Podding Along Nicely

My blog has won an award !

noreply@blogger.com (June Austin) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:15:00 GMT

To my utter astonishment and delight, this blog has won an award for non fiction writing, and if I may say so, it really is about time this genre was given more recognition. I have said many times before that there are precious few resources for non fiction writers compared to our fiction writing friends, so it nice to find one more resource that I did not know about.

It is a good thing that I have such a curious mind, as otherwise the email that was waiting for me in my inbox this morning that notified me of the award may have been relegated to the spam box. Anyway, I am chuffed to bits and proud to say that those lovely people at Online English Degree (where one it seems can find out whether or not an online English Degree is for them) have recognised and awarded my talents.

Historic name change for Dorking

noreply@blogger.com (June Austin) — Thu, 1 Apr 2010 09:39:00 +0100

Mole Valley District Council have voted unanimously to change the name of Dorking following an important discovery late last year. This is the first time since the compilation of the Doomsday Book in 1066 that the name of a Surrey town has been changed from its original nomenclature. A spokesperson for the Council said that they were very excited at this move, as it marks as decisive turning point in the town's history. He also said that the change would be relatively easy to implement, with the minimum of inconvenience for residents and businesses alike, since there is only one letter in the town's name to be altered.

The Council came to this decision after a team of archaeologists, headed by Professor Andrew S Winehouse from the University of Surrey, unearthed the remains of a prehistoric civilisation of scrofa domestica (otherwise known as wild boar) on the outskirts of the town. The remains, which were dated to approximately 2000 BCE, include fragments of teeth and jaw bones with several intact skeletons of both male and female animals.

Following this decision, I can exclusively reveal that the Council have also unveiled plans to replace the current sculpture of the cockerel at the roundabout near the Council offices at Pippbrook in honour of the town's earliest inhabitants. The new sculpture is due to be unveiled at the beginning of April. Attached is an artist's impression.

The Council will write to everyone in due course advising them to change the D to a P ...

The end of an era in book selling

noreply@blogger.com (June Austin) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:14:00 GMT

Today marks the end of an era when Borders stores will close their doors, to the public at least, for the last time. Despite several contenders, including Richard Joseph who with his father Philip, founded Books Etc, none of the bids have been successful.

Borders, which to the outsider who knows little about the book trade, had such potential, first came to the UK in 1997, as an offshoot of an American chain. Out of all the significant book chains trading in the UK, they have had by far the most turbulent history, changing hands twice in the last two years alone. 2009 has been by far the most eventful of their 12 years in the UK, with the closure of their flagship Oxford Street store and other stores across the country, including most of their airport ones, plus of course the much talked about management buy out, which has
no doubt left Philip Downer licking his wounds (not as much I suspect as his staff).

Downer was in fact Borders first British based employee, and he will also ironically now be their last, as the remaining staff are made redundant on Christmas Eve. He had such hopes for the business speaking at the company's annual conference just a few short months ago, a big expansion programme, new stock lines, and a bigger and better website to name just three, but none of these plans will now see fruition.

Speaking earlier this year, Downer stated "I genuinely believe we have got a unique retail proposition" - but it is difficult to see what this was. The company was faced with heavy competition - and aggressive discounting from Waterstones, supermarkets and the Internet, and simply could not compete. Out of town stores and heavy exposure to the Icelandic banks didn't help much either.

One of their biggest problems I always felt was connected to their distribution - namely, that everything was centralised (although that did change during the final year of business - maybe too late), with everything revolving around a central distribution hub in Cornwall. Books were trucked up and down the M5 to all parts of the country, with books from the average London publisher sent from London to Cornwall and then halfway round the country again to the stores which had requested copies. This I always felt, like the supermarket model, was pure insanity and suicidal for the small presses and small publishers, who did not get a look in, as they were unable to supply direct to their local stores. I speak from experience here.

When the hub close din the autumn of 2007, I hoped that it might herald a change and make things easier for the smaller publishers, but in reality nothing changed. I hoped that individual store Managers as with Waterstones, may have a say as to what was stocked in their stores, and be able to order books via wholesalers from the small presses and self publishers, but no, Head Office still maintained its icy grip. This is not of course the cause of their downfall, for many other factors were involved, but it certainly did not help, and was my personal biggest bug bear, as was the difficulty in extracting information about how to get them to take your work seriously so that you could be stocked. No one, but no one appeared to take the independent publisher seriously.

Borders came into the UK by buying Books Etc, which was run separately from Borders, yet part of the same group. Critics and company insiders claim that the initial success of Borders came at the expense of Books Etc, a claim which Downer has strongly denied. He did though concede that "Borders was the cuckoo in the nest", saying, "It was indulged, and then things were whipped away from it."

From 1997 onwards Books Etc slipped steadily down the agenda, with more and more stores closing until at the end, (they closed their doors at the weekend, ahead of their Borders cousins), only a handful remained. More than 50 staff braved the elements last night to hold a wake for Books Etc in London.

For the staff that remain, which came on Tuesday, confirming that today will be the final day of trading must have come as somewhat of a relief. There have been reports of customers wishing to buy any type of memorabilia they can get their hands on - chairs from the children's dept, coffee mugs from the staff room, and even the shirts that the staff wear as uniform. I can relate to what the anonymous book seller and author of the Borders Insider blog says over on The Bookseller that finally, in the midst of thousands of customers asking when they will close, they can give them an answer - safe in the knowledge that they are not enquiring as to the staff's future, but trying to ascertain how long they have in order to bag some more bargains. I suspect they have lost their chance, as when I visited the Kingston store last week, most of the books had already gone. I was lucky to get 20 percent off a calendar.

