SnowBlog
30 Apr 2007: Going Postal, Post-Virginia Tech
What does a publisher do when a book one believes to be deeply important is also suddenly, tragically relevant? We were at the London Book Fair on April 16th when news started to arrive of the shootings at Virginia Tech. Two months before, we had published Mark Ames' Going Postal
A natural reaction is to wish to downplay such a connection, to avoid ghoulishness - or pseud's corner - and to tread carefully in the wake of such an event. But as we quickly saw, Mark's book would not allow such niceties. It's a hard-hitting work, and its message is one that needs to be heard, as proved by the reactions of the media, of ordinary people, and of the critics, in the days and weeks following the shooting.
Continue reading "Going Postal, Post-Virginia Tech" »
posted on April 30, 2007 10:24 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
30 Apr 2007: Stewart Home Live
The always-entertaining Stewart Home, author of Memphis Underground, is making a series of appearances over the next month, including readings, talks and discussions. Catch him at any of the following venues...
Continue reading "Stewart Home Live" »
posted on April 30, 2007 09:45 AM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
29 Apr 2007: Busy week
So the working week starts in a few minutes for Gilly and I when I get off the sofa and leave the house to get the train to Harrogate for the BA conference. I'm really looking forward to it - I went for the first time last year, thinking it would be the usual bland fare, but the seminars and speakers were, for the most part, outstanding and I had a blast. Oh, and we won small publisher of the year, which is bound to put a person in a good mood.
So Harrogate it is, Sunday to Wednesday morning. Then back to London on the 8.15, to catch the train straight to Norwich for Sarah's lauch of Needle in the Blood. Then back after midnight, to a busy day of important meetings on Thursday with esteemed customers. Then the Society of Bookmen dinner in the evening.
I will next sit on this sofa on Friday night. Phew!
posted on April 29, 2007 12:17 PM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
27 Apr 2007: Wikipedia
Harumph. Our Wikipedia entry has been deleted by its editors because they didn't think we were notable enough. If anyone feels that wikipedia should, indeed, contain an entry about Snowbooks, maybe you should write one as it's not the done thing to write an entry about yourself.
'Not notable enough'. Way to make a girl feel special the weekend before she's up for Young Publisher of the Year Nibbie...
posted on April 27, 2007 08:14 PM | link | Comments (3) | Leave a comment
25 Apr 2007: Bath Vote
Hey hey, it's bookkeeping day, which means that my desk is clear and dusted, my pens are lined up neatly, and my folders are organised into alphabetical order. Nowt like displacement activities for getting a job done. One of the finest things about having a blog is that you can procrastinate beyond your wildest dreams by blogging away - it feels like you're working but actually you're just blathering away to cyberspace.
So in a post rather tenuously linked to my working day, I wondered if we could have a quick vote? A lot of the naysayers about ebooks claim that 'you can't read an e-reader in the bath'. I'm interested in knowing how many people do most of their reading in the bath. Me, I prefer the sofa. Less damp, for a start.
So comments please: do you spend most of your reading hours in the dry, or in the wet?
(ps: Mum, don't read the blog post below: it has a rude word in it.)
posted on April 25, 2007 02:46 PM | link | Comments (13) | Leave a comment
25 Apr 2007: "Our current best outsider"
In Saturday's Guardian, Nicholas Lezard wrote a long piece on 'the counterculture', citing such authors as William S. Burroughs, Céline, J. G. Ballard, and the Marquis de Sade in his argument that "Today's counterculture becomes tomorrow's culture: you have to snap it up quickly."
But who should Lezard pick as the prime example of a contemporary author destined to follow in such footsteps?
"Our current best outsider is Stewart Home, who puts a spoke in the wheels of success not only with his scorn for the conventional niceties of plot and character but also by giving his novels titles like Cunt. Stewart Home is easily the example you reach for first as a contemporary "alternative" writer - but he is so observant, so dedicated to his work, so usefully enraged by mainstream ethical considerations, and personally gentlemanly to boot, that he, too, willy-nilly, will end up becoming respectable one day."
