| Author | Message | ||
     Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
Pete Crowther tells me that new subscribers to PS (the quarterly) whose subscription starts with issue 18 will receive a free copy of my chapbook The Other Way. I'm delighted with the production. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
Confused? Me too. My fault. The chapbook is called The Long Way - the title of the story of mine it contains. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.207.215 |
Just how Freudian can a slip get? | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.152.164 |
Excellent - just checked and my current subscription has so far provided me with volumes 14, 15 & 16, so 17 to go then I start over again with 18. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.152.164 |
...interesting to note, too, that Postscripts is to become "Postscripts Quarterly Anthology" from issue 18. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.152.164 |
...although it looks as if the paperback edition may be disappearing, as only hardcover and limited hardcover editions are available as subscription from issue 18 (although p/b is available with four-issue subs from issue 17, strangely). Hafta wait and see, I guess. | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.213.27.228 |
I got my hardcover version of 'The Long Way' last week, Ramsey. I'm about to start on it this weekend. Incidentally, is it an original story? (I'm guessing not). I like the cover artwork. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
Too expensive for my tastes. Last year I failed to renew all my subs except Black Static and All Hallows because I can't afford to keep buying magzines I never have the time to read.  | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 61.216.32.115 |
I know how you feel, Zed. I've had to cut back a lot this year. I still subscribe to All Hallows, but can't afford to buy as much as I used to. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
Steve - yes indeed, it's an unpublished story - my latest, in fact. I very much like the cover. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
Huw, it's more a cse of me never reading these mags. That's why I've cut back. To be honest, I only tried PS for a year anyway, and found that much of the content didn't tally with my tastes (too much SF and slipstream type fiction, which does nothing for me). It's a fine publication that has a broad appeal, and I'd recommend it to anyone, but personally I prefer something like Black Static. It's purely a taste thing. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
I would, however, kill to have a copy of Ramsey's chapbook.  I wish Pete would make these things available to buy seperately. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.157.92.146 |
Whoo-hoo! Look what turned up with issue 17 of Postscripts today:-   | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.170.88.98 |
Ha! Postman Flat. Where/how do you get these things? | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.170.88.98 |
Oh, it's a wheelchair. Still not completely sure about these covers. Like this one for the wrong reasons. Really must start getting my art about - I'm sure I can do better. Mr Strantzas definitely can. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Scan it and email it to me, Mick. ;-) I don't want to own it, I just want to read it. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Seriously, though, I wish Pete would make at least a number of these chapbooks available to buy seperately: free for subscribers; cash for everyone else. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.170.88.98 |
It's horrible, isn't it, really? Especially considering how scarce this stuff is on the supermarket shelves. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
Actually, it's not my most recent short story but the second most recent - the last one was "Chucky Comes to Liverpool". | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
 | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.170.88.98 |
That's true?  | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.0.112.152 |
Tony, what's horrible? The price? If so, do you seriously expect small press imprints to sell books at £3.73 a la Harpers-Tesco-bulk-deal? | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.0.112.152 |
Here, Tony, I'll sell you a copy of Conrad Williams's superb novella Rain and Nicholas Royle's splendid novella The Appetite for £10 and will include a free chapbook with seven great stories in it. That's three books for a tenner. £3.67 each. Cheaper than Tesco. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.170.88.98 |
'Tony, what's horrible? The price?' The fact it's just not out there, I suppose. Also...I like to be able to pick up a book and look at it, have my eye caught by a cover. It's how new authors are found. That's so hard with these things. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.170.88.98 |
And the fact that yes, you can't get it any other way. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.0.112.152 |
For another £4, I'll throw in a copy of Stephen Volk's Dark Corners. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.0.112.152 |
Four books for £14: £3.50 each! I'm undercutting Tesco's by a considerable margin now! | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.170.88.98 |
| ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.0.112.152 |
Hmm. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.170.88.98 |
I just hope I'm in a minority for thinking these things... | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.0.112.152 |
Hmm. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
All the Arkham House books I collected in my teens I had to order from a printed catalogue that showed only the contents. I'm very glad I did. These days you can at least see the covers online. Some shops (branches of Waterstones, for instance) do stock PS books. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Tony, browsing the PS catalogue online is almost the same as looking at the titles on shelves...there's such variety there. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.170.88.98 |
You both have very good points, and I do understand why the small press have to do such things. It just has that 'Franklin Mint' vibe about it. Which - I hasten to ad - I know is daft! | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.170.88.98 |
It's just I do like to pick books up and read those first lines. It might sound mad, but the physicality of a book is quite important - it adds to the flavour of the book. A lot to ask in these times, I know. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.0.112.152 |
Tony, I'll send you a PDF copy of the first few pages of Conrad's novella. The extract comes with a recording of kitschy supermarket Muzak plus a device that mimics the impact of a harried mother wrestling with her children and running into you with her shopping trolley. There's additionally a scent-inducer which replicates the aroma of fresh coriander from the next aisle. Gray Friar Press - seeking to enhance the online shopping experience. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.170.88.98 |