So, what will happen to the stores after they close - will some staff club together and buy the leases, as Simon and Tim did when Waterstones closed in Wood Green, or will they turn into just another cloned clothes or coffee shop, selling cheap tat that tastes awful and falls apart after a few washes? We can only wait and see.

Borders to close on 22nd December

noreply@blogger.com (June Austin) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:33:00 GMT

The administrators for Borders have confirmed that the stores will close their doors for the final time on Tuesday 22nd December, unless a buyer emerges.

MCR claimed that there were in "advanced stages" of negotiations with a number of parties about purchasing certain stores or assets. But, they added, unless a business took over Borders as a going concern (which looks increasingly unlikely), all stores will formally cease trading on the date stated above. The final day of employment for the 1150 Borders staff will be Christmas Eve.

Staff consultation is expected to continue throughout this week with further updates to individual stores at the end of the week.

In what has been clearly a difficult time for Borders staff, The Bookseller website suggests that that the stores have become a free for all, where pretty much anything that is not nailed down is for sale - from the fixtures and fittings to a range of Denby pottery which was apparently bought some time ago - and there was I thinking there were a book store !

The description of the scene that must surely be an every day reality for the beleaguered staff is highly reminiscent of the store closure that I myself experienced at the beginning of November last year - where on the last day a big bag of plugs, television aerials and so on which we had previously used for the display items was offered free to anyone who would take them.

This latest move suggests, despite claims to the contrary that there is little hope of saving the Borders brand name.

Waterstones admits that content is not high on their list - yes that would mean good writing.

noreply@blogger.com (June Austin) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Waterstones have finally admitted at a seminar held to reassure agents about the functioning of their distribution hub, what we as authors have known for some time - that the quality of the writing is not one of four key considerations when the chain chooses to order or stock a book. This is not news as far as I, and most other authors are no doubt concerned, yet the agents reacted with shock and horror when the chain admitted their stance.

Sixty people attended the seminar, held at the retailers flagship Piccadilly store, which included a hub update and an introduction to the new buying team.

The four key considerations were revealed as being, track record (i.e. previous or projected sales history), support from the publisher, market context and pricing/cover. Around half of those in the room put up their hands and asked the obvious question, "What about the writing?'" What indeed you might say.

The bubble bursts for celebrity memoirs

noreply@blogger.com (June Austin) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:46:00 GMT

After a week in which we have seen Borders collapse, amid reports of staff being assaulted by rude and aggressive customers, demanding ever higher discounts for books whose jackets have small tears in them (no doubt caused by the vulture like horde of which these customers are a part), I didn't think things could get much worse, but no, at last there is some good news from within the publishing world - celebrity memoirs have finally fallen from grace, amid tumbling sales.

Literary agents are reporting a disastrous autumn for the genre, while publisher Hachette UK has announced that it is trimming its celebrity roster (how will they boost their ego's now?). The total value of hardback celebrity titles in the UK top 50 this year has fallen by almost 25 percent from £4.6 million in 2008 to £3.3 million in 2009.

Jonathan Lloyd, Chief Executive of Curtis Brown, one of the larger London agencies, suggested that this season's memoirs, which include books "by" Peter Kay and Katie Price as well as autobiographies by Jo Brand, Chris Evans and Frankie Boyle, lack the sensational factor and (thank the Lord) their comparatively unremarkable sales may impact on the advances that such celebrities receive in the future.

Others have suggested that the genre has reached saturation point, with "bottom-of-the-barrel" celebrities riding the gravy train, while the publishers find that they have not delivered the meat and two veg (my words, not theirs). Publishers are beginning to find that the public are returning to more traditional fiction. It is particularly noticeable this year to find that the best seller lists are dominated by fiction, with the highest memoir at number seven, the opposite of what happened last year.

Echoing the thoughts of many, Liz Thomson, Editor of BookBrunch, said that she hoped this was the end of an era. "What really gets me" she said "with regards to many of these memoirs is that they claim to give the so-called celebrities a voice when they are so often the voice of their ghost-writers. It's the aspect of cynicism in these publications that I hate. People are being paid a huge amount of money to write this nonsense, at the expense of new writers and quality fiction." Here, here.

A spokesman for Waterstones claimed however that these books are still popular, and the public are simply waiting until nearer Christmas to buy them. He said "There will be an awful lot of people who will wake up with Jeremy Clarkson's or Frankie Boyle's autobiography on Christmas morning." I hope I am not one of them, so don't even think of getting me one! If you really want to though, you can buy yourself a copy of my own mastepiece ...

Borders UK enters administration

noreply@blogger.com (June Austin) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 21:06:00 GMT

It was formerly confirmed earlier this afternoon, that Borders UK have entered administration. Reports began to circulate early this morning when Reuters reported that they had seen court documentation to support the claim of administration. The story was later retracted amid accusations that the news agency had jumped the gun - what they had in fact seen were documents asking the court for permission to place the company in the hands of administrators, which was not to say that they actually were in administration. Everyone knew however that this was merely a technicality and it was only a matter of time.

It is believed that the delay occurred when BDO informed the Borders UK management late yesterday that they had discovered "a conflict of interest" which prevented them from being declared administrators. MCR have since been appointed, citing the reasons for the company's failure as competition from the Internet, together with cash flow pressure and pressure from suppliers - at least three of whom cut off supply earlier in the week.

It is unclear as to how long the company will remain in administration, but while the process continues, stores are expected to remain open and trading as normal.

