D. J. Kirkby’s Without Alice is a hit on the Kindle!
16 months after publication, D. J. Kirkby’s debut novel Without Alice got its highest Amazon.co.uk rating yet in February 2012, and 600 copies were sold in January 2012!
Rebecca Emin’s New Beginnings published today!
We’re publishing Rebecca Emin’s debut children’s book New Beginnings today. Visit Rebecca’s web splash http://goo.gl/TOZ32 #NewBeginnings
Chick-lit isn’t as dead as a dodo – it’s just flown off to a new platform
I’ve been reading a great deal recently about how chick-lit has gone into decline. Firstly, The Bookseller reported that there’d been a 10% fall in sales of chick-lit, and secondly, there have recently been quite a few prominent critiques of chick-lit as a genre (such as Polly Courtney’s decision to leave HarperCollins after they kept branding her books as chick-lit). Yet I’m not too sure that we’re actually witnessing a mass extinction here.
I recently discussed this issue with romantic fiction author Talli Roland at the launch of 21st Century Dodos (a rather fitting occasion, as Steve Stack’s book is all about cultural items which, like chick-lit, are supposedly under the threat of extinction). However, both of us were rather puzzled by the reports of chick-lit being in decline, as we have first hand evidence that it’s positively thriving on the Kindle. Admittedly, The Bookseller‘s report was no doubt hampered by Amazon’s legendary reluctance to discuss sales figures, yet it seemed quite clear to both Talli and I that chick-lit wasn’t declining, but thriving via the Kindle. So, we came to the conclusion that the drop in sales of women’s commercial fiction that The Bookseller reported on in September was most likely due to women readers switching from paper books to the Kindle in large numbers.
My evidence comes from Punked Books’ only commercial women’s title, Without Alice by D. J. Kirkby, sales of which have been considerably higher ever since Amazon.co.uk introduced the new £89 Kindle. Having written that, Without Alice‘s author, Denyse, ascribes the sudden rise of e-book sales to her giving away a free Kindle on her website.
You may have noticed that I restrained myself from calling Without Alice “chick-lit”, because it’s not the kind of book that I usually ascribe to this label. “Chick-lit” makes me think of light frothy books with luminous pink covers about young women in the media industry who have somewhat troubled relationships with bastard boyfriends (who are typically Hollywood producers). True enough, Stephen, the anti-hero of Without Alice, is a bit of a bastard also (and so D. J. Kirkby’s novel does follow a fairly well-established route in women’s fiction in which the reader discovers the reasons for his unsavoury nature). However, the novel is related in a highly realistic manner throughout, to the point where one blogger felt that she could not continue reading Without Alice due to some early scenes that featured complications in childbirth. (Most other reviewers have raved about the novel, as you can see via Without Alice‘s Amazon.co.uk reviews). However, Without Alice‘s cover (which features a handsome blonde man being embraced by a woman) probably does appeal to chick-lit readers, especially with regards to the cover’s pink background (this was a last minute addition, as the original cover, which featured the photo alone, just didn’t work, and so I had to frame the photo, utilising the model’s skin tone as the inspiration for the pink background).
So, I’m in agreement with Elizabeth Day and Tasmina Perry that “chick-lit” isn’t a very satisfactory term, and that it can be quite derogatory. I can also well understand authors such as Polly Courtney getting upset when their books are inappropriately branded as chick-lit due to their publishers’ blindly following publishing trends. However, I do think that there is still a huge market out there for escapist, frothy romantic fiction, and that this market is currently booming on the Kindle, as women can now far more happily lose themselves in these stories since they’re no longer being made uncomfortable in public by having to read paper books with the luminous pink covers beloved of chick-lit publishers.
Kevin Mahoney
Punked Books Publisher and Founder
- p.s. I’m going to be attending Melville House’s celebration of the Not the Booker Prize on Thursday November 10th, since Punked Books’ English Slacker was shortlisted for this prize.
How to vote for English Slacker by Chris Morton in the Not the Booker Prize
The final round of voting is now open in the Not the Booker Prize. If you want to vote for our shortlisted title, English Slacker by Chris Morton then you can do so by writing a review of approx. 150 words on the following webpage:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/data/book/literary-fiction/9780953317288/english-slacker
Then visit the voting page -
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/oct/07/fiction
- and post a comment saying:
“I vote for English Slacker, and you can find my review on the English Slacker review page: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/data/book/literary-fiction/9780953317288/english-slacker”
(Although the voting guidelines state that each voter has to link to their own reviews, there’s a glitch on the Guardian website that means the URLs generated for English Slacker reviews don’t work, and so I have arranged the above workaround with the person who runs the competition).
