Dan Smith's Blog, page 19
February 9, 2011
Dry Season Mass-Market Paperback!
My first copy of the DRY SEASON mass-market paperback arrived this morning.
3rd March publication date. It's looking good and it's all ready to go.
That's all I wanted to say.
Oh, except for – Buy it. It's great. You'll love it. This isn't the expensive hardback, remember. This is the handy sized, cheaper version.
February 8, 2011
Page Proof Anxieties
I wonder if the old hands at this game still get excited when they receive their page proofs or the first bound copy of their book. Y'know – does Stephen King tear open the package and enjoy the feel and look of his new book? Does Ian Rankin put his page proofs on his desk, centre stage?
Well, I'm still new to this game so . . . I do. I feel excited when I see the first cover designs. I love receiving a bound book proof and the page proofs. And then finally holding the completed article in my hands? Oh yeah, I love it.
Dark Horizons Page Proofs
But there's something lurking underneath. I mean, isn't there always something lurking underneath?
Yesterday the page proofs for DARK HORIZONS arrived, and that means it's getting close to publication time. This is the last step in a long process that brings the story out of my head and settles it between some well-designed covers. This is 'last chance saloon' for me to re-visit my story before it is finalised; a story I wrote some time ago. In fact, I've drafted two novels since I wrote DARK HORIZONS. So it is with a jumble of feelings that I'm going to read it. Excitement? Sure. Enjoyment? Of course Pride? Well, maybe a little. But we writers like to change things. We like to use a different word here, remove another from there, change a few around over there. We like to shape and mold and improve. We always see something that could be better; something we want to fix.
Gene Fowler said 'a book is never finished; it's abandoned' (which he pinched from Leonardo Da Vinci who said a similar thing about 'art'), and I think it's true. Most writers could probably go on changing and tweaking forever, but when it gets to the page proof stage it's 'hands off unless absolutely necessary'. After all, it has to be ready at some point, right? There has to be a moment when you turn away from it and say, 'OK, it's ready for people to see.' And we're getting to that time.
So while it's thrilling to read what is the final, typeset version of my novel, I just KNOW that I'm going to want to change things. It's in my nature.
And after that? *sharp intake of breath*. Well, I just hope everyone enjoys reading it.
(aside – I've read, re-read, changed and edited THIS POST, for goodness sake! And when I click 'publish' I'll still see something that isn't right. A typo, maybe, or perhaps a place where I might've phrased something better. Obsessive, much?)
Right, go and pre-order DARK HORIZONS. You're going to love it.
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Visit Dan Smith's Official Website
February 2, 2011
Dark Horizons, trailers . . . what's it all about?
Book trailers. Do they work? I'm not sure. I suppose it depends what they're supposed to do. Film trailers are a different animal altogether – there's already a whole range of images avaialble to take from the film; clips that can tease the audience with what to expect. Sound bytes and famous faces. They're shown right before you watch . . . another film. Oh, and there's the guy who sounds like he drinks acid laced with broken glass.
A book trailer, though? Text? I mean,
January 27, 2011
DRY SEASON Explained
Well, no, not explained. There isn't a hidden meaning. This isn't 'Inception', you know.
Actually, what I've done is listen to what one or two people have said. (Yep. Tell my wife will you? I DO listen. Sometimes.)
Anyway, when I've been talking to reading groups, a number of people have suggested that it might be an idea to have a glossary in DRY SEASON. The novel is set in Brazil, and so there are one or two words that are either in Portugese or are specific to Brazilian culture. I've tried to make the explanations as clear as possible from the context, but sometimes it's good to have a bit more background. So, I've added a page to my website that tackles some of those words, and for some of the cultural references I've added photos and links to places where you can find more information if you so wish.
If you want to know more about 'mula sem cabeca' you'll know just where to go to get started! It's not as handy as having it in the back of the book, but you can't have photos and weblinks in the book, can you?
And, if there's anything else that's not clear, let me know. Aaaaand, this is where I get all the messages telling me I'm wrong.
So there you go. Don't say I don't listen.
January 25, 2011
Win a signed copy of DRY SEASON
Well, it isn't long until the mass market paperback release of DRY SEASON, so in anticipation of that, I am giving away a signed copy of the trade paperback. I've made it available on the Goodreads website, so you can go there to enter. If you're not already a member, signing up is pretty easy.
Oh, and I have one or two plans for some interesting competitions in the run up to the release of DARK HORIZONS in May.
Good luck!!
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Dry Season
by Dan Smith
Giveaway ends March 01, 2011.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
January 23, 2011
DARK HORIZONS first review?
Sitting with a Sunday coffee, googling away a few moments, I came across what might be the first review of DARK HORIZONS. And it looks good. Cath Staincliffe, reviewing on Tangled Web describes it as '…a captivating and intriguing story set against a lush natural world.' and 'A great beach read . . .' Sounds good to me, I'd buy it! And if you want to, you can pre-order the hardcover or trade paperback from Amazon.co.uk.
You can find the whole review here
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January 21, 2011
Still baffled
Wow, we're running at 300 hits on the pies now. Odd.
January 20, 2011
Baffled
OK, I'm baffled. I don't understand it. I don't get a great number of visitors to my blog and I'm grateful to everyone who spends a few moments to read my thoughts (so to speak) but something has confused me.
Last year, in June, I blogged about the World Cup and about pies. Yes. Exactly. Pies. Anyway, what's confusing me is that this old entry has suddenly attracted an unusual amount of traffic. Over the past two days I've had over two hundred hits on that particular article. Hs there been a sudden surge in interest in meat pies?
Well, if you want to add to the furore, here's the original post. And, er, here's a picture of a meat pie. Enjoy.
January 19, 2011
Best titles of the past year.
Just a quickie. I spotted this article in the Winnipeg Free Press. 
A list of 'some of the best titles of the past year' which includes DRY SEASON. Fantastic.
If you click on the image it'll take you to the article. Scroll down to the photo of James Lee Burke and you'll see my book. We share a publisher, but I didn't expect to be sharing a list with him this year.
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If you build it, he will come . . .
Or, 'If you write it, someone will eventually read it.' And so it is.
I received my PLR statement yesterday. 'Oh,' I hear you say. 'Your PLR statement. Right.'
OK, good point.
Well, if you don't know, Public Lending Right is the scheme that pays authors for the number of times their book(s) is borrowed from libraries across the UK. So, the government makes a pot of money available, all the loans are recorded and the money is handed out accordingly. There's a cap on how much an author can receive – to stop the massively popular ones from scoffing the pot – and, like eveything else, the govt. is cutting it all back. This year, the rate amounts to the rather small amount of 6.25 pence per loan, but, well, ya know.
Anyway, the reason why this is exciting for me is that 1) it's the first time around for me and 2) the statement tells me how many times my debut novel DRY SEASON has been borrowed from UK libraries. And you know what? It's not too embarrassing for a new author who nobody's really heard of. Yet.
So, combining the PLR and my first royalty statement (which was almost six months ago) I can reassure myself that already – no paperback yet, remember - thousands of people have read DRY SEASON.
Great.
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