This is indeed a sad day for the publishing world, with the loss of some 1100 jobs. Whatever my personal experiences of the company have been (and they have been mixed), I would not wish this on anyone. I have worked through three store closures during the 27 years since I left school, so my thoughts are with them.

Borders UK on the brink of collapse

noreply@blogger.com (June Austin) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:16:00 GMT

There are too many stories about a month's absence from blogging to detail all of them, so I will stick to the most important one for the moment, and that concerns once again, the future of ailing retailer Borders Books.

For the second time this year speculation has reached fever pitch, as the retailer is once again up for sale, a mere months after it was the subject of a management buyout.

It is claimed that publishers who have spoken to The Bookseller have expressed fears over the future of the retailer, after it emerged that one distributor had cut off supply following an unpaid bill. I have never dealt with the chain stores direct, preferring that they order my own book through wholesalers (much easier all round), but I know of at one author who is owed several hundred pounds.

Anyway, rumours have mounted since it was reported on Friday that both WH Smith and HMV had walked away from possible deals, while another deal over the Borders website has also fallen through, following the departure of the web team.

Borders' corporate finance adviser Clearwater placed an advertisement in the Financial Times on last week offering for sale "the assets and trade of a chain of book and entertainment stores", with revenue in the region of £150m. The chain was described as having "prime locations on the High Street and 'out of town' retail parks" (in my opinion it is these out of town locations have been partially responsible for at least some of the problems). No asking price was given.

Borders have so far refused to comment on any of the stories mentioned above, so not surprisingly the industry is awash with rumours and speculation. In an email sent to staff last Friday, Chief Executive Philip Downer said that the chain had received "an unsolicited approach from an interested party", and that it had "retained a corporate finance specialist to investigate future possibilities for the business, in line with best practice". Downer added that a "further announcement will follow once we have confirmed information to share with you".

The fall from grace seems to have happened remarkably quickly and her reasons are unclear. Barely one month ago, Downer outlined a clear and positive vision for the future, full of ideas including a new loyalty scheme and plans for further store openings. At least four national newspapers claim that the chain is on the brink of collapse, and if so, it will be sad day indeed for the book industry. If Borders go, they will take between 7 and 10 percent of the market with them (not to mention several hundred jobs), and that business will have to go elsewhere - leading to even less competition and less choice. The staff will not be the only losers. My thoughts are with them at this difficult time.

Getting Published in Children's Books

noreply@blogger.com (June Austin) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:14:00 +0100

It has been just over a week since I last wrote on this blog, and I am pleased to see that I have another follower. The book world seems busy at the moment, with the Frankfurt Book Fair in full swing and deals being struck with various different authors (predominantly for a change, non fiction). For my part, I have been busy at work. With various colleagues on holiday, there has been plenty of overtime, which is good for me, as it means I may get that trip to Iceland yet.

This afternoon though, I am taking a trip to Guildford, whose Book Festival opened yesterday. Before you get excited, no I am not doing a talk (I tried last year, but they wouldn't have me), but am attending one - entitled Getting Published in Children's Books, given by Julia Churchill. Julia so the blurb says, is an agent who will offer important tips and advice on getting your book published. It is a little early for me to consider this, with only 1000 words written, but it will be useful nevertheless. I have taken the day off work (I only work for 2 hours in the evening on a Thursday anyway, from 5 to 7pm), so I do hope so. The talk starts at 3pm, so it will be an early lunch to leave at around 1.30pm, just in case I miss the park and ride and have to wait.

Borders anounce plans for expansion

noreply@blogger.com (June Austin) — Wed, 7 Oct 2009 20:52:00 +0100

Philip Downer, new CEO of Borders UK confirmed at the company's annual conference on Monday, that the chain is to launch a loyalty card scheme next year. Downer added that following a management buyout last summer, the company aims to expand its number of stores, taking full advantage of the recession, with cheaper rents. This follows the recent announcement that the company is seeking to become a single brand on the High Street through the sale of its Borders Express and Books Etc stores. It also follows a summer of closures and considerable uncertainty for Borders superstores throughout the country.

Non book sales in the form of various novelty items currently account for around a third of the company's business, and Downer hopes in the coming years to increase this to around 50 percent. It is hard to see how this will be achieved without negatively impacting upon the the sale of books. It is however a sad fact of life that since the abolition of the Net Book Price agreement with the resultant erosion in the perceived value of books through ever increasing discounts, novelty items generate considerably more profit while taking up a lot less space. This is particularly important with Christmas approaching, when let's face it, people buy all sorts of junk.

Downer said that a "full space-planning programme" was now under way, backed up by consumer research this autumn, to ascertain whether his plans are what his customers actually want. With no Borders near me, personally I will be sticking to Waterstones.

Words speak for themselves

noreply@blogger.com (June Austin) — Wed, 7 Oct 2009 11:47:00 +0100

On the day that Amazon announce the launch of an international version of the Kindle, Richard Curtis has an interesting slant on digitial book technology on his blog E-Reads.

According to Curtis, the day is coming - much sooner than we think - when authors will no longer be able to define themselves as creators of literary works. As electronic technology gets more and more sophisticated (thank goodness I no longer have to sell this stuff and keep up to date with it all), the emerging generation of readers will no longer be content to accept text that is not as Curtis describes it, "interactively married to other media", demanding not just words, but video, music and probably bells and whistles too. The definition of author will be far removed Curtis says, from how we currently define it.

The word that Curtis uses to describe this new form of media is "vook" (video + book = "vook") blending traditional books with audio, video and other digital media as described above. Bear in mind as I write that Simon and Schuster are already working with a multi media partner to release such material that can be read or viewed, online or through electronic devices such as an iPhone or iPod.