Continue reading ""Our current best outsider"" »
posted on April 25, 2007 10:56 AM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
25 Apr 2007: God and Amazon
Maybe you'll recall me grumbling about Amazon's sloppy attempts to categorise my reading tastes. Read Prof. Dawkins' tirade against religion and you'll find 'other Christian Living' titles recommended to you. Inhale air - while studiously avoiding sporting or celebrity titles - and you'll still find yourself being offered something 'written' by one of the Beckhams. Well, the latest recommendation should win some sort of award. "As someone who has expressed interest in books by Rob Jones, you might like to know that The Power of Godly Wisdom will be released on 30 April 2007." Ah yes, Amazon, I have been somewhat interested in books by Rob Jones, but only the Rob Jones who's me. Certainly not some other Rob Jones who really is keen on Christian Living. Does this mean we need a literary version of equity to make sure there are no duplicate author names? Or will we simply have to barcode the foreheads of anyone who writes a book? ISANs anyone?
posted on April 25, 2007 08:09 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
24 Apr 2007: Fumes
Happy Fumes-day! Snowbooks is based in the front room of Kogan Page, in a Victorian building that used to house a company of hat-makers. Today we are revisiting our fumey heritage because some men are laying down a new carpet in the corridor next to our office. Apparantly the way to lay carpet nowadays is to glue it down good and thoroughly using a cement-mixer full of araldite.
My throat feels full of glue, my pupils are dilating and I am beginning to see stars. Better not make any crucial business decisions this afternoon.
posted on April 24, 2007 05:17 PM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
24 Apr 2007: Snowbooks on Scribd, and free content
Yes, it's more silly-tech news from James. A few weeks ago, a very interesting site launched, describing itself as a YouTube for documents. Scribd allows anyone to upload a document in a wide range of formats, which it then converts to web-friendy formats, displays them on the site for anyone to read, and allows people to print, download and even embed them on their own sites - just like YouTube.
Having done some browsing around, there's certainly plenty up there for grabs - you can read everything from Ogden Nash poems, to maths cheat sheets, to hilarious interview advice, to the complete works of Chuck Palahniuk. Just jump on in - it's all free!
But wait, should that be a concern? You know how free and easy and webby and techy we are here in the SnowTower, and we like free stuff as much as the next man, woman and fish. But...
Continue reading "Snowbooks on Scribd, and free content" »
posted on April 24, 2007 02:08 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
24 Apr 2007: Fascist America in 10 easy steps.
posted on April 24, 2007 01:43 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
22 Apr 2007: The best book review ever written.
An absolutely brilliant review of The Needle in the Blood.
posted on April 22, 2007 06:33 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
21 Apr 2007: An XML day
I have been at this XML/InDesign problem all day - no breaks, not even for dinner which was on my lap - and I've only just cracked it, and I'm damned if I'm going to forget how I did it. So, as much for my benefit as yours, this is how to flow repeating XML data into InDesign automatically. Boo-yah! Nailed it! Oh yeah.
Continue reading "An XML day" »
posted on April 21, 2007 10:23 PM | link | Comments (2) | Leave a comment
21 Apr 2007: Things to say
A variety-pack of opinions for you this morning. The bunny pic is just for larks.
Continue reading "Things to say" »
posted on April 21, 2007 08:50 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
20 Apr 2007: Second Life Book Fair
Following our recent adventures at the very real London Book Fair, this weekend Snowbooks is a proud participant in the first and very virtual Second Life Book Fair.
Taking place in the Publishers' Village in Wallaby, the inaugural SLBF includes everything you'd expect at a book fair - publishers stands, seminars, events, meetings and perhaps even a few deals.
If you're not an SL user, but are still interested in what we're up to in there, read the article from this week's Bookseller that appears after the jump...
