Simon B. Jones's Blog: Slings and arrows, page 11
July 26, 2012
Antisocial networking
Good morning readers. There are not many of you but there have been a few. Whosoever you may be, welcome. Since you see fit to read my words I shall continue to write them. There is afterall a certain narcissistic pleasure to be had from emptying the contents of my mind onto the screen in front of me.
I have never been a great one for social networking. I am on the whole a grumpy and antisocial individual who gets on best with similarly minded sorts.
In order to put oneself out there however it is necessary to roll up one's trousers and wade into the mire of on-line chattery places.Once in this unfamiliar environment I, silver-tongued wordsmith that I am, find myself at a complete loss as to what to say and spend more time actually trying to work out what other people are writing. When I do come across an interesting topic and think of something terribly clever to say, I then notice that the last activity on this particular thread (see I'm learning the lingo) was in 2009.
Perhaps I will fair better on Twitter I think to myself.
Twitter is wonderful place. Everyone who is anyone is on there and you can talk to anybody you like. Here people who you have actually heard of will quite happily chat to people they have never heard of. I would never go up to someone well known in the street and tell them that I liked their work or engage them in conversation. It would be a gross invasion of their privacy. I know a lot of people probably do go up to them but that's not me. On twitter you can do that without getting in their face, interrupting their day and accidentally spilling their latte.
This blogging lark is the best forum for me though. On here I write, you read, end of. No need to be socialable. Of course if you do leave me a message (usual suspects not-withstanding) I shall be terribly excited.SBJ
I have never been a great one for social networking. I am on the whole a grumpy and antisocial individual who gets on best with similarly minded sorts.
In order to put oneself out there however it is necessary to roll up one's trousers and wade into the mire of on-line chattery places.Once in this unfamiliar environment I, silver-tongued wordsmith that I am, find myself at a complete loss as to what to say and spend more time actually trying to work out what other people are writing. When I do come across an interesting topic and think of something terribly clever to say, I then notice that the last activity on this particular thread (see I'm learning the lingo) was in 2009.
Perhaps I will fair better on Twitter I think to myself.
Twitter is wonderful place. Everyone who is anyone is on there and you can talk to anybody you like. Here people who you have actually heard of will quite happily chat to people they have never heard of. I would never go up to someone well known in the street and tell them that I liked their work or engage them in conversation. It would be a gross invasion of their privacy. I know a lot of people probably do go up to them but that's not me. On twitter you can do that without getting in their face, interrupting their day and accidentally spilling their latte.
This blogging lark is the best forum for me though. On here I write, you read, end of. No need to be socialable. Of course if you do leave me a message (usual suspects not-withstanding) I shall be terribly excited.SBJ
July 25, 2012
Brave New World
So into the world of self publication I venture; armed with a kind of pioneer spirit and sense of moral superiority. Who needs all those big corporate publishers anyway? The world is changing, the internet makes all things possible. Build it and they will come!
Hopefully.
Every day brings new excitement.
The first call from my publisher David, who seems to be working seven days a week at the moment, is friendly and professional. There is no mention of the fact that I am paying him to be friendly and professional. That sordid back alley transaction is out of the way and forgotten about.I feel like a real author.
There follows a flurry of developments. I have an isbn number!
I have a website!
I am holding a copy of my book in my hand!
My first born is slick and shiny. It has my name on the front and my picture on the back. I love it.
It is on amazon!
I am enshrined in the great online repository of the world's literary efforts.
Then somebody other than my Mum or one of my friends actually downloads a copy.
My cup overfloweth.
More tomorrow. SBJ
Hopefully.
Every day brings new excitement.
The first call from my publisher David, who seems to be working seven days a week at the moment, is friendly and professional. There is no mention of the fact that I am paying him to be friendly and professional. That sordid back alley transaction is out of the way and forgotten about.I feel like a real author.
There follows a flurry of developments. I have an isbn number!
I have a website!
I am holding a copy of my book in my hand!
My first born is slick and shiny. It has my name on the front and my picture on the back. I love it.
It is on amazon!
I am enshrined in the great online repository of the world's literary efforts.
Then somebody other than my Mum or one of my friends actually downloads a copy.
My cup overfloweth.
More tomorrow. SBJ
July 24, 2012
Harsh Reality
So a book is born. Now what? I had given surprisingly little thought to what I would do with the book once I had written it. I think this was mainly because I did not want to become discouraged before I had actually finished writing in case I gave up.
I soon discovered that I was on a hiding to nothing. Having wasted my life by studying science only to realise too late that what I really wanted was to be a history writer,I was woefully under-equipped for the challenge.
Being unable to point to any historical qualifications other than a GCSE, I soon concluded from my research that approaching publishers or agents with my amateur's take on Ancient History was a complete non-starter.The one publisher that did show an interest turned out to be the literary equivalent of a cowboy builder. So I gave them a wide berth and braced myself to try to do this the hard way: Self Publication.
I soon discovered that I was on a hiding to nothing. Having wasted my life by studying science only to realise too late that what I really wanted was to be a history writer,I was woefully under-equipped for the challenge.
