IT’S CHRISTMAS!!

Almost.

Ermmm… Mistletoe and wine.

Been a while since the last blog. Quite a few happenings have been… well, happening.

Update: Even More Tonto Short Stories

It’s a good news/bad news situation. The good news is that it is all going ahead and I’m now having it pitched and presented to bookstore buyers rather than it being released with a ‘whimper’ / selling on the website only. Of course, as you’ve probably sussed already, it won’t have an official release until much further into the future because of that. Before reaching for your mouse and clicking to post disgruntled comments, please hear me out. Feedback on the collection is very good. And, not to dismiss previous Tonto anthologies, this one stands a really good chance of selling into stores. It looks and feels the part and has the content to back it up. I work with an utterly splendid sales company who will be presenting it to bookstores.

At the moment, Tonto is on a roll. November was the company’s best month ever and December looks even better. Other than sales taking off, there’s loads of publicity and ‘nice words’ being said. That means the book can be published, promoted and launched on a bigger and better reputation now. It contains some brilliant stories by up ‘n’ coming writers, established writers and soon-to-be-huge writers. It is too good an opportunity to miss out on. I’ve always believed in supporting writers through collections and this time round everything is in place to do it properly – which has always been the aim. So, sit back and have faith in Uncle Stu.

I know there’s nothing worse than being kept waiting for a publication date. I’ve had it happen to me, but as a publisher, I also understand why. So… to keep up goodwill, I’ll be sending the book out as an ebook to everyone who entered the competition (dare I say it?) in time for Christmas. The physical book will be officially released on 6 May 2010. However, it will be printed long before that – early in the New Year, and all those will be sent out to everyone as soon as I receive them. I’ll be publicising the book in advance of the release and, depending on which bookstores are actually still open in May, we’ll be launching it and promoting as far and wide as humanly possible.

As Leo Sayer once said: ‘Well, I’m a one man band / Nobody knows nor understands.’

It’s a bit like that for me here in Chateau Tonto, only I’m a bit taller with better hair.

Some other stuff: Tonto mentioned in the Bookseller Rights Guide this week.

Showbiz news: Met up with David Peace of ‘The Damned United’ fame last week when he and Robert ‘Dirty Leeds’ Endeacott held a reading in Wakefield. He’s done loads of other books, but everyone always says he wrote TDU. We had a great night… the readings were spot on, even though one of Robert’s new eyes nearly fell out after a few sentences – and I didn’t even walk out when there was ‘all that poetry stuff’ being read out. I’m getting old – must be mellowing out.

And on Monday, I met Keith Allen. Shirley I must be on the spotted page of Heat before the end of the year.

If you happen to be in Leeds tomorrow, Robert will be signing copies of Dirty Leeds, or DL as I sometimes call it, at Waterstone’s, Albion Street. The perfect Christmas present, eh?