P.J. Whittlesea's Blog, page 5
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September 29, 2016
The Hell Ride To Get Books On The Shelves
P. J. Whittlesea - Author, Songwriter and Musician
I got there!
Probably one of the hardest parts of distributing my book has been achieved.
It was a hell of a ride, but well worth it.
Last week I felt like I crossed yet another finishing line.
There seem to be so many of them on the publishing journey.
This time Loreless began gracing the shelves of brick and mortar bookshops.
A Publishing Process
At the very beginning in the publishing process I had started with getting the ebook out into the world.
That was a relatively painless exercise and returned almost instant gratification. The results for your efforts are quickly apparent, but then I guess that goes for anything digital.
For the reader an ebook is easy to access and for a publisher, it’s easy to produce. Once, that is, you and the reader are able to get your head around the technology.
Producing a paperback is a completely different beast, but for my book, a necessary evil.
I knew most of my readers wanted a physical book. I think the book lends itself more to that format anyway.
It follows the journey of a man coming to terms with himself and his roots. A journey is a tangible thing. Holding a physical book in your hands in a similar thing, it adds weight to a story.
Also, it’s a lot easier to flip to the last page you were reading.
Paperback
In order to get Loreless beyond the digital world, incidentally the paperback is also available online, I had to hit the streets.
This was a big step for me. I had to go out and actually talk to people. I had to sell my book in person.
As an author I prefer permanent hibernation. It’s much safer and less daunting if I can stay in my cave.
Okay, I guess I’m a coward at heart.
Once I was out there, it proved fairly painless and actually quite an uplifting experience.
People who work in bookshops are very enthusiastic and supportive. Talking to them about my book also left me with a kind of warm, fuzzy feeling.
In most cases I only had to admit I was an author and the stores would ask me if I wanted them to stock my book. Curiously, I didn’t have to sell the book, I had to sell myself.
Then the book sold itself.
The Physical Bookstore
The physical bookstore is something which is a world apart from the lonely and isolated clinical, digital world.
Online you are looking at numbers, trying to stay in the rankings and move up the charts. Your book is one of millions among all the other ones and zeros.
I’m an author and numbers don’t hold my interest the same as words do. Although, I do seem to have developed an addiction to line graphs.
Two days ago I was staring a table full of new releases and Loreless was there.
Nudging shoulders with J. K. Rowling, a book possibly about nothing considering its title – The Nix – and The Underground Railroad it didn’t look at all out of place.
I’m glad I took a photo as now I can stop and consider what I’ve done. At the time I was rushing in and out of one store after another.
I have taken a big step out into the real world.
The next day I returned to my cave and started working on my next book.
Loreless is now available at the following Amsterdam bookshops:
And sometime soon it will be gracing the shelves at bookshop near you.
l
Have you been inspired by other cultures?
Leave a comment below or join the mailing list and let me know.
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A Croatian, An Australian, And A Dutchman Walk Into A Studio
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September 22, 2016
A Croatian, An Australian, And A Dutchman Walk Into A Studio
P. J. Whittlesea - Author, Songwriter and Musician
Locked together for a weekend in Sing Sing Studio, they discussed the state of world affairs, exchanged life experiences and shared personal insights.
They listened intently to a songwriter screaming his lungs out and tried to formulate a cunning plan.
After three days they emerged with ten songs which could change people’s perception of the universe.
If we use the analogy of three men going into a bar, there probably should be a punch-line.
Unfortunately there isn’t, I’m not a comedian.
Every day with music is a new experience.
After more than 30 years of making music every day is still a new experience.
I have found I never stop learning.
It’s also a very serious endeavour and not a joking matter, although there is a lot of fun involved.
Making music is never a joyless experience.
Sing Sing Studio
Sing Sing Studio is located in a small village in the far north of the Netherlands.
It is owned and run by Milan Ciric, a Croatian who was forced to leave his country and resettle in Holland after civil war permanently transformed the Balkans.
I remember all too well when the conflict began. At the time I lived in Germany and was holidaying on the Adriatic. Along with hundreds of other sunbathers we sat on our beach-towels along the coast east of Venice and watched the fires burn across the bay.
It was quite surreal.
Somewhere over there, amid the chaos, Milan was facing a huge decision.
He had set up his own studio, been successful as a musician and even sat on the jury of the European Song Contest.
