Hi. I’m Paul Mason. I am studying a masters in creative writing.

On one module I listened to a series of talks form high level editors, publishers, agents and others involved in the publishing industry and realised that it was going to be very difficult for the budding creative writer, such as myself, to make much of an impact in the business.

I am fairly ancient. I’ve got an over sixities, free bus pass, which as I live near London is fantastic benefit as I can use the trains and the underground. I am male and so do not have an interesting cleavage, which makes me of no interest to tabloid photographers. My only contact with celibrities is to be told by John Lennon to ‘Get out of the f***ing way’, in that amusing Liverpudlian way of his, as I helped a support group move a set of drums. My most interesting involvement with the police, well recently, concerned a faulty back light on my car, which was resolved by a quick thump, not to myself, but to the back of the car, and so no ticket to the disappoinment of the traffic cop.

I quickly realised that I was not in the terms of the publishing business: ‘promotable’. The odds were that my novels would not get beyond on the publishing reader’s slush pile and agents would send me their polite, standardised letters of regret.

Therefore there was very little chance of the big, well publicised book advance; the Jessica Fletcher style of book tour, though I could do without the obligatory murders; and no ‘three for the price of two’ deals for my books in the major book shops.

Changing World

I became more aware of the book world I realised that the next few years are going to be extremely exciting. It is quite obvious that the traditional techniques of throwing massive chunks of cash on a shrinking number of bestselling, (that is best marketed), authors, and offering increasingly larger discounts to the big bookshop chains and supermarkets, cannot work, without some of the big publishers going bust.

This situation has forced many individual authors and many small publishers to start promoting themselve through local initatives, such as book readings in libraries and local bookshops; appearing in local literary festivals; running their own public relations; and significantly using the internet.

Technology is also changing the publishing world. Print on demand is allowing entrepeneurs and individuals to set up as low cost publishers, with small print runs and the ability to keep a title continually in print. E-readers are offering a new way of reading books, as well of course, as laptops and mobile phones. It is also clear that the present credit crunch will mean more readers to buy their books through the internet.

Which is how Let’s Talk About Books was born

So thinking it through I decided to build on my skills, I am a bit of a geek, and start a website to do the following:

• Write articles on the trends in writing
• Review books
• Work with authors and small press to promote their books
• Promote reading and writing initiatives, such as libraries and book clubs
• Start a readers and writers forum
• Support creative writing
• Encourage non-fiction writers, article and content writing
• Provide an online book shop

The project is still in the development stage and I am now in the process of turning this idea into a business. This has been helped by the fact that I won a small bursary from the university to support this startup and I’m building a network of support.

Development

The site will cover the entire range of books from classics to best sellers, from romance to crime, from fantasy to self development, from biography to science, from academic books to trashy comedy boks. In addition we will be looking at the emerging technologies e-readers, print on demand, ebooks and books that have been published online.

In the near future we will be launching The Let’s Talk About Books Forum.

Later in the year we will start issuing our newsletters.

Paul Mason

More About Me
My Blog:  The Odtaafiles