It's the end of the world as we know it

[ad...@tmotco.co.uk]

Fellow D.A. fans,
A friend recommended a book to me last week, knowing of my love for the hitchhiker's series, and I felt the need to pass it on having now read it. I was worried it would just be another rip-off of Mr Adams, but it in fact was really enjoyable, and a great continuation of the spirit and humour that made the Hitchhiker's series so special.
Give it a read! The Mayan on the Clapham Omnibus by Andrew Tyler.

Here's a link to the author's site:
www.tmotco.co.uk

enjoy! x

[John Coxon]

Why did your friend have to recommend it to you when you are the
administrator of the author's website? Are you just a terrible admin who
never pays attention, or is Eddie in the space-time continuum again?

--
John Coxon
http://www.chickensinenvelopes.net/

[Raymond Daley]

"John Coxon" <john....@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:jtp4ii$ncr$1...@dont-email.me...

He's probably the writer. If that was the case he should have just said so.
Instead of beating around the bush like a complete twat.
I read the free bit. Apart from the annoying single line spacing (author,
lose that shit now lest you piss off potential buyers!) it's actually not
half bad. Slightly Adamsian, kinda more like reading Pratchet & Gaiman's
"Good Omens" though.
I'm not sure I'd spend actual money on it.

[Kåre Fiedler Christiansen]

I wish him best of luck in his writing career. I too had a look on the
free bit. I'll give this advice, dear author, if you really want this to
work, if you really want to make a living of writing:

* You've got a good grasp of throwing puns around and bringing out a
smile in one liners. That's good! Focus on that. But try to weed out the
poorer puns to make the great ones shine better. Douglas Adams spent
hours on a single piece of manuscript, then tore it up and started over
to make it perfect (I sometimes weep for the lost great bits that must
have died a horrible death in these instances). I'm not suggesting you do
that, but I think spending a little time grooming the best puns and jokes
would help you.
* Hire yourself someone to typeset your book. It really matters to how
it feels to read the book, it's not just an extra. Having a footnote at
the top of the page and double line spacing makes me feel like I'm
reading a sixth graders homework. As an alternative, take a course in
typesetting yourself, if you feel like spending the time on it.
* Also, hire yourself an editor. Yes, it's expensive, but it will
immensely increase the books readworthiness. In this case, no you can't
learn to edit your own book. You're too close to the material. If you
REALLY want to go low cost, at least get some honest friends with a
talent for literature to read it, and listen closely to their input.
* If the big publishers are not for you, that's fine. By all means, self
publish. Be aware that you still need to market your book. But you can't
fake popularity. This posting is obviously planted, so are the four
Amazon 5-star reviews by people with no other reviews at all. This hurts
your trustworthiness, and may hurt your success rather than help it.
Instead, try to get some influential people genuinely interested, and let
them post the honest reviews. Give free copies to bloggers and sell them
the idea of reading it. Get it out to a book club that does reviews. Get
in a network with other self publishing authors, exchange ideas with
them. Consider spending money on actual advertising.
* Remember, being a self publishing author is a business, and the
competition is tough. You probably need some seed money to get started,
and those money will probably be lost if your business case doesn't hold.
If you really want to be a writer, you need to sell enough books to pay
for the time you spend writing, and for the extra cost of getting the
book out there. That's a lot of books. You need to be serious about how
you get to sell them. Don't be sloppy on the details, like typesetting,
editing and marketing.

Good luck.

Best,
Kåre

[ad...@tmotco.co.uk]

Dear all (particularly you, Mr Daley),

Just to clear up a few uncertainties, because apparently I'm the first person to not be entirely forthcoming about my identity over the internet. No, a friend did not recommend the book to me, and yes, I am doing some help in publicising the website and therefore the book. Perhaps I did beat around the bush, but do forgive me, I'm new to this. I am in fact the teenage daughter of the author, not (as you so helpfully put it) "a complete twat".
But thank you for your comments, they were most constructive.

Thank you Kare, that was genuinely helpful, I'll be sure to pass it on.

P.S. I do enjoy the chicken website.

[John Coxon]

Thanks! :)

[Nemo Maelstrom Thorx]

On 17 Jul (a Tuesday in 2012) around 0406 hours, ad...@tmotco.co.uk did utter:

> Just to clear up a few uncertainties, because apparently I'm the first
> person to not be entirely forthcoming about my identity over the
> internet.

