Archive for the 'Interviews/ Guest Bloggers' Category

My article “The Writer as Entreprenuer” is published this month by Mslexia, the UK literary journal for women writers. Researching the article, I interviewed three self-published authors, Preethi Nair, Mark Blayney and Julie Noble as well as former Managing Buyer at Waterstone’s, the UK book chain, now Commercial Director of The Friday Project, the UK publisher of books derived from blogs. They shared with me masses of invaluable information about the process of self-publishing as well generously telling me their personal stories.

With the agreement of Mslexia and my interviewees, I am posting onto Fusion View my research for the article.

I’m posting today my email interview with Mark Blayney, author of Two Kinds of Silence

The other resources relating to my article for Mslexia are posted as follows:

Tue 10 July - Interview with Julie Noble, author of Talli’s Secret.
Yesterday, Wed 11 July - Interview with Scott Pack, book publishing insider
Fri 13 July - Podcast of my telephone interview with Preethi Nair, author of Gypsy Masala

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# Why did you self-publish?

Like most people considering self-publishing, I’d been submitting manuscripts for years to publishers and agents. I got the occasional encouraging letter, but mostly just the standard rejection slips. I initially thought, if I can produce a book, it would show some entrepreneurial spirit and might distinguish me from the slush pile the next time I submitted something.

# How did you go about self-publishing your novel? Did you use print on demand? If not, where did you store all the stock?

I used a ‘real’ printer – Cromwell Press in Trowbridge, who were very amenable to my modest little project! They didn’t mind the small print run; they were very friendly. I stored the stock in my mum’s garage – she raised an eyebrow to begin with, but 1,000 books in shrinkwrap doesn’t actually take up that much room. Well that’s what I told her anyway, and it’s too late when the truck turns up!

# How much did you spend? (If you are prepared to say…)

It cost me £3,000 for both books. But I took my own cover photos, a friend helped me with the design (a nightmare, really, getting the cover printer-ready) and I typeset it myself. If I had got someone else to design and typeset it, that cost would probably have at least doubled. It helps to have a reasonably short book – the price from the printer goes up noticeably for each 32 pages. I originally meant to publish the second book a year after the first, but there was a discount from the printer for running them together.

# How did you get the book into bookshops? (I’m particularly interested in this bit as it seems to require strong sales skills, persistence and stamina/ resilience that many writers would shy away from)

It was daunting and I didn’t enjoy it. Put a suit on, pretend you’re someone else, and try to be confident and polite at the same time. Local bookshops are very encouraging if you’re friendly and not too pushy – start with them, in an every increasing circle from your home! Trying to get into Waterstones or WHSmiths – I would say don’t even bother (but I’d be willing for someone to contradict me). Ottakars was the only chain who were positive towards me, and we know what’s happened to them. Independent bookshops will champion you as well, because they’re always looking for some competitive advantage over the chains - as long as they’re convinced the books will actually sell.

# What marketing did you do?

I made up some publicity materials – A3 sized boards with a large image of the cover, ‘Local author’ along the top and my endorsements from Beryl Bainbridge and John Bayley along the bottom. Don’t think that the bookshops ‘won’t want that kind of thing,’ because they were pleased I’d done it – it meant they put the stock in the windows, which helped me sell quite a few. If you add value to the bookshop by doing some of their work for them, they’ll be more positive towards you.

I made my own leaflets with ordering details on them – reasonably primitive, but they looked ok. You could pay someone to do that if you had a spare £100. (Looking back, the swearing I did at my printer would probably have been worth the investment. It took forever getting it right, so that you could fold the piece of paper into 3!)

Viral marketing is probably your best asset. People you speak to on the bus, in the lunch queue, in the pub, at a wedding… Most people prick their ears up with interest when you say you’re a writer, because they think it’s glamorous. Most people who showed an interest, bought the book.

I’m ashamed to admit I never got round to setting up a web site. I think that’s the obvious thing that will help these days.

# Do you have a background in business? What is your day job?

I was editing marketing papers, and when the company toyed with the idea of publishing books, I jumped at it. It gave me the contacts and the experience. If you are serious about publishing your own book, you could do a lot worse than getting a job with a publisher – it’ll show you what’s involved, how to plan the process (allow twice as long for each stage as you’d expect!) and what *not* to do. These days I’m a business writer (as Mark Stuart, because there’s another Mark Blayney who writes business books).

# What qualities and skills do you think a writer needs to have to become their own publisher, publicist, sales rep and distributor?

You need to be much more pushy, charming, energetic, thick-skinned and confident than I am. That’s the paradox – if we had all those skills we probably wouldn’t be writers, we’d be successful estate agents driving BMWs. But they’re not the qualities or values I suspect most of your readers will share. So… if you are going to self-publish… you have to pretend for a while. Energy is the key, and a willingness to take the knock-backs without being disheartened.

# How did “Two Kinds of Silence” come to the attention of the Somerset Maugham Award judges?

Pure cheek. I submitted it to them. As the publisher I was ‘Mark Stuart,’ publishing a book by ‘Mark Blayney’. So the answer is… fraud. When I was awarded the prize I panicked. What if there’s a rule that says you can’t be the publisher and the author? Fortunately they awarded it on merit – it was brave of them, really, to stick their necks out for an unheard-of writer and what was, frankly, a made-up publisher. It surprised me at the time and it still surprises me now. I’d like to meet the judges, I owe them a few pints.

# What returns did you make on your investment (financial or otherwise)?

I made a good profit on ‘Two Kinds of Silence’, but only because of the interest generated by the prize. ‘Conversations with Magic Stones’, after three years, I’ve broken even. I didn’t do it to make money, I saw it as a way of trying to lift the next book from proper publishers’ slush-pile; and as a satisfying thing to do; the books are on the shelf, and they look the way I want them to look.

# What have you been writing since “Two Kinds of Silence”? Are they being published in the “conventional” way ie by a “conventional” publisher?

I’ve finished a novel, ‘Carnival of Humans’. It’s set over a week in Budapest and is about characters’ pasts coming back to haunt them in different ways. There’s also a very unusual magic realism ending featuring an unexpected aggressor invading the city. Unfortunately I’ve been through three different agents in the last year, gone with the advice they’ve given me, and nothing has come of it. I’m about to agent it myself and see what happens. I’ll be content to self-publish again one day if no one’s interested.

# Do you see a trend towards self-publishing?

Yes, in that publishers are reducing their output, particularly of fiction and especially of new authors. And technology is making it easier not only to publish a book, but distribute it as well – the internet can bypass bookshops. When the technology advances to the point where people can make professional-looking books at home and sell them online, publishers might have a fight on their hands. On the other hand – Amazon make it very difficult for small publishers to make money, and Amazon is the only really viable non-bookshop channel to get decent sales from, unless you viral market your own web site successfully enough. That’s possible given enough time. But self-publishing will never really give Penguin and Faber a run for their money because customers will continue to value the brand of the traditional publisher. Rightly so, because whereas there are some gems being self-published, there’s also a lot of rubbish. The established publisher will always be the customer’s seal of quality.

# What would you say to those who still have a snobbery around self-publishing - ie who mistake it for vanity publishing?

The proof is in the eating. ‘There are good books and there are bad books – that is all.’ It doesn’t matter, in the final analysis, who they’re published by. All you’re lacking is the back-up of a third party; but then, ‘real’ publishers pour out an awful lot of rubbish as well. People who look down on self-publishing are confusing ‘quality’ with ‘commercial viability’. But it also helps to make it look professional - if it’s stapled together and looks ‘hand-made’, that inevitably reduces the customer’s perception of its quality, however good the content.

# What is your advice to writers who may be thinking of self-publishing?

I would exhaust the regular channels first. But if you really think your book is good, and publishers are still saying no, then go for it. Have a sensible print run – I did 500 of each book, and that was more than enough. Be prepared to do lots of marketing and running around, and don’t be disheartened by the negative voices. And make sure you have a regular job on the side!

