They say it takes a village to
raise a child. It takes almost as many to write and sell a book. A friend of
mine who made it big with Harper Collins brought it home to me how much a major
publisher does when nurturing a potential golden egg. Editing, polishing, cover
design, marketing and distribution, arranging appearances on television, or
major conventions, web-design; she even had her own minder/gate-keeper who
filtered her mail.
The advantage for her, other than
the experience, is that she sells many books. Hype in over-drive works. The
drawback was that, like many early rockstars, she earned only a very small
percentage of each book sold. A small percentage of a very large cake is not to
be sniffed at. Neither is a huge percentage of a very small cake.
My first book ‘Dark Fire’ was
traditionally published and it made me a modest amount, though not as much as
my second book Clay Cross, which was indie published, and brings us back to
that old proverb about villages and children.
Clay Cross and the new book
Cheyney, Behave are very much the product of a village, in this case a number
of highly talented and generous friends. The whole process put me in mind of the
old west, when ‘barn raising’ was a vital communal activity, and ended with
everyone getting drunk on moonshine and fiddle music. I wish I could pay Maria Zannini, Vero Sicoe, Adrian Sensicle, Sam Waters, and Henry Lutman in similar manner. To see
them dance on moonshine and fiddle music would be a marvel to behold.
And here is the reward for reading
this far. They are all western barn dances, One is a classic, but stiff with everyone impossibly groomed. The
other two though are . . . different. Which is your favourite?
1 comment:
Thank you for the kind words.
Much as I love 7 Brides for 7 Brothers, I still laugh at A Million Ways to Die in the West. That's my kind of barn dance--inappropriate and silly.
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