Rebirth of the Short Story

Once the short story was all but dead; mainstream publishers were reluctant to publish them with the excuse that they did not sell.  However, the arrival of the ebook has changed all that.  Authors may now self publish in a variety of digital formats which can be made readily available through online stores or the writers’ own websites.

A number of portable electronic platforms such as the laptop, notebook, tablet, smart phone and kindle are now available so readers can download text while on the move.  Short stories are ideal for this purpose as they can be dipped into while on a train, at a station, airport or during breaks in the working day.  Text to sound features make it possible to become engaged behind the wheel of a car and also enable written stories to be more accessible to the visually impaired.

The short story allows the reader and writer to explore single themes in a condensed style which can focus the interest of the busy traveller in a way that novels with their intertwining plots and subplots can not do.  In this way the reader and writer are able to enjoy the craft of story telling in much the same way as it was when first formed in the oral tradition when tales were passed from parent to child or to one and other by the evening firelight.

Peatmore Press has published its first anthology of short stories.  It is available on the Amazon Kindle Store or at http://peatmore.com/crimeandpassion.htm.  The short story has returned and is back in a big way.

Book Promotion Campaign — Part One

Marketing and promotion is not easy for writers who are use to working alone and are self conscious about their work.  Christmas is approaching and is an ideal time to beginning selling.  Books are relatively cheap compared to other small gifts and make ideal presents.  With this in mind, Peatmore Press intends to enter the marketing arena to actively promote Jack Lindsey’s novel, “Cogrill’s Mill”, and the outcome as to whether the campaign will be successful or not will be reported here.

It takes a great deal of courage for people who are shy about their work to actively shout out how wonderful it is but if their books are to be successful this is what they have to do.  Fear of ridicule and being embarrassed about setting one’s self up for public display is a powerful deterrent.  However, inspiration has been provided by Jane Wenham-Jones’s excellent manual, “Wannabe a Writer We’ve Heard Of”, which graphically shows the fears and lengths the successful writers must overcome so that their work can reach the public.

With this in mind, promotional badges and postcards have been prepared and armed with these Peatmore representatives have set out to woo prospective readers.  The first foray in this arena took place on Friday 21^st November with a stall at the local leisure centre with Woking’s One World Party.  Not many books were sold but useful contacts were made.  It now remains to be seen where the promotional trail will lead.

Promotion material

Postcard

Badge

Privacy Perspectives

Consult Hyperion and The Woking Writers Circle have put together a range of remarkable short stories and poems as part of the VOME project (Visualisation and Other Methods of expression) to illustrate ways privacy is treated in modern life.

The project shows how creative writing can be used to describe the fears that surround the way we use today’s technology to communicate.  It is funded by the Technology Strategy board with the aim of encouraging individuals to express their own expectations, experiences and concerns.

The poems and stories are edited by Margret Ford and published by Mastodon Press (http://mastodonpress.com) ISBN 9780955739064.  Copies can be obtained from the publisher or via The Woking Writers Circle (http://www.wokingwriterscircle.org.uk)

Character Names

Choosing names for characters can be a chore for any fiction writer.  There are many limitations which come into play.  They must not be relatives or close friends in case any of these feel you are writing about them.  Even remote acquaintances might take offence.

A good novelist will take traits observed from people encountered in all walks of life.  If successful the reader will know or have met someone just like them but they must never think that that character is them.  A good trick to use when stuck for a name is to watch film or TV credits then take a first name that might fit and mix them with a different surname

The protagonist is the most difficult of all to conjure up.  He or she should be easily identifiable to reader and author so that they should care what happens to them.  It is no wonder that the writer puts so much of himself in his central character even when that character is the villain.