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Further resources

Mark doesn’t currently have a website yet - though it will be ready in early August (www.markblayney.com). You can find out more via the Guardian article about Mark winning the Somerset Maugham prize

Mslexia

Photo: thanks to the guardianunlimited.co.uk

My article “The Writer as Entreprenuer” is published this month by Mslexia, the UK literary journal for women writers. Researching the article, I interviewed three self-published authors, Preethi Nair, Mark Blayney and Julie Noble as well as former Managing Buyer at Waterstone’s, the UK book chain, now Commercial Director of The Friday Project, the UK publisher of books derived from blogs. They shared with me masses of invaluable information about the process of self-publishing as well generously telling me their personal stories.

With the agreement of Mslexia and my interviewees, I am posting onto Fusion View my research for the article.

Today, I am posting below my email interview with Scott Pack - see below.

The other resources relating to my article for Mslexia are posted as follows:

Yesterday, Tue 10 July - Interview with Julie Noble, author of Talli’s Secret.
Thurs 12 July - Interview with Mark Blayney, author of Two Kinds of Silence
Fri 13 July - Podcast of my telephone interview with Preethi Nair, author of Gypsy Masala

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

# What are bookshops looking for when they buy a book?

I can only really speak from the perspective of a big high street retailer. I spent 6 years as Buying Manager at Waterstone’s so know quite a bit about that but suspect you may get a different answer if you asked someone from a smaller chain, or even an individual bookseller in a store.

For me, the rule of thumb when selecting a book to buy was simply this: will our customers like it? The best buyers are able to spot the books that will appeal to their customers more often than not. Sometimes this is easy - an author with a proven track record in your stores is highly likely to sell well again. Where it becomes harder, and where the real skill comes in, is identifying a book from a new or unknown writer which your customers will love and thank you for recommending to them. This is nearly always a question of judgement.

Personally, I used two criteria when making a call on a new writer. Do they tell a good story and do they excite me with their writing? This doesn’t mean the book has to be all plot and exciting twists; the best storytellers are often more subtle than that and excite with the way they use language. The same criteria can be used for non-fiction but with an understanding regarding the contraints of the subject matter.

On a more practical note, and bearing in mind self-published authors, it is important the the production values of the book are high. It needs to look the part with an attractive jacket, in keeping with the genre, proper typesetting etc. Customers respond to books that look and feel nice, so why offer them anything else?

# How should an author approach a bookshop with their stock? (eg phone first? Just turn up? Who should they speak to?)

This seems so basic but is a very good question, and one that many authors are desperate to have answered. When we set up a consultancy service at The Friday Project a few months back, part of the thinking behind it was that small publishers and self-published authors might want to pick the brains of someone who had spent time in a key position at a major retailer. Fortunately this has proved to be the case and we are advising a number of clients on just this sort of thing. We even produced an information pack with top tips and I would be happy to pick out some of the key points that may be of use.

The most sensible approach to a major retailer is to email the relevant buyer upfront and ask them if you could send them a copy of your book. They would have to be extremely rude to say no, and that then gives you an opening. You send in your book with a covering letter that can say ‘As requested, here is a copy of ….’. That gets you in the door and, if the buyer does their job properly, and your book is any good, you can progress things from there.

When it comes to individual bookshops it is usually best to send in a copy of your book with a short covering letter. If you phone or turn up out of the blue you are almost guaranteed to do so at the worst possible time. Always send work for the attention of the manager.

# What should they emphasise in their sales pitch?

The book, the book, the book. What is it that makes your book worth reading? Highlight any passages you feel are particularly good. Chances are the person you give it to will not read the whole thing so make sure they read the best bits.

# Do you have any advice about how authors should present themselves in the sales pitch?

It is the book they need to worry about, the best sales pitches work long after any meeting or phone call as they rely on the buyer or bookseller actually reading the book itself. Don’t be too pushy, just ask the person to read a chunk of the book. That is all you can expect really.

# Are bookstores seeing an increase in self-published authors pitching direct?

They certainly are, although not as much as you would think. When I was at Waterstone’s I created a role called (rather boringly) Independent Publisher Coordinator. Their job was to deal with small publishers and self-published authors with a view to advising them on the best way to sell their books but also to spot any significant talent that we could promote and sell.

# Are bookstores generally open to authors selling their own books or do they prefer to deal with publisher’s sales reps?

Most major chains really can’t be bothered to deal with self-published authors directly and, as I write, the Independent Publisher Coordinator role at Waterstone’s is vacant. I hope they fill it as it was a great benefit to the business. Individual stores often feel likewise but most independent shops are happy to sell self-published books if they like them, and especially if the authors are local.

# What qualities and skills do you think an author needs to succeed in selling their own books?

Well, number one is to have written a bloody good book. Booksellers and head office buyers know a good book when they read one, regardless of who published it. I have read countless ‘huge’ new books from major publishers which cost a fortune that were simply not very good. Likewise, I have read lots of self-published work that should have been in the bestseller charts with a major publisher behind them. If you can win someone over with your writing then the job is almost done.

That aside, it helps to be confident and be prepared to self-publicise. Local press and media are great avenues to promote your work and if you have the right presentation skills they will be happy to accomodate you. It also helps to be friendly and accessible to your readers.

But do avoid being overly pushy. Don’t tell me your book is the best thing since Life Of Pi as it almost certainly isn’t. Do be polite and ask the buyer or shop for advice on how best to sell your book, they will usually be forthcoming even if they don’t select it to sell themselves.

# Are you seeing a trend towards self-publishing?

God yes, it is all over the place. Most of it is rubbish, let’s be honest, but more and more titles are proving to be genuinely good.

# You are now Commercial Director at The Friday Project. How does The Friday Project fit into the current publishing market? How might it help authors who may have a book that doesn’t quite fit into the traditional book publishing market?

In some ways we are highly cutting edge and innovative. In others we are remarkably traditional. So, rather than follow the usual author/agent submission route for sourcing our books we explore the internet for talent, and the internet increasingly comes to us. This gives us an almost infinite pool of writing and ideas to dip into. However, once we have found that talent, that great writer or great book, we then publish it in a very traditional way.

We pride ourselves on risk-taking and have already published many books that no one else would have dared to do. I would like to think that anyone outside of the mainstream could find a home with us. As previously mentioned, we also have a consultancy service which is mainly used by small publishers and self-published authors. We advise then on many areas but the most popular is how to get retailers to consider their books and hopefully to sell lots of them. So, we hope we are able to help authors both as publishers and advisors.

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Further resources:

The Friday Project

Scott Pack’s Blog

Mslexia

Pictures: thanks to waterstones.com and thefridayproject.co.uk

Are you a writer who has self-published your book? What was your experience of trying to market it? Dealing with the printers? Trying to get it taken by bookshop? What tales from the trenches do you have to tell?

Or are you a writer who has been published the traditional way and taken an active part in marketing your book - even beyond the call of duty? What stories do you have to tell about what it takes to sell, sell, sell your book?

This week on my blog, to coincide with the publication of my article about The Writer as Entrepreneur in the July edition of Mslexia, the journal for women writers, I’m posting up my interviews with three self-published writers and a publishing industry insider.

As part of this innovative magazine/ blog initiative, I’d like to open up the discussion to you. If you have a story about your publishing or self-publishing experiences that is related to the business, marketing or entrepreneurial side of the being a writer, I’d love to hear it. Please email me your story and if it’s suitable, I’ll publish it on Fusion View.

This invitation is for enterprising writers who’ve achieved their success through their own hard work and dedication on the business side of publishing their book. I want to celebrate the power of the individual!

And in particular, I’d be very interested to hear from you if you’ve used social media like blogging, podcasting, online video, Facebook, MySpace etc as part of your marketing campaign.

Fusion View has a global readership and is read by 8,000 unique visitors a month, totalling over 13,000 monthly hits. It has recently been featured on BBC Radio and is read by writers, poets, film-makers, photographers, other creatives and publishing industry insiders - as well as many book lovers and avid readers. If you’re an enterprising writer, I don’t need to tell you that this is a great opportunity to raise your profile as part of the Fusion View community!