Does this though mean the death of the book - of course not. Traditional books will I believe always be around, albeit in more limited form. Will the term author need to be re-defined to make way for the emerging technology? No again. It has always been the case with books that the author writes while others perform the various tasks that are necessary to put the book into paper or electronic form ready for publication - illustrators draw pictures, IT people convert the book to PDF or some other format that can be read via these devices, cover designers well, design the cover. None of this detracts from the fact the author wrote the thing. An author then will always be an author, and nothing can take that away.

E-books may well be here to stay, but whether "vooks" will catch on remains to be seen. Personally I find that when I read I need silence and concentration, and having moving images and music on the screen would distract from the experience. Maybe younger people would like this, I wouldn't know to be honest, as there aren't many young people that I know who read anyway - not unless you count Heat magazine as reading !

Todays young may feel that they need this distraction, as it what they are used to and they feel lost without these so-called "must have" devices, but like everything else, eventually it will swing back the other way. Call me old fashioned if you will, but I just do not see how images and background music will add to the reading experience.

The whole point of reading is after all, to read, to learn and to stretch the mind and the imagination. Viewing a video of a book, or about a book may be entertaining, but it is not reading. The idea of reading is to be immersed in the story and lose yourself almost in another world, video cannot help you do this - the only way to get immersed is quite simply, to read. Vooks may be cool, but they do not communicate ideas and information, they do not capture the imagination in a way that only words can. The words should be allowed to speak for themselves in the way that only words can.

Publishers reluctant to embrace the blogosphere

noreply@blogger.com (June Austin) — Tue, 6 Oct 2009 09:58:00 +0100

Blogging continues to be in the news this week, with an article in the Huffington Post claiming that US publishers are reluctant to write blogs for fear of saying the wrong things. The reasons given when pressed range from being overworked, having no talent for blogging, too many other writing projects, and that their bosses had said "no" without giving any specific reason.

The reason is of course fear - and wanting to control, which in a way is understandable. Jason Pinter, a former Random House Editor lost his job in 2007 because of his blog, and I suspect that he is not the only one. Pinter the article claims is now blogging for the Huffington Post and enjoying success as a thriller writer.

Publishers may not have said yes, but authors have - in their droves, as have independent book sellers, publicists and agents. There are one or two Editors who blog, such as Editorial Ass and The Intern, but these are for the most part anonymous. I occasionally read Editorial Ass myself.

These blogs exist for the most part to give advice to aspiring writers and an insight into the world of publishing. When the world wide web was first created all those years ago, no one could have foreseen the way in which it has grown, both in terms of commerce and as a tool for raising awareness of causes and brands. The Internet for authors, especially the self published, remains the best way in which to reach as wide an audience as possible, and also to network with other authors, through blogs, social networking and peer review sites. The publishers do not know what they are missing out on!

Dishonesty is sometimes the best policy

noreply@blogger.com (June Austin) — Sun, 4 Oct 2009 19:35:00 +0100

There is an interesting discussion going on at the moment over on the Writers Group at BlogCatalogue regarding honesty in writing. The author of the post was alerted to this subject via a blog post that she came across contemplating both sides of this issue, as both a reader and a writer. As a reader, she felt misled, and somewhat betrayed, when she discovered that a writer she admired appeared not to have been telling the whole truth, yet when she examined her own writing she had to admit that she hadn't either. It can be a very fine line, as I discovered myself not that long ago.

When I first began this blog three or more years ago, the aim was to write about my experiences with print on demand publishing, in the hope that this might help others considering the same path. As time went on, more of my personal life began to creep in, which was difficult to avoid, since I had a lot going on with regard to my paid nine to five job at that time. I also saw it as a major obstacle standing in the way of my writing success, which I was very resentful of. In retrospect I was maybe a little too honest, as I made the mistake of writing about my work in too much detail. So much detail that when my then employer discovered what I had written, I was suspended from work, and eventually forced to leave. It was a difficult time and a harsh lesson that I had to learn.

The reason my employer was so upset was not because of veiled references to the company name or the products that they sold (which were admittedly there), but because I wrote in great detail about how I felt with regard to certain actions or rather inaction's that the company took and about how it made me feel. If I had written a blog saying what a wonderful company they were to work for and how happy I was in my job then they would have had no reason to get upset, but because I told the truth they became worried that if the wrong people read this, their reputation would suffer. Honesty then in my case was not the best policy.

On the other hand, I had been putting off leaving for a long time before they discovered what I had done (which came about ironically because of someone else's dishonesty), humming and harring over what I wanted to do next, so maybe this was the universe's way of forcing me out. This seems to have been a pattern in my life, whereby I stay in a job becoming more and more miserable and knowing that I should leave until I am made redundant or something else happens to force me to leave. This is a pattern, which I am pleased to say is now well and truly broken.

I admit that when I look at those posts now (they have since been moved to another blog and heavily edited), they make very compulsive reading, as you can feel the pain and the depth of the emotions leaping off the page. No employer wants to be told in such stark terms how their behaviour affects their employees health, so this must have been painful for them to read. Still, it is all water under the bridge now. I have learnt my lesson and moved on.

It does though go to show that sometimes dishonesty or at best a touch of white wash, is the best policy, as total honesty doesn't pay the bills. Fortunately, my new job does.

As Borders announce further closures, Google show their true colours

noreply@blogger.com (June Austin) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:25:00 +0100

There are several stories of interest worth blogging about today, the first of which concerns Borders, who have announced their intention to sell the remaining Books Etc and Borders Express Stores, thus removing these brands entirely from the High Street. The move, which I am sure has gone down with the staff like a lead balloon, is not totally unexpected, as in the words of Independent journalist James Thompson, "Books Etc has been a financial millstone around the neck of Borders UK for a number of years".

