David Roy's Blog, page 9
December 26, 2021
Boxing Day Blog
I didn't blog yesterday because there was something going on, some sort of event. Anyway I hope you all had a good time and are looking forward to the new year etc.
Now, it's time for a shameless plug. You can stock your new Kindle with books from Hobart - other publishers are available - and get your little device off to a winning start. Of course if you like paperbacks, we sell those too. Waterstones' click and collect looks like a good option and of course Amazon.
Now, it's time for a shameless plug. You can stock your new Kindle with books from Hobart - other publishers are available - and get your little device off to a winning start. Of course if you like paperbacks, we sell those too. Waterstones' click and collect looks like a good option and of course Amazon.
December 24, 2021
Ho, Ho. Hobart
I'm not going to blog tomorrow, so this is your festive edition.
Hobart Books is just over a year old. We have published nine books and have many more to publish in the New Year, starting with I Want You To Be Free, a superb Holocaust memoir. As I have mentioned previously this book didn't really fit with our intended publishing programme but it was far too good to pass up. We intend that it should be ready before Holocaust Memorial Day in January.
So, that's it for the period up to Christmas. If you know anyone who receives a Kindle for the big day, you could remind them that our books are available in electronic form too.
Happy Christmas!
Hobart Books is just over a year old. We have published nine books and have many more to publish in the New Year, starting with I Want You To Be Free, a superb Holocaust memoir. As I have mentioned previously this book didn't really fit with our intended publishing programme but it was far too good to pass up. We intend that it should be ready before Holocaust Memorial Day in January.
So, that's it for the period up to Christmas. If you know anyone who receives a Kindle for the big day, you could remind them that our books are available in electronic form too.
Happy Christmas!
December 22, 2021
Today's blog
Welcome to today's blog, entitled 'Today's Blog'. I have begun writing without any idea what I will be writing about.
Here at Hobart Towers we have plenty of new books lined up for 2022 in various stages of production. 2021 saw the release of nine titles and it has been great to give opportunities to talented writers who might otherwise have missed out.
Many good books never see the light of day. Equally, some poor ones manage to get published. Sadly, as I mentioned yesterday, it all comes down to whether or not a book is likely to sell.
Here at Hobart Towers we have plenty of new books lined up for 2022 in various stages of production. 2021 saw the release of nine titles and it has been great to give opportunities to talented writers who might otherwise have missed out.
Many good books never see the light of day. Equally, some poor ones manage to get published. Sadly, as I mentioned yesterday, it all comes down to whether or not a book is likely to sell.
December 21, 2021
The Return
I can only imagine what it has been like having to go without my blog for the past three days but I am back with nothing to say. There ought to be a helpline number to ring if you have been affected.
But there isn't.
Christmas is the time of year when art completely gives way to commercialism. You can pretend that you're developing your skills and enriching the world for the other eleven months of the year but come December it's all about selling. Hobart Books has invested a tidy sum in promotion so let's see if it pays off.
If you haven't already bought the special person in your life a book, there is still time by the way.
But there isn't.
Christmas is the time of year when art completely gives way to commercialism. You can pretend that you're developing your skills and enriching the world for the other eleven months of the year but come December it's all about selling. Hobart Books has invested a tidy sum in promotion so let's see if it pays off.
If you haven't already bought the special person in your life a book, there is still time by the way.
December 17, 2021
Twitter, for me is, all about building a rapport with readers or potential readers. With that in mind I vowed to have a following of five billion by Christmas, although with just over a week to go and only 786 followers I may not make it.
Nil desperandum as they say in ancient Rome.
I will not be blogging for the next few days so you will have to watch Netflix or read a book to fill this particular void in your life.
Nil desperandum as they say in ancient Rome.
I will not be blogging for the next few days so you will have to watch Netflix or read a book to fill this particular void in your life.
December 16, 2021
Hurdles
There are many hurdles to overcome if you want to be a writer.
If you have a story to tell and the ability to write well, then that is a good starting point. If you have the time, energy and dedication to actually put pen to paper - or finger to keyboard - then you might just make it to the foothills of publishing.
And that is as far as you've come at this point.
With your new manuscript hot off the printer, if you can get the damn thing to work, you can now join a melee consisting of hundreds of thousands of other writers, all after the same prize. The prize is to see your book on the shelves at your local bookshop and obviously for your bank account to fill up with money...
And this is where it gets discouraging. Almost gone are the days where you can send your manuscript to a publisher and cross your fingers. You could do that twenty-six years ago when I started out but now you need an agent.
Agents received hundreds of submissions and take on very few writers. Often they are working hard for their existing clients and not keen to take on new ones. It isn't necessarily the quality of your writing which is holding you up now, but a matter of luck, being in the right place at the right time and other factors about which you know nothing.
