CLOG - Comedy Literature Only Group discussion
CLOG?
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Hi AndyI started reading Bad Business just to check it out when it arrived on my Kindle and could hardly stop. It is a blinder. This Christmas thing is getting in the way of reading and writing but looking forward to getting right into your book and feel a effusive review is on the way.
Never mind Andy coming to England for a book signing. We should all go out to him
Noddie Mecock lives!
Can I sit here quietly for a while. I woke up this morning to find I'd actually made a sale on Amazon. Only another 52 ebooks to flog to make my first £100 cheque from Amazon.
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Hooray! Break out the champagne. (Or a champagne-flavoured truffle if you want to keep the costs down.)
Rob wrote: "Jemahl's 'Roundhead' sequel is looking like the front-runner then.Who's up for a review? (I'll leave this question open for a day or two to give people time to respond and to suggest additional b..."
Jemahl, if you care to email me a copy at jimux@live.co.uk I'll put it on my Onedrive and place a link in this thread. Or perhaps a new thread for reviews.
Anyone got a preference for how we control access? Most of the CLOG group have access and if we want to restrict it then you can embed a password in a PDF file.
I've created a new thread with a sample protected book.
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Alastair was always much more diligent than I when it came to reminding people about the featured funny fiction each month, but James' note has prompted me to do so. Here's a quick summary for those who like to keep up with these things.
November: Jemahl: 'By Treason's Tooth'. (Roundhead sequel.)
December: Ted: 'Behind the Boiler House Door'
January: AndyChap: 'Tommy, God of the Island of Wonder'
With that last one, I should warn you not to read it at bedtime with an excitable child. My son giggled so much at chapter 11 that he got hiccups, which then wouldn't go away for ages. He lost hours of sleep, couldn't concentrate on his schoolwork the next day and now his whole academic future is in tatters. It's a dangerous book and, in my opinion, it should be banned.
Does anyone want to nominate a new work for February?
Hi Folk, sorry if my posts are a bit muddled. I'm still finding my way round the site. I've been pre-occupied with health issues for a while but should be back to normal now.I'm more than happy to use the Onedrive for shared files - I've 11Gb free so no file size issues. Any of you who have access problems should email me.
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(See Clog Library - Review Shelf for download link.)
I might only have sporadic internet access for the next day or so, so in case I don't get another chance to say this - merry Xmas to all CLOGgers, and here's wishing you all a very successful 2016.
Some of my characters have asked me to send you all their very best Christmas wishes, especially Tracey. May I join them in that.
Hello all!Good news, I'm not dead. Not really any bad news, but an apology for having been away so long.
First off, Happy New Year and hope you enjoyed whatever time off you had over the festive period.
I've now finished my SF story so will try and hawk that around (and never ever, ever will I start work on a story without some idea of how it ends, I've spent weeks chasing my tail as I've modified the beginning to agree with the end, then the middle to agree with the beginning and then the end to agree with the middle and... you get the idea.
My next intention is to revisit Going Afterlife and see if I can make any improvements based on the Autonomy feedback. Although I'm not entirely sure how to make it more obviously a comedy?????
Anyway, take care all and hope to be in touch again soon.
Regards, Alastair
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Good to hear from you. Your new opus could be the FFF for March, couldn't it? I look forward to seeing it, anyway.
No big news here in the rainy North, except that most of my garden and roof have been washed away. Next week, I'm told it will get cold and icy. It'll be the white walkers next, mark my words...
Hi Rob,One of my work colleagues is from Romania and went up to the Lake District at the time when the flooding started. When he got up after the deluge he complimented his host on the incredible view of all the beautiful lakes - he then learned that half of them were recent additions. Fortunately, he managed to drive out without the need of a boat, but it was a near thing.
As for down south, everything is still pretty sodden. I can almost create ripplies on my front lawn!
Enough of the wet stuff. I was wondering what opinions you (and everyone else) have about Createspace. Rob Wingfield has been encouraging me to go for it. I've had a look at opinion on the web and I'm kind of tempted but I still have a bit of a romantic notion of going around agents/publishers again in the hope of a traditional contract. Given I will probably just end up with a big pile of rejection letters should I stop being delusional? Is it worth a try? Or can I go on Createspace and hawk my book around at the same time?
