Live Event with Darren Humphries - 23rd of March 2012 at 7.30 pm

[Patti (baconater)]

Oh I have one more!

[Gingerlily - The Full Wild]

Ignite wrote: "Gingerlily (or Cyberlily..) wrote: "Are there more questions? Or is it time for THAT news yet?"

Oh Lordy, he's not pregnant is he?
Own up? Who was it?"

Well....

[Darren]

Patti (Perky Pineapple) wrote: "Oh I have one more!"

Well, get to it then.

[Patti (baconater)]

Have you ever actively sought out being traditionally published?

[Kath]

Patti (Perky Pineapple) wrote: "Oh I have one more!"

Oh I'll have another as well. Make mine a pint. Of G&T.

[Gingerlily - The Full Wild]

A pint of Celtic Honey for me...

[Nicola]

Pints? JD and coke please! Here's a straw for your G&T. I'm still listening!

[Kath]

Nicola wrote: "Pints? JD and coke please! Here's a straw for your G&T. I'm still listening!"

I'm listing. To starboard.

[Patti (baconater)]

Gingerlily (or Cyberlily..) wrote: "A pint of Celtic Honey for me..."

A pint???

Oh okay. Go on then. I'll have one as well.

[Darren]

No, I don’t have the time. The only reason that the books are available as ebooks is because I can do it all myself in the little time that I do have. The time it would take to research the publishers/agents and submit manuscripts and keep track of it all is more than I have.

I'd rather spend the time writing for people who seem to enjoy reading the books than chasing after publishing specialists who seem to have no interest in looking at new writers. Almost no publisher or agent now accepts spec manuscripts and those that do are overwhelmed as a result.

I read a blog post that one of the winners of the Pratchett prize still hasn't seen the book published 8-10 months after being picked. I've got two UNDEAD books out and a third on the way in that time.

[Gingerlily - The Full Wild]

Hey - why has the floor come up and hit my ear....

[Pat ()]

me too

[Darren]

Pat (Scorpio) wrote: "me too"

You've hit Gingerlily's ear as well?

[Lorraine]

Darren wrote: "No, I don’t have the time. The only reason that the books are available as ebooks is because I can do it all myself in the little time that I do have. The time it would take to research the publish..."

Would that change if you had a change in your situation (e.g. you win the lottery and suddenly become a billionaire)

[Patti (baconater)]

Makes sense, Darren. I know I'd much rather you spend your time writing than chasing a publisher!

It's their loss though.

[Kath]

That's true Darren. You also have control. Especially in a niche genre you call the tune and you don't have to compromise to fit a publisher's prescription.

[Patti (baconater)]

Okay, that's all the questions I had written down plus a few extra.

Thanks for listening to my questions Darren. :)

[Philip (sarah)]

Rye HiB for me please!

[Gingerlily - The Full Wild]

Yeah - thanks for doing this, and putting up with our nonsense as well...

[Lorraine]

From my statistic (ahem scribbles on my notepad) Darren has not missed any questions :)

Last call for questions :)

Sarah, what is Rye HiB?

Edit that's booze isn't it?

[Darren]

Lorraine - Spoiler code in the first post wrote: "Would that change if you had a change in your situation (e.g. you win the lottery and suddenly become a billionaire) "

If I was that rich then I would publish myself and try to get the books out there myself.

Seriously, I think that any indie author who said they wouldn't like to be traditionally published is fibbing a bit. The publishers have all the marketing and design skills that the author lacks. What an author wants most is for people to read their book and hopefully to like it. The rest is a bonus.

If I could make a living writing then that would be enough for me, but it would be a major thrill to see my books on the shelves of Waterstone's (they can drop the apostrophe but I don't see why I have to) with all the others.

[Darren]

Lorraine - Spoiler code in the first post wrote: "From my statistic (ahem scribbles on my notepad) Darren has not missed any questions :)"

I find that hard to believe.

If anyone does come up with something that they wished they had asked then there's always my thread or you can pm me.

[Lorraine]

Darren wrote: "Lorraine - Spoiler code in the first post wrote: "Would that change if you had a change in your situation (e.g. you win the lottery and suddenly become a billionaire) "

If I was that rich then I ..."

Yea I agree, if I saw one of your books on a Waterstone shelf, I'd be excited too ! The only excitement in my last trip was a bunch of cute little squishy toys that were reduced from £7 to £2 !!! Not even book related lol !

