Hola Fahrenhistas,
Some weeks it’s harder to slap on a smile and keep a positive outlook than others - and maaan has this been one of those weeks (hint: yes, it was).
The reality is that running an indie publishing house can be a proper ball-ache almost all of the time - there’s never enough time to do everything you need to, juggling dozens of projects and relationships is beyond tough and ultimately no-one feels like they’re getting the attention they need, and of course there’s never, ever, enough money - keeping the financial wheels on the bus from week to week is a full-time job all on its’ own.
“If you want to know how to make a small fortune in publishing, start with a big fortune..”
And then a few things drop into your lap that remind us why we do this, why we keep spending all our time, emotion, and money making these incredible books.
For sure there’s real satisfaction in holding a finished copy of a beautiful book you’ve put your heart and soul into for months but the thing that always makes us realise that everything else is worth it is feedback from readers.
Seriously, when readers get in touch to send photos of our books out in the wild or write reviews telling the world what our books have meant to them it gives everyone here the boost to carry on in the face of adversity.
Simple truth is it’s the reactions from our readers that keep us going.
Corny? Sure it’s corny, but just because it’s corny doesn’t mean it isn’t true.
Just seeing photos like these landing on our socials, our books in actual reader’s hands - in actual reader’s homes - just blows our minds and reminds us what it’s really all about.
And then there’s the reviews - honestly when people we don’t know and have zero connection to, take the time to sit down and tell the world what our books have meant to them - beyond humbling.
Here’s a great example that’s just popped up on the Amazon page for According To Mark by H.B. O’Neill this week - frankly we couldn’t write anything better to try to persuade you to buy this book so we’re just going to quote it in full - remember this is a random reader with absolutely no connection to us or the author…
In our impatient world of ten-second faceplant clips and Instagram nipple slips, a novel is a big ask. Why react to books and movies when one can simply watch other people react to books and movies? A novel, to compete, must entertain. Entertainment has long been a dirty word (24-Hour Adult Entertainment, anyone?), but in literature it's shoved into the cellar next to the dusty BDSM racks. How a novel entertains is up for debate; hell, it's all individual anyway. For me, there's a holy trinity of story, character, and language. In other words, it's the journey, who's taking it, and the songs they sing along the way.
I'm an easy please. I'll admit that. Give me one of those three holiest of holies, done well, and I'll stick around until the end. "According to Mark" gave me all three.
Like all books, "According to Mark" won't be for everyone. This is not some Point A to Point Z thriller, because Robert, the main character, isn't a guy who does anything A -> Z. It's not a romance, either, at least not in the standard sense. It is, simply, a truthful story arising from a believable character in this particular life he lived. The story circles and cycles, twists back on itself, because this is a man who's mind is doing much of the same.
Robert is a person I would happily spend time with, but in a bar and in short bursts, using him as a sort of human battery of wit and energy. He's the type of guy who raise other people's inner extroverts to the surface. But after a few pints at the pub I would need hours of alone time just to recover. This is why Rebecca's voice provides the perfect counterpoint. She is the ice bath after the fever sweats. She is neither cold nor boring; only interesting in a different yet believable way.
The voice - the language that evokes Robert, is perhaps the most entertaining. Musical, poetic, dropping doubles doses of alliterative derring-do - fits the novel, the experience, and the character. It may turn some people off, but this is not the author showing off, this is Robert being Robert, and that is a significant difference. Humor is a hard thing to do convincingly, humor-plus-depression even more so. But humor and depression are lovers in a sneaking-into-flats-at-midnight sort of way. If we're always joking, it's easy to convince those closest that nothing is wrong.
And this is where the pleasure of discomfort comes into play. The humor obscures Robert's struggles, but also highlights them. The novel does not hide from them other than showing how Robert hides from them himself. It produces an oddly pleasurable sense of discomfort. Though "Mark" is different in many ways from Murakami's "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles" and Nicole Cushing's "A Sick Gray Laugh" the sensations it produced were nonetheless similar. They all explore absurdity without being absurd. They produced a range of emotions. They entertained.Trust me. You want to read this. The writing is exquisite. These characters are wonderfully drawn and brought to life by O'Neill.
Honestly, how can we even think about stopping making books like this when people we don’t know tell us what these books mean to them?
It’s simple, we can’t. You’re stuck with us. At least for a while longer.
Of course with the best will on the world we can only do that if we keep selling books & merch so we’ll end this week with a straight up sales pitch - GO BUY SOME STUFF - we’ll even sweeten the deal, if you use promo-code READER20 at the checkout we’ll give you 20% OFF EVERYTHING IN OUR STORE THIS WEEKEND.
Okay, that’s all from us this week, thanks again for all your support, it really is the only thing that keeps us going.
We kiss you.
xx