tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346114450928898542024-03-05T14:30:58.695-08:00The Blackpool TowerIf I type it, I might not forget it ...James Spackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590806198639830354noreply@blogger.comBlogger67125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534611445092889854.post-20021296720459099642015-06-23T13:20:00.000-07:002015-06-23T13:50:29.537-07:00Paint it Black (and Yellow); The reader experience of Randall by Jonathan Gibbs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have absolutely no recollection of what led me to put <i>Randall</i> by Jonathan Gibbs on my Christmas list. So when I got round to reading it, come Easter, it was with no preconceptions whatsoever bar "at some point I must have liked the idea of this one ..."<br />
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I'm preoccupied with "reader experience" at the moment; how we live with and use a book, what our relationship with it is like as an artifact, not just a text.<br />
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The text in this case is fantastic, by the way, but this isn't a review. Instead, here goes with my reader experience of <i>Randall</i>:<br />
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Black <b>cover</b>, austere, bold type, a tiny splash of colour but no pictures. That all says to me "this is a sharp, clever book". Not exactly inviting, but definitely cool.<br />
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An <b>extract</b> from the book on the cover: "People were sobbing and cowering. A man's voice, plummy and shrill, was repeating 'It's just paint! It's just paint!' over and over." You physically can't avoid seeing that several times as you read the book. It influences your expectations. I knew that there was a moment of crisis in the book and that it was of pivotal importance. I was anticipating it until it happened and I had an awareness of its centrality as I was reading it.<br />
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The <b>endpapers</b> (and that little splash of colour on the cover) aren't randomly selected. The book is about an artist who at one point invents his own colour - Randall Yellow - and uses it as a personal brand. From that point onwards, the endpapers are promoted from just a nice design touch to being an integral and witty part of the book.<br />
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The author biog is another feature you naturally look at a lot when reading this book. It's on the back flap so you naturally use it as a bookmark (at least I did). It's pretty sparse. Literary authors often have this minimal sort of bio. Seems a shame, if you ask me.<br />
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In place of a conventional <b>author photo</b> we have an abstract (yellow) paint splash. God knows what it signifies*. Our visual acquaintanceship with the author is deliberately denied. That pissed me off a bit too. Perhaps it <i>should</i> be irrelevant, but I always want to know what the author looks like. In this case perhaps it was decided that it would be a distraction or something.<br />
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Overall, though, the fact that this distinctive and clever book was published in a distinctive and clever way definitely strengthened my attachment to it as I was reading it - I was fascinated by the <i>thing</i> as well as the words - and made me want to champion it widely. Which I have.<br />
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Reader experience in action.<br />
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*postscript: I have just had it explained to me what it signifies and I now feel verrrrry dense not to have clocked it. James Spackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590806198639830354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534611445092889854.post-62426726790489863692015-06-19T06:19:00.001-07:002015-06-19T06:19:46.701-07:00Who Are All These People? The Reader Experience of Bring Up the Bodies on Kindle<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Having adored Wolf Hall like any other right-thinking reader, I started reading Bring Up the Bodies with real excitement. A curious thing happened, though, due to the fact that this time I was reading a Kindle edition.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After a few chapters (or a few %) I began to feel frustrated that I wasn’t able to refer to a list of characters - an invaluable help to a sieve-head like me - as I had when I read the hardback of Wolf Hall. I emailed customer services at HarperCollins to ask them if they’d kindly email me the cast list. They sweetly emailed back saying “the cast list IS in the Kindle edition, but it (the ebook) defaults to starting you at page one of chapter one - you need to find it via the main menu of the book”. I blush at the memory. I felt so stupid for not having checked. But then ... why the hell would I? Or anyone?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That’s a poor Reader Experience (or RX if we’re being pretentious, which I am).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For all their convenience and speed, there are some things that don’t automatically work well in ebook format. Some are set by the ebook retailer - a whole can of worms in itself. Some are unavoidable – reference books are barely worth the bother because navigation is so much slower than a physical edition, or the internet. But some can be solved with care and attention. Is there a picture section stuck at the end? (which, in a physical book, would be an immediately obvious plate section) If so, why not say so at the beginning so at least we know we can take a look before we finish reading, when those pictures might be more relevant? Are there maps? If so, where? Please tell us in good time. And please let those maps render legibly on all reasonable devices.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Who wrote this long introduction or preface that I’m wading through? It’s useful to know yet requires a fair bit of thumb-work on an electronic device to find out, unless it says "introduction by X " at the start. It’s quicker to find out in a physical book because we’ve been practicing flicking through them all our lives, so we do it almost subconsciously. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These are tiny refinements to the Reader Experience, but ask yourself if you’re content to leave them undone. After all, what is a publisher </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>for</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> if not perfecting and providing the things that readers read? What readers are actually buying is subtly different from simply “a text” as anyone who’s read a £1 classic and wished they’d splashed out on the Penguin will know.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I suspect part of the problem is that, as publishers, we’ve got quite a lot on. By the time the finished text has gone to your ebook conversion house, or your xml system has spat it out, the editors responsible will have moved on to the next title and the next deadline. So perhaps don’t just leave it to editors. Have a group of people in your company, of whatever department, to be "mystery shoppers". Ask them to buy some of your key backlist books in ebook form and read them … or just </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>start</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> reading them, as if they were civilians. See what happens. If you can improve on the experience they have - the RX - you’ll improve sales.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-2afb4c61-0be3-45c0-e3d1-aca3e3e2588e"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe you won’t improve sales </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>much</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, but since online recommendation is such a vital driver of backlist sales now, don’t you think half a percent’s improvement over your whole backlist, over the next few years … is worth trying for?</span></div>
James Spackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590806198639830354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534611445092889854.post-72355997930584999762014-11-02T03:28:00.006-08:002014-11-02T03:28:49.137-08:00The Great BoffoI blogged on Velominati.com about Frank Dickens' peerless <a href="http://www.velominati.com/guest-article/guest-article-so-thats-where-lance-got-the-title/">The Great Boffo</a>.<br />
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I'm researching bringing this book back into print with the cooperation of Frank's daughter Julia. The economics are challenging but all the necessary tools exist: digital printing, streamlined bibliographic data handling, distribution (albeit fairly restricted; wholesalers and Amazon). So it might work out.<br />
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It's a sentimental mission - my dad used to read me Boffo when I was young - and an entrepreneurial one too; I'm certain there's a market for it.<br />
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We shall see …<br />
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<br />James Spackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590806198639830354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534611445092889854.post-53695492342184735462013-12-06T14:15:00.002-08:002013-12-08T07:07:15.494-08:00Five Reasons Why My Bike Is Best<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitIvHvpS09ubXFRrKFjyMH8IZq7UhdfhLklA18sxKVCv7tfNHtUx4OqCgGSSgzWJN5dhw0u1BWdbw_RrrDK0jfoYS3Ea0YdOSWuTqa00NaDjLlh_illnZXnIgJSWW3a2aoAS3PfK9tq2w/s1600/me+and+new+bike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitIvHvpS09ubXFRrKFjyMH8IZq7UhdfhLklA18sxKVCv7tfNHtUx4OqCgGSSgzWJN5dhw0u1BWdbw_RrrDK0jfoYS3Ea0YdOSWuTqa00NaDjLlh_illnZXnIgJSWW3a2aoAS3PfK9tq2w/s320/me+and+new+bike.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picking up your new dream bike is a serious matter, evidently.</td></tr>
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#1 I know who made it<br />
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A nice young chap called Joe, as a matter of fact. I say "chap" but of course I mean "welding ninja". Titanium framed bikes are relatively scarce partly because to get the bits to stick together you need to weld them while they're bathed in argon gas. A job for the intern? I think not. Joe works at <a href="http://www.enigmabikes.com/">Enigma</a>, a specialist bike manufacturer in Sussex. Without getting too farmers' market-y and artisanal about it I am very attracted to the romantic notion of the expert bike builder. Joe is the one in the grey hoodie in the photo. The other guys - whose names escape me, cut the tubes and finished the bike. <i>Chapeau</i> to them all. Apologies for the garish purple test saddle by the way - the real one will be black.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOUsAxLmDKZCwmJZBWL1XebQlhTYXCfdKYGe98Au4mEgbvVVnhv0kN2AKtOQqnKF0t-ltACf78AriHYfSLAJC6mjRpNKOEaGc1cTZFyfdQZ16AiNzQ1ixf80eooApMvIHQIJSiLYp20WM/s1600/Enigma+team.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOUsAxLmDKZCwmJZBWL1XebQlhTYXCfdKYGe98Au4mEgbvVVnhv0kN2AKtOQqnKF0t-ltACf78AriHYfSLAJC6mjRpNKOEaGc1cTZFyfdQZ16AiNzQ1ixf80eooApMvIHQIJSiLYp20WM/s320/Enigma+team.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Creators and new owner, all doing well</td></tr>
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#2 It cannot be harmed by conventional weapons<br />
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Titanium is good for bike construction because it's light and strong. In recent years, carbon fibre has become <i>de rigeur</i> because it's even lighter. But it's not stronger. I know people whose chainstays have snapped and whose top tubes have cracked. Screw that. Titanium, let's not forget, also gets used to armour plate things. It lasts practically for ever, and it doesn't rust. </div>
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#3 It Is Shiny Like a 1960s Fighter Jet<br />
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<i>Because</i> it doesn't rust, you don't need to paint a titanium frame. Thus while everyone else is doing the dull black thing, or the gaudy graphics thing (is there a less impressive field of graphic design than bike frames? Yes, cricket bats, but anyway) you can flaunt the difference of your machine by showing off the naked metal.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiyvMVFAMUw21-gy36BcbejT2FgiKE7uf13nwmB3de85oEZpVTV1mAfF5-H6ZgPAROAEOX99EN4GHZGFYEFNGUm_ROSPGQON4HJz4EAsQJDPABR1Y2S5AwKSvRhrIPhG93kHW34-FpdWA/s1600/Air_EE+Lightning+XG337_Cosford.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiyvMVFAMUw21-gy36BcbejT2FgiKE7uf13nwmB3de85oEZpVTV1mAfF5-H6ZgPAROAEOX99EN4GHZGFYEFNGUm_ROSPGQON4HJz4EAsQJDPABR1Y2S5AwKSvRhrIPhG93kHW34-FpdWA/s320/Air_EE+Lightning+XG337_Cosford.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shiny. Not flashy.</td></tr>
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# 4 It is unique<br />
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<i>Unlike</i> the M14s in Full Metal Jacket ("there are many others like it but this is mine"), there actually aren't many, or any, others like it. The frame was designed to my measurements by another ninja at Enigma - Mark.<br />
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#5 It has a Chris King headset<br />
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I love a specialist. Chris King make wheel hubs and they make headsets. Theirs are the best. Why? Aaaaah not quite sure (smooth and durable I think). Everyone says they're the best, anyway. And they look really smart. Turns out they do headsets in titanium. Soooooold.<br />
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My bike: it's the best.James Spackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590806198639830354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534611445092889854.post-56442293582268390122012-10-05T03:48:00.000-07:002012-10-05T03:48:55.982-07:00Printing a BookplateI was commissioned by an old friend, C, to make an 'ex libris' bookplate for her husband, J. Her brief was pretty detailed:<br />
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<li>In the style of Eric Gill, because her husband, like all right thinking people, is a massive fan (despite the dog-bothering and so on)</li>
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<li>Featuring a quote from Samuel Beckett, another hero of his: "I know what the words know"</li>
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<li>Depicting a <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">pohutukawa</span><span class="Apple-style-span"> tree, from his native New Zealand</span></li>
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<li>And depicting his whole family.</li>
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That's some kitchen sink brief, but I like a challenge.</div>
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My source material included a book of Gill prints, featuring this little cracker:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6iqEOaiQorgzT3ZYB-S0CI0HzQuDkEtJ29RC-ITN_IsKNO01n82A0TU3KqdNSm3BFZolcPhtsp7KfjiTzkAMv1KVEW0sQuVu_0zUqKpv1pXlwfm4aEN97O80wfKg5aspEL_RERuYf-Vk/s1600/IMG_0389.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6iqEOaiQorgzT3ZYB-S0CI0HzQuDkEtJ29RC-ITN_IsKNO01n82A0TU3KqdNSm3BFZolcPhtsp7KfjiTzkAMv1KVEW0sQuVu_0zUqKpv1pXlwfm4aEN97O80wfKg5aspEL_RERuYf-Vk/s400/IMG_0389.JPG" width="297" /></a></div>
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Google images of the pohutukawa tree:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz7g52C0xSQeGZWKkWCY4p_NAv74WEHNKPw_n1IythL9zsVCGCEkZA0dAREiKUJklWMNkumThm0Dbosrqulo9G2ok3okHoEMzC-tvGqdV-EIurMmZKWjsgdgdxdktSrEMkfvWTyUhZF6Y/s1600/IMG_0390.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz7g52C0xSQeGZWKkWCY4p_NAv74WEHNKPw_n1IythL9zsVCGCEkZA0dAREiKUJklWMNkumThm0Dbosrqulo9G2ok3okHoEMzC-tvGqdV-EIurMmZKWjsgdgdxdktSrEMkfvWTyUhZF6Y/s320/IMG_0390.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div>
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... and my own memory of the back of J's head and those of his family. I don't really do faces (too difficult), but fortunately, J's family have properly distinctive hairdos.</div>
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<b>Stage one:</b></div>
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A massive ripoff of the Gill type style. I particularly like the little diamonds to separate words<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg19lWuk8W9H1d9XT_dzSET4fvrOtg8S0lobN60KtKZYEzwnT7F4MYAj0eFwuTFe_pngqAl9gElifDIJeZeI8PrDfURmG0v5iHB_RXrRcdozqKBWo4JMLTR55-rLcZdxNrLSjqU6MTdL9Q/s1600/IMG_0388.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg19lWuk8W9H1d9XT_dzSET4fvrOtg8S0lobN60KtKZYEzwnT7F4MYAj0eFwuTFe_pngqAl9gElifDIJeZeI8PrDfURmG0v5iHB_RXrRcdozqKBWo4JMLTR55-rLcZdxNrLSjqU6MTdL9Q/s320/IMG_0388.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="238" /></a></div>
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<b>Stage two</b><br />
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Tree and family added</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSoFfceT5IqCuQt3Wpm-2OzrCdjlbHEkV6_aDvY15kA2_-R5d2574hSlXlxiec_C4oXjlCbwPpheqnZfe-Ev3uAODf7tpPjtt-vNtrmqqVT9giOGLSAoTa_95dJH41JbnNIetiI7Z8x24/s1600/IMG_0391.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSoFfceT5IqCuQt3Wpm-2OzrCdjlbHEkV6_aDvY15kA2_-R5d2574hSlXlxiec_C4oXjlCbwPpheqnZfe-Ev3uAODf7tpPjtt-vNtrmqqVT9giOGLSAoTa_95dJH41JbnNIetiI7Z8x24/s320/IMG_0391.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="238" /></a></div>
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Absolutely MASSIVE cockup averted here when C asked that J could<i> join in</i> the family group rather than sit alone, as though in some righteous dadly huff. If she noticed that I'd witlessly copied the Kindle logo she was good enough not to say, but it was a good save in any case.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQoDhOhvkheE8ESpteBKXSBnsxHmewMQOU7JUTgri1N0C6N3QWgixgt2re4_ILEiIAfENKra3eKDdYAHKc1RWXnwc-ZgoUrVTObzmOkZD64nrcPunu0hpUamGD0JYhgLWGjWbML-BJGzM/s1600/kindle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQoDhOhvkheE8ESpteBKXSBnsxHmewMQOU7JUTgri1N0C6N3QWgixgt2re4_ILEiIAfENKra3eKDdYAHKc1RWXnwc-ZgoUrVTObzmOkZD64nrcPunu0hpUamGD0JYhgLWGjWbML-BJGzM/s200/kindle.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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She also correctly pointed out that J looked a bit <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sideshow_Bob">Sideshow Bob</a>. Now his hair really IS that big, but on balance his feet probably aren't a yard long, so I had another go.</div>
