15/8/2013 The London Book FairI have never been to The London Book Fair, even when I worked full-time in educational publishing.
I have decided that I will be going next year (I'm saving the entrance fee!) as a visitor, author and (very) small publisher, with my ears and eyes open. It's high time I took that publishing business seriously! I am hoping that 2014 will bring some interesting and exciting developments for Arcane Publishing (not least the publication of our second book!)... 25/7/2013 Selling the booksI have decided not to approach any more independent bookshops for I Am a Muse. It is far too time consuming, and I am not sure there's a lot in it for Arcane Publishing.
So instead, I will carry on selling the books myself - alongside my second-hand books. The trick is to find events/markets in London that would take on book stalls! I wanted to try the Goldsmith Row book market this spring, but it looks like it's not happening this year. I'll be looking into Spitalfields and Brick Lane in the first instance. *Update 26/07/2013: it looks like I Am a Muse might make an appearance at the Old Spitalfields Market in December. No date yet, but I will post it when I've booked in November. This will be a good trial for me, and if it proves to be a positive experience, then Arcane Publishing might trade regularly in the East End! :-) 10/7/2013 A little bit of promo...This Saturday is Village Green, the arts and music festival organised by Metal Southend.
The culture magazine Level 4 has produced a pocket edition of the mag, and in there, you should find a review of I Am a Muse, as well as an ad for Arcane Publishing and one for Matt ArtPix! :-) I am really pleased to have my little book in there. I will post a scan of the article in the review section next week. 1/7/2013 Decisions, decisions...I have just printed off the Arts Council England application form guidelines...
I now have to decide whether or not to apply for funding for The Right Place... It would be for the £15,000 or under grant; I need to spend some time in Dorset to research and write the book, and I currently cannot afford to stay there more than two weeks... It would potentially pay for the cover artwork: I would like local artist Sam Cannon to provide the illustration, as I think it would capture the feel of the area perfectly. It would also pay for the right to print the full lyrics of the PJ Harvey song The Wind at the beginning of the book - if permission is granted, of course! So in the next few days, I will be reading the guidelines very carefully and decide if I feel confident enough to apply for funding... It is a lot of work and therefore I would need to be 100% confident that I can do it as best as I can and give myself a chance... [Image at top of the blog is from HERE] A French friend has an online bookshop and has kindly accepted to trial I Am a Muse there. Therefore, I am a Muse is available to purchase on Amazon via his shop and on Ebay. Amazon lists the book as being in French language - a bug in the system - but it is in English!
We've had to increase the price as it is sold across the world with free postage - so we had to take postage to the US etc. into account! Also, this bookshop is a proper business and the complex software used to put it all together is quite expensive... We thought it would be good exposure though, and you never know... 31/5/2013 promo again!For my inspiration, I could have added Poppy Z Brite, Oscar Wilde, Daphne Du Maurier, Bram Stoker, Tracy Chevalier, Saki, Sarah Waters, Will Self (the journalism, not the books, I can't understand them), Cathi Unsworth, Shakespeare (and so many others...) And these are only the literary inspiration! Don't get me started on the music... A good couple of days for I Am a Muse!
My interview with the lovely Hannah Marsh from The Echo is in the weekend pull-out today! They've managed to put my picture in three different places in the paper... Guess I'd better get over my phobia of looking at pictures of myself... Not everything we talked about ended up in there, that is the nature of journalist - how I remember struggling with word counts for my reviews and features! - but I love the angle of the article. Everything in there is just what it's all about! :-) I will make some proper scans for the press and review section over the weekend. 30/5/2013 reader's review in!Thank you Stella for the wonderful review.
"I was the first sale Miss Gish made at the Secret Vintage Fair in Colchester back at Easter… ‘I am a Muse’ appealed to my sense of drama and called out to my curiosity. My intention was to read and write a review pretty quickly. But, nothing could have prepared me for the emotional journey I was about to undertake! Miss Gish has managed to find the pure essence of Alda Thunberg’s grief and distress and it was painful to read at times - this is no criticism but the highest form of praise! The journey’s of self exploration that both women undertake is beautifully related and wholly believable. Miss Gish’s portrayal of the intensity of the relationship between artist and muse is wonderfully portrayed and I started to care about these characters and what happens to them; on several occasions finding myself either laughing or crying. No 'Chic Lit' this book, but a clever and thought provoking exploration of the nature of dependency and the unseen cost of intense creativity." Stella Bawden 30/5/2013 press!One of my local newspapers has a small article about I Am a Muse - and a photo, eeek. You can read the article HERE (PAGE 5). It makes me sound so awfully cool. What it doesn't say is that the music journalism wasn't paid - well, in free CDs and gigs! ;-)
The article is positioned next to some adverts about back and pain relief and double glazing... Is that conveying some hidden meaning? I have reached a decision and decided to make the first 15 pages or so of my first novel I Am a Muse available for free on this very website.
Go to the I AM A MUSE PAGE and you will be able to download the PDF! 29/5/2013 Free extract(s)?I am thinking about putting some extracts of I Am a Muse on this website, but cannot decide between the following:
one free chapter, probably the first one, maybe as a PDF - but I am slightly worried that this first scene doesn't relect the overall mood of the book. OR over a month, post one shortish extract every week. Not too sure which way to go! I'll think about it... |
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March 2024
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