All opinions welcome.
Alastair
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I was wondering what opinions you (and everyone else) have about Createspace. ..."
Hi Alastair,
I have no direct experience of CreateSpace, although I know Rob W is a big fan. It's been one of those things that I always said I'd get round to but, since I've always tended to regard my books as works in progress, there has never been a time when I've thought 'now they're ready.'
As far as publishers are concerned, I don't know how much self-publishing (and CreateSpace in particular) hampers your chances of finding one. I know that I've missed a couple of open submissions because I self-published Unreliable Histories and the publishers in question only wanted 'debut' works. On the other hand, there are some well known tales of authors who self-published, got a big following and then found that traditional publishers were taking a sudden interest in them. Personally, I don't see why it would make any difference to your chances whether you self-publish in digital form or in hard copy form.
I don't think that self-publishing necessarily obviates the possibility of a traditional deal. There may be some imprints that only work with strictly 'never before seen' titles but I suspect most will judge a manuscript solely on the basis of whether they think they can sell it. Perhaps you can be one of those indie writers that use self-publishing to demonstrate their marketability. I'd say it's worth a try.
Sage advice as always Rob.Incidentally, how do you get to hear of open submission periods? I've always had to rely on word of mouth.
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Incidentally, how do you get to hear of open submission periods? I've always had to rely on word of mouth."
Broadly speaking, I've just Googled phrases like 'open submission' and hoped for the best. There are some sites that purport to list such opportunities but I've found that they tend to miss quite a lot. Word of mouth helps, too, of course. Now I know that you're looking, I'll keep you posted if I find any new ones. (On that subject, Gollancz currently has an open submission but, unlike most publishers, they're doing it 20th Century style by requesting hard copy submissions. That's open until 22 Jan.)
Young Mr Duke might be a better person to ask; he and Roman seem to have identified far more open submissions than I. What's their secret, I wonder?
Google! Should have thought of that!
I've got both of my Peckham novels up on CreateSpace, thanks to Rob W's help. Technically it takes a bit of getting your head round.You can instantly remove a book, and up-versioning is simple. I've also got them up as ebooks on Amazon.
I get the impression that having a paperback version available adds weight to the ebook, and the difference in price, coupled with a bit of facebook advertising, has generated a surprising level of interest.
The big difference compared to having a publisher is that you have to do all your own publicity, but since an ever increasing proportion of sales are in ebook format then you are stuck with Amazon as the biggest outlet anyway.
If you have marketing opportunities then it's not a bad way to go, but you'll need to prepared to put a lot of hours of effort in to selling.
If you have marketing opportunities then it's not a bad way to go, but you'll need to prepared to put a lot of hours of effort in to selling. Hi James,
I think that's a very important point. I can't imagine making the kind of sales that would justify the hours.
Still, I do like the idea of seeing my book in print. Vanity, I know, but at least there's no minimum order quantity.
First things, first, I really need to have another look at poor old Denton!
Don't worry about 'vanity' publishing. It is the only way to go these days, because if you wait for a publisher you'll be waiting forever, and never seeing your books out there.Again, getting a publisher isn't necessarily the ultimate goal. You can do very nicely indeed without one if you have a big enough following: http://www.incaproject.co.uk/authorin...
I don't know if there is any other service that offers free publishing and print on demand. Have a look at the step-by-step guide on the Inca site. It looks daunting, but follow the process and it isn't that bad : http://www.incaproject.co.uk/createsp...
If you need help, give me a shout.
Alastair wrote: "First things, first, I really need to have another look at poor old Denton! ..."Yes you do need to fine tune the ending to ensure it is possible to write a sequel. I seem to remember him being in danger of running out of oxygen.
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I was filming my sister pretending to play a trumpet along to Wagner, as you do, when, what she believes to be, a ghost flies out of the end of it. Personally I'm not convinced but she's slept somewhere else for two nights and has only just returned. I plan to sneak the trumpet into her room tonight just to comfort her...
I've put the video on my blog - https://andychapwriter.wordpress.com/
Rapid breathing can cause oxygen deficiency in the brain, and hence hallucinations. But don't let facts get in the way of a good story.