[Lorraine]

Darren wrote: "Lorraine - Spoiler code in the first post wrote: "From my statistic (ahem scribbles on my notepad) Darren has not missed any questions :)"

I find that hard to believe.

If anyone does come up wit..."

I'm sure there will be once we process all the information in our heads overnight !

[Philip (sarah)]

Thanks Darren,Lorraine and everyone else,that was both informative and fun.

[Pat ()]

Darren wrote: "Pat (Scorpio) wrote: "me too"

You've hit Gingerlily's ear as well?"

For some reason my post are taking for ever to show up. I think that was after 305 but there you go. If I hit GL ear I'd better run for it quick. Let me out

[Darren]

The feedback that I have gotten back from the good folks on the forum and those that leave reviews is the main reward that I have gotten out of publishing to the kindle and that's because you are all such nice people (except the one who called me a casual racist. I think I'd be a rather formal racist)

[Gingerlily - The Full Wild]

Pat! Once I climb down off this floor I'm going to have a word with you.

[Lorraine]

Yea it's been one great busy evening, thanks everyone for being on here and helping us make this night a successful one !

Darren, is there anything you'd like to say?

[Darren]

Then I think that it might be time to make the announcement?

[E A M Harris]

I have to go now. Thank you Darren and everybody involved in organising this event. Really enjoyable.

[Gingerlily - The Full Wild]

Are you not very fast in your races? - if you just jog along you are probably a casual racist.

[Gingerlily - The Full Wild]

Darren wrote: "Then I think that it might be time to make the announcement?"

Finally!

[Darren]

Bye EAM! Thanks for coming.

[Patti (baconater)]

Yes please! The news please!

EAM don't go yet!

[Emma]

And the winner is ..................

You are just like those annoying TV programmes, will you tell us already?

[Patti (baconater)]

*twiddles impatiently*

[Gingerlily - The Full Wild]

Patti - now you know how we feel when you are stretching out the quiz winner announcements.

[Kath]

Some of us poorly people have beds to go to!

[Patti (baconater)]

Sheesh you'd think he was announcing a quiz winner or sumtin.

[Pat ()]

fidgiting about, twiddling thumbs

Oh now I'v got trigger thumb

[Patti (baconater)]

Gingerlily (or Cyberlily..) wrote: "Patti - now you know how we feel when you are stretching out the quiz winner announcements."

Snap! Hehe

[Darren]

OK

As some of the people on the forum already know, my wife died on January 14th 2011 quite suddenly and without warning.

In the days that followed, I was rather surprised by a lot of things that happened that weren't quite how I thought they might have been.

I did think that you couldn't come up with this stuff to write and then decided that perhaps I should write it and so I started to keep a diary, going right back to what I remembered of the day I found her (which was pretty much everything. It's not the kind of thing that you forget).

That diary is going to be released next week onto the kindle. It will be enrolled into the KDP Select programme so that I can immediately make it free to as many people as possible and after that it will be at minimum price with all the money going to bereavement counselling charities in Oxford.

The title is GOODNIGHT DEAR:THE UNSENTIMENTAL DIARY OF A BEREAVED HUSBAND.

It is, I believe, something that anyone in a committed relationship might find worthwhile, if only to make them think 'what would I do if that happened to me' or 'where is the life insurance policy?'.

I didn't want the sombre nature of this announcement to overshadow the fun that I've certainly had and that's why I left it till last.

Look out for the book, but please don't buy it because it will be free soon enough.

[Gingerlily - The Full Wild]

And buy a BIG box of tissues to go with it....

[Kath]

Thank you Darren. It's a brave decision to go public with that.

[Gingerlily - The Full Wild]

Ignite wrote: "Thank you Darren. It's a brave decision to go public with that."

Yes - Darren is a brave man.

[Emma]

Oh Darren, I have a tear just reading that so will defo need Kleenex I reckon, good luck with it hon xx

[Kath]

He must be - he talks to us!

[Patti (baconater)]

Oh blimey and now I'm crying.

Can I just say that have had the honour of reading a preview copy of Darren's diary and think it's an important book to read.

[Nicola]

Darren, that's an incredible thing to have written. Thank you so much for sharing that with us. I shall certainly get one.