SnowBlog
29 Nov 2007: You guys were right all along
It seems like we're always linking to something that Leila (author of How To Worry Friends and Inconvenience People) has done. This time, though, I want to link to a story her beau, Tom, has written for the Guardian. It's here. It's a piece about a young computer-science whiz. Now I may be doing you all a disservice, but I always tend to imagine that the sort of people who'd read a publishing blog spent more time in the English Department than the Science Block at school. But even if that's true, maybe you wondered what they got up to over there. One of the nice things about the story Tom is picking up on is that it's also about Stephen Wolfram - and Stephen Wolfram thinks that a good deal of the science that came out of the twentieth-century was headed into a cul-de-sac, and that it would never be able to explain most of the things we see in nature. If nothing else, that certainly justifies any time you spent reading novels when you could have been playing with bunsen burners.
Continue reading "You guys were right all along" »
posted on November 29, 2007 03:22 PM | link | Comments (5) | Leave a comment
28 Nov 2007: Our books on Amazon
Currently, here is how our books are doing on Amazon. In summary: not bad, but please buy more of our books.
Continue reading "Our books on Amazon" »
posted on November 28, 2007 05:37 PM | link | Comments (8) | Leave a comment
28 Nov 2007: Snowcase #42
Shirley is a teacher turned writer, who loves French poetry, chocolate and cats. This is her first full-length novel, currently seeking a publisher. Honestly!
How Do I Tell You? is a story about lies. Like placebo tablets, they make you feel better. After a lifetime of deception, Katherine wonders about revealing the truth.
Continue reading "Snowcase #42" »
posted on November 28, 2007 08:30 AM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
27 Nov 2007: Caricature
Oh, that Seth Godin. He really is awfully smart. His latest post is about caricatures. He says that police have better luck finding suspects using caricatures than boring sketches, because a caricature falsely highlights various anomalies while diminishing the boring parts. And he suggests that it works that way for brands, too. The examples he gives are excellent:
"During the formative days of Fedex, the caricature was that their drivers would even rent a helicopter to get just one package delivered on time. It's easy to turn Starbucks' variety and focus on your needs into a caricature as well, "half-caf, extra hot, short macchiato, extra foam, with soy, in a ceramic mug....""
So I thought I'd have a go at caricaturing Snowbooks.
Continue reading "Caricature" »
posted on November 27, 2007 07:12 PM | link | Comments (2) | Leave a comment
27 Nov 2007: Karma should fix this (slightly updated)
too funny?
If the world wants to prove to me it is a good and sensibly-run sort of a place, it will find this woman a fantastic job riiiiggghhht...... now!
I am talking, of course, about this story: Career of tube voiceover woman hits buffers after online jokes misfire. Just look at the wonderful fake announcements she's created.
Continue reading "Karma should fix this (slightly updated)" »
posted on November 27, 2007 08:17 AM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
26 Nov 2007: What's the matter? Can't stand a little competition?
The gentlefolk at This Morning, who I am given to understand broadcast a popular daily entertainment on national television, have been kind enough to feature Leila's book How To Worry Friends And Inconvenience People in one of their 'online' competitions. Defeat their intellectual conundra and you stand to receive a copy of Leila's book gratis and with no money down! Isn't television a marvelous thing?
posted on November 26, 2007 01:05 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
26 Nov 2007: Snowcase #41
Susan Carver's first novel focusses on the enduring effect of attachment and loss experienced in childhood. She is a therapist and academic .
Half in Love
At thirty-nine, Dr Anna Ballinger slides into a midlife crisis. Her father, who died at the same age, guides her back - from 'beyond the grave' or her own subconscious?
Continue reading "Snowcase #41" »
posted on November 26, 2007 08:58 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
25 Nov 2007: Killer snowglobes
Thanks to my lovely mum, for sending this sort of snow-related thing! Just the thing for those of us who are easily entertained of a Sunday night. Hooray for the Christmas period, when things get progressively more and more snowy. It's like the world is doing our marketing for us.
Rob's update: You might want to turn the volume down on your computer before you click on this. Mine's hooked to a stereo and this nearly gave me heart failure.
posted on November 25, 2007 08:38 PM | link | Comments (2) | Leave a comment
25 Nov 2007: Last announcement thing, I promise.
I am going to have to stop posting announcements and start posting actual writing soon. Last one, I promise: here's an interview with me on the very fine Vulpes Libris blog.
posted on November 25, 2007 02:44 PM | link | Comments (4) | Leave a comment
25 Nov 2007: Time Out
Hooray for Time Out's exquisite taste. They recommend How to Worry Friends and Inconvenience People as a top Xmas present. As do we.