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Andrew wrote: "Bit of dust reflecting the light from the camera... or Trumpet Ghost! Definitely Trumpet Ghost. :-)"Hey, AndyChappers. I watched the vid. You've got yourself a genuine trumpet sprite. They live in the spittle that collects in the mouthpiece of brass instruments and feed off musical energy. Unusual to see one at this time of year. Must be the strange weather we've been having. Anyway there's nothing to worry about as long as you don't make it angry. If it's causing problems you can draw it out by rattling your tambourine. They can't resist the shake of tambourine. There's a Hare Krisna mob that hang about outside Beales, just lead the sprite to the Krisnas and it'll happily follow them all day long.
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Ah yes, the infamous ghostly dust mote! If you watch the video closely, especially the top right corner and bottom right, you'll see that he tries to make an appearance several times. And then he doesn't so much fly out of the trumpet as fly past it.No need to call ghostbusters, I think. A spot of dusting should cure this spook.
Is that THE Will Once? I'm 2/3rds through your excellent book - Love, Death & Tea. A thoroughly entertaining story. I'll add a review when I've finished.The movements you describe are that of a very angry trumpet sprite. The best thing for AndyChap to do is move and get the house demolished. Fortunately I run a small demolition company. We don't worry too much about permits or paperwork around here so I could level the house by the end of the day. Consider it done.
Be still my beating heart! I've never been called THE Will Once before. I must add a new aspiration to my bucket list and then instantly tick it off. Glad you're enjoying Love, Death and Tea. 2/3rds of the way through, eh? That must be after ... mumble, mumble ... but before ... mutter, mutter ...
If I might be allowed a shameless plug (are there any other kinds), you might also get a giggle from my blog. I've been running a story about Mickey and the Devil. We're onto chapter four now, but if you'd like to start from the beginning (ish), it's here.
https://willonce.wordpress.com/2016/0...
I like your house demolition plan. Suitably dramatically gothic.
Such old fashioned methods! I've written a software package that erases all record of the house ever existing. As the planning ermission is wiped the building just fades away. I can't be bothered with all that manual effort.
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(See Clog Library - Review Shelf for download link.)..."
Em. Yes. Remember Featured Funny Fiction? That plan we all had about occasionally reviewing one another's work and providing some helpful feedback?
Anyone remember what happened to that?
Things have gone worryingly quiet round here so let's try to get this thing working again.
This month's FFF: Mulligan's Revenge.
Any takers? A read of the first few chapters and some useful observations? By the end of the month?
After that, one Alistair Miles made some wild boast about writing a work of science fiction. In April, we should perhaps put that to the test.
By that point, I might have enough of my next book written to be worth throwing my hat in the ring.
Okay, I'm game. I've been exceedingly busy these past few weeks but things are beginning to get a bit less manic.
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Good man. If you don't have a copy, you can either download it from Jim's OneDrive or I can send you a copy and the password to open it. Let me know if you need it.
Oh, to hell with it. A sales is a sale, so I've just gone and bought it. Where do we send the comments?
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You're a very fine fellow, Will.
I have Jim's email so unless he wants us to post reviews in this thread (which we used to do on Authonomy) it probably makes sense to send any comments to him directly. I'll send you his address.
Rob wrote: "Rob wrote: "So, February's FFF: Mulligan's Revenge. (See Clog Library - Review Shelf for download link.)..."
Em. Yes. Remember Featured Funny Fiction? That plan we all had about occasionally revi..."
I'd definitely be up for this idea, Rob.
I'll still be using Scribophile, but i reckon feedback from folk in this would be more pertinent. I'll have the first couple / few chapters of Soul Survivor rewritten in a couple of weeks hopefully.
But meantime, I'm happy to review anything else from the group. Count me in.
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Great; if you can let me have an email address, I'll send you the PDF and password. (You could give me your email address in this thread or send it to me via Facebook. Alternatively, I'm sure James will give you access via OneDrive.)
With Alistair's new work, my work in progress and your Soul Survivor, we're developing something of a reading list.
My e-mail address is ceeteejackson@gmail.com(BTW - what's a PDF?)
;)
Hello, Rob! Sorry for radio silence. I am having to do much nursing of people and animals (Ministering Angel Awards appreciated) and am reviewing a book for the other Rob at the moment plus selfishly writing flat out in my spare time (about one third of the way through The Villainous Viscount Or The Castle of Doom, gothic historical comedy) but when these roles become less frenetic, I hope to stagger back into the affray. I look foward to seeing yours, too.