The deadline for voting is midnight on October 17th.
Thank you,
Kevin Mahoney
Publisher and Founder of Punked Books
Can a publisher ever be justified in responding to a negative review?
When one of our novels, English Slacker (by debut novelist Chris Morton), was shortlisted for the Not the Booker Prize recently, I was ecstatic, especially as this literary award is voted for by the public. Admittedly, it had only taken 17 votes to get on to the shortlist, but we tallied more votes than many well-established authors such as David Baddiel, Greg Egan, Anne Enright, Linda Grant, Philip Hensher, Richard Mason, China Mieville, Magnus Mills, Steve Mosby, and ooh err Jilly Cooper. The shortlisting was great also because the Not the Booker Prize is run by The Guardian, and as a small publisher, I’d previously experienced great difficulty getting any attention for my publications from the national media. In the light of this, it was splendid to see that all the other shortlisted novels came from small publishing houses like mine (although one independent, Eight Cuts Gallery Press later pulled their title, The Dead Beat, from the competition, to be replaced by Sherry Cracker Gets Normal by DJ Connell, which is published by Blue Door, a HarperCollins imprint).
However, I was still wary, as I knew that Sam Jordison (who runs the Not the Booker Prize for The Guardian) was going to review each novel, and having read his previous reviews, I had pretty quickly gathered that he takes no prisoners whatsoever, and I warned my author of this. Despite this, I was hoping that Sam would post a positive review of English Slacker. But alas! It was not to be. A couple of the commentators on Sam’s review exclaimed “Ouch!”, as they thought that Sam’s argument was pretty damning, and concluded that English Slacker wouldn’t be worth reading.
Yet I wasn’t really upset by Sam’s review, as, having read his comments on some of the other shortlisted books, I’d been expecting much worse. (Indeed, I thought that his review was quite a funny parody of the narrative style that Chris Morton had employed throughout English Slacker.) So, I regarded Sam’s main criticisms as being cheeky jabs, rather than the swift upper cuts that I’d been expecting. In my experience, criticism that is truthful hurts way more than that which is inaccurate. Sam certainly didn’t like the dialect that Chris used for his main character, Chambers, and the fact that he was a very unreliable narrator. A couple of other regular commentators on Guardian blog posts agreed with Sam. However, I was reassured by the fact that several other commentators came to Chris Morton’s defence, and argued that they did find Chambers’ voice to be quite authentic.
I held back from commentating myself, as I wanted to see what the general public had to say about English Slacker, and also because there had previously been a debate following the reviews of some of the other shortlisted titles as to whether the authors/publishers should respond, with the sentiment being that once a novel has been published, the authors and publishers should effectively let go of it, to allow the public to form their own opinion.
Despite the fact that one of the commentators believed that Sam’s review of English Slacker was “arguably mean-spirited”, I was also mindful of the recent furore that surrounded the British author Jacqueline Howlett when she responded very vigorously to a negative review of her ebook The Greek Seaman (Bullet Reviews have a splendid overview of this controversy on their website), and so I wanted to avoid making an angry, knee-jerk reaction (especially since I didn’t feel particularly angry). However, even a seasoned publisher such as Patrick Janson-Smith felt compelled to exclaim the following in reaction to Sam Jordison’s similarly negative review of Sherry Cracker Gets Normal: “This, from the co-author of CRAP TOWNS. Enough said“, along with, ”Let’s face it, Sam Jordison, yours is just a thoroughly unpleasant piece of work, with no thought given to an author’s feelings“.
Although I thought that Sam Jordison’s review of English Slacker was quite a funny parody of the narrative voice, I too was expecting a much deeper level of insight from him, as his review could have been written by a nonchalant GCSE English student (which in turn would not have been marked very highly by his examiners). To be fair to him, Sam is also employed to stir up debate, and this is something he does splendidly well. As I noted above, there are others readers who share Sam’s dislike of Chambers’ narrative voice, which is fair enough, as it’s not to everyone’s taste. Yet I think that literary criticism is as much an art form as literature itself, and so I had been expecting Sam to delve far deeper into the text than the casual reader. As it is, Sam Jordison’s claim that English Slacker is “boring and repetitive” leaps out at you from the review’s high ranking on Google, to such an extent that it appears that this label may well be indelibly attached to the novel.
