That's what friends are for

Nadine Laman, who blogs The First Draft, shared the "Let's Be Friends" award she received. Thank you Nadine, I accept both your friendship (I did that a long time ago anyway) and the award. Blogs that receive the Let’s Be Friends Award are written by bloggers who aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandisement. The hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Pass this award on. It is my honour and privilege to pass it on to six other bloggers:

Sarah Jane Grace astrologer extraordinaire

Tracy Saunders Spanish based fiction writer and author of Pilgrimage to Heresy

Mick Rooney from Dublin in Ireland. Mick aims to discuss, record and share the experiences and opinions of the author about POD Publishing, Self Publishing, Subsidy and Independent Publishing and all related issues.

Big Green Bookshop independent book shop in Wood Green, London, run by two ex Waterstones managers with a wicked sense of humour.

Bronwen Winter Phoenix Scottish author of three fiction books inspired by dreams.

Sarah aka Echo (it has just occured to me that I don't know her surname!) - US blog where Sarah talks about various issues that affect her life

Of course I can't forget Nadine whose blog can be found here. Nadine is based in Arizona, USA and writes contemporary womens fiction, rather good it is too.

How to Tell a Great Story

Around a month ago, I had an email from my good friend and writing buddy across the pond Nadine Laman, to say that she had been interviewed by a lady called Aneeta Sundararaj (who is based in Malaysia) for her blog, entitled "How to Tell a Great Story". Nadine suggested that I might be interested in an interview myself and duly forwarded my details on.

The interview has now gone live, and as I write is winging its way around the world via Aneetas's newsletter, which is circulated to some 3000 people worldwide. I can hear those tills ringing already with the sound of 3000 copies of Genesis of Man being sold !

Seriously, it is rather good reading, even if I do say so myself. Aneeta is always on the look out for new and interesting people to interview, so if you are interested, then you know what to do ...

The interview can be read here

The meaning of life

I had a strange dream in that moment of transition between sleep and wakefulness, the exact details of which I can no longer recall. I do recall though that my sister Linda was there - an unusual occurrence in itself given that she suffers from schizophrenia, and our relationship is not exactly what you call best friends.

From the few details that I do remember, the dream was based around the island of Lundy, where I retreat to two, maybe three times a year, in order to recharge my batteries. Somehow or other I had got locked out of the cottage, with all my possessions inside - everything that I needed to sustain me and keep me warm from the rapidly encroaching darkness as night fell. Linda and I needed to get help to get back into the cottage before this happened, and while she seemed totally unconcerned, I was searching around, desperately looking for help and wondering whether we had time to get that help before it was too late. It was at that point that the alarm clock went off and I had to get out of bed. I would not normally set the alarm clock of course for a Bank Holiday, but I do work in retail, and so to me, it is just another working day - albeit slightly shorter and with more pay.

It occurred to me while I was in the shower, that perhaps this is about letting go of my own baggage. Diana Summer mentioned some while ago that the Terminal 5 baggage fiasco was also about this - where thousands of bags belonging to air passengers failed to arrive at their destination, and weeks later have still not been found. The fact that the darkness was encroaching was also no doubt, about my own willingness, or perhaps lack of it, to look at my own darkness. I think most of us are afraid of this, and I am no exception here. I also think, or rather feel, that I have made a very good start.

For the first time I actually understand experientially as well as conceptually what that phrase "choose a new reality" really means, and I also understand at last, just how powerful our words and our thoughts really are. It is not something that you can explain to another, as to coin a phrase from Genesis of Man "Words are the least effective way of describing our experiences, as they are merely symbols which are used to describe our thoughts and feelings". When Descartes said "I think, therefore I am" perhaps what he should have said is "I feel, therefore I am".

We have to be willing to let go of everything that we are, and everything that we ever have been if we are to understand who we are truly are. When I think about this, I see transsexuals in many ways as the ultimate in this - for these are people who are willing to give up their whole sense of identity - changing their bodies, their names and literally starting all over again to order to find who they truly are inside. On the other side of the coin are the refugees and 'victims' of various atrocities, who have lost their livelihood, their homes and their loved ones - and seen things that are the stuff of nightmares.

Nadine Laman has an interesting take on this in her May newsletter, where she speaks about the recent Amazon debate and relates this to the need to appreciate what we have and support what is important to us. Most people take for granted that which they love, until it too late and it is gone. She relates this to changes within the book industry, and how one day we will wake up and find out that print books are no more, and have been replaced by emails and CD-roms instead. She urges her readers to not wait to buy books that are interested in, or one day they may wake up and realise that it is too late - those books are no more, as their authors have been forced out of business, unable to make a living.

