Book Money

Ah, money.  Money’s always a problem.  But if I had the money, there are tons of things I would do differently with the books I publish.

First off is publicity.  Publicists are idiots and should all be drummed out of the book industry.

No, not just that… I should dress up like a Puritan and round them all up and burn them at the stake, with little girls in the front row of the gathered gawkers wailing and pointing at them.

I would select a publicist who actually does publicity, and cares about the books that she works with.  Yes, I have someone in mind… Though she’s kind of doing it under the counter, so, if you’re an interested author, email me at nacho@www.dangerousjoy.com.

I do plenty of the publicity myself, as well.  The two times I’ve hired a publicist, the ordinary levels of support that I give a title – which are required, unless I’m dead – have far outstripped what those fools did.

Next is sales.  I’d build a stable of friendly book buyers at the larger bookstores and then fly out and see them.  Shake hands, how are you… Then out comes the gun, which I’ll press to their temple.  Go get the catalog… Get the catalog!  Place the order!  Ten copies!

Finally, I’d build a diverse catalog of my own.  I’d split the money earmarked for publishing into two funds.  One to bring out work from new authors, which is always suicide in this industry, and another to reprint work that should not be out of print.  And here’s a quick list, just off the top of my mind, as I sit here at my shitty day job on a Friday morning.  Oh, and by the way, more than half the staff are out with a death cold today.  I’m going to burn my fucking co-worker at the stake, as well.

Repent, devil!

Here’s the quick list:

Wars of Heaven, by Richard Currey.

Codex Seraphinianus, by Luigi Serafini

The Ray Robertson collection:  Home Movies, Heroes, Gently down the Stream, What Happened Later

Negrophobia, by Darius James

By the way — get those Robertson books into you.  I love that guy.