2020 is the year that just won’t give up. As I write this Japan is getting brutalised by typhoons but more locally I’m now, once again, trapped in lockdown as Victoria’s Covid-19 cases have been spiralling out of control. As you might be able to imagine it’s not exactly the best situation for fostering good mental health. Still, we soldier on for we must, and there are many far worse off than I in this mess, though I can’t help but feel acknowledging this fact makes me seem a bit of an ass. I digress.
Though we may be struggling through interesting times, I am still hard at work making this book happen. Most people would have no concept of what goes into publishing a book once it’s written, which is fair enough. Let me tell you that it is stressful. Getting quotes, doing maths to work out how much you can feasibly charge for the book in order to even cover production costs let alone skim a profit off the top, working out payment methods and distribution channels – it’s a lot to juggle, and that’s even before you start looking at things like ISBNs and legal deposit. Still, it must be done and so that is what has been occupying most of my brain power.
At any rate, we are super close to locking in a printer for the book and thus being ready to launch a pre-order campaign. With a bit of luck we should be able to start offering pre-order purchases at some point in the next week or so. Once we have an official figure for the cost of printing then we can start taking names and money. This process is vital to the success of the project so I will be doing all I can to make it tempting for the punters. Not only will the first 100 copies be individually hand-numbered and signed, but I am in the process of procuring unique gifts for the “early adopters” who get their pre-orders in first. I can’t give more detail than that at present, but the announcement will give a bit more info on that front.
The tentative launch date for the book is 1 August but with the current restrictions in Victoria it means that there won’t be an official book launch until well into August at the earliest. That doesn’t mean that those that pre-order the book won’t get their purchases until mid-August, it just means that until that time pre-orders are your best bet to get a copy. Anyway, stay tuned because there’s more info on the way.
Glenrowan 