Rob's update: Apologies for all the lens flares of late. I keep thinking I'm John McTiernan.
posted on November 25, 2007 02:38 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
25 Nov 2007: First review of Mothernight
This has got to be a Snowbooks first - a September 2007 review of a book we're publishing in March 2008! I haven't even created the online catalogue yet - must do that soon. Here is the review. I have proof copies available, so please do get in touch if you are a blogger, reviewer or bookseller and I'll pop one in the post.
posted on November 25, 2007 02:28 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
25 Nov 2007: Observer Future 500
The list I mentioned a few weeks ago that I'm on: this is it. Britain's top new talent, and all that. Looks like I'm the only publisher on there (oh no, I'm not - Toby Mundy and Jon Wood, too. OK, only female publisher), which is nice. There's a supplement in today's Observer announcing it, but don't rush out on my account - the only mention I get is 'Emma Barnes, Snowbooks' MD' and I think you know that already.
But it's quite neat - I get access to an interesting forum with the other 499 people, which is a stroke of genius. The organisers get to tell advertisers that they have an exclusive audience of 500 movers and shakers, and so the ads cost more. The Future 500 people get free stuff and good deals. Everyone's a winner. The best thing I've found so far is one of those trend presentations - I love that sort of thing and I'll be adapting it for Snowbooks' purposes and will share bits of it here with you. When I get a mo. Today, though, I'm trying to learn enough XSLT to take 70 ONIX records and turn them into simpler XML that InDesign can cope with without having a nervous breakdown. To the computer! Oh, I'm here already.
posted on November 25, 2007 09:52 AM | link | Comments (5) | Leave a comment
23 Nov 2007: Maybe you take what you can get
While having my lunchtime soup, I listened to Cory Doctorow being interviewed. He was talking about why he doesn't think e-book readers will really catch on. His reasons were a little bit depressing, and the diametric opposite of what most commenters on this blog seem to think.
Continue reading "Maybe you take what you can get" »
posted on November 23, 2007 02:23 PM | link | Comments (3) | Leave a comment
23 Nov 2007: Ill
I have been ill most of this week. Yes, I know, I am a brave soldier for appearing so chipper on the blog, and for doing thousands of hours of work without hardly a complaint. You may gasp in awe at my amazingness.
The reason I mention it is that I feel a bit better now. And I think I know why. I have just had my first coffee in three weeks. I am a coffee addict, I think (certainly a big fan, at least), and was drinking more than ten cups a day - until three Saturdays ago when I decided to go cold turkey. It wasn't too bad. I switched to boring old tea, and didn't feel tired or anything. But this week, I think the lack of coffee plus a bug has floored me.
So. Back on the coffee - for health reasons. Can't say I didn't try.
posted on November 23, 2007 11:52 AM | link | Comments (4) | Leave a comment
23 Nov 2007: Cooking with Booze on't radio
If Christmas means one thing it's this: free stuff on the radio. Here's Dominik Diamond
giving away copies of Cooking With Booze on Talk 107!
How to Worry will follow in the next few weeks. Hooray for free stuff!
posted on November 23, 2007 08:56 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
23 Nov 2007: Spread the Word in the Guardian
Hooray, there's an article in the Guardian about Spread the Word and our books are named. Well done Steve and Sarah for having surnames that put them pretty much at the top of the list. And for Adept, hopefully the next list will be alphabetically sorted by title name.
Thanks so much to Dee, Moali and Billectric for the comments made on Needle and Lint, and, presumeably, for their vote. Please add your own!
Vote for NEEDLE IN THE BLOOD here
posted on November 23, 2007 08:46 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
23 Nov 2007: Observe
You might want to buy (or read over someone's shoulder on the bus) this Sunday's Observer. I think I'm going to be in it. On a list. So look for lists. I think it will just be one line. I don't know. And as I understand it the publication is full of other information, news, and whatnot so you won't have to fork out just for a few lines about me. I think there's a crossword, too. Value for money, right there.
What I do know is there might be a bottle of cognac in it for me. Mmmm.
posted on November 23, 2007 08:39 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
22 Nov 2007: Keep on Spreading.
Goodo - The Spread the Word campaign seems to be off to a good start, with a nice mention in The Bookseller today. Here are those links again: please do vote as we could have a real chance here. Thanks!