Continue reading "Second Life Book Fair" »
posted on April 20, 2007 02:51 PM | link | Comments (2) | Leave a comment
19 Apr 2007: Strategy
What a lovely day for a spot of strategy. The Book Fair always allows us to get a sense of perspective and having a general chat the day after is both a good time to think about wider issues and a great way of procrastinating before facing the frankly horrendous inbox.
So what did we decide should be our strategic plans for 2007-8?
posted on April 19, 2007 05:46 PM | link | Comments (7) | Leave a comment
19 Apr 2007: Noah Cicero on YouTube
Phew... as Emma's been telling you, quite a three days. Before I give my personal round-up - and tell you about some other Snowbooks-related stuff from last week which didn't make it in before the fair - here's something fun from one of our authors.
Noah Cicero, whose stunning debut The Human War is out on the 7th of June and will blow your socks off, gave a reading at the KGB Bar in New York last week. A video of the event is up on YouTube, and I've embedded it above.
The sound's not great, but it certainly gives a strong impression of the intensity and feeling of Noah's work. He is truly unlike anyone else you will have seen and read - for the good.
posted on April 19, 2007 10:55 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
18 Apr 2007: LBF 3
Settle down, avid physicists. We are not talking about a pound-force of 3 (one pound-force, commonly abbreviated to 'lbf', is the force equivalent to that exerted on a mass of one avoirdupois pound on the (idealized) surface of Earth.) No, today was the final day of the London Book Fair.
(Also, 1 pound force (lbf) accelerates 1 slug mass 1 ft/s2. Makes you think.)
posted on April 18, 2007 06:14 PM | link | Comments (6) | Leave a comment
17 Apr 2007: LBF day 2
All you need to know about day 2:
- Zombies! Invade LBF! Argh! Whilst they were lunging at the brains and necks of the great and good of the industry they were kind enough to promote our forthcoming Monster Island as well.
- 21 meetings
- Got lost 4 times
- some really cool things happened and some really cool people were really keen on our books
- sooo tired. So tired. Tired. SO tired. tireee...
zzzz
Continue reading "LBF day 2" »
posted on April 17, 2007 08:56 PM | link | Comments (3) | Leave a comment
16 Apr 2007: LBF day 1
James, with his Booktwo.org hat on, is doing an excellent minute-by-minute report on the London Book Fair, in comparison to which a mere daily summary seems rather mean, but here is a sample of what I've got up to today. I am sure I've missed out huge things - my brain is mangled already - and bear in mind that this is only my day - G, J and A have had their own hectic schedules. Still, here we go.
Continue reading "LBF day 1" »
posted on April 16, 2007 08:34 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
16 Apr 2007: If the news has taught us anything...
I was a sixth-former around the time Pres. Reagan was facing down the 'evil empire' of the Soviets by ramping up US spending on the military... to the point where it was doubtful that the combined might of the entire rest of the world could have given the States a bloody nose, never mind the cash-strapped commies. It was a strange global crisis, as global crises go, whereby the main threat seemed to be of nuclear war, but the threat of nuclear war was also somehow our best defence. Neither side could hope to preserve more than a tiny fraction of their populations whether they started the war or went second. Yet somehow being able to destroy each other twenty times over was more of a deterrent than nineteen or eighteen times. From what I can tell, more money was spent on 'defence' during the Cold War than on anything else humans have ever done. Even then our leaders knew that the Soviets weren't especially keen on taking over the world. And they consistently fibbed to us when they said the Soviets had more firepower.
Continue reading "If the news has taught us anything..." »
posted on April 16, 2007 09:03 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
14 Apr 2007: Old publisher of the year
Despite being shortlisted for Young Publisher of the year, all of a sudden my skin has gone old. Maybe it's the changing seasons; maybe it's because I don't drink enough water or eat enough brightly-coloured vegetables, but it's looking sufficiently scraggy that yesterday found me in Boots looking at skincare. Being an impoverished small publisher, I was surveying the mass market lines rather than the Patented 3-step Expensive Clinique range or similar, and came across the Olay range.