The closing date for submissions is the 31st July 2007. Please read my Guestblogger Submission Guidelines.

Additional inspiration

Success Stories

Movie Trailers for Books

Photo: of stock trading frenzy thanks to theonion.com

My article “The Writer as Entreprenuer” is published this month by Mslexia, the UK literary journal for women writers. Researching the article, I interviewed three self-published authors, Preethi Nair, Mark Blayney and Julie Noble as well as former Managing Buyer at Waterstone’s, the UK book chain, now Commercial Director of The Friday Project, the UK publisher of books derived from blogs. They shared with me masses of invaluable information about the process of self-publishing as well generously telling me their personal stories.

Mslexia is a fantastic quarterly journal for women writers, with news about what’s happening in the UK publishing industry and topical features which are hugely relevant to all writers and women writers in particular. It cost just over £18 for an annual subscription if you are in the UK and is really worth that minimal cost. It is published in hard copy and will be posted to you once a quarter. I was a subscriber for years before they invited me to write the Entrepreneur article and it really kept me abreast of all the hot issues for writers in an in-depth and informed way.

I am thrilled to be able to offer readers and writers alike, this additional resource, in conjunction with Mslexia - the full text of the email interviews with Mark, Julie and Scott as well as a podcast of my telephone interview with Preethi are now available on Fusion View to co-incide with the publication of my article in the magazine - see the category in the sidebar marked “Writer as Entreprenuer”. All materials are published here with the agreement of Mslexia and my interviewees.

I will be posting up these resources over the course of this week:

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The following is my email interview with Julie Noble, author of “Talli’s Secret”, a story about Cassie, a girl with dyspraxia and dyslexia struggling with family and school life. On a school trip to Haworth Parsonage, the home of the Brontes, a strange figure on the stairs calling herself Talli takes a mysterious interest in Cassie. Julie studied psychology and literature and Lancaster University and has worked on television programmes such as “Heartbeat” and “The Royal”. Part of the inspiration for “Talli’s Secret”, Julie’s first book, came from the fact that one of her three children, her son Jonathan, struggles everyday with dyspraxia and dyslexia.

Incidentally, it’s Julie’s birthday today as well - so Happy Birthday to you, Julie!

# Why did you self-publish?

All the usual reasons: impossibility of getting contracts with either an agent or publisher despite good recommendations, prize-winning work and determination. I have had the manuscripts I sent out returned, often unopened or by return with standard rejection letters pushed in: “our lists are full etc; limited number of books being published”, etc then two people in my area (Both men) self-published the year before I did; one has since gone on to gain acclaim, fame and fortune (GP Taylor) the other made enough locally to create a reputation as an author. I bought copies of both their books, also aimed at children, as my first book was, and I had to recognise that my languishing manuscript was at least as good as theirs, if not better. To their credit, they were both encouraging, though GP Taylor much more so, even before his reputation really took off, and he kindly allowed me to use his recommendation on the back of my blurb.

# How did you go about self-publishing your novel? Did you use print on demand? If not, where did you store all the stock?

See Advice for how I researched which publisher to use;
We had all 3,000 books delivered here, took the dining table out, and filled the front room with boxes! Getting the dining table back was a real achievement. Now we just have a few boxes left under the stairs, and that’s because I had to stop marketing to deal with family issues last year, otherwise they’d all have been long gone.

# How much did you spend? (If you are prepared to say…)

Several thousand pounds. We had to remortgage the house to do it….

# How did you get the book into bookshops? (I’m particularly interested in this bit as it seems to require strong sales skills, persistence and stamina/ resilience that many writers would shy away from)

(SEE ADVICE points 9 10 15 20 for practical and note responding to “qualities/skills” question for reaction from booksellers)

You’re right about the tough stuff, and it’s not always easy, which is why I didn’t get all the books sold when my family life became very difficult, but really if you’ve got something you believe in, and you can convince people, perhaps by offering a free inspection copy as we did, and they see how good it is, then you’re in; you don’t need to treat them as the enemy because after all, deep down, they want the same as you - they want to sell the books!

# What marketing did you do?

Everything possible: See advice section below for more details

# Do you have a background in business? What is your day job?

Mother of 3 (with another on the way). I have an excellent grasp of budgeting, bringing up children on a limited income, balancing what needs to be paid right now with what can wait, etc, and I worked in a bank, though I hated the sales I liked problem solving. Also I was a self-employed childminder when the children were small.
I don’t think you need a business mind or background, if you can manage a household budget, chop and change credit cards to keep on the interest free, that sort of thing, you can do it!

# Do you consider your writing career as a business/ profession? What activities do you pursue to maintain your career as a writer? eg teaching creative writing etc.; networking

Yes I absolutely consider my writing career as a profession although many times it seemed to be labour of love rather than providing financial rewards! I remind myself that once the books I am currently writing and revising eventually get published they will build my reputation and give recompense to the time spent on them. As with all Arts Careers you are not drawn into writing because of the possibility of financial gain, but rather because of the impossibility of doing anything else! I love writing - it is as necessary to me as breathing and it helps me make sense of the world - and every time I get another job offered such as teaching a poetry workshop or running a drama workshop for either adults or children, I am grateful that I am able to do something that I enjoy so much and get paid for it. At the moment I am encouraging a group of 11 year-olds to finish their first book in a six-month project with two schools in the area and when the Heads came to see me begin the first workshop it was clear that I was going to enjoy it as much as the children did! This enthusiasm also invigorates other areas of my life. I have given talks to parent groups about the aspects of my book as relating to my son’s learning difficulties and I have been able to offer encouragement to many parents and children who are facing the same things my son and I have faced, this in itself is an inspiration to keep writing especially when you meet people who have been affected by reading your work and inspired to begin their own! I maintain a professional approach to my writing setting aside particular hours to work and refusing to take long coffee breaks, watch daytime TV or go shopping with friends when it is my work time, and this discipline helps other people to recognise that I am actually working.

# What qualities do you think you discovered in yourself during this experience? If you have a background in business, do you think that helped you handle the business aspects of self-publishing? If not, what other skills did you bring to the experience?

My biggest skill in dealing with bookshops was quiet determination laden with humility because I suspect they have to deal with a lot of people who think they’re going to be “the next big thing”. When I went in with a self-published novel and they started out to rubbish them I would just quietly and determinedly show them my book, talk about it, and without being arrogant let them see how good it was. I found that quiet and polite determination did very well - one columnist reviewer once e-mailed to say he’d never met any one so persistent and that I was just this side of annoying, but he published a grudging but good review and later admitted that he wanted to publish himself but was not getting anywhere; he still keeps in touch from time to time, so I can’t have been that bad!

# What qualities and skills do you think a writer needs to have to become their own publisher, publicist, sales rep and distributor? Also, what qualities and skills would a writer need to maintain their career as a writer apart from just writing?

The following should cover all qualities and skills for everything….

While recognising you are a writer who can work alone for long periods and single-handedly create complicated plots, and become totally involved in the characters within, you must also be outgoing, approachable, obliging, hard working and effervescent when called on to be so (meeting public and teaching, book signings, media appearances etc). You must be diplomatic and a good sales negotiator (bookshops, esp big wholesalers like Gardners) and someone who can make contacts with people in the media and maintained them by remembering to ask about them and by forming a proper relationship. You need to be patient yet single-minded in pursuit of your writing career while admitting that some improvements can always be made (think Proust). Think that you may well have to bear criticism and possible jealous reactions if you have any success whatsoever, or if you have written anything worthwhile, or even if you haven’t, but you’ve tried. You have to prepare to be competitive and to be passed over time and time again for “the next big thing,” knowing full well that however good you are it is unlikely it will ever be you! You have to believe in yourself –remember Emily Dickinson writing and putting away but still producing the best she could despite knowing that she would never see the success in her own lifetime. You have to cope with rejection letters from editors who have never read a word you have written apart from the greeting ‘Dear Sir or Madam’. You have to maintain a sense of purpose and finally you have to believe despite masses of evidence to the contrary (in the thousands of words published every year) that you have a message that the world needs to hear! If you can do all this you can successfully self publish whatever you choose to write.