Vote for NEEDLE IN THE BLOOD here
posted on November 22, 2007 04:20 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
22 Nov 2007: Glitzy novelists?
If I'm writing anything, I try to back it up a lot. I don't understand people who lose entire manuscripts without at least trying to maintain a copy somewhere safe. And when I saw the trinket in the picture, that's what I thought of. Not so much for myself, you understand, but perhaps for those writers of the female persuasion who like the shiny. You can carry a copy of your novel-in-progress around your neck - or maybe the finished article in case you meet a potential publisher socially (perish the thought). In case it's not clear, it's a Swarovski crystal pendant with a USB flash drive built in. (For anyone able to parse this sentence: I gakked it from boingboing.) More details here (but be warned, the site insists on animating and setting to music everything it possibly can, because as any good marketing person will tell you, we all love to be irritated unnecessarily).
Continue reading "Glitzy novelists?" »
posted on November 22, 2007 08:28 AM | link | Comments (5) | Leave a comment
22 Nov 2007: Oh go on then
For fans of the idea that e-Book Readers will never catch on, here's a little bit in the Guardian that includes a list of features that a book provides and that an electronic reading device should therefore match. It is, of course, a list of requirements that no device in the foreseeable span of future human achievement will ever attain. Probably the only reason that I like it is that he left off '15) has to smell as good or better than a paper book'. To me, that's such a big concession that I can almost accept '3) It will be able to survive... falling completely into two or more pieces, while still remaining perfectly readable afterwards'.
posted on November 22, 2007 07:43 AM | link | Comments (2) | Leave a comment
21 Nov 2007: Future Snow
"Every time the doors opened tonight on the tram ride home, an amazingly crisp and cold autumn air breathed into the cabin – and it smelled like snow, though no snow was in sight, and so I found myself thinking the two following things..." more...
BLDGBLOG will soon be a book. I wish we were publishing it.
posted on November 21, 2007 08:24 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
21 Nov 2007: Keeping ahead of the technology
Because technology gets invented by people who specialise in it, there does seem to be a bit of a lag between something being invented and ordinary folk finding out about it and figuring out what they think of it. Just to pick an example, people started eating genetically modified food some time before they knew what it was and whether they approved of it. And in that particular 'debate' (if that's the word) Britain baulked and America shrugged.
With that sort of thing in mind, now really is the time to figure out what we all think about fair use when it comes to things like books, music and DVDs. But as I've said recently, books have a long history of being shared around in a way that could get you sent to prison if you try it with an MP3 file. And that's not just hyperbole; people really are getting into serious trouble for sharing small numbers of tunes. What will happen when something like the Amazon Kindle applies the increasingly tough rules of the MP3 world to books. Have you figured out what you think yet and where you stand? See what you think of this...
Continue reading "Keeping ahead of the technology" »
posted on November 21, 2007 07:14 AM | link | Comments (3) | Leave a comment
20 Nov 2007: On Grammar
Okay, so let me set the scene. I know that the American school system is often seen as failing – ruled by standardized tests, undemanding, more concerned with getting everybody through than with actual education, and so on. I’m not really concerned with whether or not you agree with this assessment; I feel that it’s generally correct today, that it was just as accurate when I was in school.
But there are exceptions, teachers who manage to engage their students and impart actual knowledge. I had such a teacher in high school, for Honours Composition (we, of course, called it Honors Composition, because we were in America). This teacher was something of a legend in our school district; the rumours began in junior high: weekly vocabulary quizzes, grammar tests, the impossibility of a perfect score on an essay.
Continue reading "On Grammar" »
posted on November 20, 2007 06:01 PM | link | Comments (3) | Leave a comment
20 Nov 2007: Stories that make me cry
Scott recently did a Songs that Make You Cry post, which has inspired this post. I simply can't hold back the tears when I read Oscar Wilde's The Nightingale and the Rose.
Continue reading "Stories that make me cry" »
posted on November 20, 2007 12:02 PM | link | Comments (2) | Leave a comment
20 Nov 2007: Spread the word
Hooray, the site is fixed. Please now go to www.worldbookday.com/spreadtheword and vote for Lint, Needle in the Blood and Adept! Er, if you like them. WHICH YOU DO.
Thanks!