You could equate this with anything I suppose, like failing to vote, or not valuing your loved ones, but the world is changing before our eyes (change being the only constant in the universe), and if we allow ourselves to get too complacent, and just sit around not looking to the future, then that change will happen regardless, and we may not even notice.

Most readers of course have no idea of what is going on in the book industry (I have very little idea of what goes on in music, even though I buy CD's), and for that matter, many writers and authors do not keep up to date either. One thing we can be sure of is that although the format for books may change, books themselves will always be here in one form or another. Books will also have a shorter life and shelf span (it is currently between three to six months on average), as more of them become available, and the window of opportunity will gets shorter and shorter for an authors success. It is important then not to be complacent, and to support the writers that you like, and not wait until those books are off the shelf.

So, don’t wait (or worse still, expect) to be given a free book and then loan it to everyone you know. Writers, like you, are entitled to make a living, and cannot do so if no one buys their books. As Nadine says, one day, it may be a day late and a dollar (or pound) short to have what you treasure. Life is precious indeed and all too short, we should embrace it and live it fully while we can, for one day it will be gone and we will be left wondering where it all went. Don't take it for granted that the things that you enjoy and get meaning from will always be there, they won't unless you nurture them and look after them. So, value life, value books, and most of all, value yourself.

Amazon hits the non publishing press

There is not much to report re Amazon, as one would expect at the weekend, except for an interesting discussion on my favourite writers forum, My Writers Circle, which has dragged me back into this in some ways. It is difficult not to get too involved in this, and start getting angry all over again, but I can't help but feel that Amazon have made a big mistake that will come back to haunt them in the night.

Marion Webb de Sisto feels the same way, as she sent me an email today with a link to The Times website which she entitled Karma for Amazon. Marion, like me, is a spiritual writer, so she knows about these things. The article, which is written by reporter Dalya Alberge, the Arts correspondent is entitled Amazon furious after publishers undercut its book prices online. Personally I say tough titties - they publish these books and bore the financial risk, so they are damned well entitled to charge any price that they like. If Amazon don't like it then tough !

Dalya reports as follows:

"An online price war for books has broken out, pitching Amazon against some of Britain’s biggest publishers.

Amazon is angry that Penguin, Bloomsbury and others are discounting titles on their websites, encouraging customers to buy direct instead of using the online retailer.

Penguin’s online store has reduced a boxed set of 20 Penguin Epics from £100 to £55. Amazon sells the collection at £98.64. Bloomsbury offers a 25 per cent discount on all its books, with free postage and packing on British deliveries over £20.

There are fears that Amazon may retaliate by regarding a publisher’s online price as the recommended retail price and applying its trading terms to that. If a publisher discounts a £20 book to £15 online and Amazon has a contract for a 50 per cent discount on the full price, Amazon would pay the company £7.50 instead of £10. Publishers say that this would be unfair and could ultimately drive up prices.

Amazon also faces increased competition from high-street booksellers, including Waterstones and Borders, who are stepping up their online activities. Such is the power of Amazon that several publishers did not feel able to talk on the record yesterday. One senior executive said: “It’s very serious. I can’t believe they’d be allowed to get away with it under competition law. Forcing people to increase prices seems to me entirely wrong.”

Others accused Amazon of having become particularly aggressive lately. One source claimed that the online seller recently removed the “buy buttons” from a book on its website to prevent users from being able to purchase it. “They then went to the publisher and said, ‘Give us an extra 2 or 3 per cent or we won’t put the buy buttons back’,” the source said.

An Amazon spokesman said: “It is speculation. We never talk about discussions with suppliers.” He declined to comment further.

Discounters have brought huge price advantages to book buyers, but the discount businesses do not have to bear the risks associated with investing in new authors or new titles by established authors. Until the Net Book Agreement was scrapped in 1995, it offered some protection to publishers, by ensuring that retailers sold books at the recommended price.

Roger Tagholm, of the trade paper Publishing News, believes that Amazon sees publishers as manufacturers, who should not be setting prices.

But Simon Juden, chief executive of the Publishers Association, which represents up to 140 publishers, felt that Amazon was on shaky legal ground. He said: “Terms of trade will have been set up upfront, when contracts were signed. Neither side can unilaterally change those. In my view, Amazon would be in breach of contract if they tried to do this.”