The company, which has 36 remaining Borders stores, came close to collapse earlier in the summer, when it was rescued at the 11th hour by a management buyout headed by Philip Downer, Chief Executive. He is a braver man that I would be!

The company is also said to be negotiating with landlords to restructure or reduce the leases on some of the remaining Borders stores, one of which is believed to be Briggate in Leeds. There are however no plans for further closures.

In the meantime, the Google debacle continues on, with French publishing group La Martinière the first publisher worldwide to sue Google in court. The publisher, which is backed by the French publishers association Syndicat National de l’Edition (SNE) and the French Writers Union, Syndicat des Gens de Lettres, (SGDL), is seeking damages of 15 million Euros (£13.8 million) for books digitised by Google without permission. In addition to this, they are seeking a further penalty of 100,000 Euros per day with 3 million Euros for "prejudice to their image". The trial, which opened in Paris on 24th September is expected to last until 18th December at the latest.

What really takes the biscuit for me are comments made by Google lawyer Alexandra Neri, who argued that the French court was not competent to rule on this case, since the books were digitised in the United States. "What Google does" she said "is absolutely legal." "We have never denied that Seuil holds the copyright on printed works, but it has never proved that it holds the right on digital versions of the works."

For a qualified lawyer to show such ignorance of copyright law is to me breathtaking, quite apart from her other comments regarding where the digitisation took place. Surely copyright is copyright, no matter what form the words are printed in - they could be tattooed on her backside for all I care, the fact is that if Google did not write or pay for the rights to publish these works, then they have no right to digitise any of them. It may be true that the author did not assign digital rights to La Martinière since e-books are a relatively new development, but one thing's for sure - they were not assigned to Google, and I personally would suggest that until such rights are assigned to the publisher or to anyone else for that matter, they have to be regarded as resting fairly and squarely with the author. These comments to my mind show once again how breathtaking arrogant this company has become with its dealings with authors outside the US, they are fighting now for dear life to hold on to what little remains of a settlement that is effectively dead, and a reputation which is not much better.

Still e-books are not all bad, if placed in the right hands, they can open a whole new market for the self published and independent authors, and help to level the playing field by potentially cutting out most of the middle men who demand an ever larger slice of our hard earned cash.

Smashwords which was founded in 2008, announced a partnership with Sony, whereby its books will be available to buy direct from the Sony e-book store to be downloaded on to Sony reading devices. They are not the only company to do this, since Author Solutions have also signed an agreement. Smashwords have also announced a distribution agreement with Lexcyle, to allow their books to be read by users of Stanza, an iPhone eBook-reading device with 2 million users.

Banal ramblings

noreply@blogger.com (June Austin) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:08:00 +0100

I took the plunge last week and decided to set up a Twitter account, as it seems to be the latest thing and from what I have seen and heard, an excellent way of generating more traffic to your blog. Despite the banality of my ramblings, I am surprised to see that I already have 3 followers. I guess to them, my ramblings aren't as banal as they seem.

It has been a strange day so far - in fact it has been a strange week, a strange year, and an even stranger lifetime ...

I always used to go a salon to get my hair cut, not these expensive glossy ones where they charge you an arm and a leg to walk through the door, but a plain and simple one, with no fuss and no spraying of gallons of chemicals. Lately though on the recommendation of a friend, I have been having my hair cut at home. It is well worth the extra money, as you don't have the stress and hassle of going into town and finding somewhere to park, even if you do have to hoover afterwards. Anyway, today was the day, and my appointment was at 10.45am.

Knowing that the hairdresser likes her clients to wash or at least dampen their hair on arrival, this meant that there was no point in showering. So, for the last couple of hours I have been slobbing around the house in my dressing gown, drinking tea, playing Farmville (a farming game on Facebook) and watching this weeks Ugly Betty.

Now I am showered and not quite dressed (I am still in the dressing gown) I am not sure what to do with the day. It is too close to lunch time to go out, and the crops that I planted will not be ready for another hour. I know what I should do - enter that competition from the National Trust and register for a group meeting with an agent that a friend from a writers forum has set up for forum members. I have half an hour until those crops are ready, so I should be able to get at least half of my entry complete - they only need a few hundred words .... On the other hand, I should really hoover up all that hair ...

Google hearing delayed

noreply@blogger.com (June Austin) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 08:59:00 +0100

As expected, lawyers representing US based authors and publishers have requested the courts to postpone the hearing set to take place on October 7th, regarding the proposed Google settlement. More time is needed to examine the various objections and for further negotiations to take place. The issues are complex and cannot be settled overnight.

On Friday, the Department of Justice proposed several important changes to the proposed settlement, including new protection for unknown rights holders and allowing Google's competitors to gain access to and sell books within the registry, thereby preventing a monopoly.

The Open Content Alliance - which includes Amazon, Microsoft, and the Internet Archive naturally view this as an important victory, which will open up competition. It goes without saying, that the opposite is true for Google. We can safely say that the settlement as we knew it, is officially dead.

The October issue is ready to print

noreply@blogger.com (June Austin) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 07:57:00 +0100

The village newsletter is finally ready for the month of October, having completed it late last night. I shall proof read it today and ring the printer for it to be picked up tomorrow morning, bang on schedule (we usually try and print around the 24th of the month).

I didn't think I would get it done on time as almost everyone was late with their contributions, the last one not arriving until yesterday afternoon - most unlike the person who sent it. He is our Chairman and really ought to have known better, but it still got done.