//update - Steve A kindly provided the links to each book in the comments. Here they are to click on:
Vote for NEEDLE IN THE BLOOD here
posted on November 20, 2007 08:09 AM | link | Comments (3) | Leave a comment
19 Nov 2007: Here, let me explain (in Korean)
Just a little addendum to talk of e-book readers. Sometimes people who haven't seen an electrophoretic display assume that it looks like the display on a phone. But they're not the same at all. If the photos (left) don't make the difference obvious then may I recommend learning Korean. (The device in the picture is called a Nuut, and to learn more about it I've added a link here. But really, if Hangul is all Greek to you, there's not much point in clicking on it.)
posted on November 19, 2007 09:04 PM | link | Comments (2) | Leave a comment
19 Nov 2007: ...but more what it represents
So, Amazon (US) are launching an e-book reader with one of those looks-like-paper screens similar to the one the Sony e-Reader has. It's called Kindle. Personally I think it looks rubbish - aesthetically I mean - and that screen looks a bit murky too, but you can't really tell from the available photos. I suppose the main thing is that it's Amazon who are doing it. That means they're not likely to run out of pennies or decide they don't care about the future of books any time soon. Interestingly, this one will have a data connection (like the one in your mobile phone that you never use) which will let it download new e-books on the move - and as I understand it, Amazon will pay the phone bills for that. Just thought you should know.
posted on November 19, 2007 02:37 PM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
18 Nov 2007: Snow!
I just looked outside on the way to get a cup of tea. It's snowing! The garden and the field is covered in snow! How's about that. Sadly I have to drive to London tomorrow, otherwise I would have made a snowman. Maybe it won't stick, anyway.
But hey! Freak snow shower! Hooray!
posted on November 18, 2007 08:45 PM | link | Comments (4) | Leave a comment
18 Nov 2007: Banging that DRM again
I suppose I didn't really say in that last post about copyright how it relates to books. On the one hand, you probably don't expect most of what I say to have anything to do with publishing by now. On the other, maybe you can guess what I was thinking. I should spell it out, though.
Continue reading "Banging that DRM again" »
posted on November 18, 2007 12:02 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
17 Nov 2007: Does not compute
Remember the sixties when any robots that menaced you could be destroyed by feeding them a logical paradox? They would fizz and spark, then their voices would get slower and slooowwwweerrrr as though their internal phonographs had wound down. I'm pretty sure it happened on Star Trek at least once. That's what this Pop Art exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery reminds me of. Works of art which were made by tweaking and fiddling with other people's trademarks and copyright images - and you're not allowed to photograph them because that would infringe the tweaker's copyright. Read about it here. The more I think about intellectual property law and the way it gets applied, the more I get the urge to repeat, 'Danger! Danger! Will Robinson' over and over to myself.
posted on November 17, 2007 04:35 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
17 Nov 2007: Call-in-the-bag
Humanity's indomitable spirit - a case in point. Remember my stupid wireless headset for my phone? Well, it's coming in very handy now. You might also recall I can only use it when there's no one else around because it's idiotic looking. Well, that's fine because this in particular scenario I'm sat at home on my sofa.
The problem? Moving to the countryside means that the mobile-phone waves struggle to penetrate the dense foliage and the heavy pelts of the nearby animals, meaning that I hardly get a signal when I'm at home. The solution? Hang my phone in a little plastic bag on the doorknob in the one position where it works properly. Then retire to the sofa wearing a blue-flashing bluetooth head-dress for recumbent phoning luxury, as suggested by the following rather fancifully-interpretive marketing picture.
Continue reading "Call-in-the-bag" »
posted on November 17, 2007 12:01 PM | link | Comments (2) | Leave a comment
16 Nov 2007: Please help!
Please, please log on to www.worldbookday.com/spreadtheword and vote for Adept, Needle in the Blood and Lint! They've just made the site live, and there are no votes or comments yet so I'd love it if we got off to a strong start and made sure that our books are the ones people are talking about.
I will love you forever if you do. And will probably send you prizes to say thank you. A bit of honest bribery never hurt.
//update - lordy, on behalf of the organisers I do apologise for their site. I have told them the errors we're all getting, and asked for a single page with all the titles clearly laid out so you can just scroll down. Thanks for your patience. I'd suggest that you don't try to access the site yet and I'll tell you when it's working properly. Sorry for wasting your time. //
posted on November 16, 2007 07:48 PM | link | Comments (4) | Leave a comment
15 Nov 2007: Snowcase #40
L. Lee Lowe is an online writer (and displaced American) who lives in the hills above the Rhine, where on a clear day she can't see forever, but the spires of the Cologne Cathedral.