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<b>Stage three</b></div>
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The final, un-Simpsons sketch was transferred by The Magic Primary School Tracing Paper Method to a sheet of lino.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfVtq14HnlwdzbMuI8wD46SSU_4ZmEEGrX6h-pSr8KCaoRkvpqF9jUEmOB0-HUJg7XvEBXiZtLGlq-GDCzcFLMU5vWe_8g5yocWARuX2NN4JZPoVYJ3uyLshI5rN8Q_VhGUMvVV_71Yus/s1600/IMG_0393.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfVtq14HnlwdzbMuI8wD46SSU_4ZmEEGrX6h-pSr8KCaoRkvpqF9jUEmOB0-HUJg7XvEBXiZtLGlq-GDCzcFLMU5vWe_8g5yocWARuX2NN4JZPoVYJ3uyLshI5rN8Q_VhGUMvVV_71Yus/s320/IMG_0393.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="239" /></a></div>
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<b>Stage Four</b><br />
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I gouged the lino block<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-wAtcV89CczZw5qeHT4BSfjgGP-RjNrSS06XHFQZB9ykOYhD0vve7GEQOo3I-qRl27L9teDkKqfjgxnbb5VAMK7MjE0uqepg-3kZxae_AfCOktKNzQauTvVs5iGyggvbipyvfozbZKl4/s1600/ex+libris+lino+block.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-wAtcV89CczZw5qeHT4BSfjgGP-RjNrSS06XHFQZB9ykOYhD0vve7GEQOo3I-qRl27L9teDkKqfjgxnbb5VAMK7MjE0uqepg-3kZxae_AfCOktKNzQauTvVs5iGyggvbipyvfozbZKl4/s320/ex+libris+lino+block.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="239" /></a></div>
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... and printed it. Early versions were a bit rough<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg1sXBqkb6cLluotBF8mmPo6PaWVv21UVom-G56VoiNICyFMWxil3o1MXHhtxF6e2Vv7Vb6Doa8-rQDwzvS9l3LqxkPnAf3fXeS6xtQauk49I0U85scqVZskPth4Pov8ZbLXRAcwkHlWo/s1600/IMG_0401.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg1sXBqkb6cLluotBF8mmPo6PaWVv21UVom-G56VoiNICyFMWxil3o1MXHhtxF6e2Vv7Vb6Doa8-rQDwzvS9l3LqxkPnAf3fXeS6xtQauk49I0U85scqVZskPth4Pov8ZbLXRAcwkHlWo/s320/IMG_0401.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="238" /></a><br />
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... but I got there in the end. The fine folks at <a href="http://www.themarstanpress.co.uk/">Marstan Press</a> printed a few hundred on sticky backed matt stock, and the deed was done.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF0EiKiIfl02ZkTVt9p6diQLQVWgEpFYyQTf8ndCVX8iP8KqwChwZch70ge616UJWPgCaPswXMnfepTYR_VzEsokQgCdSb4nxk5CECiv7Oo1PK7fbnTTjPwepAwgxhBQrRj1shTlWAhTg/s1600/ExLibris-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF0EiKiIfl02ZkTVt9p6diQLQVWgEpFYyQTf8ndCVX8iP8KqwChwZch70ge616UJWPgCaPswXMnfepTYR_VzEsokQgCdSb4nxk5CECiv7Oo1PK7fbnTTjPwepAwgxhBQrRj1shTlWAhTg/s400/ExLibris-1.jpg" width="305" /></a></div>
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James Spackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590806198639830354noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534611445092889854.post-46274215929004336302012-07-02T04:29:00.001-07:002012-07-02T04:29:24.310-07:00Under the Hood - Creative Transparency in Publishing<span id="internal-source-marker_0.6984857834358223" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This is a (rather long) version of a talk I gave at the recent Bookseller Creativity Conference.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span id="internal-source-marker_0.6984857834358223" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">There are many problems that loom over publishers these days. Among the loomiest - and most familiar - are these two:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">‘How do we talk directly to readers?’</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">‘How do we show that we matter?’</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We
worry that traditional retail and traditional media are both declining,
so if we want to get our products noticed by people, we can’t rely on
others to do it for us. Most publishers are already talking to readers
direct; but most want to do it more often, and better, and more quickly.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And
in a world of easy self-publishing and agents with disintermediation on
their minds, we publishers feel a pressing need to demonstrate to the
world what exactly it is that we do that’s so excellent and so
worthwhile.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I have a suggestion that might help answer both of these questions: allow the public to see more of what we do. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Not allow them to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">do</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> what
we do: this is not crowdsourcing, in fact it's the exact opposite. It's
about presenting ourselves as experts. Interesting, trustworthy
partners with our authors in the wonderful process that makes good
reading... good.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Of
course I’m not proposing that we lay open everything we do to the gaze
of Johnny Public. Some of it’s too secret. Some of it - with the
greatest of respect to our Bought Ledger department - is too dull. Some
of it’s both.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sometimes,
clearly, opening things up to the public is inappropriate. If you’ve
just spent a quazillion pounds poaching James Patterson, you’re going to
want to look infallible. You don’t want to see staff over-sharing about
the work on Twitter: </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“Totes out of ideas for J-Patz cover!! All these
ones are rank!! ROFL”.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But
that’s not a typical scenario. What’s much more typical is a brand new
author or book which you have to launch from nothing, and frankly
anything that gets the public engaged with it and curious about it is
worth considering. Particularly if that thing might represent better
value than the four-sheet posters you might otherwise be forced to do.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">So
how would this work, practically? How would we interest people and
demonstrate our value by opening up our processes? Fortunately some
publishers are doing fantastic work in this area already, and we can
learn/steal from them.</span> <br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Penguin
do creative transparency very well. Their website features lots of
excellent videos of designers talking about how they made their covers,
along with editors, copywriters (or “blurbistes”) and others.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">My
favourite is actually quite an old one. It’s Coralie Bickford Smith <a href="http://vimeo.com/1817532%20">talking </a>about designing the Gothic Horror novels in the Red Classics
series. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<a href="about:blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></a><br />
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<a href="http://vimeo.com/1817532%20" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv413zRXdmO4iN_lYZ9HKIJqOMzuRs79Pxwl__0oNo2GDR0isadTTDJ-2Eie3BfmiC8-Okc92DYD-hOc9jCiiHC28vt-ac4QgCxP9uY07QXCbKICeUis5WLa63AnY1C5R8fjMOyVhmLh8/s320/coralie.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It
eschews slickness in favour of wit and honesty, and is very, very
charming as a result. And it makes you want to own those books. It
dramatises the creative process, shows you what care and cleverness went
into it. So it helps you realise that the books are worth buying, at a
premium price.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And
the buying bit is key: this is not just done for fun It’s done to
engage readers and also to show our value, so that the reader engagement
turns into sales and the demonstration of worth results in good
acquisitions.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">When
the BBC wanted to build on the success of the series Luther, their main
tactic was to stoke expectation for the second series using a very cool
website. It worked brilliantly - the site was visited by hundreds of
thousands and the second series was much bigger than the first. But the
website feature that kicked it off was simply a picture of the first
page of the script. Massive response.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And
this was an idea that Penguin learned from/stole/just coincidentally
came up with on their own: when they posted a picture of the first page
of the new Zadie Smith manuscript on their fiction blog they got 2,500
views in a day.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Keen
readers, the people who pay our wages, tend to be interested in the
creative and curatorial processes we undertake. I have found this out
visiting three book groups a year, routinely. They all love seeing our
book proofs, seeing the cover visuals that we didn’t use, and hearing
the story of how a book came to be the success it was..</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">More
examples: Orbit’s Lauren Panepinto posted a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoDCiTsS7dU%20">video</a> ages showing a
speeded-up screengrab of her designing the cover of a fantasy novel
called </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Blameless</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoDCiTsS7dU%20"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqN4KmUlZpAH0OLTXhF1Eptrclgs6NgJoOWl-g-4dPwIP_1_q5EZvAh-Av8ljolQNHtd6UXek89MXy4ZURfF1StUe0j_L4_1GwoUB4BuDKi_u0Rzkzpnjus8NlrjZxPe9qbU-gS_6_LOs/s320/blameless.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Publishers,
traditionally, are homework-hiders. We say ‘it’s all about the books’
partly because we’re scared of pushing ourselves forward and being
judged.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But
not in this video. It has a big mistake in it. But no one would get to
the end bit of that video and think “durr, stupid publishers” because
they’re too busy being impressed by the design skills on display. So the
bit where the Eiffel Tower appears a few decades early is funny, and
it’s human, and it goes to emphasise the excellence of everything else.
It might not even be a particularly unique cover, but having watched
the process I kind of love it, and I’d recognise it if I saw it again.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Another
example of exposing the publishing process comes from Osprey, who are
way ahead of most in their direct communication with readers.</span> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">They post things like <a href="http://www.ospreypublishing.com/blog/the_making_of_an_osprey/">this</a> on their blog</span>:<br />
<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU0KZTP9W0rC9D054-BYDL0wGpo0yugaH-l0fC52JHmv1-8nddKzM0cASbN5n6kWe0gKHl2Ysd2IMfz_tAz-R3EaeXgPyBEUnFj6eRKoXL-mHnj2k8pWTgkA1NTrSElLqRxeCNX2dJkxo/s1600/osprey+blog.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU0KZTP9W0rC9D054-BYDL0wGpo0yugaH-l0fC52JHmv1-8nddKzM0cASbN5n6kWe0gKHl2Ysd2IMfz_tAz-R3EaeXgPyBEUnFj6eRKoXL-mHnj2k8pWTgkA1NTrSElLqRxeCNX2dJkxo/s320/osprey+blog.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It’s </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">really
straightforward. It’s just saying “we’re really excited about our new
book on the Great Lakes Warships—” (aren’t we all?) “—here are some
draft sketches from the book in progress”. That’s it. The fans love it
because they get to anticipate the new book and get a frisson of behind
the scenes-ness. The team at Osprey get to remind us that they’re
involved in actually making the thing. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Here’s one of the reader comments this post generated:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“Thanks for sharing. They look great. Illustrations like these show why Osprey’s still the best at what they do.” </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The
amount of reader interaction Osprey get is huge. If they tweet about
cake in the office, followers will ask ‘whose birthday is it??’ But lest
we write those followers off as “nerdy military history stalker types”,
consider that large numbers of them subscribe to the publisher’s
membership scheme for a monthly fee, so they can buy books direct from
them at a discount. Significant direct sales, month in, month out. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A
couple of other examples. Mills and Boon have started doing Google
hangouts where the editor and author talk together about the books
together. And Penguin often get editors and authors on stage together at
literary festivals, also talking about the books almost as partners.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">My lot, Hodder & Stoughton, recently helped our author Lindsey Davis tell part of the story of the creation of her book </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Master and God</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.
Lindsey writes an excellent newsletter for her readers, which we print
for her, and there was a feature in the most recent one about the new
book cover. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><img height="378px;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/gi8bvUb3xR2DEmeM0o9E5CzVCdfj9eIaR4SHWLsJJJRBomP2zPUMvmeAWeCDjLQu-2jQdGcx8m6rLHjvzZA63yXh3uehOnCqHDh7x3GwCMbmfMGR8Q" width="246px;" /><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It
begins “I prepared a brief which said “the themes are paranoia,
survival through friendship and love and corruption as signalled by the
leitmotif of a fly. I admit paranoia must be awkward to draw”. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">She
goes on to describe the back and forth of the creative negotiation that
led to the cover. Her inspirations, the designer’s response, her
feedback. The photographer, it turns out, auditioned several fake dead
flies before finding a real dead fly who was perfect.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">She ends on “I just thought my readers would like to know that”. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">So,
we can make videos about the creative process, we can blog work in
progress, we can enlist the author to talk about their interaction with
the publishing team. All interesting, all involving, all - if you’ll
forgive the verbcrime – ‘surfacing the value add’.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What else can we try to take this further?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Anyone
who’s ever been to a digital innovation conference will have seen the
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1bEOtpqYpA">video</a> showing how they made the Sony Bravia TV ad. The ad featured
thousands of colourful bouncy balls bouncing down the streets of San
Francisco. I’m sure I’m not alone in being more entertained by the
footage of the guys filling massive air cannons full of bouncy balls at
dawn than in the ad itself.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><img height="378px;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/J7rs4KVfL1ZFhsa3As-jIY70n5sPiVQBhtX1o9loA7A65xzIeWgFydvv3wTdndG1YwI4--Udaavbo67LK0qUfizpL0MExNW9UjbSli7Y3A8ByU1sBA" width="588px;" /><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1bEOtpqYpA"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></a><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">So, book <a href="http://theblackpooltower.blogspot.co.uk/2009_08_01_archive.html">marketers</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> next time someone comes up to you and says “can we do a trailer for
this novel? Something really filmic, yeah?”: do it, but consider also
shooting a little homemade documentary of the process of making that
trailer. Talk about what you’re trying to say about the book. Why you
love it and what you’re trying to convey about it. Talk about the
choices you make and the ideas you didn’t use. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Also:
the next time your author, or an actor, is recording an audio book, why
not try videoing that, to show how that fascinating process works? Not
so much the technical aspect, but artistically.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Another
thought: People who write copy do a very creative job. An undervalued
one, as I seem to have <a href="http://theblackpooltower.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/power-of-blurb.html">insisted</a> before.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Say
you had a week to write the best possible blurb for your new literary
smash. What would happen if you committed to blogging a draft of it
every day of that week, with a short explanation of why you’re trying
this approach, what aspect of the work you’re focussing on... and
inviting comment on whether it works?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The
ultimate laying open of the publishing process would of course be to
put a manuscript online, complete with the author’s and editor’s
comments and changes, or all to see. Most authors would loathe this
idea, and most editors too. But don’t assume it’ll never happen. I bet
there are authors who </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">would</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
do it. And if an author is happy to reveal that process of mediation
and refinement in which the editor is a vital partner, then why wouldn’t
the editor in question be up for it too? “Because it’s weird!” I know.
But still.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I’d
like to emphasise at this point that I do recognise that all of those
ideas represent hours of work and effort, some of it quite
uncomfortable. And no one has spare time on their hands. But I would
urge you to consider the strategic importance of communicating
interestingly, direct to readers, and demonstrating the worth of
publishers. Keen readers are interested in this stuff, as we’ve seen. So
let’s make use of that interest.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Think
about the big book for next spring you’re most passionate about as a
company. The one about which you’re saying, “We’ve got to do everything
for it. Like </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">When God Was a Rabbit</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. Like </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Passage</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.”.