# What returns did you make on your investment (financial or otherwise)?

Okay, I’ll be honest, financially it’s not a big money spinner, unless you hit jackpot and get taken on by someone else, but I did make most of the outlay back, in dribs and drabs, though as I would not take into account distribution/marketing and publicity costs, probably not, but we got about £500 for the two charities, and I wasn’t in debt at the end of it!
Otherwise the returns were huge!

I wanted to raise awareness of dyspraxia and dyslexia because of the experiences of my son and the publication of this book did have an enormous effect on his education because I gave one to his school and the teachers that read it were so impressed that they bought copies of it for each other and took far more of an interest in Jonathon’s problems. Many said it was the first time they had been able to see the conditions from the child’s point of view, and very many other teachers have since been in touch to say it is affected them and their pupils. I have been told that it has frequently been read out in class. Most people, old and young, could identify with my heroine Cassie’s difficulties and remembered somebody to be like that. I have also had very many phone calls and letters from people with dyspraxia or dyslexia, or members of their families, who had suffered and found comfort from this book; also people who had experienced bereavement found it accurate and useful. Many readers got in touch to tell me how this book made them cry (usually in the same part that made me cry when I wrote and revised it!) A really wonderful return was when I got a huge folder of work from a school in Derby, from a class who had done an entire project on Talli’s Secret, lasting weeks. The children had drawn pictures of my characters, made cartoons with their likes and dislikes, and imagined monologues. To receive this response to the world I had created was a great gift. I also had excellent reviews from such eminent organisations as the Bronte Society, the Dyslexia Institute and the Dyspraxia Foundation, as well as reaching the Whitbread Book Awards long list (though I was told afterwards self published books may be subject to the snobbery/isolation factor, which may have been a reason for it not to get any further, though I never followed it up because the same day as that news arrived my family life was completely turned inside out and I had to put the book business on hold while I saved my children, and myself.)
The random quotes and e-mails from complete strangers on amazon.com gave me another boost, and the genuine enjoyment of my story by all the readers I have heard from (and as a percentage of responses against sales I would guess I’ve got a higher rate than some of the greats!) gave me a return on my investment in the form of something that money could never buy - it made me realise that I really was an author, because my work reached other people and touched them, my characters, plucked from my imagination, lived for other people, and that knowledge has changed my writing and given me more confidence to declare myself a writer. Also, I received a payment from the PLR for my book’s library loans, which made me immensely proud. I am more fulfilled by my writing than anything else I’ve ever done, it makes me believe in myself, which as a woman, and especially one who has done a lot of childcare, (which for some reason demeans in this society, we don’t revere motherhood at all), is a necessary part of developing as an author.

# Do you see a trend towards self-publishing?

Yes; more and more publishers want guaranteed returns and so are aiming at Blockbusting bestsellers, often celebrity/TV based or part of an established genre. We need the entrepreneurs and adventurers to ensure that writing develops and expands, especially for women. It’s still harder to break into publishing: we shouldn’t sell ourselves short.

# What would you say to those who still have a snobbery around self-publishing - ie who mistake it for vanity publishing?

(see notes in response to q about skills/qualities for bookseller reactions)

I’m afraid its difficult because so much of the work self-published would benefit from an editor’s eye – I know mine would have done, but necessity is the mother of invention, so in the event I had to ask friends and family to help, where a professional would have made other comments I’m sure. Yet the reviews I received, even from Professional publications recognised the quality of my writing regardless, and it has been exceptionally well received. My book won one prize (Writing Magazine/David St John Thomas self-publishing Award) and was longlisted for the Whitbread, therefore its quality should not be dismissed. I am not alone, and the increasing success of self-published works has got to make a difference, and professional production will help that. Most of the ‘dross’ produced by the vanity press disappears without much of a fuss, whereas a well-written book properly presented, marketed and distributed can do better than some of the published works from ‘proper’ publishers!

ADVICE SECTION

# What is your advice to writers who may be thinking of self-publishing?

Go for it-but do it well! Here are some practical points:

1) Research your market carefully when you are revising your novel and aim to match the standard of the genre you are writing in:
look at covers/blurb/length and ask –honestly- how do you compare to the professionals?

2) Spend some time looking at self-publishing publishers rather than vanity press or basic printers; ask for a sample of a published book; feel free to ask questions about ISBN, the British Library requirements etc as well as text style/paper quality and cover design. A good publisher will be able to answer all your questions.

3) Think about what angle to use to pitch the book to the news agencies, and make first contacts with reporters e.g. Talli’s Secret is raising the profile of, and money for, the Dyslexia Institute and the Dyspraxia Foundation, reporters were interested in learning more about both conditions, but also about the fact that we remortgaged the house to pay for the publishing! Offer free copies for competition prizes etc it’s an excellent form of advertising!

4) Get a recommendation for the back of the book - from someone whose opinion would be listened to! It is particularly valuable for getting your book into bookshops, as some buyers are sceptical about self publishing. We were lucky that Graham Taylor sent us: “this is one of the best books I have ever read. It keeps you turning the pages from start to finish. I was lost in Talli’s world and didn’t want to come back.’ GP Taylor Author of the New York Times best-sellers

5) Plan the book launch,
i)try to tie in with local cultural/historical events e.g Talli’s Secret has the Brontës in it, so we opted to launch it at the Robin Hood’s Bay Victorian Weekend.
ii)draw prospective book buyers in with a gimmick, preferably something free! It needn’t be expensive- we had a calligraphy workshop with ‘Victorian’ bookmarks made by staining cardboard with tea!

6) Talk to people about the book Is anybody experienced or knowledgeable? Especially useful for the local contacts/ networking information you need.

7) Design and order flyers: bookshops like them and they also used for giving people to put up at events/ on noticeboards etc,

8) Prepare press releases- find personalised angles for each approach

9) Search for suitable outlets
i) the internet (if not from home use the library which is often cheaper
ii) Yellow Pages/ telephone directories - libraries stock these for various areas.

10) Approach Book Shops Independent bookshops can be hesitant with self-published books, offer to send a sample, and also guarantee that the books are only being provided on a sale or return (SOR) basis. Get contact details for the major book buyers for the chains well in advance. Be ready with e-mail confirmations of all the details e.g. the publisher, the subject, the price, market it was aimed at, references etc

11) Set up a website Look at info in Mslexia and book websites to get ideas, i.e: www.tallissecret.com. If you’re not a computer wizard, don’t worry, find one in your contacts.

12) Arrange a post office box - more professional when giving out the business address on the radio etc.

13) Go online and register on websites where you can post information ie “Friends Reunited”, University alumni news, sites relative to the content of your book.

14) Find regional literary newsletters/arts listings magazines. These types of publications are very useful for getting your name known, e.g The Yorkshire Word Editor likes to include information about self-published books and is very encouraging, asking me to do the ‘masthead’.

15) Design/print duplicated customer record sheets your contact details/ customer’s information/number of books taken/ commission rate.

16) Launch Book with media coverage, e.g radio/tv,

The launch serves several purposes:
Proves that self-publishing is a viable option
Tells the world about the book via media coverage/ social networking
Sells books!

17) Address all the envelopes ready for sample books that need to be sent asap

18) Enjoy the achievement - and concentrate on getting the books out there!

19)make sure plenty of people know about it, enlist family and friends to put posters up/ radio- event guides or interviews/ television/ newspaper everything you can think of. Take photographs to put on website/ send to media etc

20) Deliver the books to the outlets along with customer record sheets - both sign and keep a copy, and flyers. Don’t forget the library!

21) Send out review copies to newspapers/magazines/radio or tv programmes that you

i) think would be interested
ii) are a fan of
iii) never heard of till you started all this!
Get contact names by telephoning or emailing first, so that the book receives a more favourable impression when it lands on somebody’s desk.