In a snowbound alternate world, the minds of teen offenders are uploaded into computers as a form of virtual wilderness therapy ... or is it?
[excellent! set in a world of snow!]
Continue reading "Snowcase #40" »
posted on November 15, 2007 10:03 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
14 Nov 2007: Slightly too spooky
So, I tend to let my phone wake me up in the mornings. I had a terrible Nokia phone for a while that would play gentle, increasingly complex but softly tentative string sounds which I really liked - but that was the only thing the device was good for. My current phone is good in all the many ways the Nokia was bad, but it tends to wake me up with a bit less sophistication. So when I heard an interesting sound in a movie, I decided to try turning it into an alarm for my phone. You'd be amazed, or perhaps you wouldn't, at how easily one can turn a Hollywood DVD into a ringtone if you apply the right pieces of hackery (rather than just record the noise coming out of the speakers I mean). But it's no good; the sound that seemed interesting and pleasantly hooty in my living room seems troubling and creepy when I'm fast asleep. If anyone can tell me what the sound is they can win a glorious prize (which I will not name as it might be too much of a clue to the answer) The first thing I hear.
posted on November 14, 2007 09:31 PM | link | Comments (4) | Leave a comment
14 Nov 2007: Very cool
Wow, I've already learned three new totally useful things from posts on The Pub Bench. Do shout if you'd like a trial login.
posted on November 14, 2007 02:39 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
14 Nov 2007: Saving the what now?
I'm sceptical that switching my light-bulbs to a lower energy type will do much to stave off climate change. I mean if I do it (and I'm getting there), plus everyone else does it too, it will help, but what bothers me is that it tackles one of the little slices on the pie chart of carbon pollution without really touching any of the big ones. It seems silly for me to be fiddling around with a few watts here and there while generating stations chew through megatonnes of filthy coal. But can you believe there is a change I can make in my little domestic way that really will scale up into big industrial changes if enough people do it too?
Continue reading "Saving the what now?" »
posted on November 14, 2007 09:11 AM | link | Comments (14) | Leave a comment
14 Nov 2007: Signal to noise ratio
It looks like we're currently getting one to two real comments each day plus one to two hundred spam comments. That doesn't seem right. Plus the number of spam comments seemed to spike sharply after I first wrote about spam. Maybe I shouldn't use the word any more. In future I'll just refer to 'reconstituted meat products' (RMP).
Anyway, if the RMP levels continue to rise we might have to start using one of those read-the-woosy-text things to screen out the robo-junk - or, if it's ready for the market and not too expensive, one of those spot-the-cat thingies. As for the fact that we only get one to two comments per day, I'm thinking some sort of pay-by-the-word cash incentive might work. Although even that's not guaranteed; as soon as Em announced a prize for the 1000th comment, people stayed away in droves. No, I suppose it will have to down to good old-fashioned engaging with our audience and raising topics on which they have strong views. What a pain.
posted on November 14, 2007 07:35 AM | link | Comments (9) | Leave a comment
12 Nov 2007: The Pub Bench
So here's an exciting (to me, anyway) project I've been working on - I'd love to hear your thoughts. I'm going to be launching a website next week called www.thepubbench.com. It's a forum for publishers to share information: whether that's benchmarking information, such as comparing returns rates and printers, or tips and insights, such as how to create printer files, how to calculate a spine width, tips on cover design and typesetting, how best to manage and calculate royalties, and so on. It's not just me blathering on - I hope that lots of publishers will join, contribute and learn valuable things.
Take a look around, and if you want to get to the juicy stuff, ask me for the password for a free month's trial. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
//update: Ooh, here's a nice piece in the Bookseller and here's a nice piece from the Booksellers Association blog. Thanks chaps!//
posted on November 12, 2007 08:01 PM | link | Comments (3) | Leave a comment
12 Nov 2007: This Morning Competition
Roll up, roll up, win a copy of Cooking with Booze here!
posted on November 12, 2007 02:38 PM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
12 Nov 2007: Snowscene
Winter is finally here! Well, it is in Aberdeen. Here's a lovely scene from commenter Judith's walk this morning, featuring Minnie the dog. A proper Snowdog name, since Anna's dog is also called Minnie. I note that neither of them are, in fact, particularly mini, so that makes it even more interesting.