Ursula Mackenzie, chief executive officer and publisher of Little, Brown and chair of the Trade Publishers Council, said: “Our discount to Amazon is based on a notional RRP (recommended retail price), an agreed formula that we work to. For them to suddenly decide they will take a different view of what that RRP was means that the price on the publisher’s website effectively becomes the RRP. They can’t do that unilaterally. What is going to exercise people is that we can all see the growth of Amazon, which is startling and rapid, so they will increasingly have considerable power and there is no real competition to them. That’s the concern.”

There are fears that the latest development could affect authors and independent booksellers. Mark Le Fanu, of the Society of Authors, said: “Discounts demanded by the big retailers have been rising relentlessly, squeezing authors’ royalties. We hope that publishers will resist any pressure to increase discounts still further.”

One publisher was found to be broadly supportive of Amazon, although he also preferred to speak off the record. “I can’t see that it’s a major problem. Amazon sell their books at all sorts of discounts. That’s the nature of the market. They’re free to sell them at whatever price they like.”

I still find it very interesting how this is forcing the commercial presses into the equation, so that they have to look at how their own arguably equally aggressive slant on pricing and discounting comes back to haunt them. They may not be directly involved in setting such policy, and to some extent the abolition of the net book price agreement has rendered them powerless, but they have been complicit in allowing discounts to become greater each year by stealth, and many of them as well remain hostile towards self published books issued via print on demand, while at the same using the technology for their own ends. This is a double standard. Understand that this is more of an observation than a criticism, as like I said yesterday, I have to try and remain detached from this situation and not get too emotionally involved.

Nadine Laman from My Writers Circle sent me an interesting link to the Finance pages on AOL, which keeps track of Amazon's share price. Nothing much seems to be happening at the moment, but there is also a link on that page to some comments written by former hedge fund manager, television presenter and and self publisher Timothy Sykes. Timothy says that Amazon have proved through their actions that they care little for those who helped make their billions, which let's face facts- are the readers, writers and publishers.

The article states:

"Amazon bullying raises monopoly and business concerns

In the last few days, book selling giant Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) has made a few more enemies in the publishing world by forcing the little-known group of print-on-demand (POD) publishers to either submit to using its POD subsidiary, Booksurge, or risk being prohibited from selling on its industry-leading website. No matter the cost and complications of breaking off relationships with other vendors, re-formatting books and a host of other problems, Amazon laid down the law, saying convert - and do it quickly - or face the consequences.

What's more disconcerting is that an official press release was made public only after smaller publishers like Angela Hoy of Booklocker.com started writing publicly about blackmail-type phone calls from Booksurge representatives. Fearful of losing their businesses literally overnight, many POD publishers such as iUniverse and Lulu have capitulated while strong willed publisher PublishAmerica refused to give in - and was quickly made an example of when Amazon disabled the buy buttons on their book titles!

As an author selling my own critically-acclaimed POD book An American Hedge Fund on Amazon, outrage has compelled me to write about how unethical and more importantly, monopolistic this all is.

In a short-term business sense, Amazon is right to use its massive size to gain market share for Booksurge and squeeze out the smaller players, but the problem is this goes against what made it great - offering the lowest prices and widest selection, basically like an online Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE: WMT). To authors and publishers, Booksurge is known for its poor product quality and high cost structure, supremely inferior on both fronts to rival Lightning Source (LS) -- trust me, I did the research and that's why I chose LS - the POD subsidiary of Ingram Industries, the leading book wholesaler and the company on which Amazon has clearly declared war.

So, by making Booksurge the only POD option, relegating quality-loving publishers and authors to much smaller websites of Borders Group (NYSE: BGP) and Barnes & Noble Inc (NYSE: BKS), Amazon proves it no longer cares about its customers getting the widest selection at the cheapest prices - oh yes, even publishers that give into Amazon's demands will be forced to raise their prices - it cares more about its own profits.

Until this latest development, I believed Amazon was the future of book selling. It was making money, as were the publishers and customers who received the cost/quality benefits, but when a company happily alienates its suppliers whose hardships will inevitably be felt by the company's customers, I cry foul. Authors, readers, consumers and businesspeople unite! Sign THIS petition and let Amazon know what it is doing is wrong. That it is only a retail giant because we, the consumers, say so. We, not it, have the power here. While POD publishing is just a tiny niche, it's a slippery slope; if you let Amazon get away with this, it might be your business and industry it comes after next."

