotsman last summer, that we may have missed...
"This is no ordinary anthology. The editors of 3:AM know that dissent has become a commodity in our culture. They realise that young artistic tyros will Bush-bash to build a name and get a fat book deal, then move uptown and start drinking chilled dry whites. By contrast, the writers here are published online or underground; they make little money, and best of all, they don't seem to care about their 'careers'.
"This is literature as it should be - free, sometimes too free, from editorial control, frank and outrageous."
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Lint is coming...
It's one month until the release of Steve Aylett's wonderful biography of deeply weird Science Fiction writer Jeff Lint.
Click here to find out more!
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And just like that, I'm a royalist
I don't know. The smallest thing can turn a person. I used to be all 'oh, the monarchy, meh,' but a quick curtsey, a small handshake and here I am all starry eyed about the queen.
So I've just got back from the, you know, palace, where I met and shook hands (no gloves) with the queen, princess Anne, Camilla, the countess of Wessex, and the duchess of Gloucester. And they were all jolly nice. Princess Anne said 'ooh, publishing. Cut-throat. Cut-throat business.' The queen said 'oh, publishing, very good' (or something, I was too starry eyed. She looks amazing for 81, and managed to be interested even after 200 people. Luckily I was one of the early ones.)
And then there was meeting sirs, and royal staff, and equerries and the like, and tiny canapes filled with Royal-grade Nutella, and champagne, and general this is the life stuff until 3pm, when we all went off to the pub to hoot about how we had got away with the Greatest Wheeze Ever which was to be invited to the Palace to meet the queen when we're just a bunch of lasses trying to make a little difference in our own ways.
It
Was
Grand.
I hope we don't get sent to the Tower, though, because only the queen is allowed to have her photo taken where Hazel and I stood (above). Oops. The nice man with the dog was quite understanding, though.
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"But where do books come from?" said the Child
From Reading, said the Publisher.
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A portent?
Fingers and toes crossed... wouldn't it be nice!
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The view from our office
I chopped off the road because it's all sludgy. You can just about make out St Pancras if you strain your eyes! It is invisible because it is surrounded by swirling SNOW. And there's a tree in front of it. I am a terrible photographer.
I am also in danger of getting just a little bit too excited today.
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Poor damp Lint
This copy suffered for a good cause. We won't forget you, brave copy.
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Interlude
We interrupt Snowday to bring you an apology. I've just noticed that a lot of comments have been directed into a junk folder - I've restored them now and promise to keep an eagle eye on it from now on! I was wondering why no-one was commenting - I thought I was just boring...
Thanks for the comments - it is really lovely to receive them!
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James' Snowday: Foxes!
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The day I live for every year
Happy Snowday!
I love it. I hardly slept last night as the met office ruined part of the fun by accurately forecasting that London was going to be visited by huge gollops of snow overnight. I prefer it when you wake up, expecting a normal grey day, and you're surprised by the world changing colour.
I came to work on the bus today. I normally cycle but I might have fallen off and that would have ruined Snowday. Everyone was so cheerful! It must be like New Year's for the phone companies. Everyone's phone was going and the conversation was always the same. "Yes, it's here too...Yes, it's really deep...Oh, I know. Do you think it will last?" Some conversations went a stage further: "So I saw Paul at the bus stop and he was going to throw this really big bit of snow at me but I said Paul, oy, don't throw that big bit of snow at me, it might have dog poo in it, pack it in, and he didn't thank god, but I said I'd get him back later" etc.
Above is the first of many many photos which will be taken today. I had to get the serious pack shot in quick, just in case the snow melted. That is a lovely selection of our current titles. More photos later: we will bring our Snowday photodiary to you as it happens!
Enjoy the lovely snow x
(ps Extra fluffy snow brought to you by the Dooce effect).
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No patsy, us...
Snowbooks is very pleased to be publisher of the week this week over at The Book Depository, one of our favourite independent booksellers.
The Book Depository is an online retailer stocking a wide range of titles, available from their website, or through third-party sales on Amazon - a really great alternative to the giants. I answered a few questions from the managing editor Mark (also of RSB fame) last week, and I thought I'd post them below too, as they may be of interest to Snowblog readers...
Mark also selects his five favourite Snowbooks titles at the end of the interview. Anyone else want to try that in the comments?
The publisher of the week slot has provided some really interesting interviews over time. I'd advise any aspiring authors who are looking for a publisher to read them - there's a full list at the end of the interview - to get a snapshot of each house's taste and style.
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My to do list
This is the second in an occasional series of what I have on at the moment. I always go on about how busy I am, but that's only because I like the sound of my own voice. The others in the office are slightly busier than me, but they're just better at managing their time and their temperament.
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Books of Pain
I've just emailed Scott at TFP to ask for the name of his chippie that he recommended because our shelves in our spare bedroom at home are so over-stocked that they're hanging off the wall at a very odd angle, ready to fall off and smash into bits any moment now. They're practically defying gravity, when you look at them. I always tread very carefully when I go in. And no, I didn't finish In Search of Lost Time.
And creeping about under them reminds me of a time when I was grubbing around under a shelf, stood up too quickly and knocked the Reader's Digest Book of DIY off its perch, which fell on my head and cut it open. I still have the scar and a sore patch, five years later. It got me thinking: what other books have led to pain and misery? Here are my top five.
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Not just the queen...
but Elle McPherson too! Now I am really excited. According to a Telegraph article this week, Elle McPherson and Jacqueline Gold have been invited to the same shindig at the palace that I am going to. I wonder who else will be there.
On a more troubling note - what the hell do you wear to look passable - even human - next to The Body? PANIC!