Then imagine you decided to tell the story of that publication as it’s
happening. How well would you come across as a company, as a group of
committed, creative people? How great would the book look? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Challenge
your corporate reticence. Be proud. Find clever ways to show the world
the creative role you play in the life of bestselling books. It’s not
about shouting about your results, it’s about revealing your expertise.</span>James Spackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590806198639830354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534611445092889854.post-29425494674995375192012-05-10T09:35:00.001-07:002012-05-10T09:35:46.019-07:00Guest Post: Jamie d'Ath of The Unsamaritans Book Club<div>
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fathers-Sons-Oxford-Worlds-Classics/dp/019953604X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336667693&sr=1-1"><strong>Father and Sons, Ivan Turgenev</strong></a></div>
<div>
<strong>Venue: Jamie and Katie’s</strong></div>
<div>
<strong></strong> </div>
<div>
When a show of hands was called to see who had read the book and only two
arms were raised, it seemed the discussion would be done and dusted in 5
minutes. Surprisingly though there was a very interesting and well contributed
to discussion. </div>
<div>
To recap, Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev written in the mid-19th century
uses generational conflict to explore the changing demographics and social
structure within Russian society post the Crimean War. A relatively short book,
Turgenev nevertheless manages to create some complex yet believable characters
which give the reader a valuable insight into an important period of Russian
history.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
GT opened up the discussion with a vivid description of him turning the
final pages whilst lying resplendent in his silk bed robe listening to the rain
tap dancing on his veranda. His succinct view was that Turgenev’s novel was as
relevant today as it was 150 years ago. To be honest most of us were still
digesting the big man in his silk robe but Sarah managed to step in kick off the
discussion on the meat of the book; the characters. Bazarov, understandably got
the most air time. Despicable, dull, superficial, loathsome, crass, insincere
were words thrown up to describe his supposedly unflinching commitment to
nihilism, or was that about Marshall? It was widely agreed that conviction to
nihilism was sorely tested and broken by his unrequited love for Madame
whatsherface. The rationale being, how can you be truly nihilistic if you felt
an emotion as strong and irrational as love? Ergo great idea, bad execution pal.
The suggestion was that Turgenev was trying to subtly mock the boldness and
uncompromising nature of youth which mellows and faces compromise over time.
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Frances posed the question, after the savaging of young Bazzy, who was the
most likeable character? Arkady seemed to get the nod for his more conciliatory
and reasoned approach to life. He was a nihilist but realised the limitations of
the movement in its absolute form. Madame whatsherface got an honourable
mention, brought to the fore by James S, but I think that was more recognition
for the depth and complexity of her character at a time when woman in literature
were painted as stereotypical figures. A certain sympathy was felt for Vasily,
Bazarov’s father, who has a realistic perspective on his position in society and
whilst is keen for change, understands the need for a link to the past. In
contrast Pavel, was felt to be a bit of a pompous plonker.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
What came out in the discussion was the impact on the reader of the
different translations. Depending on which publication the respective members of
the group had read, there was a subtle difference in how the language was
handled. Marshall reckoned there was too much use of the word “mate” and felt
that was more appropriate for a south Queensland mining tavern than common speak
of mid-19th Century Russians. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
The “where are they now” technique was met with mixed reviews. Frances felt
it was a little crude but pulled the story together whilst GT thought it worked
well in this instance. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Katie treated us to a couple of lines in Russian which contrasted somewhat
to GT’s silk robe imagery and helped us contextualise the novel. I think the
general consensus was that Fathers and Sons was a good choice and an interesting
read, which gave contemporary readers a realistic landscape from which to
explore the changing dynamic of Russian society. </div>
<div>
Honourable mention must go to the bringers of food which went down a treat.
Thank you.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Next month’s book club is The Finkler Question. Let’s not do a
Figures…..</div>James Spackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590806198639830354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534611445092889854.post-62016634933585699982012-04-20T13:39:00.000-07:002012-04-20T13:41:48.676-07:00The Hippy KazooI have little time for the hippy aesthetic, so when we pitched up with the kids in a woodland skills workshop in the shadow of Screel Hill in Dumfrieshire, I was a bit put off by the tie-died baggy trousers and unlaced combat boots. Worse was to come: we'd arrived just in time for the group exercises. Kids being invited to hide under a tarp in the middle of a circle of people, then grow into a beautiful flower when we chanted their name. B, perfectly sensibly, declared himself out. As did a growing number of other kids. In fact, as ... was it Phoebe? later admitted, the more group bonding games she tried, the faster people fled.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Fortunately at this point, Phoebe dispensed with the cheesy games and introduced us all to the thing that this lot did best: making good things from wood. Their camp testified to this ability: one extremely handsome cabin made from naturally-shaped logs, joined with pegs and walled with wattle and daub. Exactly the same construction methods as used in the Globe theatre.<br />
<br />
They gave B a project: make a kazoo out of a hazel branch and two rubber bands. Here's how it's done:<br />
<br />
1) Take one seven year old boy, hand him a (troublingly large and sharp) saw. Bid him saw about three inches off the branch.<br />
<br />
2) Hand boy a (troublingly large and sharp) knife. Bid him split the wood lengthwise.<br />
<br />
3) He then scrapes the blade down the middle bit of each interior face of the wood, to create a shallow depression.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT30UjSEKoIcCMxj3-9_wgo_HoyA0pOoTeT31it6hKhIvag9bRgxCo98YKMX0oiB0RXZkZmupJPlgAjcYt4KfN4wW-NVUu-gNI0WklBfwz2RT8AgFIEHgQuPub31-bI0KBgsirpd1JiHM/s1600/hazel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT30UjSEKoIcCMxj3-9_wgo_HoyA0pOoTeT31it6hKhIvag9bRgxCo98YKMX0oiB0RXZkZmupJPlgAjcYt4KfN4wW-NVUu-gNI0WklBfwz2RT8AgFIEHgQuPub31-bI0KBgsirpd1JiHM/s320/hazel.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
4) Then he wraps a rubber band lengthwise round one bit of wood, sandwiches both bits together and fastens with another rubber band, and also some little ones round the ends just to be sure.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJVK1n_FuUu6XxYhawaOuX5JF9gzWr8LjPlEEDozb7PON7FW0fWS6BSl8OcI8HudTM3qVP8RKZ7qM2o-fQHNoariRkWYRzBLtZDO-WI1UHOvxmYJONMDiiW3RZvtG2tn4Df-sL59Kei28/s1600/kazoo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJVK1n_FuUu6XxYhawaOuX5JF9gzWr8LjPlEEDozb7PON7FW0fWS6BSl8OcI8HudTM3qVP8RKZ7qM2o-fQHNoariRkWYRzBLtZDO-WI1UHOvxmYJONMDiiW3RZvtG2tn4Df-sL59Kei28/s320/kazoo.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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<br />
5) He places his mouth over the hole, blows, creates amusing honking noise, laughs head off.<br />
<br />
There you are. Thank you clever hippies.</div>James Spackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590806198639830354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534611445092889854.post-86772076926104387022012-03-26T06:57:00.001-07:002012-03-26T06:59:55.407-07:00Guest Post: Geoffrey Thomas of The Unsamaritans Book Club<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Blue-Flower-Penelope-Fitzgerald/dp/0006550193/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332770346&sr=1-1"><b><span style="font-family:Calibri;">The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald</span></b></a></p> <p><b><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">Introduction </span></span></b></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">Following our book group discussion of ‘The Blue Flower’,James asked me to put together a review. I do so with a certain apprehension because nothing I write will do justice to the subtleties, flavours and textures of this remarkable novel which opens up the smallest window on a period of European cultural history and of lives truly led. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">I have little doubt that some readers will be left feeling dissatisfied or short-changed by ‘The Blue Flower’. Penelope Fitzgerald does not do exposition and her sparing style means she frequently asks the reader to fill in the blanks. Moreover, with a minimum of help from her, if we are to walk alongside ‘The Blue Flower’, we are expected to suspend moral judgment and to immerse ourselves in a time and place where new ideas, philosophy, scientific method, death and transfiguration are common currency. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">Reading ‘The Blue Flower’ is like sitting under the wand of a magician, but it is not always an easy road to travel.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">Those of you who have already read ‘The Blue Flower’ may disagree with much of what follows because in addressing the central and to some, baffling question that lies at the heart of the book, I reach a conclusion that may be wide of the mark. Indeed, it would not surprise me if Miss Fitzgerald is looking down on me now as I write, gently shaking her head and saying “decent try Geoffrey, but wrong, wrong, wrong”.</span></span></p> <p><b><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">Review</span></span></b></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">It is generally accepted that ‘The Blue Flower’ is the story of the formative years of eighteenth century German Romantic poet Novalis (Friedrich von Hardenberg or ‘Fritz’) who falls in love with twelve year old Sophie von Kuhn. That the two of them had nothing in common, were of dissimilar temperaments and of wildly different intellects gives this short novel its narrative drive. However, the relationship between Fritz and Sophie also provides us, as readers, with our biggest challenge, namely, that the author resolutely refuses to offer a quick-fix explanation as to why Fritz became so besotted with Sophie, a rather plain looking twelve year old girl. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">But so multi-layered is ‘The Blue Flower’ that as soon I came up with a plausible explanation to this conundrum, then it suddenly hit me- this is not what the book is really about at all. It is actually Sophie who is the moral fulcrum of ‘The Blue Flower’ and not Fritz. </span></span></p> <p><b><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">Fritz</span></span></b></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">We know that von Hardenberg became the famous poet Novalis, but my suspicion is that Miss Fitzgerald sees him in far more prosaic terms. She views Fritz as an impetuous, emotionally immature, rather naïve young man convinced of the notion of a ‘soul mate’ (in today’s parlance) and love at first sight. And although Miss Fitzgerald understands that Fritz is not a fool, in her eyes, he is clearly foolish. He compares Sophie to the self-portrait by Raphael , he seeks to have her educated and he tries to attribute to her poetry and a culture which is clearly not part of her make-up Fritz treats Sophie as an empty vessel that he can fill-up with Romantic ideals, but in reality, it is he that is the empty vessel.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">Through the arrogance and impetuosity of youth, Fritz’s declared love for Sophie creates havoc and much of the second half of ‘The Blue Flower’ is about the fall-out from the emotional havoc that Fritz has created all around him But here Miss Fitzgerald performs an almost imperceptible sleight-of hand – amid all this chaos, the focus of the novel shifts from Fritz to Sophie. And it is only when Sophie takes centre stage do we realise how shallow Fritz actually is. </span></span></p> <p><b><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">Sophie </span></span></b></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">If there is an irony in ‘The Blue Flower’ it is that Fritz is right in his instincts about Sophie, but because of his obsession with the Romantic ideal and selfish notion of love, he fails to see Sophie’s true quality. The person who can see Sophie’s quality is Fritz’s brother Erasmus who, like the reader, moves from being baffled as to why his brother has fallen headlong in love with this girl to falling in love with her himself. And it is Erasmus who is the instance of the fingerpost in ‘The Blue Flower’.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">I suggested that Miss Fitzgerald asks her readers to fill in the blanks. What was it about Sophie that drew Erasmus to her?</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Calibri;"><span style="font-size:100%;">This is the true miracle of ‘The Blue Flower’. Without overtly parading Sophie before us and whilst ostensibly still writing a book about the early years of Germany’s most famous Romantic poet, the author shifts our perception of Sophie from a plain and unremarkable girl to someone who has a simple beauty; to someone who is humorous, honest, self-deprecating and brave. For all of von Hardenberg’s musings about love and beauty, the most telling chapters in the book are the ones which describe how Sophie bears her illness with a dignity, a calm and quiet fortitude, refusing to be needy or selfish by asking Fritz to come to her side when she is dying. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">In the final analysis, it is Sophie that has the purity and a moral compass which for all Fritz’s fine words, he does not possess. </span></span></p> <p><b><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">Postscript</span></span></b></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">I suspect that whatever someone writes tells you as much about them as it does the subject they write about. Reading what I have just written I am forced to address one pertinent question – why have I given Fritz such a hard time? The answer of course, is that I see much of him in me –emotionally reckless, abidingly selfish and immature to a degree that is just about permissible in the fledgling career of one of Europe’s great Romantic poets, but is little short of pathetic in a fifty-three year old man.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">I do have a nice turn of phrase though. </span></span></p> <p><br /><br /></p>James Spackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590806198639830354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534611445092889854.post-33949378397434360022012-02-20T02:52:00.004-08:002012-04-18T04:42:34.997-07:00Shelf o'Glory - Joe AbercrombieMy colleagues are collecting pics of prized book collections on the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/hodderscape">Hodderscape Facebook page</a>. Here's mine:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguACLM6gpvh1kBZxFbOuPcAeaXfXXpeQZ6gNxsVOR3m6dB3_HA5-csULQZ80rJT994pd9OqJszy0g0oJh-VH-fgLYyEb_fhi89N2IxoBjYUFzvkCWNkYmaY7BhcolU4bU2eNBOB8o9vDw/s1600/abercrombie+shelf.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguACLM6gpvh1kBZxFbOuPcAeaXfXXpeQZ6gNxsVOR3m6dB3_HA5-csULQZ80rJT994pd9OqJszy0g0oJh-VH-fgLYyEb_fhi89N2IxoBjYUFzvkCWNkYmaY7BhcolU4bU2eNBOB8o9vDw/s400/abercrombie+shelf.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5711170934436624466" border="0" /></a><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> <w:usefelayout/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif][if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif][if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif][if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">You'll notice that my Shelf of Glory is both small and schizophrenic, running to a mere five fantasy books before coming over all cycling-y.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Truth is, I'm not a fantasy reader. I was, in my teenage years; the books, the RPGs, White Dwarf magazine, the lot. But when I hit the pseudy, chin-stroking student phase, I gave it all up.</p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal">Then last year a friend suggested, nay, <i>insisted</i> I read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The Blade Itself</i>. It looked more like a military historical novel - a genre I'm partial to - than fantasy, so I <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>got stuck in. The title, incidentally, is taken from a brilliantly ominous line from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The Odyssey</i>: "The blade itself incites to deeds of violence".</p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">From the first line of dialogue ("shit", charmingly) I knew I was reading something distinctive. Six books later, I’m a fully paid up fan. </span><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal">The Abercrombie novels conform to a conventional fantasy setup in many cases (rag-tag band of misfits on a quest; weakling son redeems himself as a hero etc) but that’s a deliberate ploy: a self-imposed genre boundary to play with, and sometimes undermine.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The quality I most prize in these books is I think a very English one. I seem to remember from the chin-stroking college days that it's called bathos. Abercrombie deploys his wit to undermine pomposity and pretention, both in his characters and in the genre. For example: </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">"Evidently there was more to being a king than fine clothes, a haughty manner, and always getting the biggest chair".<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal">When someone dies, they are invariably said to have gone "back to the mud", but even while alive they seem metaphorically unable to escape from its clutches. The world view of these novels, along with their dialogue, is brilliantly earthy. As a result, you’re not distanced from the characters, as you can be, reading fantasy; in fact you feel their humanity, and you laugh along ruefully with them.