Tom Goes Live!

The soft-launch is now over and the Tom Corven Project will make its way into the world!
In preparing to leave Croatia, I have been asked to appear on an English-speaking radio show tonight. Excellent practice for the big push in the coming weeks.
The plan is flexible, but will entail a week's preparation - printing leaflets and distributing them outside book stores and libraries from town to town and city to city around the country. Not only will this spread the word about the project, and hopefully build momentum, it should give the books a small edge when they eventually appear in stores.
A good friend, John Simnett - one of many I've made in Split - has offered to be my base-man while touring the UK. This is great news. I know he is extremely enthusiastic about what I'm doing and he loved the story so much that he is one of 3 over here who have bought an SE. Better still, he is a successful entrepreneur and adventurer and a genuinely nice guy. I couldn't have asked for a greater start and I'm now itching to get over to the UK to push on.
On the sales side, we now have 10 SE orders - $5,000.
One of those sales came from Aaron who, for some reason, unknown to him, decided to visit the dreamwords site after listening to the cast 8 months ago! He saw the project through a quirk of fate and immediately jumped in.
Another sale came from a fellow writer and fan of TC, who spent three years holed up in a very basic cottage in Ireland; writing a novel with the encouragement of a leading London agent. When he finished, the said agent was too busy to read it! Unfortunately, we hear so many of these stories and this one is a good example that illustrates why I'm reluctant to tread the traditional route to finding a publisher.
I've got a small and very strange problem regarding reviews - one that I'm really pleased to have. Anyone who mails to tell me that they loved TC, I now ask if they would consider posting a review. This has been so successful that there are eight fantastic and honest reviews at the store in Lulu. Outstanding! But I wonder how many people will think I've got my friends to fake them. In fact the only one of those 8, I've met before is my friend John mentioned above. I must stop tempting fate and enjoy it while I can. You can read the reviews here

Thank you to everyone for your encouragement and support.

Mail problems

Hi all. I was preparing the next instalment of this blog when I realised that my mailbox has been unusually quiet and, subsequently, that it is down. Until my service provider sorts it out, you can contact me at dreamwords.com@gmail.com
Please write again - I am not just ignoring you. Thankfully this has happened just before I issued a press release. And in my last blog I sang the praises of technology. Oh well.

We're Rolling

It's now been a few days since I soft-launched this project, mailing a few friends and family to gauge reaction and catch any silly errors that could leave me embarrassed. I knew that there was a possibility that I would get one or two deciding to chip in to support me, but I'm blown away by having three friends and two family members take the plunge. Thanks to everyone and I appreciate the kind remarks.
While in stealth mode, I did not expect members of the public to come forward, but I was wrong. A few people have started signing up for the newsletter and (I did not expect this so soon) one gentleman has jumped on board and has decided to order a Special Edition. The story leading to this is interesting. After visiting the site and downloading the audio book (podcast), he subsequently listened to it while sitting on an aircraft or two. He enjoyed Tom's tale so much that he returned to the site to see if he could leave a donation, but found it totally changed. What really excites me, however, is that on making the decision to buy the SE, he has done so for his two daughters. That is such a wonderful thing to do and I could not have wished for a better start. Thanks Bruce.
Total orders for the SE is 6 - equating to $3,000.
With a lot of help from friends, I continue to edit both books, while preparing for my return to the UK. Yesterday saw around 7 hours on an edit session, cutting some of the fluff that tends to creep into one's work (the material that the author often mistakes for clever writing). I wish I could place one of my favourite quotes. To paraphrase:

When editing one's prose, read the manuscript, carefully highlighting everything you are proud of. When complete, go back and delete them all.

Another; on handing over a manuscript:

I'm sorry the work is not shorter, but I ran out of time.

I also added an extract from Dreamwords (the book that follow's Tom's story) to Tom Corven. The feedback on this has been great, so far.

Technology has moved on so fast that I finished the edit at one o-clock this morning, slept, and at nine o-clock uploaded the new version. At that instant, the new book became the one available to the public when buying the paperback online.

Amazing!

Here We Go!

Writers are idea merchants. Sometimes the ideas are their own, often interpretations of others', and at their best, a distillation of the world, reworked to present a viewpoint that is fresh, exciting and enlightening. I love ideas, and living, as we do, in this age of information, feel privileged to be on the edge of a technological shift as fundamental as anything in human history. The word, novel conjures an impression of novelty, ingenuity and excitement, however, novelists normally confine their inventions to the story in their head. But here we are, in this amazing time and I do not want to stand on the sidelines with my 'pen'.
Talk to anyone in the business of writing and they will tell you that self-publishing is a low volume affair. They are right. That is the norm and for many books, the ability to target niche markets, is the single best reason to go this route. For mass-market fiction, according to common wisdom, you are a fool if you think you can sell your work in numbers that matter. If you try this, it is because you are deluded or have been rejected by every traditional publisher; leaving you no other choice.
I am going to break that notion.
With that statement, I invite you to decide whether I am an arrogant fool or someone who has genuine reason to believe that the time is right, the tools are here and that I can see a clear route to make this happen. A few weeks ago, I was fortunate to have a high quality agent read a sample of the novel, 10 Downing St. I have every faith in this person - she was a courteous professional taking an interest in my work. However, some time ago I decided not to present my latest project, Tom Corven, to publishers and realised that this clashed with my request for an agent to represent the previous one. The agent/author relationship concerns more than a single manuscript. What to do with TC? was a question that drew ever closer. I made a decision and wrote, thanking her for her interest and withdrew the submission. Consequently I can say with all honesty that I am doing this as a first resort, not a last one. Tom Corven has not been submitted to anyone. I do not need permission to publish. No-one does.
This is not a juvenile stance against the publishing industry but a determination to take responsibility for my own future. I have no doubt that, given the right deal, I would be overjoyed to work with industry professionals. My primary concern at this time is the selection process.
But what about the outrageous statement that I will reach a mass market, even on my own? I cannot reveal everything in this or subsequent posts but you can buy an appraisal copy of Tom Corven and 10 Downing St and decide for yourself whether this is bluster or I really do have something quite special up my sleeve that allows me to say with complete confidence and honesty that:
My work, in the coming years, will reach a mass market. Those backing me now will look back at the naysayers as they scrabble to catch up. They will know that they saw the future and became part of it; made it happen. The healthy bank balance will be nice too.
You may read more at my site, Dreamwords. The following page summarises the project... Or, at least, as much of it as I can reveal at this stage.