Well done if you get an agent. I never managed it. They perform a valuable role as a quality control mechanism for the publishing industry, so if they take you on, then you know you can write. The next step is for them to lure a publisher for you and there is no guarantee that they will be able to do so. The top agents presumably have a better chance of doing this because they have had the luxury of being more discerning about who they take on.
Your agent finds you a publisher... truly a great day. They publish your book and you receive a copy of your work through the post. You have your book in your hand and have your photo taken to post on Twitter (at least, that's what I did) and life is good.
Now all you have to do is hope that people buy it.
And that is where the real work begins...
If you have a story to tell and the ability to write well, then that is a good starting point. If you have the time, energy and dedication to actually put pen to paper - or finger to keyboard - then you might just make it to the foothills of publishing.
And that is as far as you've come at this point.
With your new manuscript hot off the printer, if you can get the damn thing to work, you can now join a melee consisting of hundreds of thousands of other writers, all after the same prize. The prize is to see your book on the shelves at your local bookshop and obviously for your bank account to fill up with money...
And this is where it gets discouraging. Almost gone are the days where you can send your manuscript to a publisher and cross your fingers. You could do that twenty-six years ago when I started out but now you need an agent.
Agents received hundreds of submissions and take on very few writers. Often they are working hard for their existing clients and not keen to take on new ones. It isn't necessarily the quality of your writing which is holding you up now, but a matter of luck, being in the right place at the right time and other factors about which you know nothing.
Well done if you get an agent. I never managed it. They perform a valuable role as a quality control mechanism for the publishing industry, so if they take you on, then you know you can write. The next step is for them to lure a publisher for you and there is no guarantee that they will be able to do so. The top agents presumably have a better chance of doing this because they have had the luxury of being more discerning about who they take on.
Your agent finds you a publisher... truly a great day. They publish your book and you receive a copy of your work through the post. You have your book in your hand and have your photo taken to post on Twitter (at least, that's what I did) and life is good.
Now all you have to do is hope that people buy it.
And that is where the real work begins...
December 14, 2021
Blog
Today's blog is a link to a great article about what it means to be a writer.
https://scottberkun.com/2015/28-bette...
https://scottberkun.com/2015/28-bette...
Ted Dexter
Ted is my most prolific character, the basis of twelve books to date. The Lost Man, published this year, is the first of these and it sets Ted up as the reluctant agent he is to become.
Separated from his unit, he makes his own way to the coast in 1940 only to find that the Dunkirk beach is being picked over by German soldiers. Luckily for Ted, he has joined forces with two other stragglers and is able to make a daring escape, which brings him to the attention of the PM.
Churchill decides that Ted is to become his personal agent, to fight the Germans when the war is going so badly.
The Lost Man series began with a name - Ted Dexter - and evolved into an entire series of books. The other main characters are based on people I know - John Guy was my uncle and a WW2 pilot, Tyrone Miglorine was a friend from the Army.
I tried to include the names of other friends in the series. One of these jokingly asked to be a Japanese Admiral. It was a difficult brief but he was included in The Dark Sun, Ted's eighth adventure.
Separated from his unit, he makes his own way to the coast in 1940 only to find that the Dunkirk beach is being picked over by German soldiers. Luckily for Ted, he has joined forces with two other stragglers and is able to make a daring escape, which brings him to the attention of the PM.
Churchill decides that Ted is to become his personal agent, to fight the Germans when the war is going so badly.
The Lost Man series began with a name - Ted Dexter - and evolved into an entire series of books. The other main characters are based on people I know - John Guy was my uncle and a WW2 pilot, Tyrone Miglorine was a friend from the Army.
I tried to include the names of other friends in the series. One of these jokingly asked to be a Japanese Admiral. It was a difficult brief but he was included in The Dark Sun, Ted's eighth adventure.
December 13, 2021
Lockdown
Lockdown and my new job as a publisher/writer suited me quite well in one major respect; my ill-formed plan to become a recluse. I probably had in mind a tiny , brightly-painted house on the Italian coast as my writing retreat, not a windswept semi in Britain but you can't have everything. I also hadn't bargained for doctor's appointments, trips to ALDI and being a semi-professional washing machine operator.
But at least we have doctors.
And ALDI.
... and a washing machine.
But at least we have doctors.
And ALDI.
... and a washing machine.
December 12, 2021
Blogless
I didn't blog yesterday but I think I got away with it. I was going to write about my home city of Belfast until I realised that I had already done so. So that was that. I can't really write about Bangor, the town I'm actually from, because there is nothing much to say. It is the largest town of that name in the world. The writer Colin Bateman is from there, as is Gary Lightbody from Snow Patrol. General Eisenhower reviewed his troops there during the war.
I think I have covered it now. See what I mean? Although it sometimes crops up in my writing it is only its proximity to the big smoke of Belfast that gives it a way in.
Phew. I'm exhausted now.
I think I have covered it now. See what I mean? Although it sometimes crops up in my writing it is only its proximity to the big smoke of Belfast that gives it a way in.
Phew. I'm exhausted now.