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Another huge attraction of these books is the presence of a brilliant antihero - <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Sand dan Glokta – and that’s something they share with a new series we're publishing by Daniel Polansky called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Low Town</i>. The Warden is basically a hard as nails fantasy drug dealer, who’s done his time in the army and is busy trying to balance survival in a hard (indeed Low) town, investigation of murders by beings from another dimension and the impulse to get stoned. And why wouldn’t you want to read that? <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Low</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"> Town</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">: The Straight Razor Cure</i>. Read it – it’s good.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>James Spackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590806198639830354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534611445092889854.post-12913571836646765432011-12-11T00:55:00.000-08:002011-12-19T06:11:56.649-08:00Donkey and Lamb and Baby Jesus Christmas Card Lino PrintI made a Christmas card for my Mum again this year. Slightly different style to our own card. For one thing, it's roughly 100% more Christian, and it's also simpler and more graphic.<div><br /></div><div>Last year's card for Mum was a stylised depiction of Mary and Joseph, inspired by the wooden figures in the old family crib. This year I started with a sketch of three of the actual figures. A handsome, if hungry-looking, donkey, an astonished lamb with a substantial <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">underbite</span>, and Baby Jesus himself, carved by my Dad, if I remember rightly.</div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgul76Qp2Q8QF64OuiE_pujvztcjbya4Mbi8DoFPlp9474V2lJ5VATfl4PeJH0ofXGHE1luqdtr-JiJzTNkIw3HmAfeIdz_rj7fY_J7ZvZbRrAAwnGFDzj4irSYrssaq8a5mIREXjawtoo/s1600/Donkey.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgul76Qp2Q8QF64OuiE_pujvztcjbya4Mbi8DoFPlp9474V2lJ5VATfl4PeJH0ofXGHE1luqdtr-JiJzTNkIw3HmAfeIdz_rj7fY_J7ZvZbRrAAwnGFDzj4irSYrssaq8a5mIREXjawtoo/s400/Donkey.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684795036540524834" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 308px; " border="0" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>I think it's turned out nice, but the project has had a traumatic epilogue: at some point during his stay in our house the donkey had his leg snapped off (and lost). I feel horribly guilty about this, and have embarked upon a complex prosthetic treatment which has so far involved some <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Copydex</span> and a chop stick (whittled) and will probably involve staining with tea at some point. Pray for him. Or not, depending how Hitchens you're feeling right now.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdus4EW60m0Zvr9bb9yaElGjABTkdVcvJ0vbsgXUs47-qaIEhyNr2NevHE7h_GY-5DnC0u7E6b05jc3uVxLsAzF4c9Y6EVv892y2BCOtiBMtbPZ9nqsC63JYRj7wiaefQKjGNeGA_uSMg/s1600/donkey+leg.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdus4EW60m0Zvr9bb9yaElGjABTkdVcvJ0vbsgXUs47-qaIEhyNr2NevHE7h_GY-5DnC0u7E6b05jc3uVxLsAzF4c9Y6EVv892y2BCOtiBMtbPZ9nqsC63JYRj7wiaefQKjGNeGA_uSMg/s400/donkey+leg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684795534732385298" style="cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 400px; " border="0" /></a></div><div><br /></div>James Spackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590806198639830354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534611445092889854.post-44722795157063490522011-12-07T09:37:00.000-08:002011-12-19T06:09:12.606-08:00Mistletoe Christmas Card Lino PrintMy Christmas card usually refers to something we did as a family during the year. This one takes a bit of explaining.<br /><br />At Easter we made a trip to S's mum's place in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Dumfrieshire</span>, and were joined by my old friend L and her family. One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to <a href="http://www.creamogalloway.co.uk/">Cream o' Galloway</a>. A dairy farm for generations, it has evolved into a very contemporary outfit with excellent environmental and animal welfare credentials. They draw masses of visitors for their two big attractions: an ice cream factory and a kids' adventure park. The latter is so good that B, after a blast round the pedal go-kart track, and in context of a conversation about his late grandfather, declared "I'd like my ashes scattered at Cream <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">o'Galloway</span>".<br /><br />It was a big highlight of the holiday for both families, so I was delighted when L turned up to see us some months later, holding an earthenware cream pot from Cream o' Galloway, presumably <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">pre</span>-war, which she'd happened upon at a car boot sale in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Colchester</span>.<div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjar9ZcU0RjAhXwhjbxjSmnphiGawb4FCUIko-nny3aMjBFQR2k_pY4mTwE0B2rikXo9IgJmfX0M26yIfmF7zyLw_LR4Ale0_YkojnsdyqHyC1dSXY9LpLLJzo65DQKQceV8kjxDgigL6g/s1600/IMG_0891.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjar9ZcU0RjAhXwhjbxjSmnphiGawb4FCUIko-nny3aMjBFQR2k_pY4mTwE0B2rikXo9IgJmfX0M26yIfmF7zyLw_LR4Ale0_YkojnsdyqHyC1dSXY9LpLLJzo65DQKQceV8kjxDgigL6g/s400/IMG_0891.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684791083124427602" style="cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px; " border="0" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div>S suggested it would be a handsome subject for our Christmas card, perhaps with the addition of some mistletoe. </div><div><br /></div><div>This would have been tricky in October, but for the kindness of a chap called Simon at the <a href="http://www.englishmistletoecompany.co.uk/index.html">English Mistletoe Company</a>. The stuff doesn't normally go on sale till much later, so when I called the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">EMC</span> to buy some, they told me none of it was ready; it was <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">berryless</span>. Excellently, though, when I explained what I was doing, Simon found their first couple of sprigs of mistletoe with berries on and posted them to me for the card. </div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIwxC3hBLoWAb01b5TT8bBcELMh_yVro5LO5LjOaKXZnS1lNBPZRvr1Sjgj8vqwRQ2Aaip9taYAYFv9K8dGOfigEBwJv1-eQ4nErt21yCgLH3pA_yc5wHTjj-yggB2etRylqfwrpBUP3I/s1600/Mistletoe.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIwxC3hBLoWAb01b5TT8bBcELMh_yVro5LO5LjOaKXZnS1lNBPZRvr1Sjgj8vqwRQ2Aaip9taYAYFv9K8dGOfigEBwJv1-eQ4nErt21yCgLH3pA_yc5wHTjj-yggB2etRylqfwrpBUP3I/s400/Mistletoe.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684790722031198418" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 309px; " border="0" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>I'm really happy with the card. I knew that some of the fine lettering wouldn't be legible, but I was determined to try to render it all, somehow, and I think a decent proportion of it comes out. The leaves are nicely shaped, and overall it has a subtly <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Christmassy</span> and very two thousand and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">eleveny</span> feel for me.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div>James Spackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590806198639830354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534611445092889854.post-54466866524052043702011-10-27T11:58:00.000-07:002011-10-27T13:18:27.656-07:00#LinocabinsOne of the finest parts of our truly fine holiday in Canada two summers ago was a stay at <a href="http://www.oceanvillageresort.com/">Ocean Village</a> beach resort in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Tofino</span>, on the west coast of Vancouver Island. It's clean, it's friendly, and it's composed of upside-down-boat-shaped cabins with timber ends and shingled roofs (which are also the sides). But most importantly for us, it's partly owned by my brother in law R. He moved to Vancouver in the 80s and has managed to do ethical and environmental property development in a way I find extremely admirable. He's also, my wife informed me over the summer, a perfect <i>bugger</i> to buy a present for. <div><br /></div><div>So she asked me to make a print depicting Ocean Village for R's 50<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">th</span> birthday, and here's how it went.</div><div><br /></div><div>Firstly I composed a scene of cabin+trees+mountains which was a blend of my own photos and the rather <a href="http://www.oceanvillageresort.com/gallery/">finer ones</a> on the Ocean Village site.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'd never based a lino print on a black key line (I think that's the right term) before, but I admire lots of printers who work, or worked, in that style, not least the rightly unavoidable <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=edward+bawden&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&prmd=imvnso&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=1bupTvHYMsiV8QPihK2cCw&ved=0CEsQsAQ&biw=1272&bih=617&sei=%2027upTr2DFsnX8gPcm8WMCw">Edward <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Bawden</span></a>. I suppose it allows you to get the best of both lino worlds: graphic boldness and multiple colours.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, the key line was made like this:</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOJQPURnPIBNoh8jfOdUMff_mZcpPCEsh0mvcT8pJTXXxW37APCG8zfAfLEmpxesUUeTwyt9Io4SMU7JgsMHHhXTfrrVJFtXWd-fMkxC9fdNxAZehA_XD4_6ojKi5pXIhyizHnEAo6NzA/s1600/IMG_0843.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOJQPURnPIBNoh8jfOdUMff_mZcpPCEsh0mvcT8pJTXXxW37APCG8zfAfLEmpxesUUeTwyt9Io4SMU7JgsMHHhXTfrrVJFtXWd-fMkxC9fdNxAZehA_XD4_6ojKi5pXIhyizHnEAo6NzA/s400/IMG_0843.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668266747229914402" style="cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px; " /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>... and, once printed, looked like this:</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijebzgfQNOWiY4P-EYfOCZACuaA32eyEgBf2BHyfWy-ckVxN4AKjA94oKQPrcKQOhH-mLF3Ix92TNd0JAXwZ3T19qYeMkAKy1nwP6ENYE0MtVyJSxdrTrhRdxy6mGBMN-8DtRSWZQ_5CI/s1600/IMG_0866.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijebzgfQNOWiY4P-EYfOCZACuaA32eyEgBf2BHyfWy-ckVxN4AKjA94oKQPrcKQOhH-mLF3Ix92TNd0JAXwZ3T19qYeMkAKy1nwP6ENYE0MtVyJSxdrTrhRdxy6mGBMN-8DtRSWZQ_5CI/s400/IMG_0866.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668266751888622354" style="cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px; " /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Then I realised I ought to print that last, so I did two colour prints:</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihKm6DakwdC6StBngqrBqIBQChsVLTRlTZEg4a_54kazEpqlI0zZTB-PrFPyoaJB6dpGBsZqlx8oXdWBhRYY0b4ufUOO8tcXfuraULGcPgfuuxbYN0Eyio-Z-3QgyVe70oN4-JZId6Ayc/s1600/IMG_0877.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihKm6DakwdC6StBngqrBqIBQChsVLTRlTZEg4a_54kazEpqlI0zZTB-PrFPyoaJB6dpGBsZqlx8oXdWBhRYY0b4ufUOO8tcXfuraULGcPgfuuxbYN0Eyio-Z-3QgyVe70oN4-JZId6Ayc/s400/IMG_0877.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668266764754791746" style="cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px; " /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>and bunged the black on last:</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDdjAzyotHdpFvTsI0k4jBzUSTw3nh9PUphIvG6X15Cpl80Xzj5f2Rr0yYXHZxjv0QnbNGZeeBhwTBA-Mu7ay-acvVLlP7t4XpF3oo7yqMExyv6cZFqnZeF6YLAqRtrWumB85vDx5QgdQ/s1600/IMG_0878.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDdjAzyotHdpFvTsI0k4jBzUSTw3nh9PUphIvG6X15Cpl80Xzj5f2Rr0yYXHZxjv0QnbNGZeeBhwTBA-Mu7ay-acvVLlP7t4XpF3oo7yqMExyv6cZFqnZeF6YLAqRtrWumB85vDx5QgdQ/s400/IMG_0878.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668266768920553698" style="cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px; " /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I really like the design, and I'm happy to have nailed the registration, though I'm still mystified at that patch of paleness caused by some irregularity in the pressure of my press, I assume. And I'm not that happy with the colours, truth be told. I have such poor judgement of colour. These multi-layer jobs always look too deep and dark to me, once done. Hey ho, S liked it and R liked it, so job done.</div>James Spackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590806198639830354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534611445092889854.post-70676418946756682582011-09-10T11:59:00.000-07:002011-09-10T13:08:37.661-07:00LinofishMy lovely friend L asked me some months ago if I'd do a lino print for her 40<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">th</span> birthday. Naturally I wasn't paying attention, so I accidentally undertook this commission a year early.<div><br /></div><div>The subject was a piece of art I've admired for years: a grouping of four driftwood fish created by L's mother, which hangs above the fireplace in the family's cottage in Suffolk.</div><div><br /></div><div> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbyd0023ioVSqW2yuqJ1u4yYs_8slTB7gMzptCU0dQCT0Z8LC3IgLLtUUwNrmppCMT6mTyenC-rgFXa9GJJS6msxGvIAvW0oGmu1dpkxoceZXRGuwcTaee3yTAtUv16UDQ26TZRKU5bwA/s400/IMG_0486.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5650810744845261554" style="cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px; " /></div><div><br /></div><div>Most of my prints are made over a number of weeks, with odd evenings and chunks of weekends here and there, but I had the blissful experience of doing most of this on one day, because S had taken the kids to Scotland. I spent the entire day printing, baking and listening to the Test match, and if you think that sounds middle aged ... then you're right, but sod it.</div><div><br /></div><div>The other novelty for me was tweeting my progress, which led to lots of nice reaction to my #<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">linofish</span> tagged pics from @<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">jbsurrey</span> @<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">wayfaringreader</span> @<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">ifiwasacupcake</span> @<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">iamamro</span> and @<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">vicnicolas</span> (my sister, in truth).</div><div><br /></div><div>First came the sketch. Quite straight. Bit simplified:</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgIKdo9AQFj0ENOt5mOmiqqJnC_u1i_MvjrYQFW1emohMIjZLLKNBO_-3wN4K8PQH6FSjHVXXZpFK3sy70mCpJDwgYk2kvc9nJ6sVf7UPDVI5-HGXJwROaSrZWOyWCaCSV-dYkSlRYtnk/s1600/IMG_0684.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgIKdo9AQFj0ENOt5mOmiqqJnC_u1i_MvjrYQFW1emohMIjZLLKNBO_-3wN4K8PQH6FSjHVXXZpFK3sy70mCpJDwgYk2kvc9nJ6sVf7UPDVI5-HGXJwROaSrZWOyWCaCSV-dYkSlRYtnk/s400/IMG_0684.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5650817539798766722" style="cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px; " /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>... transferred onto lino using that classic tracing paper rubbing technique which has served me well since primary school:</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgag6f9V-I2u9IjFDouT6LW8EWXhDsqntrl0FNa3v_lzP3vGWE3S06f4XiWibs__FwT0TvLl53BkHbxHT0OxHVkqh8behr742g-WP7JD4b924bxHZgo3cB65YDjqi9o7aSGVgFfFC86MH8/s1600/IMG_0685.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgag6f9V-I2u9IjFDouT6LW8EWXhDsqntrl0FNa3v_lzP3vGWE3S06f4XiWibs__FwT0TvLl53BkHbxHT0OxHVkqh8behr742g-WP7JD4b924bxHZgo3cB65YDjqi9o7aSGVgFfFC86MH8/s400/IMG_0685.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5650817541497812674" style="cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px; " /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>First layer (of three) gouged and ready to ink:</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Wf5CmsdWAujQoIuzpjkkTLM0-M8o8qoAxUjL5lgsLhqh6TPlvvljVlzt4K8Q6d495LRj94gidi6vSLO893Xn5PcTDZXOIaCmK89IMVgEltWhp4z4fFel93z6MOJ6QupiMrO4VJv2GSQ/s1600/IMG_0686.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Wf5CmsdWAujQoIuzpjkkTLM0-M8o8qoAxUjL5lgsLhqh6TPlvvljVlzt4K8Q6d495LRj94gidi6vSLO893Xn5PcTDZXOIaCmK89IMVgEltWhp4z4fFel93z6MOJ6QupiMrO4VJv2GSQ/s400/IMG_0686.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5650817544751797522" style="cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px; " /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Out with the inks (in their lovely new box, found at a car boot sale):</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9zqsEO_5eb-FTvVienV8o7ta0l_Dfv11CJ2dTTV6y8ZWONgByE7tsL57B1lc0YsCIeP1KBOaW07sFLsrNGjOH1SYh5R-C7aVOBybnJU6dNBogaCdrQ9233fa0VyOeE0onE7C5WuDrgfo/s1600/IMG_0687.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9zqsEO_5eb-FTvVienV8o7ta0l_Dfv11CJ2dTTV6y8ZWONgByE7tsL57B1lc0YsCIeP1KBOaW07sFLsrNGjOH1SYh5R-C7aVOBybnJU6dNBogaCdrQ9233fa0VyOeE0onE7C5WuDrgfo/s400/IMG_0687.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5650817549398291730" style="cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px; " /></a></div><div>First layer, inked:</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmKI-Dir7-0fw9YDprg-4hTNSbfRGkA4QoliVRVyW7Qa5IGqTeizXQJbi-ITPMbLr-3gvPvfJrplR8HXX4b8AsFx-1ZrYxlB8PZNXihJEaqFRksKKOCwDmv03EQCrx4CL_ZkO0THJZsF8/s1600/IMG_0688.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmKI-Dir7-0fw9YDprg-4hTNSbfRGkA4QoliVRVyW7Qa5IGqTeizXQJbi-ITPMbLr-3gvPvfJrplR8HXX4b8AsFx-1ZrYxlB8PZNXihJEaqFRksKKOCwDmv03EQCrx4CL_ZkO0THJZsF8/s400/IMG_0688.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5650817556293001298" style="cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px; " /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Out comes the press:</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVMTOb7Cahv0RMAn-Hfb0kEFSd7AtfyYnylSWIH_I9Kgd4u_BW9WFysK9B7edGe4I0lMUqOMlnqSpfHcZ23Ba9pV8X1VmQNkpA8J94MuiTk3F5vrbcSdAHABuyg_WRdUVF75XPLCT8Xts/s1600/IMG_0689.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVMTOb7Cahv0RMAn-Hfb0kEFSd7AtfyYnylSWIH_I9Kgd4u_BW9WFysK9B7edGe4I0lMUqOMlnqSpfHcZ23Ba9pV8X1VmQNkpA8J94MuiTk3F5vrbcSdAHABuyg_WRdUVF75XPLCT8Xts/s400/IMG_0689.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5650819924751470578" style="cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px; " /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>... fast forward to all three layers having been gouged:</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhopwem3vQenQhLl_r4XVIsPC5PpmTbnVcbX5hpg2R07x2DCUWbsXwqf3JW8FCSJWxoqT1d6aV3Z3JHGco-q6mhOkc8tKbYH3D5_6BF3iJ0_UUHASSnpZFGO7guV-dY3wuFJLzxyQHGFQ4/s1600/IMG_0690.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhopwem3vQenQhLl_r4XVIsPC5PpmTbnVcbX5hpg2R07x2DCUWbsXwqf3JW8FCSJWxoqT1d6aV3Z3JHGco-q6mhOkc8tKbYH3D5_6BF3iJ0_UUHASSnpZFGO7guV-dY3wuFJLzxyQHGFQ4/s400/IMG_0690.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5650819918827885346" style="cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px; " /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Fortunately the registration of the layers was working out well (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">ie</span> they fitted together):</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvtvZeiYPTrsAId91vae4tZwwK2IGcqgVZEZwm2-ctTC9lixiZ2flH7VhPgkB7ni0PJe-5yOk2pom1zclsxGIzy9RkzLMY39xmdnVXYciCK2RHQYLZYomluHjZ3qJt1UaqMpy6xNhkhw/s1600/IMG_0691.