Newsy bits and pieces

Just a few bits of news to tell you this morning. so let’s get down to it:

First off, Paul Finch’s chapbook, King Death, is provisionally sold out – I will be writing to all those who have reserved subs and individual copies next week. All subs purchased from now on will start with Volume V, Simon Kurt Unsworth’s Rough Music. Should there be any spaces left a month before publication, they will be offered to those who bought subs from Volume V in the order they came in.

Secondly, I will be travelling north of the border to visit Melrose in Scotland tomorrow. I have been invited by the fantastic Ellen Simpson to give a Creative Writing/Publishing/Editing workshop to a group of enthusiastic schoolchildren who love both reading and writing. I am looking forward immensely to this because a) the children really DO want to learn about the process from manuscript to final product, b) I get to meet Ellen after a couple of years of online correspondence and c) it’s in Scotland, my ‘spiritual’ home. Singly those are all good reasons, but in combination they’re nigh-on irresistible.

This means that I won’t be very active online for the next few days, but I will be popping online occasionally. People are still greatly encouraged to take out subscriptions, as this is the surest way of obtaining every chapbook published. ‘Back issues’ are already being sought after and, like I wrote in yesterday’s blog, expansion of the imprint is becoming entirely feasible. This is due to the enthusiasm of the writers, reviewers, customers (both subscribers and individual purchasers), and readers who have taken a chance on Spectral. So, why not join those who have already jumped on-board and taken out a subscription – it’s still a great bargain at £13.50UK/£16EU/$30USA/$40 everywhere else. Paypal buttons have been provided for your convenience down the right-hand side of this website – if you want to pay any other way, please contact Spectral at spectralpress[AT]gmail[DOT]com!

EDIT 2100: due to unforeseen circumstances I am no longer off to Scotland tomorrow – but the good news is that I can resume annoying my wife for the next three days… =)

See you soon! =)

Musings on a Monday morning….

As you all know, the Spectral chapbooks are strictly limited to 100 signed and numbered copies. The reason for this was and still is simply financial, as the imprint was created from practically nothing and, in all honesty, I never imagined that things would take off for Spectral in the way they have. My initial ambition for my publishing venture was to build up a reputation, slowly and carefully, and to expand operations equally slowly. I offered subscriptions so that readers could be sure that they would get each and every chapbook that I published if they so wished, without having to pay every quarter. I also reckoned that sales would be something like 70 subscriptions/30 individual and that 100% subs would be unachievable. I envisaged keeping the edition number to 100 for the foreseeable future, because I KNEW I could sell close to 100 but was unsure as to whether I could sell more.

It’s now got to that point where I may have to rethink things. Subscriptions stand at close to 80, with a promise of a few more to come, leaving my stock of individual copies at, for the sake of argument, around fifteen or so. One hundred percent subscriptions doesn’t seem so fanciful any longer. Each of the authors I publish can definitely sell more than 15 copies over and above the subscription numbers, so my dilemma is: do I up the print run, or do I keep it as it is? Whilst having an extra 20 – 30 unsold copies hanging about isn’t going to be much of a problem, as I can always take them to somewhere like FantasyCon or similar (and I think that might have been a drawback for me at THIS year’s FCon, not having any copies to sell), I also have to judge just how many more copies I can print before it becomes unviable.

I am loath to over-stretch myself, certainly at this stage of the imprint’s career. It’s doing very well right now, has made a small impact on the ‘scene’ and continues to garner positive press. I have plans for the future, which include novellas and single-author story collections, which makes me want to tread very carefully in these initial stages. Neither, however, do I want to miss an opportunity of expanding and gaining a little more capital to invest in new publishing projects. The next few months are going to be taken up with a great deal of ruminating and discussing various options with people whose opinion I value highly and who have a little more experience in these matters. Customer feedback is also very important, so I encourage everyone to comment on this, either here or by emailing spectralpress[AT]gmail[DOT]com. Even if I DO decide to increase the edition run, it will only be to something like 120 -125 and no more.

Like I intimated above, the success of Spectral is unexpected. It is also very welcome. I need to proceed slowly, but not so slowly that I am practically standing still. In that light, all comments will be gratefully received and very welcome!!

Thank you!

Paul Finch’s King Death: preorder reminder

In 1348, England is stricken by the Black Death.

The worst pandemic in human history has reached the kingdom of the warlike Edward III, a monarch who in battle against human adversaries cannot imagine defeat.

Two thirds of his subjects now perish. Woods become wild again, farmland goes to rack and ruin, villages, towns and castles are left empty, inhabited only by ghosts.

Little wonder that fear of the supernatural reaches an all-time high. Little wonder stories ignite about witches and demons spreading the plague, about ‘King Death’, an awesome harbinger of doom from whom there is no protection.

Cynical opportunist Rodric doesn’t believe any of these. With reckless indifference, he sets out to enrich himself…

“Paul Finch’s supernatural stories combine a poetic imagination with a sharp eye for the complexities of human evil.” – Joel Lane

UPDATE! THERE ARE NO COPIES LEFT!! 

REMINDER! Several people have reserved copies or subscriptions – payment is now due, please. I will also be sending email reminders within the next few days to those who have asked for reservations.

