Stuart Eglin Online

Stuart Eglin Online

Posts Tagged Publishing

Print on Demand

Oct 30

Posted by Stuart in Blog posts, Writing | No Comments

I am looking at print-on-demand publishing services like Lulu.com and Createspace.com. Both of them offer services which mean that you can turn a pdf file into a book manuscript which can then be printed off as a book. These can be printed when required so rather than printing a thousand books and watching them gather dust in cardboard boxes, it is possible to print off individual copies as required at an economically viable cost.

Now, unless I am much mistaken, some detailed research suggests that Lulu is probably a better service if you are based in the UK, because the other service (which is owned by Amazon) only prints in the US.

There is also the option to produce books through both services, although this might be somewhat cumbersome. Any views on the two services are welcome – just post a comment on this post.

I’m going to use this service in the next few weeks to produce the first couple of books. This is a real move forwards for my publishing press (bluewater books), which until now has only produced hand-printed chapbooks. I’m looking forward to experimenting, and will blog about the progress with it over the coming weeks.

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Self Publishing

Jul 4

Posted by Stuart in Blog posts, Personal Development | No Comments

In a recent post, Rik Roots talks about self-publishing using a print-on-demand service called Lulu. This is a really interesting approach to producing perfect-bound books without having a heap of them sitting about on a shelf.

Rik points out that he has a specific need to publish so that he can share his work with friends, family and people who ask to see work. The web, in the form of downloadable pdf files is one way to satisy this demand. But there really is nothing like a real artefact to hold in the hand and turn the pages.

Something well worth investigating further.

I have self-published chapbooks / booklets a couple of years ago under the bluewater books imprint, and am in the middle of preparing a new series of booklets – all produced myself. I like the idea of a service like Lulu where the work is done for you.

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Wired News: Putting Eyeballs on Copyright Law

Feb 10

Posted by Stuart in Blog posts | No Comments

The latest issue of Wired News has an article about a civil rights fight over copyright. It builds on something I commented on a few days ago. The article is well worth a read as it brings into sharp focus the issue of copyright and control of history, creativity and the arts by large corporations.

It feels to me like we are on the verge of real change around this whole issue – the challenges of digital media, the democracy of file sharing (see post from a while ago) – it’s a question of who will win out on this.

I’m becoming increasingly aware of the whole “Creative Commons” movement. Time to investigate further…

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Download the first 100 entries

Jan 28

Posted by Stuart in Blog posts | No Comments

Yesterday evening I put together a booklet of the first 100 entries to this weblog. It is available as a download in pdf format. You will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to open it – but then you knew that already!

Click here to download it. Left click to open it in the browser, or right click and choose “Save Target as…” to save the file to your own computer.

I’ve turned the whole thing around so that it is chronological, rather than the reverse order that posts appear in on blogger.

I’ve also put a permananent link to it in the column on the right.

This online publication is the third publication by bluewater books. Enjoy.

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The Reviewer

Apr 14

Posted by Stuart in Blog posts, Music | No Comments

At the end of last week I sent copies of ‘Zen Words’ and ‘Umbrian Images’ through to Gerald England in Stockport. He runs a website which has heaps of information about poetry and a reviews section. I wanted him to review my first two poetry booklets – he replied today with a positive. They will be reviewed soon – I wonder what the reviewer will make of them! In the meantime, I asked him if he needed any more reviewers. His response – incredibly rapid – was in the form of three booklets for me to look at. So, it looks like I am a reviewer now. Time for some serious reading, and a few words of comment.

Meanwhile, thoughts continue to develop on the next two publications from bluewater books (site needs updating, but it is here). I’m working on the idea of producing a booklet with a mini-CD included. I’m really impressed with those little CDs that are about 3 inches across, play on ordinary CD players and hold about 20 minutes of sound files. Small enough to fit inside the back of a booklet. More news on this as the idea develops.

Musically I am still bouncing around inside the back catalogue of Joni Mitchell – scope for months of exploring there. At the weekend I bought the new album by The Divine Comedy which is back down to just Neil Hannon again. He moved to Ireland and his wife had their first baby since the last album. The album is a set of beautiful pop songs. Sounds like he has been listening to Scott Walker and maybe Frank Sinatra a lot lately. Orchestrations and production are wonderful. Favourite songs so far are ‘Absent Friends’ (title track), ‘Come Home Billy Bird’ and ‘Our Mutual Friend’. I also really like the sentiment in the last track where he sings about his ‘charmed life’ to his baby, hoping that his baby will one day ‘call your life a charmed life’ too. I know it sounds a bit coy, but within the confines of the song it works really well.