A few days after Sam Jordison’s review had been published, I felt a clamour within myself to defend English Slacker, for if I wasn’t going to do it, then who else would? Debut novels like English Slacker have such a short shelf life as it is, and I didn’t want Chris Morton’s literary career to end abruptly due to Sam Jordison’s unjust condemnation. Besides, for every commentator such as John Self who wanted the authors and the publishers to let their books go, there were others on the Guardian site who very much wanted us to defend English Slacker, and my decision to nominate it for the Not the Booker Prize. And so I wrote, and wrote, and ended up with a 2,500 word essay entitled “In defence of English Slacker“, which you can access here:
http://authortrek.com/punked-books/2011/09/28/english-slacker-defence/
Although I was fairly critical of Sam Jordison’s review of English Slacker, Sam’s response was to write: “I’m sure most writers would kill to have a publisher write such an eloquent and passionate defence of their work… Kudos to Punked books on that score“. I don’t think I’ve changed his mind about English Slacker, but a fair few people have read the essay, so at least I’ve shown that there is a far more positive reading to be made of Chris Mortison’s subtle and intelligent debut.
In a way, Sam Jordison has done me favour by so unfairly reviewing English Slacker, as he forced me to defend it. Since I run Punked Books all by myself, I never had to get the agreement to publish English Slacker from say, the Sales or Marketing departments, as I would have done if I worked in a big conglomerate publishing company. I’d thought I’d published a great book, but now thanks to Sam Jordison’s bad review of English Slacker, I know for sure I have.
So, could other publishers defend their books in such a manner? The publishing conglomerates would probably be wary about doing so, for fear of offending their colleagues in the reviewing fraternity. However, if the book in question is one that the publisher feels passionately about (and one that isn’t scheduled to be rescued by a big marketing budget), then why not try? It would certainly make publishing company blogs a lot more interesting! I think that if you make your arguments in a logical, imaginative, and coherent way (rather than as an immediate angry response), then you may well win your literary debate (as hopefully I will do so with regards to English Slacker).
Kevin Mahoney
Publisher and Founder of Punked Books
In defence of Chris Morton’s English Slacker
Thank you for your review Sam, I thought that your parody of ‘English Slacker’ was quite amusing, although obviously I very much disagree with your conclusions. I will use this blog post to present my own very different reading of ‘English Slacker’, which will go some way to explain why I nominated it for the Not the Booker Prize. This will, of course, be my own personal view of the novel, which readers are welcome to either accept or dismiss if they so choose. So @JohnSelfsAsylum, you can relax, as I’ve no intention of forcing my interpretation upon you or anyone else who has disliked ‘English Slacker’.
The Dead Beat by Cody James – review
In the wake of Punked Books’ English Slacker making it onto the Not the Booker Prize shortlist, some of the other small independents involved have decided to get together to create more awareness of our publications, as they’re rarely (if ever) featured in the national press. As a result of this, I have decided to write a review of one of the other Not the Booker shortlisted titles, The Dead Beat by Cody James, which is published by Eight Cuts Gallery.
The Dead Beat is set in San Francisco in 1997, at a time when the comet Hale Bopp is very prominent in the night sky. Cody James reminds us of the hysteria that this celestial body caused in some quarters when she mentions the mass suicide undertaken by members of the Heaven’s Gate cult in nearby San Diego, as they thought that this would be their only means of transporting themselves to the alien space craft that they believed was travelling in the comet’s wake. The Dead Beat‘s Xavi (like many then and since) finds their sacrifice to be ridiculous, especially with regards to their pop cultural references to Star Trek, as they each wore “Away Team” armbands when they committed suicide. Suicide is rather a fundamental theme in the book, as several of the characters are afflicted with suicidal tendencies. For instance, we’re told that Adam’s mother tried to commit suicide before she was institutionalised, while Xavi takes an overdose of sedatives, and Sean has tried to kill himself on several occasions. Dan Holloway, the publisher of The Dead Beat, addresses this theme in his introduction to the book when he states that Cody James has attempted suicide four times. So, one can very much believe Cody James when she states in the interview that opens the book that “The truth is that three of the main characters are me”, as she is obviously following that authorial mantra of writing what she knows about from her own life. Most of The Dead Beat‘s characters are male, and for much of the novella, Cody James does a brilliant job at portraying the male psyche, although some readers may well flinch at the violent emotions that Ginny arouses in Adam. The only time when I thought that Cody’s depiction of Adam wasn’t convincing was when he inflicted cigarette burns on his body, as I thought that this kind of self-harm was mainly restricted to women (although I’ve just done a bit of research online, and found that this isn’t the case). Dan Holloway’s introduction states that Cody’s representation of women is sometimes regarded as being misogynistic; however, I think Adam’s violence towards Ginny and his self-harm are more likely to be examples of where Cody’s intermittent self-hatred has spilled over into the text.