Now, this took me back because in 1997 I was seconded to Procter and Gamble for a while. I didn't fully appreciate it at the time, but boy, they are a fascinating company, and, as I finally get round to making this post relevant to the publishing industry, taught me some lessons which big publishers would do well to consider.
Continue reading "Old publisher of the year" »
posted on April 14, 2007 08:57 AM | link | Comments (4) | Leave a comment
12 Apr 2007: Persuaded
Fret not, my pretties. The dalek in the picture is only for purposes of scale. You're quite safe.
Continue reading "Persuaded" »
posted on April 12, 2007 03:31 PM | link | Comments (3) | Leave a comment
12 Apr 2007: Book Group review for Deep Hanging Out
Richard Gwyn's Deep Hanging Out has been selected for this month's guest review slot on the Book Group website!
http://www.bookgroup.info/041205/review_guest.php
posted on April 12, 2007 01:13 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
11 Apr 2007: Memphis Undergroud reviewed: "Stewart Home is probably the truest literary voice we have. And it is a sheer honour to be invited along for the ride."
Memphis Underground reviewed over at 3:AM Magazine:
"Memphis Underground, Stewart Home's latest anti-novel, is a sublime composition of re-enactments and repetitions - and, as always, a lot more besides. As well as being part biography, part manifesto, it is a blistering attack on late modernity, commoditisation, and an adroitly executed literary deconstruction. It is also a Roman a Clef for all those curious enough to want to know just what it is may, or may not, concern Stewart Home from day to day; who he hangs out with, where he goes, what he eats, what music he listens to, what he reads. But, as ever, Stewart Home may just be hoodwinking the reader and playing with form to disorientate all who pick this wondrous book up. The reader, of course, should not take this personally, for the reader is not Stewart Home's intended target. It doesn't take a genius to work that out." Read it all...
And don't forget the Memphis Underground Myspace, where a fortnight of giveaways started today...
posted on April 11, 2007 03:36 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
11 Apr 2007: "Revelations leap from almost every page."
There's a lovely review of How Very Interesting in the latest issue of Laura Hird's always-excellent New Review:
"The latest production from the team (group? gang?) who ran the Peter Cook Appreciation Society is How Very Interesting. It is a collection of interviews, mostly conducted by Paul Hamilton, with people who knew Cook during his life and career. For anyone who loves his humour, or agrees with Robyn Hitchcock, quoted here, that "he and The Beatles were the biggest single modifiers of the British class system," this book is a must-have."
posted on April 11, 2007 10:10 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
10 Apr 2007: Bah
Sort of spoiler alert for Dan Rhode's new novel, plus something about robins, below the cut.
posted on April 10, 2007 06:00 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
09 Apr 2007: Computers = ?
A phrase I read over at Salt sparked a thought in my excitable head. Chris was talking about bookstores and the Internet, and he referred to: "...gossip, recommendation, eclecticism and relationships. The stuff the internet is rather good at." That sort of struck me: the Internet being a good place for gossip and relationships. I've thought so for a long while, but how long? When did I stop seeing it as just a big telecommunications network? And how many other people still haven't get their heads around that idea, because the Internet is built from computers, and computers are 'soulless' or 'cold' or, you know, those other things that wary people say about machines?
Continue reading "Computers = ?" »
posted on April 9, 2007 07:36 AM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
07 Apr 2007: Tweaks
I've made a few tweaks to the website content today. I haven't touched it for ages, but now that James has gone to the bother of giving it a lick of paint I thought I'd have a spring clean. So there are a couple more FAQs added and a bunch of downloads and a timeline on the Press page. (I may have got all the dates wrong on the timeline - I'll have to check with everyone on Tuesday.) I am also going to improve the Bookseller page for our international customers, but that will be later in the week when I have the right info to hand.