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvtvZeiYPTrsAId91vae4tZwwK2IGcqgVZEZwm2-ctTC9lixiZ2flH7VhPgkB7ni0PJe-5yOk2pom1zclsxGIzy9RkzLMY39xmdnVXYciCK2RHQYLZYomluHjZ3qJt1UaqMpy6xNhkhw/s400/IMG_0691.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5650819928476042354" style="cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px; " /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The first combination of colours was a bit too heavy (always been my Achilles' bugbear):</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAlGUs3m7GUrKTDOMAo3phTvym1GiFCtkOFRqSfWtWfIItezHLXCQBtCMxMeapM9CCYFsAZbotEnRbD8MDx94lQbEuDtGSnSpM-TICcNiF9gZc71wINb62RAU0l6jAnfto4brV8Jsfb5I/s1600/IMG_0732.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAlGUs3m7GUrKTDOMAo3phTvym1GiFCtkOFRqSfWtWfIItezHLXCQBtCMxMeapM9CCYFsAZbotEnRbD8MDx94lQbEuDtGSnSpM-TICcNiF9gZc71wINb62RAU0l6jAnfto4brV8Jsfb5I/s400/IMG_0732.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5650819929940546946" style="cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px; " /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>... so I tried again, and here's the finished picture (the photo is rather <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">orangey</span> for some reason):</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRGrkZBkgqsFMbHrS02O42mDAubtj-MNUwI3VnzaEELpp46AoNLEJKLpGgfIaFDYi321u5zNAXo_VtorNAtBW-RDMoAHBeegfmuaiy-D4vFMyF2HUei5CHS6zseOahOY5ThLEitQ55IqM/s1600/IMG_0740.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRGrkZBkgqsFMbHrS02O42mDAubtj-MNUwI3VnzaEELpp46AoNLEJKLpGgfIaFDYi321u5zNAXo_VtorNAtBW-RDMoAHBeegfmuaiy-D4vFMyF2HUei5CHS6zseOahOY5ThLEitQ55IqM/s400/IMG_0740.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5650819934799608786" style="cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px; " /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Then, excellently, L's wonderful sister E framed it as her present to L. I think she did a beautiful job:</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ENQ3a1oM6t1dRKJsvu4lkcfHSA2lnUtN7cYDWVlHFO-BTs_lQ2G4QKJKImP1Gy_3m9xbFae-WqI2hKrdgGY3ZcTWiNYOTKLSCgpBXbsaUp6kyfMpoKhfyllcgNGoWtNEdv3V5yRhPos/s1600/IMG_0799.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ENQ3a1oM6t1dRKJsvu4lkcfHSA2lnUtN7cYDWVlHFO-BTs_lQ2G4QKJKImP1Gy_3m9xbFae-WqI2hKrdgGY3ZcTWiNYOTKLSCgpBXbsaUp6kyfMpoKhfyllcgNGoWtNEdv3V5yRhPos/s400/IMG_0799.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5650824477682875826" style="cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifLLmS2LRlAeMKRvnuaM60wtNK9bO__CULvLYDdQBmjIbW5o42IcyiFj5Jjr4AAwUV0kHW7myw6ecpRjYAvjN9oekCAdVgFMzvbdmEB7RVnEKCSHHV88FcXLygkAekb3I1lsBCMlDmeXY/s1600/IMG_0798.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifLLmS2LRlAeMKRvnuaM60wtNK9bO__CULvLYDdQBmjIbW5o42IcyiFj5Jjr4AAwUV0kHW7myw6ecpRjYAvjN9oekCAdVgFMzvbdmEB7RVnEKCSHHV88FcXLygkAekb3I1lsBCMlDmeXY/s400/IMG_0798.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5650824477711727458" style="cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div><br /></div></div>James Spackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590806198639830354noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534611445092889854.post-48188259699939662072011-06-26T11:58:00.000-07:002011-06-27T03:36:00.672-07:00The End of the Book (but not in a scary way)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div>This post is based on a talk I gave at the </span><a href="https://www.eventsforce.net/bookseller/frontend/reg/thome.csp?pageID=7207&eventID=27&eventID=27"><span style="color:#001EE6;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Bookseller Cover Design Conference 2011</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span">, to an audience of publishing sorts.</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >It's quite long (15 min talk)</span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;">.<br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" >… and it’s not about publishing doom. It is, literally, about the end of the book; the moment when you finish reading one. A special moment, and a great opportunity for publishers.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" >Why is the end of the book important? Because it’s an opportunity to connect with readers.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" >Most publishers around the world are thinking about readers far more than they used to. How to talk to them, how to gather them, how to “own” them. And that’s because our traditional vehicles for promoting our books - chain retailers - are dwindling. We need to take responsibility for creating demand and enlisting readers.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">That’s why all publishers now have a social media strategy. That’s why most imprints now have their own blogs.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">But I think we can get loads more out of the book </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span">itself</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span"> as a vehicle for promotion. And that’s where the end of the book plays such an important role. It’s a moment for us to leap in and actually recruit the reader, and make sure that when they’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">ve</span> read one book by our author, they are as keen as possible to read the next. And that they are given every opportunity to recommend it too.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">Here’s a rather breathless statement I heard a friend make recently:</span></span><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6666;">“I am never more vulnerable to suggestion than when I’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">ve</span> just finished a book”</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" >That’s good! We can use that. But at the moment, we tend not to.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">We tend to communicate really strongly to with the reader </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span">before</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span"> they buy the book - to persuade them to buy it - but then we butt out almost completely.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">If there was a badly drawn graph showing how “present” a publisher’s communication is in the mind of a reader, it would look like this:</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvkubVVqczvVPQt9alIDVCGN6wp6Rz8a4zqwTp3qIsdrWYn3cM_sNW5ruPctsSAzSoItf6vwvWc-R-3FeBvB6R_K5rATSOPpv2vThOzewzEErlCo_EjeEnGIPkNe0A_IPdJtxGTnTvBs4/s1600/Progress.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvkubVVqczvVPQt9alIDVCGN6wp6Rz8a4zqwTp3qIsdrWYn3cM_sNW5ruPctsSAzSoItf6vwvWc-R-3FeBvB6R_K5rATSOPpv2vThOzewzEErlCo_EjeEnGIPkNe0A_IPdJtxGTnTvBs4/s400/Progress.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622616070055365714" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 282px; " border="0" /></a></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;">To start with, as a potential reader is browsing, and merely considering our book, the publisher’s presence is high. What the reader experiences at this stage is directed largely by us. The finest minds in the company will have bitched at one another other over the course of many weeks to produce this cover, and it’s pumping out genre messages, gender messages … all sorts of messages that we choose.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">And our presence stays high as the reader scans the blurb, or scrolls down to the product description. Is the book set in Paris in 1939? They’ll know if it is, cause the blurb will inevitably begin with - massive pet hate of mine, this - "Paris. 1939".</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">We, the publisher, have chosen which features of the book to highlight and that’s what the reader gets in the blurb.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">Sometimes we’re still communicating a bit further into the book. We might have a few extra pages at the front to communicate to the reader: “It’s really, really, good. Everyone. Says. So.”</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">But then it all goes quiet.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">The publisher shuts up and the book does the talking. And that’s exactly how it should be.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">But then what happens when the reader come to the end?</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">Well, what does happen? Why not reflect on that for a minute? Remember the last truly brilliant book you finished. What did you feel? Exhilaration? A sense of achievement? But also perhaps regret that it was over? Or curiosity about the mind that produced it.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">Maybe you felt weepy at the end of </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span">One Day</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span">. When you finished </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span">The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span"> were you wondering where all that scary stuff in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Stieg</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Larsson</span>’s head came from?</span></span><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" >The end of a book is a very, very fertile moment. A moment in which a reader emerges from the world of the book and begins to see it in its context. As a publisher, if we’re skilled and sensitive, we can almost step back into the reader’s consciousness, to help shape that moment.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" >So, on the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">wondergraph</span>, if there’s nothing at the end of the book, the line will go flat. If there’s something really good printed there, it’ll rocket up as our messages become much more present, and hopefully persuasive.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">And what would those messages be? What might we put at the end of the book that readers would respond to?</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">Of course there’s no single answer, because every different genre, and author within that genre, has a slightly different readership, so there are different rules.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">But what we <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">mustn</span>’t do - and if I have a central point, it is this - is just apply a blanket policy: a one-size-fits-all rule on first chapters and back ads and all the other bits and bobs. Even referring to all this stuff as “<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">endmatter</span>”, as we do, makes it sound like a dull formality. That is wasting a golden opportunity.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">I would argue that we should do more than that; we should make a special case, not just of one book a season that we really care about, but most of our big books, and </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span">all</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span"> of our significant brand authors.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">By the way, I know this is difficult. Someone has to edit the text, someone has to design it. Someone has to make sure there are extra pages printed. That’s substantial work, and it’s all very well for me to suggest it without having to do it. There’s also the tricky question, as there is with blurb, of “who’s in charge?”</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">Anyway, back to what we should actually put in the back of the book. As I said, there’s no single answer, but let’s examine some of the things we give readers, and compare that to what they actually want.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">Conventional publishing wisdom states:</span></span></p><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><ul style="font-family:arial;"><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" >The first chapter of the author’s next book is a good thing.</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" >A batch of adverts, either for this author’s books, or others on our list, is better than blank pages.</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" >We should sell ourselves as a publisher, and push our website.</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" >Reading group notes are worthwhile.</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" >We should have an author biography of some sort.</span></li></ul><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">Is that what readers really value?</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">I did one of those <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">DIY</span> online surveys to find out, and got responses back from 54 non-book-industry friends.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">The question I asked was this:</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">“Imagine you’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">ve</span> just finished the last page of a brilliant novel. You turn to the next page. Which of these would you be happy to find?”</span></span></p><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><ul style="font-family:arial;"><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" >Nothing at all</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" >Reading group notes</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" >Articles & reviews</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" >Biography of the author</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" >First chapter of the author's next book</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" >Website info</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" >Imprint info</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" >Blurbs for books by the same author</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" >Blurbs for books from the same publisher</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" >Q&A with author</span></li></ul><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">Respondents were encouraged to rate their reaction on a scale of “delighted”, through “happy enough” and “neutral” to “unimpressed” or even “cheesed off”. You might detect a slight lack of scientific rigour to this survey data. Sorry, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span">these</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span"> survey data. Should’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">ve</span> gone to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">BML</span>, I know ...</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">There <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">weren</span>’t that many surprises in the results that came back. They were “happy enough” to see most of these things at the back of a book.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">Four things did stand out, though.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">The most popular response to “short biography of the author” was “delighted!” And I’m assuming they <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">didn</span>’t take “short biography” to mean “so and so read Classics at Magdalene. He lives in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Chiswick</span> with his wife, two children and eight dogs.”</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">They’re actually curious about the author. I think they want to know more. Here’s a quote from the survey:</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">“Biography and pic – the quirkier the better! Lets me see who was fooling around with my head.”</span></span><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"> Secondly, the first chapter of the author’s next book - the most popular response was “neutral”, but barely. In fact over half the respondents rated themselves either “neutral”, “unimpressed” or “cheesed off”.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">And in the accompanying comments, first chapters provoked more anger than anything. Here’s an example:</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 2pt 0.0001pt;font-family:arial;"><span style=";font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">“I have NEVER bought on the strength of that first "taster" chapter. I have felt a little cheated... how about you allow me to savour the supposedly satisfying ending of the thing I’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">ve</span> just finished? I have felt a little cheapened...”</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 2pt 0.0001pt; font-family:arial;"><br /><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 2pt 0.0001pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 2pt 0.0001pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">I have some very sensitive friends.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 2pt 0.0001pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 2pt 0.0001pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">Others commented that first chapters gave you a “false ending” to a book: it ends before you think you’re at the end, because there are lots of pages left.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 2pt 0.0001pt; font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 2pt 0.0001pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">So this is all a bit of a nasty shock. As publishers we tend to feel quite good about ourselves if we get our shit together and put that first chapter of the next book in. A pity if folks don’t like it.</span></span><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 2pt 0.0001pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 2pt 0.0001pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">Blurbs for books by the same author were deemed perfectly alright, but blurbs for books by the same publisher - only just neutral. A lot of resistance.</span></span><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 2pt 0.0001pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 2pt 0.0001pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">For example:</span></span><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 2pt 0.0001pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 2pt 0.0001pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">“Endless pages of stuff about other books by other authors irritate me. “</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">Again, we tend to assume back ads for our other books are fair enough, but there’s a risk of alienating your reader with crude marketing: “<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">wasn</span>’t that a great book?? Now buy some more books!!”</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">A Q&A with the author drew the rating “delighted”, by a mile:</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">“I am very interested in the author’s thoughts/decisions/processes related to the novel.”</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"> As with the “author biog”, we’re seeing huge curiosity about the author. That’s an opportunity. Are we exploiting it, I wonder?</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">The end of the book is an important moment, and an important opportunity. But when we do engage with it, we’re not necessarily giving the readers what they want.