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Post by ropardoe on Sept 30, 2017 17:00:50 GMT
With the encouragement of James Doig (so it's his fault), I have a question to ask. Would there be any interest in a collection of my articles and essays, taken (with revisions and expansions) from Ghosts & Scholars, the Ghosts & Scholars Newsletter and odds and ends from other places (and some from The Everlasting Club to show that I don't only write about Jamesian authors!)? Most of my earlier writings are way too embarrassing to ever see the light of day again (knowing Vault denizens, some of you will see this as a red rag to a bull and promptly raid your old fanzines collections for examples of those!). I'm not excluding a few of the earlier G&S articles from that judgement! But there are other essays and articles over the years which I can still reread without (much) cringing.
I'll never be a stylist; I'll never equal the work of Mark Valentine in his two lovely Tartarus collections; but I hope I've been interesting, reasonably informative, and perhaps I've made some discoveries which might otherwise not have been made. I've worked out a rough list of forty or fifty pieces, probably (at a guess) totalling approx 75,000 words (I write succinctly!), which would make a book about the size of Sarob's Ghosts & Scholars Books of Shadows. So, would people here be interested, and if so do you have any suggestions for possible publishers (Sarob Press, to the best of my knowledge, has never published non-fiction, so, although I'd give Robert Morgan first refusal, I'd probably be looking for someone else)?
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Post by dem bones on Sept 30, 2017 18:19:46 GMT
Certainly. From the tantalising snippets you've shared on here, the Everlasting Club material is certainly worthy of a wider audience, updated revisions of the G&S and newsletter writings too - it's not as if back issues are easy to obtain. James knows way more about this than me, but alternative publishers to consider might be Borgo Press or maybe one of the US Uni presses? Most of my earlier writings are way too embarrassing to ever see the light of day again (knowing Vault denizens, some of you will see this as a red rag to a bull and promptly raid your old fanzines collections for examples of those!). I'm wounded.  |
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Sept 30, 2017 19:05:31 GMT
I have never, as far as I know, read anything from Ghosts & Scholars, so my opinion is useless! I mean this to be encouraging.
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Post by jamesdoig on Sept 30, 2017 21:28:14 GMT
So, would people here be interested, and if so do you have any suggestions for possible publishers (Sarob Press, to the best of my knowledge, has never published non-fiction, so, although I'd give Robert Morgan first refusal, I'd probably be looking for someone else)? In pitching to Rob, or anyone else for that matter, I'd say that in our genre non-fiction sells - people want to read essays and reviews, books about books in other words. The reviews and essays sections in G&S and All Hallows were always popular, and books of essays by Mark Valentine, John Howard, Roger Dobson etc etc sell out quickly. There must be lots of publishers who publish non-fiction, eg academic publishers like McFarland, or specialty publishers like Hippocampus. |
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Post by andydecker on Sept 30, 2017 22:00:15 GMT
I would buy this. Books about fiction are often interesting, and I would love to learn more about all things James.
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Post by ropardoe on Oct 1, 2017 9:35:54 GMT
That's an encouraging initial reaction. I do think that my writings are probably too lightweight for the US university/academic
presses, though I could be wrong. Also I'm ethically opposed to the prices these presses charge for their publications (as for instance the recent MRJ book by Patrick Murphy from Penn State). I am wondering about Hippocampus Press, who did a nice job with the Joshi/Pardoe Warnings to the Curious essay collection. My preference, to be honest, would be for some sort of fan or small press - that's where my sympathies lie.
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Post by helrunar on Oct 1, 2017 13:47:08 GMT
Rosemary, I think a volume of your collected essays about the Master and related topics would be a delightful thing to have. Wishing you all the best with the project.
Hippocampus does wonderful work. I have one of their latest books (the first I've ever purchased from them), a collected volume of the letters of H. P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith. It's a beautifully produced volume. They are really small and I think there is only one person who does all the work, but several people have told me that the press is solid and reliable.
Best wishes,
Steve
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Oct 1, 2017 16:07:27 GMT
I would most definitely be interested in a book like this.
If Sarob don't want to go down the non-fiction route, might somewhere like Swan River Press be interested?
Alternatively, would you consider the Supernatural Tales/Scarred for Life route and publish as 'The Haunted Library' via somewhere like Lulu (as you know, I've been experimenting with Lulu's system to produce books for my own enjoyment, and it's pretty straightforward once you've decided on a format and template)?
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Post by ropardoe on Oct 1, 2017 17:52:11 GMT
I would most definitely be interested in a book like this. If Sarob don't want to go down the non-fiction route, might somewhere like Swan River Press be interested? Alternatively, would you consider the Supernatural Tales/Scarred for Life route and publish as 'The Haunted Library' via somewhere like Lulu (as you know, I've been experimenting with Lulu's system to produce books for my own enjoyment, and it's pretty straightforward once you've decided on a format and template)? Going the Lulu/Blurb route is something I haven't entirely ruled out, but it wouldn't be my preference. If I did go that way, I'd have to take a lot of advice as I'm not sure I'd even know where to start! I'll look at the other options first, I think. At the moment I'm in the process of collecting together all the pieces I'd like to include and editing/tidying/expanding/updating as I think necessary. So far I've confined myself to those which I've already got on the computer - about a third will need typing in from scratch so I'm leaving them till last and hoping my tendonitis will be better by then. I have a general idea of having everything ordered and ready to publish in 2019. Once the G&S Book of Folk Horror is completed, I can spend more time on what I've provisionally titled The Black Pilgrimage and Other Explorations, so it's possible I could finish sooner than that. |
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Post by piglingbland on Oct 2, 2017 12:16:00 GMT
Yes, this would definitely be something I'd like to see. Hopefully Sarob or one of the other quality small presses will gleefully pick this up. Here at the less up-market "Shadow Publishing" I've not done any non-fiction books, but might be interested, though I'm sure it will be snapped up soon if it hasn't already!
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Post by Michael Connolly on Oct 2, 2017 12:43:47 GMT
I would buy this. Books about fiction are often interesting, and I would love to learn more about all things James. Me too. |
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Oct 2, 2017 13:08:33 GMT
Books about fiction are often interesting In fact they are often more interesting than the fiction itself. |
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Post by ropardoe on Oct 2, 2017 13:38:01 GMT
Yes, this would definitely be something I'd like to see. Hopefully Sarob or one of the other quality small presses will gleefully pick this up. Here at the less up-market "Shadow Publishing" I've not done any non-fiction books, but might be interested, though I'm sure it will be snapped up soon if it hasn't already! This would be a dream partnership for me. If you're definitely interested, Shadow Publishing goes to the top of my list. |
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Post by ropardoe on Oct 5, 2017 9:38:31 GMT
Yes, this would definitely be something I'd like to see. Hopefully Sarob or one of the other quality small presses will gleefully pick this up. Here at the less up-market "Shadow Publishing" I've not done any non-fiction books, but might be interested, though I'm sure it will be snapped up soon if it hasn't already! This would be a dream partnership for me. If you're definitely interested, Shadow Publishing goes to the top of my list. Have just signed with Shadow (all thanks to the Vault). I'm very excited. My deadline for completing everything is next September but I'm aiming for sooner. |
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Post by dem bones on Oct 5, 2017 10:15:36 GMT
This would be a dream partnership for me. If you're definitely interested, Shadow Publishing goes to the top of my list. Have just signed with Shadow (all thanks to the Vault). I'm very excited. My deadline for completing everything is next September but I'm aiming for sooner. Am really pleased to hear that! It's not the first time Shadow have been suggested in connection with a Ghosts & Scholars project ....  |
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