Wait, what? You can do that?

Oh wow, that changes everything. Ok, so from now on, everyone should
call me by my alias of... uh... Nemo, I guess. That will do till I come
up with something better.

> No, a friend did not recommend the book to me, and yes, I am
> doing some help in publicising the website and therefore the book.
> Perhaps I did beat around the bush, but do forgive me, I'm new to
> this.

The best thing to remember about the internet is that a lot more
information is probably discoverable than you likely realise. Best
defence against that generally is honesty.


As for the story... the free read seems enjoyable so far. I agree that
the line spacing is the most offputting part! Beyond that, it feels like
a worthy start that would benefit by some professional editing.

Also, welcome fellow Hiker fan :)

.../Nemo

--
----------------------------------------- -----------------------------
earth native

[Professor Urban Chronotis]

ad...@tmotco.co.uk writes:

> Dear all (particularly you, Mr Daley),
>
> Just to clear up a few uncertainties, because apparently I'm the
> first person to not be entirely forthcoming about my identity over
> the internet. No, a friend did not recommend the book to me, and
> yes, I am doing some help in publicising the website and therefore
> the book. Perhaps I did beat around the bush, but do forgive me, I'm
> new to this. I am in fact the teenage daughter of the author, not
> (as you so helpfully put it) "a complete twat". But thank you for
> your comments, they were most constructive.

Oh, snap. BTW, I don't think she was sincere with that last sentence.

>
> Thank you Kare, that was genuinely helpful, I'll be sure to pass it on.
>

Yes, indeed, well done Kare (insert golf-clap).

> P.S. I do enjoy the chicken website.

And really, who wouldn't? Even just the domain name-- priceless.

[Raymond Daley]

"Professor Urban Chronotis" <m...@here.now.com> wrote in message
news:m2r4qwl...@here.now.com...

> ad...@tmotco.co.uk writes:
>
>> Dear all (particularly you, Mr Daley),
>>
>> Just to clear up a few uncertainties, because apparently I'm the
>> first person to not be entirely forthcoming about my identity over
>> the internet. No, a friend did not recommend the book to me, and
>> yes, I am doing some help in publicising the website and therefore
>> the book. Perhaps I did beat around the bush, but do forgive me, I'm
>> new to this. I am in fact the teenage daughter of the author, not
>> (as you so helpfully put it) "a complete twat". But thank you for
>> your comments, they were most constructive.
>
> Oh, snap. BTW, I don't think she was sincere with that last sentence.

Having gone back and actually read my reply to the original email I stand by
what I said, if you'd been honest and just come right out and said "I am the
daughter of this writer, I am trying to plug his book - maybe give it a
read?" I would have appreciated your honesty. I wasn't the one who called
you out for being misleading and hiding who you were about the web site,
blame John Coxon there.

And it's not nice to quote someone out of context. You said who you claimed
to be.
Here's my exact response to your claim.

"He's probably the writer. If that was the case he should have just said so.
Instead of beating around the bush like a complete twat."

You were beating around the bush. Admittedly you weren't the writer. I
know it's common to lie in the advertising business but you'd already been
caught out before I even said anything.

[Professor Urban Chronotis]

"Raymond Daley" <raymon...@ntlworld.com> writes:

> "Professor Urban Chronotis" <m...@here.now.com> wrote in message
> news:m2r4qwl...@here.now.com...
>> ad...@tmotco.co.uk writes:
>>
>>> Dear all (particularly you, Mr Daley),
>>>
>>> Just to clear up a few uncertainties, because apparently I'm the
>>> first person to not be entirely forthcoming about my identity over
>>> the internet. No, a friend did not recommend the book to me, and
>>> yes, I am doing some help in publicising the website and therefore
>>> the book. Perhaps I did beat around the bush, but do forgive me, I'm
>>> new to this. I am in fact the teenage daughter of the author, not
>>> (as you so helpfully put it) "a complete twat". But thank you for
>>> your comments, they were most constructive.
>>
>> Oh, snap. BTW, I don't think she was sincere with that last sentence.
>
> Having gone back and actually read my reply to the original email I stand by
> what I said, if you'd been honest and just come right out and said "I am the
> daughter of this writer, I am trying to plug his book - maybe give it a
> read?" I would have appreciated your honesty. I wasn't the one who called
> you out for being misleading and hiding who you were about the web site,
> blame John Coxon there.
>

I think it is fair to say you are correct. John did "out" the book
promoter, and Mr Daley did add a little passion to the context. No
harm in that; there was an attempt to get people to read the book by
avoiding the stigma of self-promotion, and the promoter got caught.
Once caught, she fessed up- an action I found refreshing.

