Many Thanks
. . . to those of you who made Kickstarter pledges over the course of the past month. Unfortunately, we didn't reach our goal, but I'm awfully grateful for both the show and the messages of support.
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I may use a wheelchair, but I'm not dead yet. I am sui generis, I transcend all demographics. I won't pigeon-hole others and I don't blame "the Kids" for the down-grading of traditional culture. I'm old enough to remember the mass burnings of Beatle records, not quite old enough for the first thrill of 50s rock'n'roll. The digital revolution didn't quite kill music and it won't quite kill literature, it will shake it up a bit but people will still find a way to write and read. Actually, if it wasn't for the Kindle my damaged vision would hardly let me read at all. Rant.(he spoke and drank rapidly a glass of water.)
Thanks Mark. I appreciate the kind words, and I'll try to keep the books coming. Given the times, though, the sentences will surely be shorter. I don't even have the patience for me anymore.
Hi Paul,I read only on my tablet now. I'm in the process of getting rid of all the moldy books I've been hauling around for decades. I agree with you. People will still read. They'll just do it differently.
I only use the Kindle, but I still need the physical books as well. My house ( from which I pray I never have to move) is like the lair of a bibliophile pack-rat, I love the smell of foxing in the morning it smells of literacy.
Yes I love my Kindle as well. I fought getting one for the longest time because I thought that physical books were better. I then received one for father's day and loved it. When I read an actual physical book it reminds me that I need to get stronger bifocals which I still haven't done yet. I'd love to get all my favorite books as e-books but unfortunately whomever owns the copyrights to them charge as much or more for the digital version as the paperback version. I know that not all of the younger generation never read books. There are many that enjoy reading, I'm grateful that my daughter is one of them. I can't help believe that the opinions I have about the younger generation are exactly the same as my parent's generation felt about me. Music by Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult. Books by Stephen King. I imagine that they wondered if I would live past my twenties. I survived and this next generation will as well, But I still have the desire to yell "You kids get out of my yard" simply because I heard it quite a few times myself in my wayward youth. I still read Stephen King, his last book Joyland was wonderful. But I also get great enjoyment from my Nevil Shute novels. If any of you have not read his books they are well worth the investment. Particularly "A Town Like Alice" and "Trustee from the Toolroom". Paul, just like you I use the Kindle most of the time but I need the physical books as well. Without them my home just doesn't feel complete.
It is a long-standing project to glean every edition of every TRP book, including mobis and audiobooks. I have an eight cassette audiobook of Cry Me a River which I think is quite rare. It's read by Tom Stechschulte and he gets the tone just right. I think that the reader of Ranchero is way too down-home. Interesting point,(admittedly to only a few) is that the British trade paperback of ASHoaSP depicts entirely the wrong type of monkey, the illustrator can't have been very well briefed. The British edition of CMaR however has the nicest cover illustration of any Pearson book in my opinion. I tried to contact the artist to ask about a print, but I couldn't track him down. Check it out if you can. Only those two got a British publication. My first TRP was a well worn copy of the US paperback of Small...which I happened across in a Belfast second hand bookshop. I'm not sure what made me buy it, but my reading life would have been very different if I hadn't.
Having once had truck with Kickstarter, my Facebook is now regularly polluted with fanciful and ludicrous projects which have either been funded or are seeking the funding of the bewildered. Rubbing salt into wounds, I suggest. Aggravating paper cuts with bitter tears. Hey ho.
I just dumped Facebook -- as best I could. Hard to get out of their clutches entirely. I apologize for the Kickstater pollution.
At it's best Facebook is a forum for raucous and rancorous social satire among like minded malcontents. Admittedly, I also post what I've had for lunch and when I can't find the remote. 17th century coffee house or tittle-tattle. You decide.
I'm sorry about Kickstarter--- that is a shame. I hope very much that the books will keep coming, though, even if they have to be electronic. I bought a Kindle two years ago because of you and Warwolf, and I LOVE it. I do most of my reading on Kindle now, although I still buy physical books as well. I guess it's a whole new world as far as publishing, for better or worse. Or both.
Thank you for the experience to interact with you on this project. This past month I have spent more time on the computer watching the total grow and reading all the posts on your blog. One conclusion I've determined is that your fans are avid fans, me included. On a larger scale I've concluded that I no longer meet the criteria of today's media targeting. I'm 51 years old and no longer fall into the 18 to 35 demographic. This is apparent because I fail to enjoy 80 percent of the TV programming, movies, music and books that are deemed popular today. At my place of employment we have begun bringing in younger employees to replace the older ones that are preparing to retire. The only reading these young people do is that which they can access on their phones. An actual book is as alien to them as body piercing is to me. It is quite possible that the majority of your avid fans do not fall into the 18 to 35 demographic as well. Our wants, needs, desires and interests no longer are a concern to mainstream media outlets. It's all about the money and getting the most return from the least amount of effort. I do want to say that I truly respect you as a author, love your books enough to reread them again and again, and applaud you for self publishing to keep you stories true to yourself. Thank you again for the opportunity to interact with you this past month, it has been a wonderful experience.