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">Is anyone using the opportunity well?</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">I think some publishers are, but it’s patchy.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">Some are using that opportunity to tell readers about themselves as a company or imprint, and pushing their website. That’s not really what readers expect or particularly want, but it </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span">is</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span"> a strategically important objective, so you can’t blame people for giving it a shot.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc0AbAvCQG26EUF0Kxd-X8sWkdf4c8I-GcUdsAGwHoiMOOWNsY423e4Z63pMdqbOZgfZGc6TP2z5zTpk6bpi6Ei1LvUHPvMwJJT5_MBUAPmFWPj8eYRWRlK324WXYRy3qqELPpY70oEHU/s1600/orbit.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc0AbAvCQG26EUF0Kxd-X8sWkdf4c8I-GcUdsAGwHoiMOOWNsY423e4Z63pMdqbOZgfZGc6TP2z5zTpk6bpi6Ei1LvUHPvMwJJT5_MBUAPmFWPj8eYRWRlK324WXYRy3qqELPpY70oEHU/s400/orbit.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622616062602603842" style="cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px; " border="0" /></a></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;">And some people are doing it really well.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0hzrE4vUO1Ukli15kN4ad7NDmMJ3-W54DYdzXDyUNg09TDAkuMDdyCYYlBcNl5FNxl1SA5UuA8KHeS9xwG8kFvO2Nx06y4oqNF6O_63RVNHSFI5Et5GBXy7aAgKIbOyRH53Yf-9wGBI/s1600/angry+robot.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0hzrE4vUO1Ukli15kN4ad7NDmMJ3-W54DYdzXDyUNg09TDAkuMDdyCYYlBcNl5FNxl1SA5UuA8KHeS9xwG8kFvO2Nx06y4oqNF6O_63RVNHSFI5Et5GBXy7aAgKIbOyRH53Yf-9wGBI/s400/angry+robot.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622613965956802290" style="cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px; " border="0" /></a></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;">The <a href="http://angryrobotbooks.com/">Angry Robo</a>t back ad is irresistible. Everything they do has a distinct personality, and they’re really making the imprint talk to readers.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">So that’s all splendid, but it’s still a one size fits all approach, and so not truly maximising that “end of the book moment”.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">Some publishers focus on using the end of the book to talk about their authors, and my survey suggests that’s really worthwhile. This focus can bring in elements like good photography and design to be rather impressive.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">Here’s Colm Toibin looking moody and clever, with some very nicely written - albeit short - biographical notes. Great. Though I have to say I want to know more.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Vr3WMiDoTZT-EBTCSPMMS4IWge2ePMXo1pRQU5Pa3sZ0YuMRwZ0AVw0XbEKixY_U3l09Kvt309igeV_sSTvxeIzoXBaJnZ3KYiItkTtCSE4cAkRThvvsbbSO2jAmDXMHcIv2yKgub3E/s1600/IMG_0100.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Vr3WMiDoTZT-EBTCSPMMS4IWge2ePMXo1pRQU5Pa3sZ0YuMRwZ0AVw0XbEKixY_U3l09Kvt309igeV_sSTvxeIzoXBaJnZ3KYiItkTtCSE4cAkRThvvsbbSO2jAmDXMHcIv2yKgub3E/s400/IMG_0100.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622626498015344594" style="cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px; " border="0" /></a></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" >Likewise Nicole Krauss (sorry about the dodgy photo). Again, a really well written short biog to accompany it. But again, we could do with more.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzCsru8f-dwGbYSbWT_EVfMrm19Bio1qQaAAMWv8PQnkX_POFxXe6_bP2TxJo3PQnHOXYAx7pBFHxhJop5zo31Q3yeaMTOsnS_S8wjyUNxDqvaqGQkmri9KQzRG6WQ7lGleFQ-EzNG41c/s1600/IMG_0104.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzCsru8f-dwGbYSbWT_EVfMrm19Bio1qQaAAMWv8PQnkX_POFxXe6_bP2TxJo3PQnHOXYAx7pBFHxhJop5zo31Q3yeaMTOsnS_S8wjyUNxDqvaqGQkmri9KQzRG6WQ7lGleFQ-EzNG41c/s400/IMG_0104.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622626506150519282" style="cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px; " border="0" /></a></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">This Mark Billingham approach is more mass-market and straightforward, and it doesn’t tell you much about him at all, but it shows very clearly how you can sign up to find out more.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDjDwD_SC7aDFCRHVIk8v_3p2Pxp7D1MqN_UcPkgT6OW3HS0jmnpPxvGGGiSqonAjn9z5Tf5Vy_H53shevt4pxvqWECRMMI6diwNjznJbuRBxWElOPku9uYSb7h6uEAHCRxaR2yuzVvtI/s1600/billingham.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDjDwD_SC7aDFCRHVIk8v_3p2Pxp7D1MqN_UcPkgT6OW3HS0jmnpPxvGGGiSqonAjn9z5Tf5Vy_H53shevt4pxvqWECRMMI6diwNjznJbuRBxWElOPku9uYSb7h6uEAHCRxaR2yuzVvtI/s400/billingham.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622613968186047282" style="cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px; " border="0" /></a></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" >The long running <a href="http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/about-harpercollins/Imprints/4th_Estate/Pages/4th_Estate.aspx">4th Estate</a> PS sections at their best offer fantastic material with a reading group slant: good author Q&As, journalism and reading group notes. And yet when not at their best they can seem a bit mechanical; a bit of a box-ticking exercise.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.orionbooks.co.uk/">Orion</a> give us a more tailor-made approach at the end of the Zafon novels, and I think <span style="font-style: italic;">The Passage</span>, too. There are grey edged pages, to differentiate them from the novel itself, and walking tours with specially taken photos. Very carefully judged material, very specific to the books.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi20TXKtpN8OmXox_vTRBbELHpIf17xNZdkQktSkorlunfQ61Ty8MjZWOdwHNrv0YSIzq4s9cbuXv-aiv4fnTA2eIqDdBx4_9aqVeO2inzgdpHz6SEgpKQvRQ5m5RckaarXlNILQErpdC4/s1600/IMG_0122.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi20TXKtpN8OmXox_vTRBbELHpIf17xNZdkQktSkorlunfQ61Ty8MjZWOdwHNrv0YSIzq4s9cbuXv-aiv4fnTA2eIqDdBx4_9aqVeO2inzgdpHz6SEgpKQvRQ5m5RckaarXlNILQErpdC4/s400/IMG_0122.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622626501514187298" style="cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px; " border="0" /></a></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;">But the best endmatter in my opinion is in children’s books. I sense a real focus in the best kids' publishing on the minute detail of the reading experience. They know that kids read their favourite books in an obsessive state of mind, and that they pore over every page, absorbing everything.</span></span><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeyiaGeviAA3Fwba23R2vhyphenhyphenMljBAhmEcKBpQIDejz7_pt1Gk0AxzI1yRystaRIRjAcVulQ4_jphyphenhyphenunPaAocC7eKe3cj2vcoa7mJYikJ6NGD4ESBqDOI4skxO5xrC6c5xahg_U9PPM709w/s1600/DragonsHeart-2.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeyiaGeviAA3Fwba23R2vhyphenhyphenMljBAhmEcKBpQIDejz7_pt1Gk0AxzI1yRystaRIRjAcVulQ4_jphyphenhyphenunPaAocC7eKe3cj2vcoa7mJYikJ6NGD4ESBqDOI4skxO5xrC6c5xahg_U9PPM709w/s400/DragonsHeart-2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622614007474157346" style="cursor: pointer; width: 251px; height: 400px; " border="0" /></a></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk59zKvU9GGD2TnWYoAjp0yY7-irZ37JFD_J9TPUr8PsY90MgqQer8vwrsULtP_wie9NMl6IBmTni61r077d4qtbbU9d6orX13ItqYHqHLgkDiLjmPdBqosgk5KDUD0RaDZCoMtg_kfPw/s1600/DragonsHeart-1.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk59zKvU9GGD2TnWYoAjp0yY7-irZ37JFD_J9TPUr8PsY90MgqQer8vwrsULtP_wie9NMl6IBmTni61r077d4qtbbU9d6orX13ItqYHqHLgkDiLjmPdBqosgk5KDUD0RaDZCoMtg_kfPw/s400/DragonsHeart-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622613974959251058" style="cursor: pointer; width: 253px; height: 400px; " border="0" /></a></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;">Hodder Children’s <a href="http://www.howtotrainyourdragonbooks.com/">How To Train Your Dragon</a> series</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisMHBenNyZ0_NUKYEr2OWgUmhYdssyYnjjOuIDP3Hk2TeX5IaF_4o-k9OTbuB-cwxB7SSHlxgTaGNa7W0YRInmtm_eERHIeUfrMvStZSdpWgcpm7Rd5vb95thWI7R30z_5RmfD5O5C8jU/s1600/RoaldDahl-2.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisMHBenNyZ0_NUKYEr2OWgUmhYdssyYnjjOuIDP3Hk2TeX5IaF_4o-k9OTbuB-cwxB7SSHlxgTaGNa7W0YRInmtm_eERHIeUfrMvStZSdpWgcpm7Rd5vb95thWI7R30z_5RmfD5O5C8jU/s400/RoaldDahl-2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622616082041320258" style="cursor: pointer; width: 253px; height: 400px; " border="0" /></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGe4YSKYn85Sqcdg6lpWPL9OKp4WyxyZGzBcm8I5QToHXng_d9BRnoc1tVIFJpoMQSeS4sNuO2XaXcjdV1O0Q3lx-eTs0FfOYWXGE2jcSRkpGKypsgN2PWOHkxmFEAwvfIFoUMwaTsdyQ/s1600/RoaldDahl-1.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGe4YSKYn85Sqcdg6lpWPL9OKp4WyxyZGzBcm8I5QToHXng_d9BRnoc1tVIFJpoMQSeS4sNuO2XaXcjdV1O0Q3lx-eTs0FfOYWXGE2jcSRkpGKypsgN2PWOHkxmFEAwvfIFoUMwaTsdyQ/s400/RoaldDahl-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622616074997221314" style="cursor: pointer; width: 253px; height: 400px; " border="0" /></a></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;">... and <a href="http://www.puffin.co.uk/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,1000008184,00.html">Puffin's Roald Dahl books</a> show a desire to reward and engage with this kind of reader attention. Is there any reason for adults' books to be any different?</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">So we are doing some good work at the end of the book: we’re sometimes giving readers what they want. But should we be aiming higher?</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">After all, we expect an enormous amount from our covers. Perhaps we’re beginning to expect more from our blurbs. We should realise that what we print inside can play a vital role in our communication with the reader too.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">I think we should aim - and I acknowledge this can’t be done on all books - for bespoke, finely judged interventions. Messages that suit both the book and the mental and emotional state we’re expecting the reader to be in, and which direct the reader to take action in a way which helps us. Put crudely, we want to invite them to turn their enjoyment of finishing this book into the desire to buy another one. But not by simply by <span style="font-style: italic;">saying </span>“buy another one”.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">I’d like to end by proposing two important concepts, which can help us take a happy reader along the path to another purchase, rather than clonking them over the head with the marketing stick:</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">1. Action</span></span><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span">If you strike </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span">just</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span"> the right note, and turn your reader’s enthusiasm for the book they’ve just finished into some kind of action, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span">any</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span"> kind of action, then you’ve sealed their enthusiasm for it and made it more likely that they’ll react well next time they have an opportunity to buy. Essentially, you’ll be making them more loyal to your author.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" >To illustrate this, here’s something I’m proud of from the back of <a href="http://www.james-frey.com/">James Frey’s</a> <span style="font-style: italic;">A Million Little Pieces</span>.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpMm2VBkFBzTGbxsjoiQn6Sxk6n2m8l50MArfWispgfTpl0K4K_iKFSQe3ILbHeda2-k9iX7h8e2X_W77Rr2O2jRi362VlFCWAOIzvdcuyxiqkock1ytmAwDZkbhi4Z8z9fACVlpZ3M2A/s1600/James+Frey.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpMm2VBkFBzTGbxsjoiQn6Sxk6n2m8l50MArfWispgfTpl0K4K_iKFSQe3ILbHeda2-k9iX7h8e2X_W77Rr2O2jRi362VlFCWAOIzvdcuyxiqkock1ytmAwDZkbhi4Z8z9fACVlpZ3M2A/s400/James+Frey.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622614013213733346" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 315px; " border="0" /></a></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"> </span></span><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">It doesn’t say “Buy the next one!!”, it says “have your say”. Readers will have an opinion about this book and the debate that surrounds it. We invite them to express it. To date, several thousand of them have. They’ve taken action and gone on record as people with an opinion about James Frey. I don’t know for a scientific fact, but I strongly suspect that makes them more likely to read another one of his books.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">In the back of <span style="font-style: italic;">How to Train Your Dragon</span>, it says “draw your own dragon in this box, and send it in”. Perfect.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">I would argue that inspiring action should take a higher priority than simply providing content.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">So, rather than: “here are your reading group notes” you might have: “go to this Facebook page to find out what reading groups thought about this book, and tell them what <span style="font-style: italic;">you </span>thought”. Though clearly we need to find a balance between inspiring action with giving readers what they want.<br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt;font-family:arial;"><span style=";font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">2. Advocacy</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">… which is related, but different. It’s the familiar idea that readers sell books to readers. Anything we can do to take an enthusiastic reader, who’s just finished a book and is feeling all energetic about it, and help them tell their friends about it will be immensely valuable.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">How? Don’t know. Perhaps it’s something dead simple like “Did you love this book? Email us and we’ll send you a pack of postcards so you can tell your friends why”. Or: “tweet what you thought of this book with our hashtag; the author will follow you, and you could win some free copies to give away”. Depends on the audience.</span></span><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" >Actually, on the hashtag topic, there’s a recent Dare 2 Comment <a href="http://daretocomment.com/breathing-new-life-into-books-with-official-hashtags/">blog</a> about publishers creating “official hashtags” to organise readers' discussions about books on social media. Putting that at the front and the back of a book is a great idea.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">So what I’d really like to close with is this: the end of the book is a special moment, and a huge opportunity for binding in readers. It deserves proper thought, and sensitive handling. Organisationally, that’s an absolute gyp. A huge effort. But then so's everything worthwhile. Just look at book covers. I’d encourage publishers to pick out even just one book you really love this autumn and really go to work on what you want the reader to experience, and what you want them to </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span">do</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span"> when they finish it.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2pt; font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span">The end of the book is a direct-to-the-reader selling tool that is entirely within our control.</span></span><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;" >That has to be worth using well.</span></p> <!--EndFragment-->James Spackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590806198639830354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534611445092889854.post-48137565406566410022011-05-18T00:08:00.000-07:002011-05-18T00:13:06.406-07:00Guest Post: Katie Kotting of The Unsamaritans Book Group<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0BsdrbUHP-2qIZsHafOCAe49XenI_NOc621vw26t2Li37jmNY13CEAS_GwSxxh2bAI46KcfhAiZT8vPkHDVzOpBMCeP6UCoU-ZE88n3RgvnJzSzPgGOgRUxTUdUzBdn8u687qLkIpRLo/s1600/Watching+the+English.jpg"></a><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">Book:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Watching-English-Hidden-Rules-Behaviour/dp/0340818867/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1305702628&sr=1-1">Watching the English</a> (Kate Fox)</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0BsdrbUHP-2qIZsHafOCAe49XenI_NOc621vw26t2Li37jmNY13CEAS_GwSxxh2bAI46KcfhAiZT8vPkHDVzOpBMCeP6UCoU-ZE88n3RgvnJzSzPgGOgRUxTUdUzBdn8u687qLkIpRLo/s1600/Watching+the+English.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 128px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0BsdrbUHP-2qIZsHafOCAe49XenI_NOc621vw26t2Li37jmNY13CEAS_GwSxxh2bAI46KcfhAiZT8vPkHDVzOpBMCeP6UCoU-ZE88n3RgvnJzSzPgGOgRUxTUdUzBdn8u687qLkIpRLo/s400/Watching+the+English.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607950697350643570" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Date:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Thursday 12th May 2011</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Venue:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Clare C’s lovely new pad by candlelight</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Attendees:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Clare C, Clare S, Frances, Geoffrey, James S, James M, Jo, Katie</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">There tends to be a bit of scepticism in the group when we agree to read a non-fiction book – will anyone bother to read it?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In this case, most of us had, if not all of it then at least enough.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Watching the English is written by social anthropologist Kate Fox, an in depth study of average people, based primarily on observation, to try and uncover the hidden rules of being English.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">For the most part, the book was well received, with one notable exception which we’ll get to later. James S, had enjoyed the book so much on first reading a couple of years ago he had brought it to the group’s attention.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Frances, one of the few non-English members of the group present (interestingly neither of our Scottish members attended), noted that it helped her to see the bits of ‘Englishness’ that she had adopted over the years.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Katie also found that reading about the characteristics that were suggested as quintessentially English helped her to differentiate between her English and German heritage.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Clare C wondered whether some of the behaviours attributed to ‘Englishness’ were really ‘English’ or could they have been more universal?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">There was much discussion about her comments regarding class – how did we feel about this?