My nearest bookshop costs me five pounds to get to. For the record, I only buy the very rare Asda book. Kings, maybe. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.0.112.152 |
Even Henry Ford would have given up on you. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.170.88.98 |
It's just...I've never been this under-overdrawn at the bank in ages. Only £60 this month, so far. Most of my books are second handies. If it means anything, you have all my admiration for going into publishing. It seemed very brave back when you did it and still does, even more so now. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.0.112.152 |
I was just yanking your chain, Tony. But you see how hard it can be to get people to buy even at a giveaway price. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.170.88.98 |
You are right, though. I go in these remainder bookshops at the metrocentre and I see all these fairly recent books and I realise with horror that even if they were being given away I would take none of them. That chills my blood, that thought. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.0.112.152 |
Well, most of them are shit. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.231.112 |
For me, Tony, it's not that I don't want these books, or to support all authors... but I'm so damned lazy/ADD/impatient/listless in my reading of late... getting worse all the time... reading now is like wanting to climb high mountains - an exhilirating thought, but not constantly... in my defense, this extends to TV, movies, music... I think I'm suffering some kind of holo-ennui.... | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.231.112 |
But see, if I stumbled across that chapbook for "The Long Way," I'd scrape out the coins in my pocket to buy it and take it home, because I know I'd read it right away... perhaps that's it, the prospect of probing (for me) untested waters, unsure currents, strange seas... the familiar, the tried-and-true, is always so much easier, more sure.... | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.170.88.98 |
I'd buy it, too. The cover has grown on me - it's not slick. Me too, on the ADD front. I pick up a book and go sort of 'Oh, yes,' somehow predicting the whole thing and being tired with it before i've even finished the blurb. At least that Ramsey book would sidestep all those expectatons. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.170.88.98 |
Those damn robots, the Expecatons... | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.170.88.98 |
ExpECTATONS. Jeez. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.12.5 |
Everything of late feels distracting. Distracting from what...? Perhaps it's the awful state of things that makes me feel this way. It feels like a gigantic monster is lurking round the house, seeking a way to get in... which is decidedly not the time to pick up a book to read... unless that book is, "How To Keep Gigantic Monsters Out Of Your House." | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.199.0.89 |
I got my subscription copy of PostScripts today but it may be the last. I can't see myself paying £40-00 a year for a subscription. Mr Crowther may have shot himself in the foot with that one. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.170.88.98 |
That's my years book budget! | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.157.92.146 |
I noticed the paperback edition was finishing when I looked at the PS site last week. I've signed up today for another year's subscription starting with issue 18, and I'll see what I think about it in a year's time. It's a bit of a step from £26 to £40, although they are nice hardbacks rather than the almost-as-nice but not so expensive paperbacks; just a shame the paperback option is no longer available. Last year's p/b sub did bring the nice surprise of the hardback Summer one with all those signatures in it, plus Ramsey's chapbook, so I feel I certainly got my £26-worth. | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.151.125.7 |
I would buy every book by everyone here on this site if I could -And I would read them. Time & money though...Time & money. gcw | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.19.103.122 |
Cool cover! Yes the PS increase is substantial. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.157.92.146 |
It is, but as I said above it's for hardback rather than paperback. We shall see... | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
I see Pete says that he's "planning to make The Long Way available for purchase separately very soon." | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.37.199.45 |
Is a chick-lit chapbook called a lassbook? Not asking with reference to this case, obviously. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.37.199.45 |
Though the possibilities are exciting: The One Safe Place to Buy Shoes The 'Posh Spice' Smile of the Dark Shoplifting Fear The Brand Nameless The Last Text They Read Midnight Sun-Ray Lamp | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
In-sensible honda-nate The face that must diet | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
The House party on Nazareth hill The darkest part of the woodstain flooring | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.37.199.45 |
Weber, I hereby lay my humble wordplay laurels at your feet. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
Keep them. "the last text they read" is the best one of these so far. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.37.199.45 |
But only if you think of 'text' in relation to mobile phones. It should really have been The Last Words They Text. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.6.98 |
It should really have been The Last Words They Text. Now I get - ha! | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
No, that would have made the novel "the last words they say" . Maybe just take the e out of text - the last txt they read | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.208.48.106 |
Would a Victorian-set one be The Para-sol? Also: Cold Face Cream Told by - Well, Everyone Really Especially Her at No 31. Bloody Gossiping Cow Secret Stories - Not! Needing Everything comPact of the Handbag The Hungry Moo | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
Then again, there's the foodie list... The One Safe Plaice Needing Toasts The Height of the Bream Midnight Snack Inconsequential Snails Stop! Stop! | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.4.20.22 |
Okay, I have a question that I realise is going to make me look like a complete idiot, but... What in God's name is a chapbook??? | ||
| Simon Strantzas (Nomis) Username: Nomis Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 99.225.104.255 |
It's a thin booklet, usually stapled, about the size of an A4/Letter page folded in half. Often with a card stock cover. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
That said, The Long Way isn't one - it's a thin volume but produced as a book. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.177.5.67 |
Beatifully produced so, in fact. But then it's from PS Publishing, so that's to be expected. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.177.5.39 |
If anyone's interested, Andy Richards is selling a couple of copies of THE LONG WAY in his latest catalogue. |