I'm also slightly grumpy this morning, despite the lovely sun, because I get sales data on a Saturday and this week our sales were minus £2000. That is because of returns from October. October! Honestly.
Ok, off to cheer myself up by going to see some zombies now, because that is how normal people spend their Saturdays. More later.
posted on April 7, 2007 12:13 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
07 Apr 2007: IP Freely?
This is interesting: John Lanchester writes in the Guardian Review about Intellectual Property (IP) and copyright. If you're planning to read this post you should probably read that article first so's you know what I'm talking about.
Continue reading "IP Freely?" »
posted on April 7, 2007 07:50 AM | link | Comments (3) | Leave a comment
06 Apr 2007: Rightsy-ho
It's the London Book Fair a week on Monday. We are at stand J205 and you should visit us, for there will be seats and fruit and water, and if you're a veteran fair-goer you'll know that those things are prized commodities. And while you're there, buy the rights to a territory of one of our books. Oh, go on. Just a little territory. How about the Fiji islands? Or Tuvalu? If a couple of you get together, you might be able to go halvoes on Estonia. Download our rights guide here.
(The beady among you may notice the date, which indicates that I am working on the Bank Holiday weekend - no clever time-delayed posting on this blog. You should definitely feel obliged to buy some rights now that I've gone to the trouble of coming in to the office to do the guide. Roll up.)
posted on April 6, 2007 12:27 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
04 Apr 2007: Taking the Plunge
A smashing 4 out of 5 star review from the lovely ladies at Trashionista!
posted on April 4, 2007 04:31 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
03 Apr 2007: Order! Order!
You can now download our new order form and send it back to us. With an order. Fill it in and place an order. For our books. Then send us money. That's how it works, right? I am terrible at this selling business.
posted on April 3, 2007 07:08 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
03 Apr 2007: "Not only excellent but the best medieval historical I've ever come across"
Enough about hot crossed buns. There is more to life, you know. Here is an excellent review of Needle in the Blood. Preorder yours today!
posted on April 3, 2007 05:39 PM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
03 Apr 2007: The Art of Persuasion [updated]
Here's a thing. I went to my local bookshop today - which happens to be Borders - intending to buy two books. I came away without buying either. They weren't out of stock. No. But the editions on offer were just so ugly I couldn't talk myself into paying money for them. The first was Persuasion by that Austen bird. I watched the version on the TV the other night and thought it was so wonderful I decided to re-read the novel. Sally Hawkins was so perfect: not too pretty for her character, totally capable and sensible, but vulnerable and trembly at all the right moments. Rupert whatsit was great too. Sigh.
Continue reading "The Art of Persuasion [updated]" »
posted on April 3, 2007 05:26 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
03 Apr 2007: One a penny, two a penny, hot cross...death
Looks so innocent, doesn't it? All hot, and crossed, and with delicious, plump raisins. But beware, friends! This is the hot cross bun of death!
Yesterday I was Off Work with food poisoning, brought on by a hot cross bun, or two. Or four. I think they were the culprits, anyway. So I laid on my bed, feeling very grotty, hallucinating about various things (it was quite a bad dose of food poisoning) including vaguely thinking that I was lying in the aisle of a Hobbycraft and that I should really get out of the way because someone might run me over in a shopping cart full of felt. Thankfully today I feel much better, aided significantly by the best piece of grilled tuna I have ever had in my life from Pescatori.
So, in summary, do not eat four dodgy hot crossed buns.
posted on April 3, 2007 04:19 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
02 Apr 2007: MemphisSpace
Stewart Home's Memphis Underground is out in a month's time, and we're doing the same amazing Myspace giveaway we did with Lint (Stewart is a big Myspace fan - see if you can track down all his profiles...).
If you'd like your chance to win a copy, go make friends with MU on Myspace, where you can also read exclusive extracts from the book, and grab a banner for your profile or blog by copying and pasting the code below:
posted on April 2, 2007 02:15 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment