Saturday 7 September 2013

Showtime

DEAD WOMAN WALKING is really out  at last!
It's a paperback original, very nicely produced by the Cornovia Press and Lulu (print on demand).
The system is ideal for small publishers and probably explains why there are now so many  of them springing up, because it means they are spared the problems that used to make publishing problematic. Firstly, the initial investment is minimised; and equally important, there is no need to guess how many copies to print, and then pay for accomodation to store the volumes. Self-publishers used to pile them under beds.
And paperback originals? They are what the reader prefers. Take it from someone who is sent on average fifty books a month - and that's a conservative figure. Crime novels for review arrive every day. The postman has taken to saying, "More homework for you" as he staggers to the front door with a pile of parcels. Obviously I can't keep them all. But it's very hard to dispose of most hardback fiction because, as second hand book dealers unanimously confirm, nobody wants to read it. The few volumes that might become collectable are sought after - though I have never been any good at guessing which they are. The rest languish unwanted  on the shelves of our local Oxfam bookshop, while the newly published paperbacks often sell the day after I bring them in.
So roll up, roll up and buy DEAD WOMAN WALKING and the second edition of THE FIFTIES MYSTIQUE, both now available  at Amazon, or any other online bookseller, or - better still - get your local bookshop to order (and perhaps even stock) it. If you do - many thanks!

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