22) Scour pages of Mslexia/ magazines/ websites for competitions you can enter. Fun to try and if you win- more media coverage!

23) Who else is there? Approach schools, Writer’s Groups, book groups, bookshops for book signings, Writer in residence in a business (the more unusual the better, from a media point of view), meet the author, workshops with drama or writing?

24) Keep optimistic and keep going! Obviously, the more effort you put in, the more you learn, the greater your chance of success!

# Anything else you’d like to share about your experiences/ about being a writer that would be useful for other writers, especially women writers to hear about.

Speaking from personal experience I believe that my ability to write and convey a range of emotions and trap them into words has saved my sanity, particularly over the last 15 months. As many writers have discovered (esp. the Brontes) the ability to escape into another world can mean the difference between accepting a difficult reality and being oppressed by it, or revelling in a world where you are in charge to a certain extent, for if like me your books are character-driven rather than plot-driven you’ll find you can be as little in charge in your literary existence as in your real-life!

As a woman and mother of three (and soon four) children I have found the greatest hindrance to my work is my own attitude towards it. So often I’d constantly place the children’s needs, wants and desires (including a definite desire not have to do any domestic chores) above my need to write, but unfortunately it was instilled into me at an early age that mothers must be self sacrificing to the point of martyrdom. This does not make any one happy nor is it good for the children to be given such an example. This is why it is very important to maintain a very business like approach to your work, especially if you’re a mother with the bulk of the domestic arrangements on your own shoulders. If you tell yourself, your children and everyone else that what you’re doing is a ‘proper’ job, you can carve out writing time without feeling guilty that most of the rooms in their house haven’t been dusted since Christmas and the children’s clothes need ironing (you just drape them on a hanger and shove them in the wardrobe). Then you have to recognise that you need to set aside time not just for writing a book but for thinking through and studying all the good works such as the classics, or rediscovering little known women authors and examining texts to see what works for certain writers and what doesn’t.

If you can act business like about your writing (and convincing yourself can be as hard as convincing everyone else) you’re most of the way there, which is why self-publishing Talli’s Secret was such a success for me.

I know there are plenty of stories about people who have not begun writing until late in life and still make a terrific success of it and though we all can find comfort in this while we wait for recognition in the meantime don’t give up trying! Write to the best of your ability, keep learning and keep sending things out and you can do it, I bet you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To find out more about Julie and “Talli’s Secret”, go to www.tallissecret.com

To find out more about Mslexia, go to www.mslexia.co.uk

Starting on Tuesday 10 July over four consecutive days, I will be posting up my interviews with three self-published authors and a book publishing insider on what it takes to self-publish your novel and act as publisher, sales director and publicist to get your product out to the great reading public. This project is in conjunction with Mslexia, the quarterly journal for women writers - Mslexia is publishing my article on The Writer as Entrepreneur in this month’s issue of the magazine and in an innovative initiative, they - and my interviewees - have agreed to my making my research for that article available online at Fusion View.

To find out more about Mslexia, go to their website at www.mslexia.co.uk.

The latest issue of Mslexia is now available. I will be posting up my resources to co-incide with the publication of this July edition as follows:

Tues 10 July - Interview with Julie Noble, author of Talli’s Secret
Wed 11 July - Interview with Scott Pack, ex-Managing Buyer at Waterstone’s and now Commercial Director of The Friday Project
Thurs 12 July - Interview with Mark Blayney, author of Two Kinds of Silence
Fri 13 July - Podcast of my telephone interview with Preethi Nair, author of Gypsy Masala

Mslexia is a fantastic quarterly journal for women writers, with news about what’s happening in the UK publishing industry and topical features which are hugely relevant to all writers and women writers in particular. It cost just over £18 for an annual subscription if you are in the UK and is really worth that minimal cost. It is published in hard copy and will be posted to you once a quarter. I was a subscriber for years before they invited me to write the Entrepreneur article and it really kept me abreast of all the hot issues for writers in an in-depth and informed way. If you’re not already a subscriber, go to their website and check it out.

One drizzly day in London, a colleague mentioned that his step-sister was just qualifying as an elephant doctor in Botswana. In our air-conditioned office with our identical desks and grey demountable partitions, looking out at the grey streaks over the grey city I was intrigued by the idea of a different kind of career path and a different kind of lifestyle. So I tracked down Elephant Kate and got her to tell me about what it takes to become an elephant doctor.

From Botswana, Kate sent me her responses to my email interview:

YM: First off, give me a quick thumbnail of who you are.

Kate: I am a research associate at the University of Bristol. Curiosity always got the better of me and my childhood was spent peering under rocks for what might be living underneath. However, whilst living in Asia, it was elephants that really caught my imagination. A promise to an elephant, on a visit to an elephant orphanage sealed my future and made me pursue my dreams to be an elephant researcher. Since 2002, I have been living her dream, studying elephants in the Okavango Delta Botswana.

What inspired to become an elephant doctor?

It was on a visit to an elephant Orphanage in Sri Lanka at the age of seven that shaped the rest of my life. I made a promise to an elephant that I would help in their conservation. As, we all know an elephant never forgets and so from that day I had one dream and one ambition, to be an elephant researcher.

Can you describe where you are now based?

My camp is based in the western Okavango Delta. I live in a tent so feel very much in touch with the environment in which I life. The view from my tent is typical Delta, a horizon that goes on forever interrupted by islands covered in palm trees with water or flood plain in between (depending on the season). It is pure wilderness, the home of the animals and I am just a visitor. Yet I feel far safer here then I do in a city, where the sharp lines of modern architecture are sore to my eyes, the noise of cars and people living sore to my ears. Contrary to public believe the bush or countryside is never quiet, there is always something going on – at night I am often awoken by the roar of lions, the trumpeting of elephants, the call of the bell frog, or the spotted genet (like a small cat) running around the roof of my tent. When I come back to the UK, I cannot sleep because it is too quiet.

What is your typical day like?

On a normal day, I awake just before dawn when the birds start to sing. My favourite dawn chorus is when the woodland kingfishers are in camp. Slowly the horizon turns pink as the sun starts to rise. As the day breaks more birds and animals join in. I listen for the tell tell signs of predators before I walk up to the kitchen to make a cup of tea before heading out to find the elephants. If I have heard elephants during the night I will head in that direction, particularly if I have not seen any for a few days. If not then I go out tracking the elephants that have collars in the area, at the moment the only ones that have collars are the released elephants. Since 2002, we have released five elephants from a herd used in the safari industry at Elephant Back Safaris. It is always wonderful to see them and she who they are hanging out with and how they are interacting and slowly becoming integrated into the wild social system. When I first started the research project there would be days when I did not see another person. Listening to the radio chat from the nearby safari camp was all the contact I had with humans. I did not mind it during the day when I was out with the elephants, but at the end of the day I felt lonely when there was no one to share my amazing day with. Now I am slowly building up a team and its great to be able to talk elephants with people. I am also more a part of the fabric and have friends at the nearby safari camp, and indeed camp where the research is based has now opened as a commercial camp open to tourist so I get to meet some very interesting people from all over the world. I do sometimes miss the tranquillity of the camp when it was just me.

Can you tell us something about the elephant culture?

Up until recently very little was know about male elephants, as research has concentrated on the more social females and their herds. I study the males and trying to add to the knowledge we have of them. I feel privileged to spend time with the males and I feel I am amongst friends when I am with them. What intrigues me the most is the social relationship of males. It is not random associations, males are choosing who to hang out with – it is these relationships I would like to understand – are they mates from long ago, new friends, relatives? What we do know is that old males are important to the development of young males and integral to the fabric of male elephant society. It is this relationship I see paralleling in our human society. As the social units break down and young males are left without mentors, males to look up to, to learn from and to be disciplined by we see an increase in delinquency and unsocial behaviour and this is evident in both our societies and those of elephants. Perhaps it is time we should learn from the animals.

Can you tell the differences between individual elephants?