Yet The Dead Beat is far from just being a manifestation of various parts of Cody James’ character, since I also regard it as being a portrait of the city in which it is set. The novella’s protagonists are the grandchildren of the Beat generation, who are still wasted from the excesses of the Summer of Love, and although they’re suicidal, they’re more into the Cure than the Grateful Dead. The house in which Adam and his friends live is very much an embodiment of this decay, especially since it provides a welcome home to a multitude of cockroaches (and thus is not an ideal environment for Xavi, who’s obsessed with cleanliness, especially when high). Obviously, this is just one aspect of San Francisco that we’re looking at, albeit rather decrepit (I have a couple of San Franciscan friends who are very house-proud, although they’ve admittedly got far better jobs than any of the characters in The Dead Beat). Readers wanting to check out more fictional portraits of San Francisco would do well to check out one of our titles: Abattoir Jack by Christopher Neilan, another author who’s been very much influenced by the Beat generation (although Christopher’s British, you wouldn’t be able to tell this from the text, as his voice is very authentic).
There are a few typos in the edition of The Dead Beat that I read, which were probably to due with its conversion to pdf, especially with regards to several instances where an em dash has turned into a square box (likewise there’s a minor error in the free pdf that I created to promote Chris Morton’s English Slacker during the Not the Booker Prize, in that I accidentally deleted the page numbers from the final chapter – however, since this error doesn’t occur in the print edition of the book, it doesn’t really matter). Also, I very much suspect that The Dead Beat doesn’t quite fit the Not the Booker Prize criteria of being a full-length novel written by a Commonwealth citizen. However, not allowing American authors to compete for the Man Booker prize has always been a moot point, and besides, it’s far too late for The Dead Beat to be withdrawn from the Not the Booker prize for these minor technicalities. Sam Jordison certainly doesn’t take any prisoners, and I thought his review of The Dead Beat, along with some of the other reader comments, to be quite harsh (especially from those who hadn’t bothered to read it!). I, for one, very much enjoyed Cody James’ voice in The Dead Beat, and very much welcome her participation in the prize for affording this opportunity for me to read her work.
Kevin Mahoney
Publisher and Founder of Punked Books
Chris Morton’s English Slacker shortlisted for the Not the Booker Prize!
I’m over the moon that Chris Morton’s debut novel, English Slacker, has been shortlisted for the Not the Booker Prize:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/18/not-the-booker-prize-2011-shortlist
Kevin Mahoney
Punked Books Publisher and Founder
Chambers is an eighteen-year-old student living in the small town of Bracksea, England. Fresh from his final college exams, he is now ready for what is to be his last summer of freedom, which involves going to parties, smoking dope and getting drunk with all his friends. However, what begins as a seemingly innocent and routine set of social events soon turns into a nightmare for Chambers as a suppressed memory – which may or may not be related to the recent disappearance of his best friend Colin – begins to surface. The more Chambers immerses himself in the distractions around him the more he begins to find that he is losing his whole sense of reality…
The paperback’s rrp is £7.99, but you can buy it for only £7.25 with free p&p via the shopping basket below. Orders for UK customers will usually arrive within a few working days, while orders for other countries will usually arrive in within a few weeks. Secure payment via your credit/debit card is provided by PayPal, and you don’t need to register to PayPal or log into PayPal to pay. If you have any problems with your order, please contact editor@authortrek.com.
English Slacker
English Slacker by Chris Morton (paperback)
More Details
A synopsis of this book can be found at:
http://authortrek.com/punked-books/2011/02/21/english-slacker
Free postage & packaging for all orders. Orders for UK customers will usually arrive within a few working days, while orders for other countries will usually arrive in within a few weeks.
Secure payment via your credit/debit card is provided by PayPal, and you don't need to register to PayPal or log into PayPal to pay. If you have any problems with your order, please contact editor@authortrek.com.
You can also buy the ebook edition for only £2.16 (i.e. VAT free) as Punked Books hasn’t yet reached the VAT threshold. You can either purchase the epub version, or the Kindle version.
‘Without Alice’ author D. J. Kirkby has been signed up by the Greene & Heaton literary agency
Congratulations to Without Alice author D. J. Kirkby who’s just been signed up by the literary agent Judith Murray (of Greene & Heaton). You can read Denyse’s account of this pivotal moment on her blog:
D. J. Kirkby interviewed by Portsmouth TV
D. J. Kirkby, author of Without Alice, was interviewed by Portsmouth TV on April 19th as part of their Live @ 5 book show. Click here to watch the interview online.
Denyse was also recently interviewed by the Daily Express – click here to read the interview.