Every month I panic that I don't have enough material, but somehow the pages get filled up. This month because there is a shortage of news, I have been able to include a few spiritually themed page fillers, such as traditions for living by his Holiness the Dalai Lama, and a piece on the benefits of meditation. I was asked to include this by the lovely people who run the meditation group that I attend every other Monday night, one of whom is the Rector (yes, you did read that right). Not all religious people have closed minds - apologies if you are reading this and consider yourself to be religious - like I say, not all religious people have closed minds, and if you are offended by my words, then I suggest you find the nearest mirror !

The news stories this month are suitably scintillating for a small village such as ours - the winners for the recent mastermind type quiz, fund raising efforts made for a children's village in southern Africa, and the shoe box scheme which is run by the local Christian Fellowship (a very worthy cause). The centre spread has been provided by the National Trust, who play a vital role in our village and in fact, throughout the whole area.

I can't believe it is only 2 months to go until Christmas - I shall have to start planning the Christmas edition soon then !

Google settlement likely to be delayed

noreply@blogger.com (June Austin) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:10:00 +0100

It seems that the Google book settlement currently being debated in the US courts may have been dealt a death blow, as in a statement released late on Friday night, the US Justice Department declared in no uncertain terms that the settlement should be rejected.

In their own words:

"As presently drafted the proposed settlement does not meet the legal standards this court must apply. This court should reject the proposed settlement and encourage the parties to continue negotiations to comply with Rule 23 and the copyright and antitrust laws."

Google say that they aim to address the findings of the Department of Justice at the hearing in October. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, frantic negotiations are taking place with their objectors, of which there are many. No matter what settlements are reached, the word is that Judge Denny Chin will not veer too far away from the wishes of the Justice Department, and it may take some months of re-negotitions before the final outcome is announced.

Try this if you dare !

noreply@blogger.com (June Austin) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 18:08:00 +0100

One of my Facebook friends (which I have been spending far too much time on this week, perfecting the art of farming) alterted me to a fun 'game' which she found on dovegreyreaders, whereby using only books that you have read this year, you answer the following questions. You are supposed to use the book titles only once, and the game is a lot harder than it actually looks - especially for someone who has read as little as I have (hardly enough books to answer the questions at all!). I have then been forced to cheat and include books that I have bought this year but am yet to read (terrible I know). Thank goodness for Waterstones and those 3 for 2 offers (never thought I would say that either).

Here then goes:

Describe yourself: The Elegance of the Hedgehog: Muriel Barbery

How do you feel: A Fraction of the Whole: Steve Toltz
Describe where you currently live: Heaven's Gate: Karen Bishop
If you could go anywhere, where would you go: Small Island: Andrea Levy
Your favorite form of transportation: Night Train to Lisbon: Pascal Marcier
Your best friend is: The Library of Shadows: Mikkel Birkegaard
You and your friends are: Past Imperfect: Julian Fellowes
What's the weather like: Baking Cakes in Kigali: Gaile Parkin
You fear: Dark Places: Kate Grenville
What is the best advice you have to give: Watching the Door: Kevin Myers
Thought for the day: Late Nights on Air: Elizabeth Hay
How I would like to die: Born Under a Million Shadows: Andrea Busfield
My soul's present condition: The Vagrants: Yi Yun Li

Enough said !

Do your beliefs affect your reading?

noreply@blogger.com (June Austin) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:03:00 +0100

There seem to have been some really interesting topics of late over on the book club forum, like the one I discussed the other day about what I have learnt from books. One that I am finding particularly interesting at the moment is whether our beliefs influence the type of books that we read. For beliefs you can read religion. I am aware that to some, religion is a touchy subject, but I have found myself fascinated by this thread and the answers that members have given.

They are for the most part talking about fiction as opposed to non fiction, as the majority of members prefer this type of book, but a glance through my "I have read this year" list will show that I read both, although this has not always been the case. There was a time not that long ago, when I read nothing but non fiction, necessitated by the fact that I was writing a book of this genre. Non fiction of course covers many different areas, but the type of books that I read at that time (and my library is still dominated by these) were mind, body and spirit, religion and alternative history, with a healthy dose of science (mainly books on human evolution and genetics, which I studied for a year - in rudimentary form, via Birkbeck). Unlike most of the other members, I therefore answered the question from the perspective of both fiction and non fiction.

While those who read mostly fiction stated that in the main their beliefs did not effect their reading, when I thought about it, the opposite is true with me. They much colour what I read. I find myself actively seeking out books (like The Shack for example) that reinforce my views. Books that examine the human condition and our views of God form an important part of my reading. Books such as Conversations with God, the works of Eckhart Tolle and when it comes to fiction, books about other countries and cultures and days past - the other day I bought six books, two of which were about the Salem Witch trials, and one about a woman in China who decides she longer wants to be a Communist. This year I have also read books on Afghanistan and Northern Ireland - all books that look at the motivations of the character within, which are in their way, tales of how the characters faith was tested. Reading such things helps in a strange sort of way to strengthen your own faith, when you see that the trials that these characters go through and the growth and learning that they experience.

It makes me wonder though whether the other members are being really honest in their own assessment - after all we have this interest in human affairs, it is what makes us human in the first place. To me an interest in humanity is the same thing as an interest in spirituality, because well, we are all spiritual beings whether we like to admit it or not. I have learnt over the years however that when it comes to faith and belief, many people do not appear to know the difference between religion and spirituality, tarring them with the same brush. That then is the key, for I view the two things are separate entities where others believe they are the same. So, what do you think, do your beliefs affect your reading, and if so how?