When I first started my research I knew I wanted to get to know the population and the individuals within it. As I drove around all the elephants looked the same; big and grey. How would I ever get to know the individuals? Slowly, over the years the big grey gentle giants have become individuals, ‘William Wallace, Shaka Zulu, Dingaan, Nelson Mandela, Ganesh, and Oliver Cromwell – when I say their names I can see their faces in my mind and how I differentiate between them is primarily through their ears. Elephant have big ears, we all now that – the infamous Dumbo had the largest of all. The ears are often torn or have holes in and so by taking photos of these and making sketches of them as well as other characteristics such as the size and shape of their ears, or bodily scars help me tell whose who. So far I have identified over 500 males and 100 females, and so whilst there are a few that visit often and who I can tell at first glance, there are others that take a while to ID and others that are new to me.

Do you have a favourite elephant?

People often ask me who my favourite elephant is, and I have many. But if pushed I always say Mafunyane. He is a very special elephant and one I have spent most time with. He signifies the beginning of the project and my living my dream. He was the reason it all began, as he was the first elephant to be released on the 1st February 2002. He first came up to Botswana in the 80’s as he was originally from the Kruger National Park in South African and when his herd was culled as part of the management program there, he and other young claves were brought by the owner of EBS, Randall Moore, to expand his safari herd. It was always Randall’s vision to release the young males when they hit adolescence and it was their natural instinct to leave their herd and become independent. And so when Mafunyane began to show behaviour that it was time for him to leave, we put a satellite collar around his neck and bid him luck in his life outside of the herd. And so for the past five years I have followed him and seen him become slowly integrated into the wild bull society, growing ever more confident to leave the area he knows and explore more of the delta.

What are the challenges facing elephants in the region?

Botswana has a healthy population, the largest population of elephant left in the world at approximately 120,000. But elephants all over the world are losing habitat and struggling for survival. Slowly as time ticks by they are slowly loosing the battle as the areas they are allowed to inhabit and utilise become smaller and smaller. Most populations are small fragmented populations and we have to manage them more and more, moving individuals around to ensure genetic diversity and sustainability. Ivory is still very much in demand and the price per pound is on the rise, carved into beautiful objects the tusks are a poor reminder of the beautiful beast it once belonged to. With the rise in the price of ivory there is the evitable rise in poaching in certain areas. We have to decide if we can give them the space they and other species need and the protection they deserve.
For me a world without elephants would be a very poor world indeed and one I am not sure I would be able to live in.

What are some of the things you miss about the UK?

  Family
  Friends
  Pubs
  Long English summers
  English villages
  The Welsh Coast
  The theatre
  The sea
  Mountains

Anything else you’d like to share?

I feel very privileged to be living in the magic of the delta, living my dream and have a chance to pay something back to Botswana . This would not have been possible without the help and support of Randall Moore of Elephant Back Safaris. He and I are joining forces once more to enable us to give something back to the country and animals we love so much. We are setting up the Elephants for Africa Trust to be able to continue with the research but a large aspect of this trust will be to provide funds for a Motswana Scholarship Fund to enable local students to carry out their postgraduate degrees. Our first student is about to embark on his Masters degree and I look forward to supervising him and working with him.

To find out more:

Go to Elephant Research at http://www.elephantresearch.co.uk

There are some great profiles of the different elephants, with each of their individual stories in the Elephant Profiles section.

You can also help by adopting an elephant in the Adopt an Elephant section. Or you can support the cause by buying cards, notelets etc or giving a donation via the relevant links on the site.

If you do contact Elephant Research, do mention that you came to them via Fusion View!

I have been posting occasional posts by my father about his Memories of Malaya. He celebrated his 70th birthday earlier this year and recently found time to write another piece for the family about our family traditions in the time of British rule over Malaya. He writes his memories as an email to our family, who are spread out all over the world, and I edit and share the ones which have a wider general interest here on Fusion View.

While my mother’s side of the family are staunch Methodist Christians, my father’s side of the family comes from a Buddhist tradition. I grew up going to Sunday School and reading Bible stories so it’s really interesting for me to learn more about the traditions from the other side of the family.

He writes:

British rule

I grew up in Malaysia and until I was in my late teens in 1957 the country was one of the many British colonial possessions. There were roughly two kinds of colonial possessions, one, a colony and the other a British protected possession. The first is ruled directly from Whitehall and the other is one where the local chieftain or sultan had entered into a treaty with the British Government where the former had asked for British protection usually against other local chieftains, sultans or neighbouring states. The British Government then sent a British Adviser to help in the administration of the local chieftain or sultan. He would also set up the administrative institutions and infrastructure not unlike those of a colony and for practical purpose the country was administered like that of a colony. Examples of a colony were Singapore, Penang, Malacca, Hong Kong etc. Malaya is an example of the second type. The empire had not only a vast mix of racial types who spoke their own languages practised their own customs and worshipped their own gods. In all these respects British colonial policy was benign. There was no compulsions of any kind: the natives and immigrants need not go to English language schools, worship the Christian god in the manner of the Anglicans nor eat with knife and forks nor dress in suites. They did interfere to do away with inhuman customs or practices like widow burning or slavery. The policy of generally not interfering with local family laws, customs and cultural practices prevailed. The British must have adopted these policies from the examples of the Romans in their dealings with their empire. There was therefore little serious social or political tension in the possessions they ruled.

Taoists

In our households like most Chinese household who were not Christians, we were actually Taoists although without very clear thinking we regarded and called ourselves Buddhists. We worshipped various gods and goddesses with an altar and little statuettes of each of them. I do not think we were even pure Taoist although to this day I do not know what Taoism is. A Buddhist generally means a person who follows Buddha’s teachings and there is no image or statuettes and no worship other then paying respect to a statuette or painting of Buddha in the usual eastern way of paying respect, by kneeling and the bowing to them. I will continue to refer to ourselves as Buddhists although by this it is really the kind of Taoism I have described above.

Daily rituals

There were certain daily rituals to be performed. In the morning after my Mother or the servant, Ah Hoe Chey (AHC) had done their morning toilet, they would place one joss stick for one deity into a bowl filled with a kind of grey powder which held the joss stick in upright position and would kneel with hands clasped bowed to each deity in turn.

The gods and goddesses were placed in a row on a long altar table and going from left to right they were the following:

1. the “Heavenly Emperor”: there is no image of Him. I think he rules the heaven;
2. the Warrior God (Kuan Kong): He was not a god to help people to fight wars like the Roman god, Mars. In his life on earth he was a warrior in the classical period of Chinese history; after his death, a cult arose in paying respect to him and sometimes people who did so also asked for favours and they were granted and he became deified like some Roman emperors although there is no record of a dead emperor granting any favours. There was a painting of him in his warrior robes famously with tucked up eye brows with a red face with two lieutenants standing beside him.
3. the Goddess of Mercy (Koong Yum): She was a human at one time who did a lot of good deeds and was known for her filial piety. Her life was portrayed in a film version with a famous Chinese star playing her part and there was a scene where she was shown to pluck out her own eyes to use them to cure her mother. Again she was deified after her death because she still performed good deeds in her answers to prayers. There was a small statuette of her made of white porcelain looking serene and benign, like a caring and loving mother.
4. next to her there was the Monkey God. There was a little statuette of him dressed in a yellow robe in the style of the classical Chinese time but with the face of a monkey. I do not know what his position is in the pantheon. I think it arose as follows: there is a Chinese legend that a Chinese monk traveled to India to receive the Buddhist scriptures and his traveling companions included two persons one with feature of a pig and the other a monkey and the legend is full of stories of their adventures in their journey to India. He must be the one with the features of a monkey. Because of this god in our house we would not use the ordinary word of monkey “ma lau” but a more polite word.

There was a small altar at the foot of the altar table. I do not know what god is represented there. There is the god of the kitchen who had a small altar over the kitchen stoves. He reports to the Heavenly Emperor at the end of each Chinese calendar year on the deeds of the household. On most mornings either Mother or AHC would chant prayers from a prayer book and this lasted about fifteen minutes.

