For My Eyes Only

A little something for the shelves

IN a sense, I suppose it makes for an Xmas present to myself; in another sense it may acknowledge a certain subconscious sense of defeat. The answer is far from clear, emerging painfully slowly from its birth vat of circumstance and the future, but I took delivery this morning of a paperback copy of my second novel Citizen Zero.



The book is a special -- private -- edition created exclusively for myself and possibly a select few friends. Certainly, once I have given all of my extant work this treatment, it will create a unique and pretty nifty gift set. They will also look pretty darn good on my personal book shelf too.

So what am I talking about? Simple, really. Having used the print-on-demand publisher Lulu to publish my first poetry edition, and a 'fairly limited edition' of my first novel, it struck me that I could make use of Lulu to create a set of personal editions of my novels. That is what I have done, and Citizen Zero is the first.

These private editions are not available to buy, but if nothing else they do permit me to keep the flame alive as it were with a post such as this. The novel is currently languishing on the list of newstart publisher Writers of Worlds, and I retain hope that the long process of this company going ahead and publishing the book will become a reality. So, for now, it remains on hold, and if the worst comes to the worst, then it will join its younger siblings in that difficult process of finding a publisher.

Meanwhile, I am in the process of creating a private edition version of Silas Morlock (my third novel) and "In Workers' Paradise" (my fourth novel). These two titles are also currently undergoing the quest to find an agent and publisher. Writing the book is the easy part!

In time, I'll have the complete set sitting snug on my shelves. After that, touch wood, they'll make their way into the world so that others can enjoy the pleasure of the books on their own shelving. Hold onto that thought. They are worth the wait.

If you want a taste of Citizen Zero then visit www.zerocitizen.blogspot.com

MC

Category: PERSONAL

Posted in: BLOG,FICTION,NOVELS,PERSONAL