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Sea in UK as hot as the Med!

Aug 26

Posted by Stuart in Blog posts | No Comments

The Bank Holiday Weekend has passed. It was an excellent one, crowded with activities. Amongst many other things, we spent yesterday exploring the Lleyn Peninsula in North West Wales. We even went swimming in the sea at Aberdaron. The weather was mixed, but lack of rain on a bank holiday was a miracle for the UK.

This is the week when the ‘zen words’ booklet finally comes out under the ‘blue water books’ imprint. It has been a few weeks in the making, but we are just about there. Finally, I am the proud father of a publishing house. It’s not a patch on being the proud father of three boys, but it’s still an achievement!

Now work beckons…

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Everything is melting

Jul 15

Posted by Stuart in Blog posts | No Comments

The heat-wave continues in Britain, and it is such a big deal because it happens so rarely. Is it nostalgia that makes our childhood memories feel as though all summers were hot and sunny? It is some years since we have had such a good summer season.

A different climate brings a different mood. As I write this I am listening to ‘On Land’ by Brian Eno, a marvellous ambient sound for the weather. This album was recorded 25 years ago!

The work on the booklets for bluewater books continues apace. I am now working on two booklets – ‘zen words’ and ‘umbrian images’. Both will be produced in first limited editions of 50. They are taking longer than planned to produce, partly due to my perfectionist tendencies which means that I keep tweaking the finished job. Tomorrow I aim to produce the print run for ‘umbrian images’ and follow this very soon with ‘zen words’ so that I can distribute them both at once. I am slowly building the mailing list too.

On the ‘new words’ side of things I have been steadily producing poems for ‘the alice conversations’ collection. This is a collection of poems in the voice of a character called Alice, who represents my anima (Jung’s theory of the feminine characteristics within the male).

Reading material at the moment includes looking through an old collection of poems by Michael Schmidt which I stumbled across on the bookshelves at home. It is called ‘A Change of Affairs’ and was published by Anvil. This book was published the same year that Brian Eno began recording ‘On Land’. I think that is the only link though!

I mentioned in recent weblogs that I am listening to a lot of music from The Wire compilation CDs. This is really challenging material, and, as ever, I am interested in the parallels between the use of sound and potentials for use of language. I’m experimenting with ideas.

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Bluewater books is launched

Jun 17

Posted by Stuart in Blog posts, Θ Poetry | No Comments

I have already mentioned that the first book in the bluewater books imprint is being prepared and will be ready by the end of this week. Why am I doing this?

Well, after years of dreaming about being a published writer – and struggling with the reality that there is not a living to be earned from writing poetry – I have finally found a way of breaking through all of this stasis.

The mistake is in thinking that I would have to make a living out of writing. I already make a living. Then it’s a question of re-framing the whole idea of writing and seeing it as something that isn’t driven by financial issues. Thus, I can produce a book as and when I have the spare cash to do so, and give them away to people who I think will appreciate them. That way I build an audience for what I am trying to communicate, rather than burying away my work on a shelf in the house.

Recently I was reading an old diary of mine, and found the following, which is relevant to all of this:

Quote from an interview with the artist Albert Irvin (in Stride #35, Storming Heaven): -

“The creative cycle isn’t complete until another human being is looking at the painting and hopefully responding…. I’d rather have paintings out in the world where people can see them and they can fulfil their function. It’s of no consequence if they’re propping up the walls in my studio. Painting is a language of communication – generally speaking, give me a wall and I’ll hang a painting on it.”

Is this as true for writing as it is for painting? Well, writing is certainly a language of communication – that’s tautological! So, the purpose of it is important.

In a truly Jungian synchronicitous way, I then stumbled across something else in a book which I have picked almost at random. The book, Julia Cameron’s ‘The Right to Write’, is a really useful book which builds on her ideas in ‘The Writers Way’ and ‘The Vein of Gold’. In this book she presents examples and ideas to spur on the writer and overcome writers block, lack of confidence etc. She talks about the need for the writer to have “friendly readers”. That’s uncanny! It maps exactly to the point which I had been exploring with the advent of bluewater books. It vindicates my idea that I need to get my work out there to people who will treat it sympathetically, and that this will help to motivate me to write more.

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