First and fifteenth

On the first and fifteenth day of each Chinese calendar month the worship of these deities were a little more elaborate in that the appropriate temples must be visited and worship conducted there. The more religious minded, like Mother and AHC, would not eat meat for the two days. The temples would provide free vegetarian food for these two days for anyone who attended them whether they worshipped or not. In addition to joss sticks, joss papers were burnt.

Feast days

In addition to the daily prayers most Chinese also celebrate other feast days many of which were not religious but involved the cycles of the earth around the sun. The first major festival in the calendar is the Spring Festival or more usually known as Chinese New Year. Like all humanity it is a celebration of the beginning of new life - wearing of new clothes, cleaning house so that it looks new, wishing good fortune for the New Year. In our household we children wanted presents left near where we slept like on Christmas Eve. So we had Mother to give us presents in this manner. In one year Mother gave us a small magnifying glass to complement our stamp collection and packets of stamps and fountain pens. Father did not have relationship with his relatives except his elder brother. Mother was the only child. So we had no relatives to have to visit except Father’s elder brother and two ladies whom, like all Chinese, we call aunts although we were not related but were only Mother’s friends. We therefore received very few red packets and were impressed when some of school friends who related the amount they received. For the first day of the Chinese New Year even we children ate vegetarian and AHC made some delicious vegetarian food. When we grew up in secondary school Father would allow us to see any number of film shows for the two days of holidays. Normally we were allowed to see one film a week. So we packed as many as 3 shows into a day.

There was the mid-summer celebration which occurs on the fifteenth day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar. This is a harvest festival and the moon is supposed to be at its biggest and brightest. Children would stroll around the garden of their houses holding lighted lanterns.

There is the day the winter solstice is celebrated when everyone eats little dough balls cooked in sugared water with ginger. I personally did not like them but Mother did very much.

There is All Souls Day where families go to the graves of parents or grandparents to pay their respects and render filial piety by cutting grass and sweeping away rubbish around the graves. About 14 days are given for this duty. I feel very touched when I see photographs of cemeteries filled with the Chinese doing this. I know of several persons who have travelled from as far as Singapore to Kuala Lumpur to perform this duty and I have just heard a few days ago that a friend traveled from Hong Kong where he worked to do this duty.

Cowherd and the weaver girl

There is one particularly romantic festival and it occurs on the seventh day of the seven month in the Chinese calendar. It is the festival of the “Cowherd and the weaver girl.” A long time ago there was a cowherd who tended the cows and a girl who weaved cloth. They were so enamoured and spent time mooning over each other that they neglected their chores. The gods became angry at this and separated them and permitted them only to meet for that one day in a year on the rainbow bridge and it is this that the earthlings now celebrate. I think this would make a splendid opera. Imagine the last scene where the young couple meets on a rainbow bridge singing duets of love and longing and below on earth the people dance and sing in celebration of the meeting. Opera composers have always included one scene where there is a lot of spirited music and vigorous dancing and this can be it and be a very fine one too.

There are other festivals but regrettably I cannot remember them.

Deity of little children

When we children celebrated our birthdays we had to worship a very old lady deity whose altar was at the end of our bed. She looks after little children. When I use the word “worship,” I mean that one would kneel put our palms together and bow three times to the altar and if Mother or Grandmother is standing beside us she will prompt us to say “make me a good and filial boy and help me to be successful in the examinations.” To celebrate I had a bowl of rice and as a treat I was given the thigh of a roasted duck all of it for myself. I remember eating it by myself holding it by the bone and it was a treat not to have to eat together as usual with the family. Even then the birthday was not celebrated every year - only when Mother, Grandmother or AHC remembered it.

Photo: thanks to limeydog on flickr.com

memmlya

My interview with Rob Mackenzie has been picked up by poet Andrew Philip on his blog TongueFire in a post called “What is Scottish Poetry?”. There is a lively discussion in the comments to that post about Scottish identity, which I’ve added to, asking what would the identity of a Chinese poet writing in Scotland be.

Andrew has responded with some interesting points:

There’s a poem called “Young, Chinese and Scottish” written in the voice of a young, Chinese-Scottish woman by Kevin Macneil, an obviously male Gaelic and English-language writer. How’s that for complex identity politics!

Googling the poem (which I can’t find online), I’ve just come across an online essay “Infinite Diversity in New Scottish Writing”, by the Scottish-Pakistani writer Suhayl Saadi, who was born in Yorkshire. I’ve not read it, but it might well be enlightening.

Thanks to Andrew, we have some really juicy diversity writing to go and explore!

I am reminded of the early days when I first came to the UK. Back then, I clumped all white people from the UK together as “the English”. When speaking to an Irish/ Scottish/ Welsh person, I sometimes referred to them as “English” - imagine their outrage! It was then that I started to see the differences between the various tribes that make up the UK. It still fascinates me and I feel I have a lot to learn.

While in Slovenia, I was chatting to one of the other IABC (International Association of Business Communicators) delegates who was from Doncaster. She has a mild but noticeable northern accent. She recounted a rather disturbing story that shows the boundaries that exist even between the tribes of England, let alone between the English and Welsh/ Scottish etc.

At Uni, she heard about a party that a group of friends was going to. “Great,” she said to the host, “Where is it?” He replied in stiff, Southern tones, “You don’t have the right accent to come.”

Wow.

But to end on a lighter note, my colleague told another more amusing story of the North-South divide. She was setting up a meeting room in her company’s sleek offices in Soho recently. The technical assistant was an East End bloke who asked her if she wanted “sand” for the meeting.

“Sand?” She couldn’t work out why she’d need sand in the room.

“Yeah, d’you want me to set up the sand system?”

“Ah, sound!” She cried, understanding at last….

Photo: thanks to Hamed Sabir from flickr.com

Concluding my email interview with poet Rob Mackenzie:

YM: You also spent 4 years in Italy. What were you doing there? Do you speak Italian?

Rob: In Turin, I worked for the Waldensian church, a tiny Protestant denomination which holds claim to being the oldest Reformed church in the world. Much of my work involved giving support, advice, and help to asylum seekers, refugees, and those who were in Italy illegally.The church ran a support project, which linked up to other projects and organisations ran by the local council, the government and the Catholic church. I do speak Italian, although Im not fluent, and Im probably getting worse after two years in Scotland. I translate Italian poetry now and again, partly to keep fresh whatever language skills I have left.

Was there a cultural difference/ culture shock when you were in Italy? I would imagine there to be less of a difference as Italy is in Europe but perhaps there is more of a difference?

I think there was less of a difference, but because I could understand the differences more easily, it sometimes felt as if there was more of a difference if that makes any sense at all. To be honest, I think most British people would be very surprised to find how very different living in Italy is from the UK, as we tend to go on holidays to Europe and not notice the differences other than the obvious ones i.e. food, sun, wine etc
The bureaucracy drove me crazy, the TV was awful, the emphasis on family felt exclusionary at times to outsiders like myself (although the Turin people have the reputation as the least friendly people in Italy), and Italians shared with Korea this idea of letting you hear what you wanted to hear, irrespective of what they actually planned to do.

On the other hand, Turin was a beautiful city, my daughter couldnt go ten yards along the street without being fussed over by complete strangers (and its true that children and young people are far happier and valued morein Italy than in the UK), and we did make some good friends there. Not to mention the food and wine!

How has having lived in three cultures influenced you? What have you taken away from each of them?

From Scotland Ive taken a misguided pride, a black humour, and a stubbornness that must be a national characteristic. From Korea, Ive learned what generosity and hospitality towards outsiders really involve. From Italy, I can identify strongly with the sense of being European more than just Scottish, and I also have this grim sense that when our politicians say they are going to tackle the problems affecting young people in this country (drink, violence, hanging about the streets bored etc.), they are starting from entirely the wrong perspective because the problems go deeper than they think, and no change will come unless they tackle the root problems. I think they could learn a lot from looking at Italy.

What was it like coming back to live in the UK? And specifically in Scotland?