Thanks, Judith!
posted on November 12, 2007 12:19 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
12 Nov 2007: The Red Men interview
Here's an excellent interview from the good people at 3:AM. Actually, from top-flight journalist Sam Jordison. Who thinks it's bloody good. Hooray!
posted on November 12, 2007 11:51 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
12 Nov 2007: Snowcase #39
Sarah Ann Watts remains mysteriously silent, bio-wise, but she has submitted her novel Zero Summer.
Is there life after death? Do you really want to find out? Beyond the grave all things are possible…
Continue reading "Snowcase #39" »
posted on November 12, 2007 11:45 AM | link | Comments (4) | Leave a comment
11 Nov 2007: Oh my goddess
posted on November 11, 2007 12:23 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
10 Nov 2007: Preserving the stuff of phobias
I'm reading a very good book about climate change at the moment, called The Weather Makers by Tim Flannery. I've spent a while studying various sciences and a while trying to get the hang of writing, and whatever my successes or otherwise in those areas, one definite effect has been to make me a snob about the science writing I'll read. But Tim Flannery needn't worry. He does a fine job with his material. My only complaint... in fact it's not even a complaint, it's a niggle, a quibble... in fact if I'm honest it says more about me than Prof. Flannery... it's just that he begins a section on the detrimental consequences of climate change by talking about the precarious future of the alpine habitats of New Guinea. And, professional zoologist that he is, he eulogises over the fauna, specifically the way the myriad of webs catch the morning light and illuminate the burrows of the Mallomys Gunung. He's undoubtedly right and it's a precious habitat the loss of which will be a tragedy. It's just that a landscape teeming with spiders that's home to a meter-long woolly alpine rat wouldn't be the first thing I'd lose sleep over. But then I'm not a zoologist. That childish observation aside, it is a lively and illuminating read. Deux fois encore.
posted on November 10, 2007 09:48 PM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
10 Nov 2007: Books that should succeed
Well there's a thing. Em linked to Russell Davies's blog (he of the reliably fine Earth-based writing and not his namesake of the variable-quality off-world fare) because he'd said some favourable things about a couple of our titles. In checking out the post in question I was sad to see that Russell's book Eggs, Bacon, Chips and Beans didn't sell as well as he would have liked. It's such a shame because it's been one of my favourites since it came out, although I could see why not everyone might 'get it' at first glance.
Continue reading "Books that should succeed" »
posted on November 10, 2007 06:38 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
09 Nov 2007: J C de Menezes and Paul Tibbets
Political post
Continue reading "J C de Menezes and Paul Tibbets" »
posted on November 9, 2007 12:59 PM | link | Comments (5) | Leave a comment
09 Nov 2007: Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stephenson
In which I finally get round to saying what happened to me yesterday
So, I've been cursing First Great Western Railways for running a once-per-hour service to London from The Sticks (where I live), but missing the hour that would get me to London when I need to be there. So instead of having half an hour to travel from West to East London, I have an hour and a half. Which is far too much time. Or maybe they know something I don't, because something always seems to go wrong with my journey and I end up being late. So much so that I'm seriously beginning to wonder if I should get the earlier train and leave two and half hours to get from Paddington to Brick Lane.
Continue reading "Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stephenson" »
posted on November 9, 2007 11:32 AM | link | Comments (4) | Leave a comment
09 Nov 2007: School shootings
As another high school shooting takes place, here is an interesting review of Going Postal.
posted on November 9, 2007 08:50 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
09 Nov 2007: In an empty office, no one hears you scream
I just had a pile of books fall on my head. Ow ow ow ow owowowowwow.
posted on November 9, 2007 08:25 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
08 Nov 2007: An impromptu SnowSong
[to the tune of West Side Story's Tonight. Or is it Maria? That tune, anyway]
Reviews, reviews, oh how I love reviews
They make me very pleased
And relieved
Review-hoos!
Everybody likes review-ws
Now let's hope
They turn
To sales
It trails off a bit because I can't remember the tune after that.
Here's some of today's bag: Shiny Shiny and Russell M Davies's blog (him wot wrote one of Rob's favourite books, Egg Bacon Chips and Beans.) Also, Restaurant magazine have reviewed Cooking with Booze but I haven't bought a copy yet.
posted on November 8, 2007 09:25 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
08 Nov 2007: Caches
You know how computers cache the last few hundred strings you enter into fields? So if you go to google, and type in 'he...' it will bring up anything you've typed recently that starts with 'he'?