Amen to that.

The show was a huge success

I have hardly had time to post at all these past few weeks as I have been busy at the college invigilating various GCSE and A'Level exams - thankfully they are over next week, at least until January next year. I don't intend to go back to that school next year, as it too far to keep driving now that we have moved away from south London and out to the country. It is that more than anything that has made me so tired these past few weeks.

Last time I posted on there I was enthusing about the great reviews that I have been receiving, and looking forward to my debut appearance on US radio with Phil Harris. Well, I am proud to say that the show was a huge success, and I did really well. I have listened to the recording and have to say that I think (and others have agreed with this so it is not just ego talking) that I sound really professional and knowledgeable. My American friend Nadine Laman, who is this week celebrating her promotion to poderator on My Writers Circle said that she would not be surprised to find that by the time this journey is over, I am being asked to be a guest lecturer at Universities. I don't know about that, although stranger things have happened. I have to say that having seen some of the questions in this years religion and philosophy papers (which is compulsary at the school I go to, since it is a Faith [Catholic] school), I could have easily answered most of them, and would have loved to have read the answers that the boys gave! We are not allowed to do that, although I did sometimes sneak a peek whilst walking around the room ...

I am off to Lundy as soon as the exams are over for two whole weeks of hopefully sunshine and bliss. The weather has not been too good so far this summer, but I usually take it with me, so I hope this year will not be an exception. I will pack sun cream and waterproofs just in case, along with plenty of good books. I am reading Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion at the moment, and I have to say that I have been pleasantly surprised at some of his arguments which make an awful lot of sense ...

June is bursting out all over

May is gearing up to be a very busy month for me with the imminent publication of the brand new updated edition of Genesis of Man, which is finally complete, bar one review, and will be going to print next week, after the Bank Holiday.

The book seems to be attracting a lot of attention at the moment, from various magazines. The Self Publishing magazine, issued by Troubador Press described it in their latest edition as "a very informative and well researched book that would be ideal as a companion to academic studies in subjects such as theology, philosophy and the social sciences." They then went on to compare it as the antithesis to no less than Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion, which according to The Bookseller magazine recently passed 200,000 in sales.

Nexus magazine also plan to issue a review in their June/July edition, which hits the shops at the end of May. This ia real scoop, since this magazine has a worldwide circulation in excess of 200,000, being translated into no less than 11 different languages. It is read by everybody who is anybody within the alternative history and conspiracy theory world. I have asked them to Email me a copy of the review so I can hopefully put a few snippets in the new edition, and that at the moment is the only thing that is holding things up.

It looks as if Paradigm Shift magazine may also be printing a review in either their next edition, or the later August edition. My good friend and writing buddy Leslie, whom I met via My Writers Circle, very kindly agreed to write the review, following her excellent reviews on both Amazon sites. She has more than earned a mention on the acknowledgements page, as has my other other American writing friend Nadine Laman. Nadine was the one who first introduced me to My Writers Circle and has been instrumental in introducing me to several other influential people who love the book, such as Jerry Simmons and Ben Ruddy, who together run the Nothing Binding project, aimed at helping to promote independent authors. You can hear me talk about the book in a recent interview with Ben here.

I have several other exciting events planned for the coming months, all of which can be seen on the events page of my own site. The first of these is a meeting on 25th in Kent with several other self published authors to discuss joint marketing plans. Following that I shall be holding the Wednesday gathering at our local church on 30th, and on 31st I have booked a stall for the annual summer craft fair at a nearby vineyard. Then on June 11th I shall be special guest on the Phil Harris radio show, All That Matters, on Internet Voices Radio, New York. This is one of the top 10 rated shows for the eastern seaboard. Phil has very kindly agreed to give the book some advance publicity by reading some of its reviews on air in the weeks leading up to the show. More details on how to listen in will follow just as soon as I have them.

I also take over the village newsletter this month, with the June edition my first one. I am busy preparing for that, following up various local news stories and articles. I have an interesting idea for an article of my own if the local paper are interested, re famous author Jane Austen, and her connections to the local area. So many people call me Jane, that I might as well turn the similarity in our names to my advantage. After all, one has to use all the tools at ones disposal to get publicity, and you know what they say, there is no such thing as bad publicity. I often wonder whether if I had been a long lost relative, those mainstream publishers would have been quite so fast to reject my work. Possibly not ...