At first it was good. Everyone spoke English, which was so much less effort than Italian! And we could get things in the shops that were hard to come by in Italy. But soon we began to realise that these things didnt matter so much. I liked my local grocers shop and the market stalls in Turin where all the staff knew me. I liked the way you could hardly find a ready-cooked microwave meal, and I really, really missed the dry winters and the warmth of the other seasons. Would I go back to Italy in the future, given an opportunity? Yes.

Do you feel that you are now “home” in Scotland?

No, although there have been advantages. Ive made contact with the UK and Edinburgh poetry scene that I felt far away from in Turin. HappenStance may not have been as interested in publishing my poetry chapbook if I had been based in Italy, as selling it requires doing readings etc. My wife is firmly part of the amateur theatre scene in Edinburgh, which is what she loves more than anything. My daughter is getting on well at her nursery school. So well be here for a while yet, but I dont think well stay in the UK for ever.

Will you share a poem on Fusion View as my other poet contributors have done?

Will this do?

TAXI

We take the Eurostar from Oulx and shift
two Filipinos from our pre-booked seats.
Outside the Porta Susa station, roadworks
attack the tarmac and the senses, force
the taxis fifty metres from their rank.
Kebab and couscous overrun the pavements.
A Lega Nord pamphlet pins robberies
on refugees. Our daughter shades her eyes
against the winter sun that casts white walls
in negative. Two black women arrive,
toggle their overcoats to sap the chill
from the wind’s whine, and then a cab draws in:
we gather cases, cot and pushchair,
a dropped teddy bear. Footsteps slide past us -
the women test the taxi doors. The driver
waves them away. ‘Priority for kids,’
he says. Only in Italy, I think.
‘And we were here before you anyway,’
I tell the women. They shrug their shoulder pads
and claim to head some queue. ‘So are you blind?’
I ask. They turn towards the newsagent
where billboard headlines hawk the evening scoop
that boats sank close by Sicily, fifty
clandestini dead, and thirty-five
half-starved. The driver shakes his head, observes,
‘They are not blind, but African,’ and bangs
our case into his boot. ‘Priority
for whites,’ he really means, and at our gate
the price is way too high, and still we pay.

from The Clown of Natural Sorrow (HappenStance Press, December 2005)

Copyright Rob Mackenzie

Photo: thanks to unep.org

I’m delighted to introduce you to Rob Mackenzie, a poet based in Scotland whose blogs at Surroundings . We got rather carried away when I interviewed him as he had some many interesting things to share so this interview is in two parts.

Rob was born in Glasgow in 1964. He lived in Seoul, Korea for 18 months around 1989-90 before returning to the west of Scotland. He read poetry at the Bar Brel in Glasgow through the mid-nineties. Then he and his wife and moved to Turin, Italy for 4-5 years, where their daughter was born. For the last couple of years they have lived in Edinburgh. He has published poems in many literary magazines in the UK, in a few webzines, and in a poetry chapbook, The Clown of Natural Sorrow, on HappenStance Press www.happenstancepress.com

YM: What drew you to write poetry? When did you write your first poem?

Rob: I wrote my first poem aged 13, but it took me twenty more years before I got any accepted for publication. That first one was set in English class at school. We had to write a rhyming ballad, so I wrote one about a mouse that chaseda terrified cat around a house. Then I fell under the spell of Gerald Manley Hopkins. I loved his sounds and rhythms and I wrote some awful imitations.

In my twenties I got into French existentialist fiction (Sartre, Camus, de Beauvoir) and made the mistake of trying to write poetry that took its bearings from their ideas. It was really pretentious stuff! But in my thirties, I began to find that I had something to say of my own and that language could be utilised to do interesting things without all the pretension.

How often do you write now? What inspires you/ gives you the idea for a poem?

I write more or less every day. I am quite disciplined about it. I dont always write poetry, but Im always jotting down ideas, phrases and thoughts. A poem can come from a real life event (although I tend to change things if change helps a poem), from a title, image or line that pops into my head and seems to demand continuation, from snippets of conversation, or from thoughts Ive had on any given issue. I tend to write best if I let the initial idea simmer in my brain for a few days or weeks and then sit down with the opening few lines already in my head.

Can you tell us something about the kind of poetry you write?

I tend to try my hand at lots of things. Im comfortable with free verse, rhyme, loose metre, strict form, even the occasional experimental piece. People tell me my poems can be quite complex, which might be true. I always write to communicate with readers, but sometimes a poem can take more than one read through to become clear. I write a lot about relationships, identity, faith and doubt, political issues, endings of one kind or another. That sounds very serious, but I use a lot of humour in my poems too!

Is being Scottish a strong part of your identity? What does being Scottish mean to you?

I’m not particularly nationalistic, until someone criticises Scotland. I am Scottish and Im sure thats shaped me in all kinds of indefinable ways. Its not something Ive explored all that much. Maybe I should. That might well be a future project.

Is your poetry Scottish poetry? (as opposed to English poetry/ Welsh poetry or just plain old “poetry”)

I feel its just plain old poetry. I dont write in Scots or Gaelic and while Ive written a few poems about Scottish identity, its not a theme Ive majored on. I know some of my poet-colleagues here are far more interested in doing this than I am and are influenced mainly by other Scottish poets. I like several Scottish poets John Burnside, Edwin Morgan, Norman MacCaig, Don Paterson, Roddy Lumsden they are excellent writers. But my influences come from all over Rilke (Germany), Roy Fisher (England), Charles Simic (USA), Miroslav Holub (Czech Republic), and many others.

You spent 18 months in South Koreain 1989-90. What were you doing there? Do you speak Korean?

I did various things. I studied Korean Minjung theology, a kind of liberation theology that incorporated bits of Korean folk tradition, Marxism, and the Bible. I worked a couple of days a week in a smallish church, and I taught English to a few people. But I spent most of the time meeting people, travelling, eating the fiery food, and drinking maccoli (rice-based alcoholic drink). I learned enough Korean to ask for things in shops etc very basic stuff, nearly all of which Ive forgotten. It was a very difficult language.

What cultural differences did you notice?

So many of the cultural differences were in the mind and kept there. Sometimes people would grin at something I said or did, but when I asked why, they would never tell me. Its OK. No problem. Just Korean culture. Its OK, you are a Westerner! The Koreans were such hospitable people. I made a lot of friends there.

Relationships with women were fraught with problems. I found it impossible to know the etiquette, the rules of engagement. Korean women often seemed to flirt with me, but I think it was because the idea of going out with a westerner was so ridiculous to them (due to family expectations and tradition) that they felt safe getting close to me.

But sometimes it got confusing. I remember a woman called Hae-jang. I went out with her a few times and had no idea of how to progress the relationship. Then I met another woman, Jeung-wha, who I fell in love with in a matter of days.In fact, probably within five minutes! I didnt think it would matter to Hae-jang. I was convinced she saw me as only a friend. How wrong I was! Apparently she was furious, but she, and all her friends, refused to speak to me ever again.And then it didnt work out with Jeung-wha who ended up going off to a Zen temple in the countryside and.. well that was the last I saw or heard of her.

I once invited a woman named Gil-sun to have a coffee in my room (we were standing outside it at the time). It was an entirely innocent invitation. Yes, she replied, as she began walking away.

Well, lets go, I said, pointing. Its up here.

Yes, she said, and kept walking in the other direction. Life was full of moments like that! The answer to any question was always what you wanted to hear, even if what then happened was in direct contradiction.

How has that time in East Asia influenced you?

Yes. It made a huge impact on me. I learned what it was like to be utterly clueless, unable to understand a language and culture, and to be far away from home. And Korea was only just emerging from years of military dictatorship and there were strikes, protests, and trouble all the time. I learned the effect of tear gas the hard way. But at the same time, I had a fantastic experience in Korea and I learned the meaning of hospitality for the stranger there.

Did you write poetry while you were in S Korea? Or later, looking back on that time? How do you think the East influenced your writing?

I didnt write any poetry at the time. I wrote about 20 songs and the guys in my band told me they were the worst songs Id ever written. Since that time I have written a few poems about Korea, one of which was published in the