The Lost Symbol - a symbol of a lost industry

noreply@blogger.com (June Austin) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 09:03:00 +0100

With the release of Dan Brown's long awaited novel "The Lost Symbol" tomorrow, book stores and supermarkets are no doubt expecting a surge of interest, not to mention the ringing of tills. This is excellent news for Brown and his agent, and good news for his fans, but is it such good news for the stores? When what has been touted to become the decade's best selling novel is sold at half price (£9.49 instead of the cover price of £18.99), perhaps not. When one thinks of the beleaguered book sellers placing these books into carrier bags and smiling as they take the money, none of which will add to their company's profits, then it all looks rather farcical. A bit like the Curry's superstore which opened in Croydon at the weekend with queues a quarter of a mile long so that customers could buy half price televisions that actually cost the company money rather than earning them any.

This book is no different. Make no mistake - Brown, his publisher and his agent will be about the only ones to profit from this farce. Even with a discount that must be a minimum of 60 percent. Anyone with the slightest understanding of business (not to mention a few brain cells - one would do) can surely see that it is impossible for the book sellers to continue in this mode. Even with that high discount (which will eat heavily into the publisher's own profits, even though there are unlikely to be high returns), what small amount of money the stores do make will be swallowed up promotional costs and other overheads. The situation is such that many small independents who do not have the buying power of the chains, will find it cheaper to buy their own copies from the likes of Asda and Amazon than from their own wholesalers! How can this make sense?

Thus it is that several million pounds that could have been used to help a flagging industry will be literally poured down the drain, and all this at a time when the industry is struggling for survival. It defies all logic known to man (and certainly this woman). What a way to run a business! If people want to buy this book, then why not make them pay full price? When you ask that vital question though, the only response is that the retailers have to remain competitive. Well, how can they remain competitive when they lose money? I fail to see the point.

Selling books at these knock down prices devalues the entire industry, not to mention the worth of authors in the eyes of both readers and publishers, both of whom are struggling to make ends meet (Brown being very much the exception). This comes at a time when authors advances are being squeezed more and more, with some reporting decreases of up to 80 percent and wondering why they bother at all. Brown himself, as with most best selling authors, will make most of his money not from the book itself from the sale or rights - merchandising, film rights and so on, and of course foreign rights for other languages and territories.

For all the talk about diversity and about how the face of publishing is changing, the reality is that very little is - it remains just talk. Walk into the average supermarket and you see rows of celebrity biographies and best selling fiction paperbacks, with if you are lucky, a few heavily discounted gardening and DIY manuals. This is not diversity, but to be quite honest, boring, and I cannot understand how the supermarkets have become the leading book retailers with such a predictable stable. The chains may promote these same types of books the heaviest, but at least they make the effort to stock other types of book, and can order them in if requested. The supermarkets do not offer this level of service, and do not pretend to.

Some may argue that offering books at discount encourages more people to read, and in a way they do have a point, but at what price? In the end if simply devalues the industry and further erodes what is left. After all, logic dictates that if Dan Brown can be sold at half price, so can everything else.

I remember when I first read the Conversations with God series of books back in the mid 90's, in one of them (it may have been book 2, but I can't remember exactly), God speaking through author Neale Donald Walsch suggested that goods should have 2 sets of figures on them - the cost of buying the product and the price that it is actually sold for -perhaps it is time to introduce this system and ask the consumers, would you be prepared to work for so little?

Google makes further concessions

noreply@blogger.com (June Austin) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 12:09:00 +0100

Google must be positively squirming under the weight of criticism from all quarters, as they appear to have made yet another concession regarding the proposed settlement with authors and publishers, this time aimed at retailers who claim that this will create a monopoly, with Google the only company permitted to sell these works.

An article in todays Times states that yesterday Google offered an olive branch to such critics, by stating that it would allow competitors such as Amazon, and even High Street stores to resell their ditisised books. How this will work when such titles are downloaded and not sold in disc form, is unclear. In contrast, The Bookseller states more clearly that other retailers "will be be able to sell access to users on any internet-connected device they choose". This seems to suggest that these other retailers will in effect be agents for the Book Rights Registry.

Google made the concession at a hearing of the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee called to discuss objections to the proposed settlement. They claimed that this was an extension of an earlier initiative to allow publishers (which will of course include the self published who have formed their own companies) who have joined the Partner Program to market their in-print works through Google Books.

Google have scanned more than 10 million books already as part of their project to index what has been described as the world's forgotten literary heritage. They aim to create a "treasure trove" of information in the form of forgotten and out of print books which will be available to anyone with an Internet connection. This has attracted heavy criticism from all quarters, not least of all authors and publishers, which has not been confined to the US.

Despite the objections, David Drummond, Senior Vice President for corporate development and Chief Legal Officer, stressed that the settlement "mostly {either it does or ot doesn't} affects only a very small segment of the book world", which Google estimates at less than 3 percent of the commercial book market. "Even though commercial demand may be low, we still believe it's important to our culture and our literary history for people to be able to find and read these books, and for rightsholders to be able to market and sell them." On that at least, we can agree.

The proposed settlement will be discussed next month in New York.

What I have learnt from books

noreply@blogger.com (June Austin) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 08:22:00 +0100

Over on the Book Club Forum, we are having an interesting discussion on what we have learnt from books - the answers have been extremely varied, concentrating as one would expect on fiction rather than non fiction.