Being unable to point to any historical qualifications other than a GCSE, I soon concluded from my research that approaching publishers or agents with my amateur's take on Ancient History was a complete non-starter.The one publisher that did show an interest turned out to be the literary equivalent of a cowboy builder. So I gave them a wide berth and braced myself to try to do this the hard way: Self Publication.
July 23, 2012
Close Shave
When I first started writing I told no-one of my project, hiding myself away in the spare room with the computer for hours on end. I felt strangely embarrassed by my efforts and worried that if I did admit to friends and family that I was attempting to write a book, they would not take me seriously and I would become discouraged and give up. Once I had a hundred pages I decided, I would announce what I was up to. This landmark was reached after about six months and with great fanfare I proclaimed my creative mission to my wife Adele.
‘That’s nice Dear.’ She said. ‘I thought you were going to tell me something exciting.’ This was just the reaction I was looking for. Her total lack of surprise indicated that it was natural and expected for me to have taken up writing and that it was not a ridiculous notion. I was greatly encouraged. Had I announced that I had taken up ballet or pole-vaulting I am sure this would have elicited more of a response. It was fortuitous indeed however that I chose this day to tell someone about my project for if I had not, my writings would have been lost forever. Perhaps feeling that she could have shown a bit more interest, the ever practical Adele took it upon herself to save my efforts so far onto a disc for me. It was just as well that she did, for later that very evening I knocked a full glass of wine over my laptop which immediately killed it stone dead. As I prised it open with a screwdriver to retrieve the disc upon which my precious book was now safely stored, I recognised this event as a sign from the Gods. My book was destined to be finished! Had I been forced to start again, I am sure that I would have given up.
Moral of the story - always back your work up and don't drink and write!
‘That’s nice Dear.’ She said. ‘I thought you were going to tell me something exciting.’ This was just the reaction I was looking for. Her total lack of surprise indicated that it was natural and expected for me to have taken up writing and that it was not a ridiculous notion. I was greatly encouraged. Had I announced that I had taken up ballet or pole-vaulting I am sure this would have elicited more of a response. It was fortuitous indeed however that I chose this day to tell someone about my project for if I had not, my writings would have been lost forever. Perhaps feeling that she could have shown a bit more interest, the ever practical Adele took it upon herself to save my efforts so far onto a disc for me. It was just as well that she did, for later that very evening I knocked a full glass of wine over my laptop which immediately killed it stone dead. As I prised it open with a screwdriver to retrieve the disc upon which my precious book was now safely stored, I recognised this event as a sign from the Gods. My book was destined to be finished! Had I been forced to start again, I am sure that I would have given up.
Moral of the story - always back your work up and don't drink and write!
Post 1
So here's my blog. What does one write in a blog anyway? Whatever I want I suppose.
Let's start at the beginning. I wrote a book. I didn't really mean to write a book; it was a hobby that got out of control.
I wanted to know more about history because I had realised, much to my horror, that my knowledge of historical events was woefully inadequate. So I read and I read some more and I began to learn. Then one day I realised that my casual interest was becoming a passion; bordering on an obsession. I started making notes so that I would not forget what I had gone to all the trouble of learning.
Years passed. Stuff happened. Life went on.
In 2007 I was given a desk calender for Christmas by my wife Adele. It was entitled 'The Know it All.' I guess she thought it was appropriate for some reason. It was a 'quote-a-day' kind of thing written by a chap called A.J. Jacobs who had taken it upon himself to read and attempt to inwardly digest the entire Encyclopaedia Brittanica over the course of a single year.
This was the lightbulb moment that set me off writing. Jacobs wrote about the experience of learning as much as the facts that he was actually absorbing and I thought to myself: Hey, I could do that! 5 years and 270,000 words later, I had a book.
And that was how it started folks. So be careful what you read; you don't know where it might lead. More later. SBJ
Let's start at the beginning. I wrote a book. I didn't really mean to write a book; it was a hobby that got out of control.
I wanted to know more about history because I had realised, much to my horror, that my knowledge of historical events was woefully inadequate. So I read and I read some more and I began to learn. Then one day I realised that my casual interest was becoming a passion; bordering on an obsession. I started making notes so that I would not forget what I had gone to all the trouble of learning.
Years passed. Stuff happened. Life went on.
In 2007 I was given a desk calender for Christmas by my wife Adele. It was entitled 'The Know it All.' I guess she thought it was appropriate for some reason. It was a 'quote-a-day' kind of thing written by a chap called A.J. Jacobs who had taken it upon himself to read and attempt to inwardly digest the entire Encyclopaedia Brittanica over the course of a single year.
This was the lightbulb moment that set me off writing. Jacobs wrote about the experience of learning as much as the facts that he was actually absorbing and I thought to myself: Hey, I could do that! 5 years and 270,000 words later, I had a book.
And that was how it started folks. So be careful what you read; you don't know where it might lead. More later. SBJ
Slings and arrows
Nuggets of history from the author of 'The Battles are the Best Bits'.
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