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The general consensus was that her observations were interesting, astute and inoffensive as she was not judging or commenting on her findings, merely stating them.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Geoffrey, on the other hand, was thoroughly unimpressed with the book.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He thought it was an overwritten 50 page loo-book/stocking-filler.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He found it long-winded, self-indulgent and smug.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>There was a general agreement that perhaps the book could have been a bit shorter, but that many of the insights and nuances would have been lost or over-simplified in a stocking-filler version.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Ultimately she is an academic and the book bears the hallmark of this.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">As an in depth study of the rules of English behaviour it certainly resonated with us and we could all recount times when we had witnessed or displayed the behaviours that Kate Fox singled out as being common to English folk.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>So what was her conclusion about the essence of Englishness?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>If you’re keen to know I suggest you either follow her lead and spend the best part of ten years watching and listening to people’s conversations and interactions in pubs, busses, business meetings, tea-parties, work places and more, or take the easier option and read ‘Watching the English’.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>James Spackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590806198639830354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534611445092889854.post-61052613020955013792011-04-12T00:42:00.000-07:002011-04-12T01:00:48.874-07:00James Frey at Lutyens & RubinsteinMy scribbled notes from James Frey's first event promoting <a href="http://www.james-frey.com/">The Final Testament of the Holy Bible</a>, at Lutyens and Rubenstein in Notting Hill.<br /><br />1) The tiny downstairs of <a href="http://www.lutyensrubinstein.co.uk/">L&R</a> converts into an event space when they part the bookcases and reveal their office space, complete with framed jacket artwork. Genius!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPhFdJLeXUdGCQvyog5Y5yKH17TfEzoud3MTcYb9ZNZgoj2O4RZORc6B4jTpGHhuH6DusqmA0zCC-VvSTUrnMfBE8a-dLJneh0noO_nIIY5frXH7QRzCpB-5uc_wZDLJSKD2gGK66QljM/s1600/Frey+002.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPhFdJLeXUdGCQvyog5Y5yKH17TfEzoud3MTcYb9ZNZgoj2O4RZORc6B4jTpGHhuH6DusqmA0zCC-VvSTUrnMfBE8a-dLJneh0noO_nIIY5frXH7QRzCpB-5uc_wZDLJSKD2gGK66QljM/s400/Frey+002.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594600133752581714" border="0" /></a><br />2) Someone brought a miniscule sausage dog which, distractingly, snored <span style="font-style: italic;">exactly </span>like an old man, throughout.<br /><br />3) James was influenced by Joseph Campbells's <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hero-Thousand-Faces-Joseph-Campbell/dp/0586085718/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302594410&sr=8-1">Hero With a Thousand Faces</a>, which apparently shows the phases common to all messiah myths.<br /><br />4) Quotes of the evening:<br /><br />"Is it at all autobiographical?" - Felicity Rubinstein, tongue firmly in cheek.<br /><br />"I would love it <span style="font-style: italic;">not </span>to be read as a work of antagonism" - James Frey<br /><br />"I thought, I want to do to somebody what that book (<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Harper-Perennial-Modern-Classics-Tropic/dp/0007204469/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1302595131&sr=1-1">Tropic of Cancer</a>) did to me" - James Frey on his influences<br /><br />"I also wrote a book called The Wind Howls Ha!" - James Frey<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_t7TxHHJhYOP8pjGYRViYDjzn6lLBRjaJ67eVMZYZA8EYtRQNJYU4HogPzjZeP6zQYeuYUNM3tQdc-QArowaKnqZvu6VgIkp5zNvTQZULgSuVdju9cmXdWBiVBUYszk9ZIUmhdFiEcXg/s1600/Frey+003.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_t7TxHHJhYOP8pjGYRViYDjzn6lLBRjaJ67eVMZYZA8EYtRQNJYU4HogPzjZeP6zQYeuYUNM3tQdc-QArowaKnqZvu6VgIkp5zNvTQZULgSuVdju9cmXdWBiVBUYszk9ZIUmhdFiEcXg/s400/Frey+003.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594602519192383154" border="0" /></a>James Spackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590806198639830354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534611445092889854.post-52048139938139011902011-03-27T13:43:00.000-07:002011-03-28T01:11:10.350-07:00Towpath CricketA friend introduced me to Towpath Cricket, invention of Times columnist Robert <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Crampton</span>. This friend clearly <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">mis</span>-remembered it slightly, but in fact improved on <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/men/article2422787.ece">the original</a>.<div><br /></div><div>Towpath Cricket (Oppenheimer Variation) is played thus: every pedestrian you overtake on a towpath scores you a run. Dogs are two, other cyclists four and a boat six. If you yourself are overtaken, you're out, lad.</div><div><br /></div><div>My first <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">erm</span> match took place as I cycled to Barnes from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Battersea</span> with H, loyally clutching her toy lion Daddy <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Rara</span>, in the seat on the back.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our first innings was a scratchy 13, entirely composed of singles and twos, and brought to an end by a silver haired chap on a rusty hybrid. What can I say? I had luggage.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our second innings was much more dashing. We started with a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Sewagesque</span> flourish, scoring a six off a small sailing boat tacking mid-stream, perhaps a <i>degree</i> off perpendicular and thus counting as an overtake. You have to make a few decisions about your rules in this game - stationary pedestrians for instance - but in this case, as with our subsequent boundary off a two year old on a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Tweenies</span> bike with stabilisers, I have to say, I'm all, like: read it in the book, pal; they all count.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sadly, just as I was scoring freely on both sides of the wicket (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Wandsworth</span> Gardens) I was castled by a bloke on a Specialized that probably cost more than my car. </div><div><br /></div><div>Back to the nets...</div><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>James Spackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590806198639830354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534611445092889854.post-9540810478618529152011-03-15T00:23:00.000-07:002011-03-15T05:02:48.719-07:00Guest Post: Jamie d'Ath of The Unsamaritans Book Group<div>Book: <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alone-Berlin-Penguin-Modern-Classics/dp/014118938X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300173912&sr=1-1">Alone in Berlin</a> (Hans Fallada)<br /><br /></div> <div>Venue: Big Geoffrey's<br /><br /></div> <div> </div> <div>Story of resistance in wartime Berlin by workers Otto and Anna Quangel, stirred into action after their only son is killed in military service. Stricken by grief and filled with anger, they take it upon themselves to write and distribute postcards denouncing the Nazi regime. They remain at large for over two years, leading Inspector Escherich and the Gestapo on a merry goose chase. Along the way Fallada introduces us to a dizzying array of characters, representing a varied cross-section of life in Berlin. Whether they be a doctor, lawyer, gambler, shopkeeper, factory worker, postwoman or actor, Nazism has affected everyone deeply and themes of fear, suspicion, self-preservation and redemption run through the book.<br /><br /></div> <div> </div> <div>The story is based on the true account of Otto and Elise Hampel and was written by Fallada in 24 days in 1947. On reading the epilogue it is clear many of the themes running through the book directly correlate to Fellada's own life.<br /><br /></div> <div> </div> <div>We had a pretty good discussion. Jd'A felt the book was a good read, with good characterisation though lost its way through the middle of the narrative, with a sense of rushed prose and an unrealistic badly thought through weaving of the story. He felt the epilogue was an important addition to the story and helped explain certain elements of the book.<br /><br /></div> <div> </div> <div>SB, (so wishing your surname was Spackman for this exercise), really enjoyed the book. She loved the rich characterisation and the very real sense of what it must have been like to live under such a torturous regime. For Frances this was a second time around read. She loved it the first time, though second time round whilst still enjoying it, felt it read a little sloppily. Agreed with SB though in terms of the characterisation. CC and Claire really enjoyed the story and raised the point about decency and the importance of morally doing the right thing. SF felt the characterisation was a little too black and white, in that the "bad guys" really were evil and the "good guys" just a little too squeeky clean. A number countered, including our esteemed host, big G, who sought to show the multi-layering of characterisation throughout the book.<br /><br /></div> <div> </div> <div>The general consensus was Alone in Berlin was an entertaining and thought provoking read although one universal criticism was levelled at the translation and the possibility of the text losing a lot of its original colour. The title in German is Everyone Dies Alone, which makes a great deal more sense.<br /><br /></div> <div> </div> <div>After the chin stroking, wine sniffing and big G's ratatouille munching, we got down to the serious business of celebrating the colourful characters that make up our delightful group. There were three prizes up for grabs: MVP, LR, TT. The lasses were a little perturbed with the schoolboy nature of the ceremony but got stuck in to award the following:<br /><br /></div> <div>MVP - Frances</div> <div>LR - SF</div> <div>TT - Jd'A/JM<br /><br /></div> <div> </div> <div>After some pretty dire speeches, ok well just mine, we moved onto the more important open vote on best book and best discussion. The former seemed to be between "<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Consolations-Philosophy-Alain-Botton/dp/0140276610/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300173942&sr=1-1">The Consolations of Philosophy</a>" and "<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Knowledge-Angels-Jill-Paton-Walsh/dp/0552997803/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300173961&sr=1-1">Knowledge of Angels</a>". The latter was picked up by, "<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Need-About-Kevin-Serpents-Classics/dp/1846687349/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300173980&sr=1-1">We Need To Talk About Kevin</a>". Worst book was universally agreed to be "The Alchemist" (or anything JM had chosen).</div> <div> </div> <div>Next time round it is "<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Watching-English-Hidden-Rules-Behaviour/dp/0340818867/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300173885&sr=1-1">Watching the English</a>", so bring it on...</div> <div> </div> <div> </div>James Spackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590806198639830354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534611445092889854.post-30118590154042491882011-03-01T13:37:00.000-08:002011-03-01T23:40:20.231-08:00Sudbury, 1844.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I have a blurb-related pet hate:</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">"Palestine, 1941". "</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Leningrad, 1952". "</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">England, 31st August 1939". "</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Vienna, 1939".</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The opening sentences of the blurbs for </span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mornings-Jenin-Susan-Abulhawa/dp/1408805871/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1299016148&sr=1-1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Mornings in Jenin</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, </span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Betrayal-Helen-Dunmore/dp/014104683X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1299017179&sr=1-1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Betrayal</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Very-Thought-You-Rosie-Alison/dp/1846881005/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1299017312&sr=1-1">The Very Thought of You</a> and</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Quiet-Twin-Dan-Vyleta/dp/1408807424/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1299017452&sr=1-1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Quiet Twin</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">On the paperback fiction table at Daunts on Fulham Road right now there are fifty two books. No fewer than twelve have blurbs starting either with this exact formulation - location, date - or featuring location and date somewhere in the first line. For example: "</span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingdom-Ohio-Matthew-Flaming/dp/0141047526/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1299015798&sr=1-1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In 1901 a young frontiersman named Peter Force comes to New York City</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">" </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">"</span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Postmistress-Sarah-Blake/dp/0141046619/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1299015883&sr=1-1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It is 1940, and bombs fall nightly on London</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">" "</span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Burn-Badly-Manuel-Rivas/dp/0099520338/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1299017093&sr=1-1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">On 19 August 1936 Hercules the boxer stands on the quayside at Coruña</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">" </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">"</span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tiger-Hills-Sarita-Mandanna/dp/0297859811/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1299017672&sr=1-3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The year is 1878</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">". </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It's natural to want to set the scene, but surely we can come up with cleverer ways to do it? And is it really so important to get this information across <span style="font-style: italic;">first</span>? Surely we can arouse a reader's curiosity better by beginning with something that's uniquely appealing about the book, letting the bare facts of its setting come later, or even not at all.<br /></span></span></div><div><br /></div>James Spackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590806198639830354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534611445092889854.post-10260865662975608842011-02-25T13:30:00.001-08:002011-02-27T03:40:47.005-08:00How To Win Your Book Group<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; background- font-family:Times;font-size:medium;color:transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: -webkit-xxx-large;"><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; background-color: transparent; font-family: Times; white-space: normal; font-size: medium; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Don’t kid yourself. You didn’t really join so you could “share with likeminded readers”. You want to be the boss of the book group. Here’s how:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">1) Props.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Everyone always brings a copy of the book. Why? To read from it during the evening? No, that would be lame (see point 5). No one really knows why they do it. They just do. So you have a living room containing ten middle-class folks and as many identical paperbacks. Make sure yours looks the best. NO, I don’t mean it’s been carefully covered in plastic like they do in the library. I mean it’s, well, a bit f***ed. It’s warped and stained. It has dogeared pages and contains a stack of notes, scrawled on random envelopes and receipts. It says “I read this in a fast fury of intellectual vigour; I consumed it hungrily and fiercely and I’ve devoured its every significance. Whereas you, feeble sap, barely broke the spine of yours. Thus I win.”</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">2) Notes.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">You want a great wodge of them, stuffed in your book (see point 1, do keep up). Not neat and tidy, with words underlined, because that says “girls’ school sixth form” like nothing else. No, these notes are extensive and they are messy. They say “I read fast, I think fast, I write fast. You can’t read these notes ... and in fact </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">neither can I</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">. Deal with it”. </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Crucially, however, you must </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">not</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "> refer to these notes during the book group, let alone read them out. No. They are your secret weapon, and they only remain powerful as long as they are secret. They are to make your opponents think “Looks like he has some really clever s**t written down there. I wonder when he’s going to use it. Perhaps if I say “I just didn’t really sympathise with any of the characters” like I was planning to, he’ll unleash the scary notes on me. I’d better keep schtum”. Result: win.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">3) Research.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">It’s pretty simple: if you bring a printout of the author’s Wikipedia page, you lose. If you bring a printout of the publisher’s reading group notes, you lose. If instead you bring something like a critical text about a completely unrelated author and leave it </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">just</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "> visible under your copy of the book (see point 1) you win.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">4) Opinions.