David Graham's Blog
December 4, 2014
The (launch) party is over...
It was a Facebook event. Five people came – virtually speaking, of course. The function room in the 3 star hotel seemed very empty. We quickly demolished the two bottles of lukewarm sparkling wine. There were no nibbles. The pages of the freebie copies of ‘The Screaming’ looked oh so tempting.
That’s the problem with book launches these days. Austerity has hit. Publishing in 2014 is all about getting books out with the minimum of overheads. Virtual launch parties are just so convenient.
Having a book published might seem like the Holy Grail for the aspiring writer, but the reality is hardly rosy. The median income for writers was just £4,000 in 2013. But there’s always the kudos and glowing reviews to look forward to – or not. It’s all become very subjective. Amazon and Goodreads make it too easy for the armchair critic. Even JK Rowling suffers. Her adult book ‘The Casual Vacancy’ has over three thousand reviews on Amazon UK, but 50% are far from glowing. I bet her PA didn’t let her read them.
The rest of the creative arts isn’t much better. When I was an aspiring composer in my 20s, I might get a thousand pounds to write an orchestral piece that would take the best part of a year to write. If I was really lucky, there’d be a follow-up performance somewhere and it’d be broadcast late on a Saturday evening when no one would be listening. Medicine seemed a safer option.
The visual arts are interesting. I like painting on large canvases and I’m getting better at figurative stuff. People say they like it and say I should have an exhibition and sell it. Trouble is, it’s on the walls in my carbon zero house in Kent and I don’t really want to part with it. Painting seems part of me in a way that’s very different to writing. In music and painting, I can get away with a dubious note here or a smudge of acrylic there. In writing, it’s laid bare in black and white. There’s no space for bullshit. It’s a dog eat dog world in publishing.
That’s the problem with book launches these days. Austerity has hit. Publishing in 2014 is all about getting books out with the minimum of overheads. Virtual launch parties are just so convenient.
Having a book published might seem like the Holy Grail for the aspiring writer, but the reality is hardly rosy. The median income for writers was just £4,000 in 2013. But there’s always the kudos and glowing reviews to look forward to – or not. It’s all become very subjective. Amazon and Goodreads make it too easy for the armchair critic. Even JK Rowling suffers. Her adult book ‘The Casual Vacancy’ has over three thousand reviews on Amazon UK, but 50% are far from glowing. I bet her PA didn’t let her read them.
The rest of the creative arts isn’t much better. When I was an aspiring composer in my 20s, I might get a thousand pounds to write an orchestral piece that would take the best part of a year to write. If I was really lucky, there’d be a follow-up performance somewhere and it’d be broadcast late on a Saturday evening when no one would be listening. Medicine seemed a safer option.
The visual arts are interesting. I like painting on large canvases and I’m getting better at figurative stuff. People say they like it and say I should have an exhibition and sell it. Trouble is, it’s on the walls in my carbon zero house in Kent and I don’t really want to part with it. Painting seems part of me in a way that’s very different to writing. In music and painting, I can get away with a dubious note here or a smudge of acrylic there. In writing, it’s laid bare in black and white. There’s no space for bullshit. It’s a dog eat dog world in publishing.