When it comes to my own reading, most of my learning has come from the other source - non fiction books on a variety of different topics. After almost five years spent writing Genesis of Man, it was only after this book was published in 2006 that I returned to fiction reading after a long hiatus. I was surprised at how much I had missed this altogether different type of book, but also surprised at just how much you can learn from the experience. When I think about some of the books I have read in the past couple of years I have learnt an awful lot from them - insights into how male and female minds view the opposite gender, about different countries and their belief systems, how children often make a lot more sense than adults, and understand much more than we know, and how when you get right down to it, people are basically all the same. We all think that our pain and our experiences are unique and we are the only ones to feel and to think as we do, but actually we are not - the human condition is universal and fundamentally flawed, yet beautiful, no matter where we live or who we are - whether we are an Afghan male, a Japanese woman or a struggling British author.

When it comes to fiction books - they are a whole other kettle of fish. When I was writing Genesis of Man, I read an awful lot of other peoples books in a wide range of subjects - religion, history, alternative history, differing aspects of science, spirituality and so on - these books have taught me so many things it is difficult to know where to begin - one thing for example I learnt from David Icke and his books is that there is a very fine line between genius and insanity ! I also learnt about the importance of research and checking facts, something which the non fiction writer has to meticulous at, in fact something that all writers should be meticulous at, but not everyone is. I have spotted several howlers in certain books. I also learnt the importance of proper editing and proof reading, and discovered that contrary to popular belief it is often the commercially published books rather than the self published ones which have the most errors.

Of course my reading is not confined to the subjects mentioned above, as my library contains many different types of books - one type of book I have been reading lately are Icelandic sagas. These are an account of the lives of the early Icelandic settlers, have as such taught me a lot about the early history of the country and dispelled more than a few myths about Viking culture, which was not at all what most people think - no horned helmets in sight ! I have read travel books on all manner of different places, vegetarian cook books, books on evolution and genetics, first aid books, driving manuals, and of course books on publishing and publicity.

From these I have learnt the correct way to approach Editors, how to angle your pitch, how to how to write press releases and how to organise a book event, and also about copyright law and plagarisation. These are all things that the writer needs to know and understand.

Books then have taught me so much. They are not the only source of learning as this has come from many different areas - from adult education classes, television, newspapers, the Internet, and of course from friends, but when I stop to think about it, books probably have been the most important source. Somehow I doubt whether the effect would be the same from e-books as it has been from the printed word, yet research shows that children in California learn more quickly and take in more information from computer screens than they do from paper books - this though is a different generation, with a shorter attention span than the generation I grew up with.

One thing is clear - a world without books would be very much poorer.

Google agrees to European concessions

noreply@blogger.com (June Austin) — Mon, 7 Sep 2009 16:49:00 +0100

On the day that the European Commission opens discussions into the Google settlement and the eve of the deadline for filing objections, Google have confirmed that two non-US representatives are to sit on the governing board of the Books Registry that will administer the deal, with full participation on advisory committees.

Google have also confirmed that books available in Europe but out of print in the US will be treated for the purposes of the settlement as "commercially available". What this means in practical terms is that such books can only be displayed with the express permission of rights holders.

This appears to be an open acknowledgment that the settlement is not just about the rights of US authors, but does as I previously wrote, affect authors throughout the world, who are not subject to US law.

These landmark concessions have been made in an effort to placate authors and publishers outside the US who have become increasingly angry and vociferous in the last few weeks, with justifiable cause.

In addition to the two European Directors to be appointed to the board, a third European, Michael Healy is expected to serve as the Book Rights Registry’s first Executive Director.

The move has welcomed by the Publishers Association in the UK. Simon Juden, PA chief executive said: "This represents significant progress on two of the key issues the PA has raised with Google concerning the settlement. As so many of the affected works are non-US works, it is important that the BRR board reflect this."

He added: "Arguably a much more important point is that the definition of commercial availability needs to include UK-specific concerns when rights may not have been sold into the US. We are very pleased that Google has accepted our recommendations to work with UK meta-data on this."

A Google spokesperson said: "We listen carefully to all concerns of stakeholders around the globe and work hard to achieve the common goal of bringing back to life millions of lost books in a way that serves the interest of all." Let's hope that this time it actually means something and that these are not hollow, empty words.

As deadline is extended for Google objections, today's pot and kettle award goes to Amazon.com

noreply@blogger.com (June Austin) — Fri, 4 Sep 2009 09:35:00 +0100

As the deadline for objections to the proposed Google settlement is extended by a few days to Tuesday 8th September, today's pot and kettle award goes to Amazon.com.

In a 50 page legal document filed on September 1st, Amazon said the agreement was "unfair"to rights holders as it gave Google "an effective monopoly" over scanned works that would create "a cartel of authors and publishers". It also questioned the legitimacy of the "class action" and warned the court that it was being asked "to exercise powers that it does not have" stating that the agreement "restrains competition in ways that ought not be sanctioned by this court".

I detect a large slice of mirroring in relation to Amazon's own actions last year when they effectively forced US print on demand publishers to use their own printers or have their buy buttons removed.

Amazon state in relation to the proposed settlement:

"It is anti-competitive and violates anti trust laws because it provides Google an effective monopoly in the scanning and exploitation of millions of works whose copyright holders cannot be located or choose not to involve themselves in this class action."

"It also creates a cartel of authors and publishers - the Books Rights Registry - operating with virtually no restrictions on its actions, with the potential to raise book prices and reduce output to the detriment of consumers and new authors or publishers who would compete with the cartel members."

In Amazon's favour, it is true that they have only scanned books where permission has been obtained from the rights holders, but I cannot help feel that these are empty words from a retailer that bemoans others from basically doing what they have done themselves - what the hell they feel like! I am not the only one to notice this, since the Authors Guild in the US have published a letter online accusing the retailer of what they term as "breathtaking hypocrisy".