I have just opened the last of fifty boxes of 24 books which comprised the 1200 privately published hardback copies of The Catholic Orangemen of Togo. They have all sold – not more than half a dozen were given away. This has been a hard slog. Long term readers will know that I had to self-publish after multi-millionaire hired killer Tim Spicer threatened my publishers with a libel action, causing them to pull out. I then published myself and invited Spicer to sue, but he bottled out.
I made the book available free online and I don’t know how many read it that way, but at least fifty thousand while we were keeping a track on the major download avenues. I suspect that increased rather than decreased sales of the hardback, but the real problem was that I found it impossible to get a self-published book accepted by bookshops, despite the commercial success of Murder in Samarkand.
Anyway, the final two dozen are now available. Great Christmas presents! It is a book of which I remain very proud.
Sharp intake of of breath when I heard that the fount of all knowledge on media, sleb and associated matters on the BBC and Sky, Max Clifford, is the man arrested in connection with Operation Yewtree for alleged sexual offences.
Also consternation that Anna Wintour, who raised $20m for Obomber, might become the US Amnassador to the UK or France, ie one big donor could replace another place person in Grosvenor Square.
“Anyway, the final two dozen are now available”
Have you considered a reprint, or even a second edition? The book is still available on Amazon Marketplace and has a sales ranking of around 80,000, which isn’t at all bad.
You could sell a second print run (paperback perhaps) directly through Amazon as a Marketplace seller.
Amazon pays no corporation tax on its UK sales and avoids charging VAT by using the CI for digital music sales.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/mar/11/channel-islands-last-bid-vat-free-retailing
That’s true. Nonetheless its services might suit Craig perfectly in this instance.
*swallows pride*
.
If there are still copies of the book left Craig, I’d love one…
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*cringes at self*
I enjoyed reading it Craig. I was very spooked by the account of the strange screams and goings-on at the house in the mine. Did you ever come to a conclusion about what that might have been?
Joe,
No – and to be perfectly honest I try very hard not to think about it!! Horrible.
O/T
A global petition to the ITU for signature.
Stop the Net grab
The internet as we know it is at risk. Unless we act now, our right to freely communicate and share information could change forever.
At a conference in Dubai this December, the International Telecommunications Union (or ITU), a United Nations agency, is planning to adopt new rules, including some nasty surprises which could clamp down on the fundamental freedoms of citizens online.
[..]
The proposal would give governments and companies all over the world the ability to:
Restrict access to the internet to approved uses
Monitor everything you do online
Change the way we pay for the internet, potentially marginalising civil society and developing countries.
/..
http://action.goingtowork.org.uk/page/s/stop-the-net-grab
Excellent summary of the book trade situation up there from Michael. There are still quite a few indie shops – radicals like Houseman (mentioned by a guest up there) and Bookmark in Bloomsbury and less overtly political ones who, being indies, understand that it’s their job to assess indie authors, rather than write them off with slanders such as ‘self-published therefore unedited’ – that includes Foyles, by the way. Once you’ve got a self-published book out there, just keep calling in and saying ‘hello’ when you happen to pass a bookshop. The ‘yes’-sayers build up over time. And buy a book while you’re in there – keeping the indie book trade alive and offline (AS WELL AS online, paper AS WELL AS EBOOK!) by using it is just as important for freedom and information exchange as a lot of more obviously political campaigns.
An injustice.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/06/woman-jailed-al-qaida-material-on-phone
A comment on the sentence from Hidari on medialens.
UK woman arrested for reading a magazine
Posted by Hidari on December 7, 2012, 5:37 am
“I accept on the evidence before me that this defendant gathered together the contents of the SD card in order to explore and understand the charges which her brothers faced. There is no evidence that she was motivated by their ideology or was preparing to follow them. She damaged what could have been a potentially blossoming future by committing these offences.”
But, said the judge, the material could have aided a terrorist, and such serious offences would always carry a prison sentence.”
Metropolitan deputy assistant commissioner Stuart Osborne, senior national co-ordinator of counter-terrorism, said: “The public should be in no doubt that Inspire is a terrorist publication with the ultimate aim of encouraging attacks. Today’s sentencing reflects the fact that possessing a copy of a terrorist publication is a serious offence. Anyone caught in possession of this, or any other terrorist material, can expect to be brought before the courts.”
{http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/06/woman-jailed-al-qaida-material-on-phone}
Incidentally the magazine can be easily obtained by googling “inspire” and “al qaeda”. So….do that and find out what “terrorist magazines” look like. Although be aware that this is now against the law.
I believe the Nazis had similar laws.
I’m still waiting for “Zionism is Bullshit”
Pre-order can?
Economists exist to make meteorologists look good. Right? Well Marx is back so watch out meteorologists. 🙂 See Terry Eagleton’s Why Marx was Right for the lowdown.
Micheal Roberts is a Marxist economist blogger who attempts to make sense of the present global economic shambles using Marx’s concepts. The subtext is an explanation of why both neo-liberalism and Keynsianism are unable to explain why capitalism is in crisis. He writes is a very accessible style and as you would expect of an economist there are plenty of graphs to illustrate what is going on. You can get email notifications of his posts.
http://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/
Glossary of Marxist terminology at:
http://www.marxists.org/glossary/
I can’t buy it. I’m too stingy. But I am willing to trade you some tropical fish for it. Your son would love them. My kids do. I have loads of guppies, all different colours. And also have the rare endler guppies. You wont be able to find them in the shops. I can also give you some fish tank plants.
How many do you want for a book?
You’d be getting a good deal!
Arsalan that would leave you with a depleted aquarium.
Nahh if you look after them right they reproduce loads.
But anyway, in fish shops they go for a between £1.50-3.00 each. So he’d get a good deal if I give him 10. I could give him more if he wants, but no point cause I’d make sure I would give him some pregnant females and some plants for the babies to hide in so he’d have more pretty soon anyway.
You know, I’m trying to work out what that title means? Probably something to do with contradictions of some sort? Well We have something like that here don’t we with the EDL? Zionist Nazis. They do demonstrations for Israel while they give Nazi salutes and shout kill the Jews.
I think the maths test on here might be unfair of thick people? Or is it how craig got rid of the Zionists? Do you still get Zionist trol here since you put that on?
If anyone has a copy of catholic Orangemen, that they have already read so no longer need. I can swap you for it. hmm lets see what I got. Fish and water plants, a clay mug with “happy birthday mum” written on it made by my daughter, or was it my son? Anyway, it is shit. Not glazed so you can’t really use it for anything. I got a high lighter pen in the shape of a syring. Nahh I got a whole bunch of high lighter pens. A mug, used with “total assist healthcare” written on it. It has still got some tea in it which you can have for free, if you reply to this quickly.
Arsalan, you’re hilarious.
I always think of you cooking fish. Not giving them away.
Tell me, how do you recognise pregnant guppies?
(I have Catholic Orangemen, but I don’t really want to part with it.)
Same as a pregnant humans. Big bellies.
Can you photo copy it for me?
I don’t think so, Arsalan. It’s a hardback. Oh heck, I’ll send you a copy. But you’ll have to get your address to Craig somehow, so I can instruct him to send it there.
Or ask Jon to send me your email address, or send you mine. Something like that.
@Jon,
Can you give my email address to Arsalan please?
Got my copy today, luckily there was one left. Probably I’ll be late for university tomorrow. 😀
Keep going on, Craig!