You can see from the above that at the moment, June is quite literally bursting out all over!

Nothing Binding

My writing buddy, Nadine Laman emailed me some time ago regarding a programme that is being set up in the States for international independently published authors, by this I mean all those who are in some way self published, either short print run, or as I did, print on demand. The project is headed by Jerry Simmons and sounds very exciting. It could potentially do great things for me, by bringing my work to a much greater audience.

Jerry is setting up a website (Nothing Binding), which will go live on April 2nd, which will feature as a showcase for the 200 authors who have initially signed up (I should add that it is all free). We will have the chance to add links to our own sites, and various places where our books are available, add events, author bio and lots, lots more. Today I also recorded a short interview with Jerry's business partner, Ben Ruddy, which will be put on YouTube. I am free to link to this from any other website, including Jerry's and my own.

Only 200 authors have signed up for the initial stage, from all continents of the world, although mostly within the United States, since the project is based on that side of the 'pond'. Ben said that I was the first author from abroad to be recorded, so it doesn't sound like there are too many of us outside the US. Anything that helps to promote my work in the States has to be good. It is after all a much bigger market than the UK.

Life, the universe and everything in between .....

Have been feeling a bit strange and out of sorts again these past few days - all the doubts and that nagging voice of the ego has been creeping in again, comparing myself to other more 'successful' self published authors, which is always a futile exercise. I mean, why would I want to be like anyone else, when I can wonderful old me. In church tonight, Margaret, who did the service, was saying that this has been a horrible old year for most of us, since all those things that we thought we had dealt with have been coming up to bite us on the bum - she wasn't joking. It has certianly been the most difficult and challenging year that I remember - one of intense joy, but also the most intense pain.

I managed to sell another copy though on Friday, which is good, and now makes a total of 39 of them. This one went to a lady called Jane, who was visiting the Journey group for the first time. She is an author herself as it happens, on interior design and soft furnishings, and also works for a conference organiser, so has lots of nedia contacts. Might then be a useful person to know. I do get the strong impression, with being introduced to both her and Paul in the space of a week, that something interesting is in store. I have had my first taste of dealing with local media as well this week, with the local papers. I spoke to the lady at the Epsom Post at the beginning of the week, and it looks like they will definately be running a piece. Will have to cut it out and keep it for my portfolio then and also to pin up on the noticeboard that the Sanctuary have set aside for my stall for next weekend.

Yesterday I also had an email from Nadine, a very good friend of mine from Arizona, whom I got to know via one of the writers sites I post on - My Writers Circle, to say that that she had mentioned my book to the Grumpy old man - he is one of those blog book reviewers, based in the UK, who review the best self published books. His site is frequently visited by agents and editors, so you never know. If he shows an interest, then I would certainly be willing to send him a copy and maybe even organise an interview to go on his site. Must remember to add a link to Nadine's site next time I do some updates.

I also had the idea to try and order a copy from both Borders and Waterstones in Kingston to see what happened. I had been told by Paul that many of Richard's authors seem to have problems with prospective buyers trying to get their books from shops, as shops only order books that show as being in stock on their ordering system. With POD of course, the books are printed to order, so are not kept in stock, as it is the act of ordering a copy that causes them to be printed in the first place. I have notified everyone on my mailing list then just to make sure, and also added a note to the ordering page on both websites. While I was in Borders, I happened to notice a flyer for their new mind, body and spirit group, which one of their managers, Charlotte told me some time ago. She was supposed to get back to me with a view to doing a talk, but I never did hear from her. The sales assistant though called her over to the information desk and we had a chat. It sounds like she is definately interested in me doing a talk for the group, possibly in december. This is great, since the store will be packed at this time of year. She asked me to email her colleague, the organiser, Linda with details of the book and the suggested theme for the evening. If they do book me, then they will order 20 copies of the book to try and sell on the night. I didn't tell them that their Head Office had turned it down !

Coran suggested the slogan Genesis of Man, life, the universe, and everything in between, which actually I really like. It is a play on Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, but I think it works really well, as my book is about life, the universe and pretty much everything in between. The everything in between also pertains to the need to balance the light and the dark, becoming, grey, like the space in between, and at the same time, using our own grey matter, by thinking for ourselves. I have then ordered some more postcards with this new slogan on them as VistaPrint have some good offers at the moment. With luck they will arrive in time for the weekend. The last lot was here within about 3 days, even with the slow delivery.

That's it for today then, will post some more as and when I have something to report.