Some of my searches - as a result of looking for cover design images for Snowbooks and our Snowbooks Design clients - look downright dodgy and I am writing this post in advance of anyone stealing my computer, looking at the cache and outing me as a perv to the book industry, and bringing down the mighty Snowbooks empire.
posted on November 8, 2007 03:10 PM | link | Comments (3) | Leave a comment
08 Nov 2007: Possibly the weirdest question I'll ask my authors
Do any Snowbooks authors have a tattoo? If so, drop me a line.
Don't ask.
posted on November 8, 2007 02:42 PM | link | Comments (2) | Leave a comment
08 Nov 2007: From the BBC:
The BBC website has it thus:
"A nationwide brigade of personal transport advisers who call at the homes of drivers thinking of switching to greener forms of travel could help break Britain's dependency on the car.
The idea is among those being mulled by the government in a major new strategy aimed at cutting carbon emissions. The advisers are already pounding the streets of three trial cities. In Peterborough, £750,000 has been spent on giving 20,000 people personal advice to help them use public transport or cycle."
Chuffing heck! As my esteemed author Richard Ballantine points out, £750,000 on 20,000 people works out to £37.50 a head. As he also points out, "How about a good cheap book instead?"
posted on November 8, 2007 02:35 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
08 Nov 2007: Things that make me feel better #1
Thing #1: hearing that even the big boys are finding it tough out there:
For the second year in a row, HarperCollins has had a poor start to its new fiscal year. Last year, sales fell 6% and earnings dropped 21% in the first quarter, and in the period ended September 30 this year sales fell 11.5%, to $330 million, and operating income plunged 52.8%, to $36 million. "It was a lousy quarter," acknowledged CEO Jane Friedman. "We knew things were going to be down, but we didn't think they'd be down this much."
She attributed the declines to a "terrible" quarter in the U.K. and a significant drop in sales in the children's segment in the U.S.
posted on November 8, 2007 12:48 PM | link | Comments (3) | Leave a comment
07 Nov 2007: Sarah Bower interview
Sarah Bower has done a lovely interview on Wayland radio (thanks to Dave from the show for posting me a copy). It's well worth a listen for some fascinating insights into the genesis of The Needle in the Blood - as well as for the jolly leprechaun music that appears out of nowhere around the ten minute mark. Sarah also reads a passage. Right mouse and select 'save as' to download the file.
posted on November 7, 2007 01:13 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
07 Nov 2007: Nice review of City Cycling
From Cycle magazine, publication of the fine organisation CTC, of which I'm a member.
posted on November 7, 2007 01:01 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
07 Nov 2007: Snowbooks hat trick!
Very good news here at SnowCentral: we have had three books longlisted for the World Book Day Spread the Word competition. They are Needle in the Blood, Lint and Adept.
To celebrate this, I am going to give away 10 copies of each book so you can get reading and get voting! Needless to say, please vote. Vote vote vote. Their website - www.worldbookday.com/spreadtheword - isn't live until next week but once it is I will post about it.
The organisers said that "We were very impressed with the quality and range of your books...your titles were easy to select."
Yey!
Continue reading "Snowbooks hat trick!" »
posted on November 7, 2007 07:12 AM | link | Comments (6) | Leave a comment
06 Nov 2007: p-books, copyright and giving it away
Cory Doctorow* gives away, free of charge, electronic copies of the books he writes. They're also available to buy in conventional form (what he calls 'p-books', and I'm reasonably confident that he's being playful when he uses that term). He's packed full of ideas about what should and shouldn't be controlled, banned, encouraged or outlawed, particularly as it pertains to books and/or the internet. I think this here is the sort of article that's worth reading even if you disagree with his positions, because they're set forth in neatly compelling terms that provide a useful sense-check of your own beliefs. (You may want to skip the first question and answer.)
*He's also one of the founders of Boing Boing, which incaseyadon'tknow is a website that acts as a 'dictionary of [the] wonderful things' that exist out there on the net.
posted on November 6, 2007 05:15 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
06 Nov 2007: My PR company is better than your PR company
by miles. Look - just look at what they've achieved in October for How to Worry Friends and Cooking with Booze and January sale books alone. Seriously, Cerub are utterly wonderful.