His hard-won fame and fortune was to come crashing down around him.
He did the only thing he could do and that was to try to survive. He got out. Leaving everything he had behind, he relocated with his Dutch wife to Friesland.
He then set about starting over.
A series of new beginnings.
It pretty well sums up how things generally go in the music industry.
You’re on top of the world one minute and destitute the next.
It’s a very unforgiving landscape. Fame of any kind is hard to maintain. If you stop feeding it, it withers and dies.
I have found, therefore, that the only way to continue as a creator of music is to ignore fame. I write and record my songs because I have no other choice, it’s a form of personal expression and I feel driven to do it.
Put simply, I do it because brings me great joy.
In Milan I found a compadre.
Formulae and trade.
Milan has been at it for about the same amount of time as I have and has seen more ups and downs than most.
Yet he remains true to his vision. He won’t make compromises, he believes in making real music. He believes in creating something which is honest and original.
It is a pity we both live in a country which is hell-bent on turning music into a product. Other countries are certainly more supportive of creativity itself and free expression. They don’t push the idea that everything needs be based around a formula. Here it’s all about economics. But then, the Netherlands has always been a country grounded in trade.
The music industry in general has become expert in creating music which copies everything the best musicians in the world produce and then regurgitating it.
What you end up with is usually something which has all the pieces but none of the heart and soul.
In Milan I found someone with more heart and soul than most.
It has and always will be an honour to work with him.
Recently, Whittlesea completed recording its next album. Some day soon we will let the rest of the world hear it.
Keep your ears open.
l
What are your views on the music business?
Leave a comment below or join the mailing list and let me know.
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Is Writers Block A Figment Of Your Imagination?
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September 15, 2016
Is Writers Block A Figment Of Your Imagination?
P. J. Whittlesea - Author, Songwriter and Musician
What is writers block?
What is any form of creative block?
Is it real or is it invented?
I don’t know whether what I’m experiencing is a block. I only realised it when I wrote the title to this post.
I gave it that name, but is it really what I think it is?
Enough of this!
If you’ll excuse me, I am going to give myself – and perhaps you, the reader and fellow creative person – a pep talk.
I don’t believe in writers block.
I’m disproving it right now.
I’m writing now so there is no hard evidence of a block. Not in general terms, anyway.
I am only blocked with the thing I really want to write at this very moment. Perhaps what I desire is too great.
Maybe I’m just trying too hard.
Pantser.
I have sketched out most of the next book I’m working on, but I’m kind of stuck.
In the beginning it was fun.
I was just wildly typing away without a care in the world. Now I feel like I’ve typed myself into a corner. I don’t know what comes next. Or perhaps I’m worried that what I think should come next, will not be right.
It’s a hole I have to climb out of.
The term for this manner of writing is called being a “pantser”. Or in other words, writing by the seat of your pants.
It’s a risky strategy.
The risk is if you go in without a plan, and get stranded, then you will have nowhere to turn.
I have invented everything which has happened in the story up to now.
I wasn’t concerned about what I was saying then, so why should I now? Things keep changing in the story anyway. That’s actually the joy of writing – making new discoveries as you go.
In the beginning I had heaps of ideas. I was creating a world, a fabulous fantasy-world drawn from my imagination.
Now I am going against the rules of that world. Rules which I created.
Maybe that’s the problem, I have hemmed myself in. The world is my creation, so I can break it. I can change my invented world. It doesn’t have to be static.
Standing still is not good anyway.
There has to be some form of momentum. The story has to keep moving forward.
Use your imagination.
It’s pure fear. That is the blocking mechanism. Resistance rearing it’s ugly head once again.
You, the creator, are in control. Never forget that.
I am just reminding myself. I am also reminding you – the reader and fellow creative.
Are you reading this? Good.
Go on. Forge ahead.
Don’t stop until you’re finished. Keep at it.
Break it if you must. You can always repair it later.
There is no one judging you except yourself. Tell the judge to shut up. There is no contempt of court in the writers world.
Let your fictitious world swallow you up and just go with it.
Write the goddam next scene!!
Just like your invention on the page, writers block is also a figment of your imagination.
l
Are you overcoming your creative obstacles?
Leave a comment below or join the mailing list and let me know.
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The Self-Help Guide to Self-Help Gurus
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