Comments for Two Ravens Press

Comment on Back in the saddle… by Sharon

Sharon — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:22:12 +0000

Glad you enjoyed the programme, Tracy! – our first Radio 4 hit, so very exciting.

Comment on Back in the saddle… by Tracey Spark

Tracey Spark — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 10:49:46 +0000

The reason Im here leaving this message is because I heard Andrew Grieg on Excess Baggage yesterday! So a very fortuitous happening in my opinion.
Really love what you guys are doing, and I will be a regular visitor to the site.

Comment on e-book-in-a-bath by Randolph Lalonde

Randolph Lalonde — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:10:52 +0000

Thank you for the acknowledgement, that wiki is way off the mark though, about a year old at a guess so the numbers are off by quite a bit. Things have exploded a bit since then.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the talent pool I’m lucky enough to swim in is large enough to be compared to the staff of many small presses. I’m also lucky that I have something to offer these people in return, so you could say the talent pool works on a sort of bartering system.

Having access to editors and a good group of beta readers saves a lot of time and money. It also help ensure each book is at its best when it’s released. Speaking of which, I’ll be enjoying one of the benefits of the “eBook revolution” soon – the ability to release new, cleaner editions and provide the fresh edits to everyone who bought the old versions as an update. Considering over 95% of my sales are in eBook format, that sort of thing works pretty well.

Enough rambling. Time for me to get back to work…

Comment on e-book-in-a-bath by David

David — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:11:58 +0000

Hi Randolph – hats off to you with 1400 sales of ‘Spinward Fringe’. As a small independent publisher ourselves we know how hard it can be to generate those figures. But production routes aside – I guess we both agree that the answer to the age-old question “How do I get a book published (and sold)?” remains “Write a really good book…” And that holds true whatever the production model.

Comment on e-book-in-a-bath by David

David — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:58:05 +0000

Hi Mike – thanks for that information on Atlantis and SIGIL. A lot of people will find that useful. Currently we use Adobe CS4 InDesign for our in-house conversions and then edit/teak the resulting ePUB file with Dreamweaver. And that’s kind of the point – even with powerful software like that it takes a lot of fiddling with the detail to get the glyphs, indents, spacing etc just right – and all that jazz. Some of the writers I deal with are typesetters themselves but probably the majority have pretty basic IT skills – to say the least for some! These writers would still have to get somebody to do their conversion if the book wasn’t going to look like a dog’s dinner – and that would cost them.
Maybe I should give up many of my typesetter’s scruples when applied to e-books – I know a lot of the stuff I build in will not be displayed on SOME readers. But the craft of the book remains important to me – and so I do think that conversion remains more complex, certainly more time-consuming, than some of the software providers seem to imply.

Comment on e-book-in-a-bath by Randolph Lalonde

Randolph Lalonde — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:22:37 +0000

I’m a full time writer and an Indie. I never pay for publishing services, and my ebooks are in fine shape. Typesetting? Every reader I have sees the book differently using software that changes the look of the work depending on their preferences.

I don’t pay for print services either. My readers know where they can order nice library quality copies of my book; Amazon. I don’t pay a dime, services host my books because they know they’ll make something, I’ll make a living and everyone walks out happy.

Great article, by the way. Getting tired of reading about everyone trying to determine where this “eBook revolution” will lead. They should stop navel gazing and get back to work. Speaking of which…

Comment on e-book-in-a-bath by mikecane

mikecane — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:08:55 +0000

>>>But incidentally, even after you’ve typeset it, you’ll find it will currently cost you more to convert your MS to an e-book than it would to print about 200 copies with a reputable printer.

What? There’s Atlantis and SIGIL. Atlantis turns any Word file into compliant ePub. Costs about US$35.00. SIGIL will fine tune ePub. It’s FREE.

Comment on AL Kennedy on the future of writing by Sharon

Sharon — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:48:14 +0000

Trouble with reading stuff on the internet, Sally, is that whole problem of there being no quality filter. Which means harder work for readers to find what they want. I wonder how many will bother? I’d lose the will to live, for sure! – and so that traditional publishing model, troublesome as it is, is still where it’s at for me!

Comment on AL Kennedy on the future of writing by Sally Evans

Sally Evans — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:16:44 +0000

well said Sharon. We can read it on the internet! which may well be where innovative writing is heading.

Comment on Guest blog from John McGill: Oh the responsibility… by vanessa

vanessa — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 16:55:08 +0000

Hi John/Morag
so you did get back to Orkney and to write those books you always talked of. I know the Lincolnshire bit is true anyway