Year Two Week Thirty-Nine

A quiet week, with a slightly better picture where sales are concerned - albeit there was no overall top seller. Average response time was four hours and 46 minutes.

Otherwise, it's been all admin this week, bringing the accounts up to date and issuing a contract for a new book. We are also actively reading a new submission and hope to reach a decision about it fairly shortly.

There are at least ten books currently in development that are headed in our direction eventually - that we know of, anyway! - but unusually we are not at all sure in which order we're likely to receive them, so the next few months could be a fascinating period while we juggle authors and deadlines.

We have to keep reminding ourselves that if this was easy, everybody would be doing it! However we love a challenge, and sometimes we think that's probably just as well!!!

Year Two Week Thirty-Eight

No sales to report on the website this week, although we're still ticking over nicely as far as our two distribution partners are concerned. This isn't at all surprising; the pattern last year was very similar and there is usually a distinct dropping-off in sales immediately before new books are due to be published.

There has been some progress made on editing one of the 1 May books this week, and there should be more in the next day or two, but for long and complicated reasons we are not yet back at Galactic Megapublishing HQ and working instead from a rebel base on a frozen planet. Unfortunately that means we don't have access to all our files and software, so the fact that a last-minute typo has turned up in 'Fox Hunt' has had to be ignored for the time being; we'll have it sorted out before publication day, however ... mutter mutter three proof-readers, mutter mutter...

Absence from HQ is also the reason we haven't yet been able to pursue any of the multiple illegal downloads we discovered recently; it's right at the top of our to-do list when we're safely back at home, which will be Wednesday 25th.

If anyone's interested in last week's Great Orme expedition, it was a huge success - despite the extreme cold - and we should be able to post a picture at some stage. It was one of the brighter parts of a difficult week, and served to refresh three MP stalwarts who otherwise feel as if they very rarely get a day off! (We love our Press and our readers dearly, but we also know the value of the occasional rest.)

Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible!

Nobody tells me anything

In doing a Google search round-up today (essential to catch up with any stray reviews or unauthorised download sites), we found an article on the Advocate website which name-checks some of the authors honoured in the Rainbow Awards, including our very own Julie Bozza and Morgan Cheshire.

And yes, we found more unauthorised download sites ...

Year Two Week Thirty-Seven

Posting our weekly summary a day early this time, because tomorrow three of the stalwarts of Manifold Press - Fiona, Wolfbane and Morgan Cheshire - will be dashing off on a huge adventure, up the Great Orme in a Mini). This is our annual treat, but did not take place last year for family reasons; just as well, too, because as it turned out the weather was extremely unpleasant that weekend.

The statistics of Week 37 are quickly told; there was no overall top seller, and average response time was four hours and 37 minutes. Other than that, we can report only that we have taken several steps forward on future projects - one of the May titles, for example - and have come to some long-term strategic decisions which are much too boring to relate here. We'll all be back in our regular places by this time next week, and normal service will be resumed in plenty of time for the countdown to publication of our two 1 February titles.

Year Two Week Thirty-Six

Well, our Christmas Sale is now officially over and to be perfectly honest it was a bit of a damp squib from our point of view; we probably didn't sell any more books than we would have sold anyway, and given the limitations of our online shop software - you can't input an across-the-board price reduction but have to change each item separately - the amount of work involved in setting it up (and then in changing everything back again afterwards) was unfortunately not reflected in the results. In future, therefore, any price reductions we make will be permanent ones - although we're not planning any at the moment.

There was no overall leading title this week; we sold a wonderfully diverse range of books instead. The average response time was seven hours 42 minutes, once again because the majority of orders came in from the USA at a time when we were not awake.

The two books for 1 February publication are all wrapped up and ready to go, and we've been spending time working on one of the books for 1 May. Looking further ahead, we haven't made any definite decisions yet about 1 August, but there are several fascinating projects in contention; it all depends on how much progress the various authors are able to make over the next few months - watch this space for further details as we get them!

New review of 'The Valley of the Shadow of Death'

In a wonderful example of 'swings and roundabouts', a review of Julie's THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH has just appeared at Top2Bottom Reviews which expresses a point of view very different from the previous one!

I really liked the premise for The Valley of the Shadow of Death. I love a good redemption story, as well as the gay-for-you storyline; that there is someone out there in the world who can redefine and alter the labels one places upon oneself, for the sake of love.

It's always satisfying to know that a book has made contact with a reader who really 'gets it', and reviewer Lisa is obviously one of those who do!

Year Two Week Thirty-Five

Not perhaps the most successful Christmas Sale in the illustrious history of Christmas Sales, but then we suspect people have been rather preoccupied this week! However we've done quite reasonably, all things considered, with RAVAGES again our highest seller and the average response time being three hours and 17 minutes.

We were also delighted to receive a submission from another new author, which is with our in-house reader at the moment, so we think it's fair to say that this year is already off to a very promising start for us - and we hope you'll all be staying around to find out how the next 'chapter' in our everyday story of ebook-publishing folks will develop!

A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR READERS

We're delighted to announce our first two titles for 2012!

ALBERT J. STERNE: FUTURE BRIGHT, PAST IMPERFECT by Julie Bozza

Three young boys on a collision course: Albert Sterne – isolated, driven and fiercely intellectual; Fletcher Ash – bright, dedicated and with a strong sense of justice; John Garrett – hurt, marginalised and determined to do to the world exactly what the world has done to him. The eleven short stories in this companion volume continue and expand on the lives of the characters from the same author’s outstandingly popular THE DEFINITIVE ALBERT J. STERNE, which should preferably be read first.

FOX HUNT by Chris Quinton

Robert Rees, full-time librarian, part-time art restorer, is called in to finish a commission when his father goes into hospital – a pair of Elizabethan portraits on oak panelling, Adam Courtney and Ann Darcy. Trouble is, there’s more interest in the paintings than Rob ever bargained for; a lot of people want to get their hands on such priceless treasures, and they’re not always particular about their methods. Just as well he’s got his brother’s mysterious friend Fox on hand to look out for him, then, isn’t it? Or, for that matter … is it?