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(BTW - what's a PDF?) ;)"
Thanks - that's on its way to you now. I think PDF stands for pretty damned funny, but I could be wrong. It's either that or it means some sort of document format that's in some way portable. Ridiculous, I know...
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I don't know... Looking after people, nursing sick animals, spending your free time doing reviews for Mr Wingfield - it's just 'me me me' with you, isn't it?
There is no pressure with any of this; I was just trying to rekindle that old sense of collaboration, which worked well in the past. Having started this thread, I began to feel responsible for keeping it going and, to be fair, I did promise young James that I'd look at Mulligan's Revenge last month. Like you, I've been very busy, although not with poorly pets and relatives. Nevertheless, a promise is a promise...
Ha, Ha, Rob! You've given me a much appreciated laugh.
Hi Guys, I've just got home after a frustrating day and you have brightened it for me. I hope my scribblings deserve your time, and especially Will's money.My one worry is that Mulligan's Revenge is a sequel to Strudwick's Successor and not quite stand-alone.
OK I've sent out a share to Strudwick's Successor to all on my distribution list. If you don't get it then let me know and I'll add you.
Cee Tee wrote: "My e-mail address is ceeteejackson@gmail.com(BTW - what's a PDF?)
;)"
Should be in your in box now. I can also send EPUB and MOBI versions if required.
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CLOG has been asleep recently so I've come in to nudge the sleeping authors that litter the halls of this great establishment.
So what have you been up to? Writing much?
I've got 45K words of the third Peckham novel tucked in the computer's electronic mind, and little to add from my organic mind; so concentrating on putting together illustrations and hoping something will turn up. Spent yesterday clearing the footpath behind home after the storm blew out my fences.
Andrew wrote: "It's 5am. I am awake for reasons that are no good to anyone. Today someone called Kate has been terrorizing the land of England. Knocking over trees and blowing out the candles of the national grid..."'Morning Andrew,
Nah - not much on the writing front, I'm afraid. I'm beginning to wish I'd written a chapter about a dead horse into my Damp Dogs & Rabbit Wee effort - coz that's what I've been flogging these past couple of weeks rather than copies of the book - despite an ill-timed Easter promo campaign in USA.
Went to visit the Burrell Collection yesterday and got some ideas and inspirations for SOUL SURVIVOR, so may have to yet again rewrite the first couple of chapters.
Gottta head out now - a pack of dogs are sitting crossed legs in their homes, staring at the clock and praying I'll turn up soon.
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Hi Andy,
Good on you for getting this thread going again.
In answer to Q1, I've been reading an amusing little tract called Tripping the Night Fantastic. I can't remember the author but I think you'd all like him - especially you, Andy. His brand of humour seems very 'you.'
Actually, I can remember the author but I'm not going to give his book a plug because its themes are uncomfortably familiar to those of Unreliable Histories, and I'm not going to get into a war of transcendentalism with anyone.
In answer to Q2, I'm about 17k words into a new comedy: "The Other Book of the Dead." Structurally, it's working well but I'm worried I'm in danger of letting plot and character development and one or two other petty nuisances get in the way of the comedy. If I'm not careful, I could end up with a half-serious adventure novel - in which case, of course, I'd be obliged to hand in my CLOGs. I can't let that happen, naturally, so I'm convincing myself that I'm just working on a 'framework' for now and I'll add in the silliness later.
Sorry about the fences, James, and the iffy Easter promo, CT.
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Hi Andy,
Good on you for getting this thread going again.
In answer to Q1, I've been reading an amusing little tract called Tripping th..."
I don't know, it's a pretty dodgy book. I heard the author let a bunch of spelling mistakes go uncorrected for 4 whole years just because he's a no good lazy bum...
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I was maintaining a discreet silence about those. He does, however, spell 'whisky' correctly, which is very good to see.
CLOG - Comedy Literature Only Group
Books mentioned in this topic
The Legend of Dan (other topics)Love, Death and Tea (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
Ted Dunphy (other topics)Will Once (other topics)
I haven't actually got a copy yet, so hope it all works.