> And it's not nice to quote someone out of context. You said who you claimed
> to be.
> Here's my exact response to your claim.
>
> "He's probably the writer. If that was the case he should have just said so.
> Instead of beating around the bush like a complete twat."

Point = Daley. Quoting out of context (and worse, quoting out of
context and blaming it on emacs) is not nice. Although there is that
whole "like a" phrase in there. Depending on your opinion of
universal transference, holism and the interconnectedness of all
things, "like a" could trigger an "is a" interpretation. In short, a
reasonable mistake.

>
> You were beating around the bush. Admittedly you weren't the writer. I
> know it's common to lie in the advertising business but you'd already been
> caught out before I even said anything.

Beating around the bush confirmed. Hmm, why do I feel sad for the
bush? Like a bowl of petunias plummeting towards a planet, seems like
the bush is the true victim in all of this. And if we really truely
deeply study this (and I'm hoping we don't) we may find the bush is
actually the book.

This is all getting a bit complicated, and not just because I am
actually writing this post using emacs. I just wanted to be the first
person to us the phrase "Oh, snap" in a AFDNA post, mission
accomplished here. I'm guessing someone out there is culling the
archives to confirm my claim.

Can't we all just have some tea?

[tian]

On 08/25/2012 09:34 AM, Professor Urban Chronotis wrote:

>
> Can't we all just have some tea?
>
>

An excellent idea!
--
Tian
http://tian.greens.org
Latest change: Added writeup on the Green Party Convention in Baltimore.
The Green pin I got from a Kiwi there is on a Vermont quarter.

[Sid]

* ad...@tmotco.co.uk [2012-07-17 06:06] [alt.fan.douglas-adams]:

Just read the book. The ending was a bit abrupt, but it was a fun,
light read. I'd echo most of what Kaare said.

Sid
--
1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890
remove the espam bits to mail

[Charles Bishop]

In article <m2txvrv...@here.now.com>, Professor Urban Chronotis
<m...@here.now.com> wrote:

[snip]

>
>Can't we all just have some tea?

Milk or lemon?

Biscuit or toast?

--
charles

[Kåre Fiedler Christiansen]

On Sun, 26 Aug 2012 12:06:34 +0000, Sid wrote:

> * ad...@tmotco.co.uk [2012-07-17 06:06] [alt.fan.douglas-adams]:
>> Dear all (particularly you, Mr Daley),
>>
>> Just to clear up a few uncertainties, because apparently I'm the first
>> person to not be entirely forthcoming about my identity over the
>> internet. No, a friend did not recommend the book to me, and yes, I am
>> doing some help in publicising the website and therefore the book.
>> Perhaps I did beat around the bush, but do forgive me, I'm new to this.
>> I am in fact the teenage daughter of the author, not (as you so
>> helpfully put it) "a complete twat".
>> But thank you for your comments, they were most constructive.
>>
>> Thank you Kare, that was genuinely helpful, I'll be sure to pass it on.
>>
>> P.S. I do enjoy the chicken website.
>
> Just read the book. The ending was a bit abrupt, but it was a fun,
> light read. I'd echo most of what Kaare said.

Please don't echo most of what I say. It turns out to be quite
distracting being followed by a constant but not completely predictable
echo.

So could you please stick to just echoing a few things I say? That seems
to be normal socially accepted behavior. If you must echo more, please
echo everything, then I may be able to rig up some noise canceling
device, at least.

Also, if you must follow me around and echo most of what I say, could you
please point out to me when I take things a bit too literally? I'm told I
sometimes do that.

Best,
Kåre

[Sid]

* Kåre Fiedler Christiansen [2012-08-28 15:16] [alt.fan.douglas-adams]:

<mode=echo Kaare>
Get bus #4
Must buy milk on way home
Wonder if the Stevens file is done?
Is it okay to dunk biscuits into black tea?
Why is a squirrel sitting on my desk
Hmm, it is /not/ okay to dunk biscuits into black tea
Kill all pigeons
LUNCH!
.
.
.
</>

I am tired.