Continue reading "My PR company is better than your PR company" »
posted on November 6, 2007 10:32 AM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
06 Nov 2007: Smashing interview
with Sarah Bryant today on the Historical Boys blog, about Sand Daughter. Go read it! Then buy the book:
posted on November 6, 2007 09:18 AM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
05 Nov 2007: Snowcase #38
Susie Nott-Bower's novel, The Change, is about the metamorphosis of two middle-aged women whose lives are tested, torn apart and ultimately transformed by their involvement in a television makeover programme.
Susie spent twenty years working for the BBC and Channel Four. She transformed her own life by moving to Cornwall in her fiftieth year.
In THE CHANGE, Pete, a blind rock musician, is about to meet his nemesis in a toilet at AZ Productions...
Continue reading "Snowcase #38" »
posted on November 5, 2007 07:31 PM | link | Comments (3) | Leave a comment
05 Nov 2007: Don't forget the Borders offer!
The Borders coupon that I posted about a few days back is valid until today - so now's your last chance!
posted on November 5, 2007 12:27 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
05 Nov 2007: Do you know what I like?
I like emails from important retailers that contain the words 'off to a strong start'! And then I like the emails to include a beefy order.
And turns out that what I like, I get, this morning.
Whoopdeedoopdeedoo.
posted on November 5, 2007 12:03 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
05 Nov 2007: Codey
Guess what this means? (not you, James)
posted on November 5, 2007 11:53 AM | link | Comments (2) | Leave a comment
05 Nov 2007: Designing a blockbuster
So I watch quite a lot of TV. Most of which is scripted dramas, generally with a bit of a thriller or adventure element. I'm a bit envious of Em and Anna who hardly ever turn the telly on, but on the other hand I'm very interested in that sort of storytelling - how you do it, what works, what happens behind the scenes. I used to get very frustrated with overly-neat TV shows that insisted on returning to the status quo ante at the end of each episode. It lead to that silly scenario where if one of the characters gets into a relationship with someone you know that either a) their love interest will die or b) their love interest will turn out to be evil. Eliminating any sort of progression allowed U.S. TV networks to show reruns in any order. That led me onto thinking about other forms of interference in visual storytelling, the way certain kinds of shows have to maintain an eye-candy quotient; they can't tackle storylines that will be a turn-off to advertisers; and any movie with a budget over $40m has to have an American lead (or an actor pretending to be American). You listen to DVD commentaries and read insider interviews and it's amazing how often 'the studio' wanted this change or 'the network' would prefer it if that happened. It made me realise that novels are the last great uncensored, un-demographically targeted, un-commercially tweaked form of mass storytelling. And I wondered how long that will last.
Continue reading "Designing a blockbuster" »
posted on November 5, 2007 07:56 AM | link | Comments (2) | Leave a comment
04 Nov 2007: Living in a science-fiction world
When I was in my early teens* it wasn't uncommon for me to lay on my front on the living room carpet about five feet from the TV and watch repeats of Star Trek. I wanted a phaser, a communicator and a tricorder. Some part of me is aware that I'm about fifty percent of the way there now. I know it's unforgivably nerdy but I thought you might want to see the sort of techno-junk I lug around with me as a matter of course. I share this with you as a public service so that you can feel superior.
*insert for yourself the phrase, 'and dinosaurs still walked the Earth'.
Continue reading "Living in a science-fiction world" »
posted on November 4, 2007 02:18 PM | link | Comments (5) | Leave a comment
02 Nov 2007: Boozy old Channel 4
Look at this - James aka George Harvey Bone has a great piece on the Channel 4 website, all about - you guessed it - booze. And food. Mmm.
posted on November 2, 2007 03:29 PM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
02 Nov 2007: Icing
Researching pictures for a book cover, I came across this. I like it on many levels.
posted on November 2, 2007 01:28 PM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
01 Nov 2007: Covered in dust
I have had to move offices this morning, because the damp proof course in my old office needed doing and then someone else wanted the space. Hmph. I only had to move to another room in KP's empire, though, and it's lovely and quiet. I can imagine being very happy up here in the rafters. Plus I now have what I think I'll call an ante-chamber - oooh. So I am currently covered in dust and aching from carrying millions of boxes. But the main reason for the post is this: if you are in the habit of knocking on my window when you come to see me, I'd advise against it now. You'll just get a nice middle aged lady peering back at you.
Rob's update: Just to clarify that last sentence, previously if you tapped on the window, that's not what would have happened. None of the peering you received from nice ladies would have been middle-aged.
posted on November 1, 2007 02:05 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment