The other morning, a complimentary copy of Herts Past and Present dropped on the doormat, and inside I was delighted to find a review of my book by one of the editors, Ruth Jeavons from the Hertfordshire Association for Local History.
Kind words, indeed!
The book is available from me (signed copy with free UK p&p), Amazon, eBay, Lulu and is for sale in Stevenage Museum. Check out the details here!
Filed under Uncategorized
I wrote in the previous blog about my fascination over the years regarding a medieval moated site in an area of ancient woodland where we regularly walk our Labradors.
It was no exaggeration when I said that very little information is available about the site, any buildings which may have existed there, and the people who lived in the moated area. But by knitting together snippets from around fifty sources, I have ended up with a 32 page A5 booklet!
The question is: What do I do with it now?
Because the topic is very local to Stevenage, it is unlikely that many people outside the area would be interested. On the other hand, medieval moated sites seem to hold a mysterious attraction for historians and archaeologists so there could be more widespread curiosity. For instance, Hertfordshire Association for Local History have said they would be interested to see a short article on the subject for publication in their journal.
It is tempting to take the plunge and have a go at getting it published. Although I have had articles in print in magazines and journals, the idea of publishing a booklet which is all mine is quite exciting. It could also act as a learning exercise should my two NaNoWriMo novels ever get re-drafted and polished up !
First, though, there are problems to overcome and decisions to be made:
It’s a 32 page booklet, so no-one is going to pay a lot of money to buy it. Colour printing is expensive and would probably price it completely out of the market. Trouble is, when I print the booklet on my laser in black and white, the lovely photographs I have included come out as smudgy rectangles. I’m going to try converting them all to greyscale images, but if they still don’t print then I shall have to consider leaving out the illustrations. That would make the booklet less attractive for a general audience, though, so I really want to keep the pictures in.
Should I use a Print on Demand house like Lulu or Create Space? I checked out a paperback on Amazon which had been made available through Lulu and it quoted 1-4 weeks for delivery. Four weeks sounds a real put-off to me. Create Space seems to print and ship from the US so I imagine that postage costs would figure highly with that option. The upside of using places like these is that they also provide marketing (to some extent) and distribution. The author doesn’t have to do anything. Consequently, the author doesn’t seem to be left with much either after everyone has taken their cut. Not that I’m looking to make money; it would be nice to get some of my investment in time and resources back though!
Maybe I should get a heap of copies printed from one of those self-publishing houses like York Publishing? How big a heap? Twenty? Fifty? One hundred? They would have to be stored somewhere warm and dry. And marketed. And I’d have to keep careful accounts, package the booklets and post off copies, chase up late payers. I don’t mind doing any of those things, though, so it is an option.
Perhaps I should simply print the booklets on my own laser. Be my own POD house, in other words. The results are quite good actually, and because it can print colour photographs that particular problem of image quality goes away. This could work for a smallish quantity, maybe twenty or so. I think even the cost of the laser cartridges could be accommodated in the price when I get around to thinking about that. But could I still sell them on Amazon, and arrange for e-Book sales, without someone like Lulu being involved?
Should I submit an abridged version of the booklet to Hertfordshire Association for Local History as requested? It might dilute the sales potential, but on the other hand it would be free advertising as well! If there were juicy bits, I could leave them out so people had to buy a paid for copy to get them. Alas, medieval moated homesteads don’t offer any juicy bits!
If anyone has some advice to offer about any of this, it would be most welcome.
In the meantime, a writer friend has kindly offered to read the booklet through, and I have also asked the curator at the local museum if she might do the same (no decision on that yet, though!). With the exception of any revisions being needed as a result, and sorting out the image quality, I could be ready to move forward in a week or two.
If only I knew in which direction I was going to move !
Filed under Creative Writing
It feels a tad fraudulent to hang this post on the NaNoWriMo title, because last Friday I had only 4000 words to go and over a week to finish. As it turned out, the miserable weather on Sunday meant I had some extra writing time and managed to complete the competition last weekend.
Reverend Stocks hoisted himself up and vaulted over the top, landing with a thud the other side. The vicar had expected the back yard to be in darkness, but it was quite brightly lit from the small kitchen window at the back of the shop. He pulled back the bolts top and bottom, and Rufus squeezed past the dustbin and through the gate, looking into the kitchen. Although there were net curtains at the window, it was quite easy to see inside and he could make out the sink directly below him, the door to the shop and the other one leading up the stairs to the flat.
‘There’s nobody here,’ said Rufus as the vicar joined him.
‘What’s that?’
‘What?’ said Rufus.
‘Down there, on the floor, by the door.’
Rufus had to stand on tiptoe to see the floor.
‘It looks like a slipper, or a shoe or something,’ he said.
The vicar tried the handle on the back door, but it wouldn’t budge.
‘I’m getting a bad feeling here,’ he said. ‘Do you think we should break down the door?’
‘Or just call the police?’ replied Rufus. He didn’t want to get into any sort of trouble, not with them already half accusing him of theft.
The vicar had already decided though, and took a run at the door. The wood splintered easily around the lock, and the door flew open with the vicar stumbling over the threshold as it suddenly gave way.
‘Oh my God,’ he said. ‘There’s someone here!’
Rufus ran inside behind him. Myra was laying on the floor behind the shop counter, one foot showing through the door to the kitchen.
‘Myra! Myra! ‘cried Rufus, kneeling beside her and slapping her cheeks with the palms of his hands. ‘Paul, vicar, call an ambulance.’
The vicar picked the receiver up from the telephone on the counter and dialled 999.
‘Myra!’ Rufus kept saying, but she didn’t open her eyes. He felt her neck for a pulse, but there was nothing there so he put his ear to her half-open mouth. Nothing.
The vicar was watching what Rufus was doing as he told the emergency services where to come, and as soon as he finished he crouched down the other side of Myra.
‘She’s gone,’ said Rufus.
The vicar put his ear to Myra’s chest. He got up, slowly.
‘Poor Myra,’ he said. ‘Poor, poor Myra.’
‘What do you think it was?’ asked Rufus.
‘Maybe she died of a broken heart after losing Tom last week?’ said the vicar.
Rufus thought about the insurance policies he had seen in the flat. Myra didn’t seem particularly grief stricken when he was talking to her up there.
‘Perhaps she tripped over something and hit her head?’ said Rufus.
‘Could be,’ replied the vicar. ‘I guess the ambulance people will get the police involved.’
Rufus looked around the shop, but there was nothing unusual as far as he could see. Just the galvanised buckets with flowers in them, most of which had seen better days. Shelves with plant accessories, vases, ribbons and name tags, things that people buy when they buy flowers. A mug on the counter.
‘Looks as though she was having a mug of tea,’ said the vicar.
Rufus picked up the mug. He stared at its contents for a while, then took a small sip, instantly spitting it back into the mug.
‘She was having a drink,’ said Rufus wiping his lips with the back of his hand. ‘But it wasn’t tea.’
Completing NaNo was exciting and brought much satisfaction, but not as much as receiving the result of my final OU module, U316 The Environmental Web, a week early. This was my third Level 3 module – you only need two for the BA(Hons), but I swung another one under the old funding structure – and it turned up trumps with a Distinction, giving me sufficient points to claim a First Class degree classification. So, that is the end of the Open University journey for me, unless (and this is highly unlikely) I go for a post graduate qualification. Watch this space!
There’s a new project on the table already. Stevenage has more than its fair share of ancient woodland, and in one of the woods where we walk the dogs there is a moat which apparently dates from around the 13th century. It is reported that inside this moat stood a homestead which, of course, is now long gone and the area looks much the same as the rest of the wood. I have been fascinated by the thought of this for many years. What would the homestead have looked like? What was life like for the family? How did they make a living? There appears to be very little information available, but I plan to track down what little there is and paint a mental image of life there 800 years or so ago. Wish me luck!
Filed under Creative Writing, NaNoWriMo, Open University
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