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">You can get away without any real ones for quite a while, but eventually you need to front up with a view or two. The golden rule is that your opinion has to be unchallengeable. Try luring your opponents in by asking something like “you remember that lovely moment at the diner where Claude notices the colour of the formica?” … or whatever; a tiny </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">invented</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "> detail. Even if you’ve made it up everyone will inevitably nod and go “hm”. Then you’ve got them. You can load that moment; </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">freight</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "> it, as the academics like to say, with as much significance as you please, and no one can contradict you. “It both prefigures his fall from grace and stands metaphorically for the entropy affecting the whole psychogeography of the province, don’t you think?” Nod. “Hm”. Win.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">5) Quoting from the text.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Is both boring and sort of cheating. So don’t do it, lest you un-win the whole thing.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">There you go. Follow those simple steps and you will leave the rest of your book group looking like a special needs catch-up class, and victory will be yours</span></div></span></span></div>James Spackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590806198639830354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534611445092889854.post-34885501635800871872011-02-08T13:18:00.000-08:002011-02-11T02:56:26.284-08:00Unsamaritans Book Group - The Books We Have Read So Far<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">Courtesy of James Marshall. Not entirely accurate. Can't be bothered to correct it.<br /><br />'What is the What' - Dave Eggers<br />The Razor's Edge - Somerset Maugham<br />Cloud Atlas - David Mitchel<br />After Dark - Murikami<br />Cold mountain charles grazer<br />Toast nigel slater<br />The curious Incident of Dog mark haddon<br />The Knowledge of Angels jill Paton welch<br />Stuart: a Life backwards<br />Hey Nostradamus Douglas copeland<br />Year of wonders geraldine brooks<br />History of god Karen armstrong<br />Happiness<br />Italo Calvino baron in the trees<br />Brick Lane<br />Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter<br />The Kite Runner khaled hossein<br />We need to talk about Kevin<br />Saturday ian mcewan<br />Black like me john Howard griffin<br />The inheritors William Golding<br />In cold Blood Truman capote<br />The Book Thief markus zusak<br />Embers<br />Kate winslett Nazi book<br />The Corrections Jonathan franzen<br />The Sunflower<br />The Consolations of Philosophy<br />Clever girl brian thompson<br />Beyond Black hilary mantel<br />The Handmaid's tale margaret Atwood<br />South shakleton<br />A tale of 2 Cities dickens<br />Dreams from my father Barack Obama<br />Brave new world huxley<br />the lovely bones Alice sebold<br />Persepolis<br />Secret history donna tart<br />Music and silence rose tremain<br />Run rabbit run john Updike<br />Orlando virg woolf<br />Alchemist paulo coelho<br />Wolfhall<br />Archidacts<br />Korean<br />Run - anne patchett<br />Happy book</p>James Spackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590806198639830354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534611445092889854.post-33009383166319428722011-01-29T06:04:00.000-08:002011-01-30T13:24:19.598-08:00Unsamaritans Book Group 28.01.11<div><br /></div><b>The book:</b> The Slap, by Christos Tsiolkas<div><b>The venue</b>: James and Sarah's house</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 256px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmjkPXB_nbLaboAIdjdTB8FwWk4XDXbbr3aIEguJKqDUMRnbSFJFjaHzGgfO86nbZZaIuHOl9fm6V2qJwm9dsE390GnvXxXhbseu0NKD2WT0ogXxrjiC0aySzWUoVVdbUQNyCvAe0Bj0s/s400/Slap.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567627925167984594" /></div><div>I'm sure Mr Tsiolkas didn't deliberately set out to write The Ultimate All-Boxes-Ticked Book Group Novel, but one wonders if a small part of his brain was imagining, as he wrote this story of the consequences of a man slapping a friend's child, thousands upon thousands of wine fueled suburban debates being sparked off by it. It certainly did the trick for us.</div><div><br /></div><div>Mind you, the ethics of child discipline wasn't the first topic we got into. Did this story tell us anything about Australia? Was it a universal examination of the immigrant experience, or is the Australian version unique? Are men expert at concealing their animal nature, and does this book show us as we truly are? </div><div><br /></div><div>But eventually, and inevitably, we got on to the slapping debate. Does it matter whether hitting a child is done in anger or cold blood? Is it relevant that belting other peoples' kids was the norm within living memory? Is it possible to have a good relationship with a relative who hit you when you were young?</div><div><br /></div><div>I only managed a third of the book and found it compelling, but I probably won't finish it, not least because the consensus was that the novel didn't really deliver in the end.</div><div><br /></div><div>Only Frances really hated the book, and I think only Geoffrey loved it. I suspect we'll remember it more positively as a discussion starter than a novel.</div><div><br /></div><div>The evening was enlivened by a joyful and surprising announcement from one of our number: yes, Geoffrey offered to host. This was a first. We were shocked, we were moved, we offered, only partly satirically, to come in evening dress.</div><div><br /></div><div>In a mood of giddy elation, we set about devising some awards for the night. Suggestions ranged from the predictable (best book discussion ever) to thought-provoking (most interesting member's input) to the blatantly provocative (least number of books read). The latter, not surprisingly, proposed by James, while staring at Jamie. </div><div><br /></div><div>Our discussion took place over a fine vegetable gobi, with superb chutneys provided by Claire, and plenty of naan and samosas.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sarah presented us with a shortlist of three books for the next meeting: Red Dust Road by Jackie Kay, Blood River by Tim Butcher and the winner <b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alone-Berlin-Penguin-Modern-Classics/dp/014118938X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296422624&sr=8-1">Alone In Berlin</a></b> by Hans Fallada. The date is Friday 11th May.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>James Spackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590806198639830354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534611445092889854.post-67910942232889512552010-11-29T13:06:00.001-08:002010-12-08T23:57:10.180-08:00Sugru StyleSome clever person once reviewed The Big <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Lebowski</span> saying "In an ideal world, all films would be made by the Cohen Brothers". The same might be true of all new companies and Jane <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Ní</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Dhulchaointigh</span>.<br /><div><p class="MsoNormal">Jane is the inventor and founder of <a href="http://sugru.com/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Sugru</span></a>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I got in touch with her because I was impressed by the clarity of her website, and I felt her approach might contain lessons for our authors. <a href="http://sugru.com/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Sugru</span>.com</a> transmits a strong personality and sense of purpose which magnetically compels you to join in.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">We met, at Jane's suggestion, at <a href="http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/venue/2:27113/look-mum-no-hands">Look Mum, No Hands</a> in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Clerkenwell</span> - a cyclists' cafe (sensible idea). Jane was charming and inspiring. These are my notes from our conversation:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">1) She took a while to get her head around blogging, but managed it by studying other peoples' blogs, discovering which ones she naturally gravitated to and admired, then emulating them.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">2) ... but she still feels self conscious about blogging, talking about herself, her product. Her solution is to <a href="http://sugru.com/blog/">celebrate the work of others</a>, and their great ideas. That way she's promoting <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Sugru</span> by oblique means.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">3) She has no interest in converting unbelievers. Rather, she spends her time interacting with enthusiasts, rewarding their involvement, and in the process making them even more likely to be <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Sugru</span> advocates. A very natural and organic process.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">4) It's <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">imperative</span> to establish the context for the product, and tell its story. You can't just have it sitting on a shelf (unless the shelf is wonky and had been hacked better, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">arf</span>). Ideally, you have it introduced to you by a user, a believer.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">5) She's <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">focused</span> on reaching out to pockets of enthusiasts, and going where <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">like minded</span> people and a sympathetic attitude exist: so not B&Q, but bike specialists, design specialists etc.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"></span>6) I think it's sort of conceptually pleasing that the user-empowering, hands-on nature of the product is mirrored in the the user-generated nature of the online community.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> So there you go. Buy some! And see if you can beat my <a href="http://sugru.com/gallery/P32/">cable </a><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"><a href="http://sugru.com/gallery/P32/">tidie</a></span><a href="http://sugru.com/gallery/P32/">s</a>.</o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmEH64T18Z-UWkEYSkoNuKS0jWRKkotzQy2B-T5QEHUD8jfiyG9sjEM-kef3UWV-JrRNgn-okAQtJeWoqnI2h4xT1ab3YhLgvCHVYJFMsEMr7oXLT7Bve6weMb9rdPUmXXn85-gQdKg6c/s1600/Photo+7.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmEH64T18Z-UWkEYSkoNuKS0jWRKkotzQy2B-T5QEHUD8jfiyG9sjEM-kef3UWV-JrRNgn-okAQtJeWoqnI2h4xT1ab3YhLgvCHVYJFMsEMr7oXLT7Bve6weMb9rdPUmXXn85-gQdKg6c/s400/Photo+7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548437123275002306" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" border="0" /></a></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> </div>James Spackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590806198639830354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534611445092889854.post-68248824884192113372010-11-12T13:03:00.000-08:002010-11-15T13:37:58.225-08:00The Percy Road Book Group, Southampton<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">For a work project, I visited my sister's book group in</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> Southampton, having given them copies of one of our books in advance. Never got round to using it at work, so here's the discussion:<br /></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">The Book:</span></span></b></div><div><span style=" ;font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><span style=" ;font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family:Arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">The Chapel at the Edge of the World by Kirsten McKenzie</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU2Oj8wX7ixBeKZYh_emYEavvdmNc4Xr2F7ttsVs8Y49iMsL7U-46ooHquRjyrtojdWVB94lkGHxdnS0gpC1h0Crt5qqy9UwCRh6e3aX7lFpJJOPiueOTsO9dGi9elJ1DCMksmlaswkYM/s1600/9781848541504.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU2Oj8wX7ixBeKZYh_emYEavvdmNc4Xr2F7ttsVs8Y49iMsL7U-46ooHquRjyrtojdWVB94lkGHxdnS0gpC1h0Crt5qqy9UwCRh6e3aX7lFpJJOPiueOTsO9dGi9elJ1DCMksmlaswkYM/s400/9781848541504.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538775695388063778" style="cursor: pointer; width: 130px; height: 200px; " /></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">A moving story of Italian childhood sweethearts separated by war. Emilio is a POW in the Orkneys, Rosa remains in Lake Como. He builds a makeshift chapel (true story), she joins the resistance.<br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br /></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Who's who?<br /></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br />Michelle (our host) - favourite book: The Five People You Meet In Heaven<br />Chris - favourite book: Keep the Aspidistra Flying<br />Angela - Jonathan Livingstone Seagull<br />Vic - If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things<br />Brendan - The Kite Runner<br />Me - The Name of the Rose (this week)<br /><br /><br /></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">What did they like?<br /></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br />Plenty, thank God. The nightmare scenario of nervous silence thankfully didn't materialise. Here's a few likes: "The small, intimate cast of characters"; "the fast moving narrative; the story alternates between settings in small chunks, with lots of dialogue"; "really distinct styles to the two threads of the story; a pacier narrative in the Rosa bits"; "reminds you of the courage of resistance fighters"; "the strong theme of perseverance"; "the absorbing atmosphere".<br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Chris and Vic both re-started the book as soon as they'd finished it, to read again the bit at the beginning (which is actually the end of the story). Like The Kite Runner, you're uncertain what's happening at the start, until the story unfolds...</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br />Like most people in publishing, I sometimes forget that not everyone likes reading. Michelle told us she'd struggled to get her colleague excited about this book, but then remembered he'd only ever read one book - a Mario Puzo novel badly finished by his wife when he died - and was so cross he never read another.<br /><br /><br /></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">What did they not like?<br /></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br />Some of the group felt that the book didn't end quite as strongly as it had started. Others wanted the story to be bigger, and escape the episodic narrative. Angela didn't feel the relationship between Emilio and Bertoldo was very clear; their attitudes to one another seemed to shift in inexplicable ways.<br /><br /></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">The Chapel<br /></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br />Every book group needs a research fiend, and Michelle was that lady, finding pictures on the net of the actual chapel on Lambholm.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWwHQN-gA3Z2rK_Ld-aKtlwivXh5xE0ePCyrupIolwvZ6RHWckYjNE9EqXUc3WGX-6y2AAwBt8w2Q69Xckxond01OFjqqP96PLXKfkA4gHYIjh3pxRQzhrwb9LHde6G1Dd31MlNlJrPvI/s1600/Lambholm.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWwHQN-gA3Z2rK_Ld-aKtlwivXh5xE0ePCyrupIolwvZ6RHWckYjNE9EqXUc3WGX-6y2AAwBt8w2Q69Xckxond01OFjqqP96PLXKfkA4gHYIjh3pxRQzhrwb9LHde6G1Dd31MlNlJrPvI/s400/Lambholm.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538776428881457138" style="cursor: pointer; width: 277px; height: 182px; " /></span></span></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style=" ;font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><span style=" ;font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWwHQN-gA3Z2rK_Ld-aKtlwivXh5xE0ePCyrupIolwvZ6RHWckYjNE9EqXUc3WGX-6y2AAwBt8w2Q69Xckxond01OFjqqP96PLXKfkA4gHYIjh3pxRQzhrwb9LHde6G1Dd31MlNlJrPvI/s1600/Lambholm.jpg"></a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> It turns out to be bigger and more impressive than people had imagined. Interesting question: is it better to see that before you read the book, or would that inhibit your imagination?<br /><br />Chris observed that the chapel was a brilliant device for writing about people; each character projected their own needs and hopes onto it. It provides a release for some, a distraction for others.<br /><br /></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">The Characters<br /></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br />Bertoldo was considered fascinating and surprising; where did he find the courage to attempt an escape?<br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Rosa was the most controversial. To some she was gutsy, confused, changed by the war (whereas Emilio 'came back the same person'). To others she was deceptive. Was she engaged in resistance work as a distraction, as Emilio was with the chapel?<br /><br />Emilio: he coped by </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">not</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> yearning.</span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Their Best Book for Discussion, Ever?<br /></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br />This lot, like many reading groups, often have good discussions about bad books. They named The Mermaid and the Drunks and The Death of Mr Love.<br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">'Best book' votes went to Germinal, The Bone Setter's Daughter, and English Passengers. They love a book offering an escape to a historical reality.<br /><br /></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Why a book group?<br /></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br />So you can discuss books at length without boring loved ones! And you find yourself reading books you'd never have normally picked up.<br /><br /></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">How do they decide on the next book?<br /></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br />They take turns. No messing. And they use a list from the excellent Southampton Central library for inspiration, and usually source the books from them. And compete in their vicious Christmas Quiz...<br /><br /></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Do they use reading notes or similar?<br /></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br />They sometimes use questions from the back of books, and often research on the web. Sparknotes.com is approved of.<br /><br /></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Catering Report</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">:<br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Outstanding biscuits including those nice little oblong Jaffa Cakes, already well known to your correspondent. Red wine (likewise).<br /><br /></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Next Time?<br /></span></span></b><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br />Restless by William Boyd. Never heard of him.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:-webkit-xxx-large;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></div></span></span></span></span></span></div></span>James Spackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590806198639830354noreply@blogger.com0