Hope to hear from you guys very soon!!

UPDATE! THERE ARE NO COPIES LEFT!! 

Spectral 3-in-1 review #2

In an effort to spread the good word about Spectral Press, I have been sending all three of the so-far published chapbooks to all and sundry if they stand still long enough. One of those who did stand still long enough was Gef Fox, who very kindly reviewed What They Hear in the Dark by Gary McMahon, Abolisher of Roses by Gary Fry and Nowhere Hall by Cate Gardner for Skull Salad Reviews. I am very pleased to say that the write-ups are excellent and you can see for yourself by going here to read what he said.

Also, there are now (again provisionally) only SEVEN copies of Paul Finch’s King Death left, which means there are only seven subscription places remaining as well. I recommend that anyone who has been dithering about whether to purchase a sub or not should do so now, as I can see Volume IV selling out way before its publication date (December 5th 2011). There are Paypal buttons down the right-hand side of this website, so it couldn’t be easier to order one. If you’re after an individual copy of King Death, then please Paypal £3.50UK/£4.50EU/$8US/$12RoW to spectralpress[AT]gmail[DOT]com. If there are no more copies left, let me know whether you want a refund or if you’d like a copy of Volume V instead, Simon Kurt Unsworth’s Rough Music.

King Death by Paul Finch: pre-order

“In 1348, England is stricken by the Black Death.

The worst pandemic in human history has reached the kingdom of the warlike Edward III, a monarch who, in battle against human adversaries, cannot imagine defeat.

Two thirds of his subjects now perish. Woods become wild again, farmland goes to rack and ruin, villages, towns and castles are left empty, inhabited only by ghosts.

Little wonder that fear of the supernatural reaches an all-time high. Little wonder stories ignite about witches and demons spreading the plague, about ‘King Death’, an awesome harbinger of doom from whom there is no protection.

Cynical opportunist Rodric doesn’t believe any of these. With reckless indifference, he sets out to enrich himself…”

So runs the back cover blurb for the fourth volume in Spectral Press’ acclaimed series of chapbooks, Paul Finch’s medieval tale of misplaced hubris, King Death. Originally, I had intended to put it on preorder after I’d returned from FantasyCon but, since there are only TEN (10) copies left before it’s officially sold out, I’ve decided to do it now instead. Each copy will £3.50UK/£4.50EU/$8USA & Canada/$12RoW. So, if you want a copy, it’ll be on a first-come, first-served basis – if you ARE wanting one of these, wrapped in a stunning Neil Williams cover, then please contact me at spectralpress[AT]gmail[DOT]com as soon as you can – I will then advise you on its availability and how to pay (if there are any left).

Which brings me to the subject of subscriptions – there are also TEN (10) places left on this Volume – if all copies of King Death have been sold out and you send money for a subscription it will start with Volume V, Simon Kurt Unsworth’s Rough Music. I do strongly recommend that you consider signing up for a sub, as this is the best way to ensure you don’t miss out on future issues. Just click on the appropriate Paypal button on the right-hand side of this page to order one – it’s as simple and easy as that!

Looking forward to hearing from you!!

A review and some news…

First, we have a new review (and yet another positive one) of Abolisher of Roses from Page Horrific, written by Walt Hicks. The review can be accessed by following this link. Many thanks to Page Horrific and Walt for the review!!

In further news, the PDF proofs for Spectral Volume III have been approved by the lovely Cate Gardner, so it’ll only be a matter of weeks before Nowhere Hall will be landing on the doormats of subscribers and purchasers. Thanks go to Daniele Serra for the stupendous cover, and Neil Williams for all his superb work of putting everything together and doing justice to Cate’s story and Daniele’s artwork!

Not long after Spectral Volume III’s publication, it’ll be on to starting work on Paul Finch’s contribution, King Death. THIS time, however, I have asked Neil to design the cover early, so it gives Mark West time to actually come up with a book trailer BEFORE it sells out.

Don’t forget, subscriptions and resubs are still available, but there are very few left, so I would suggest hurrying up – and, as I am not planning on upping the print run, once the 100 places are gone then that’s it. In other words, it’s first come first served for the foreseeable future. Sorry, folks!

Subscriptions and subscriber benefits

Yet another little reminder that subscription places are still available from Volume #4 onwards (Paul Finch’s King Death, available in December) – however, there are very few of those places left now, just 35 as of today, 19th July 2011. I’ve included Paypal buttons below for your convenience! (If paying by cheque or bank transfer, email Simon Marshall-Jones at spectralpress[AT]gmail[DOT]com for further details).

As an incentive for people to subscribe, as Spectral expands over the next couple of years with the introduction of new lines of books, subscribers will be able to claim discounts off the cover price of these new lines, and they will also be sent an occasional subscriber-only newsletter giving advance notice and details of forthcoming publications (before they’re announced here), along with any new developments with the imprint. There may also be other stuff available as well, like exclusive competitions and what have you. Remember, to take full advantage of any offers, you need to subscribe (or resubscribe) and there aren’t many places left available for the chapbooks!!

Look forward to hearing from you!

£13.50 UK

£16.00 EU

US$30.00 US

US$40.00 RoW

Black Abyss review

Spectral is just over six months old now, and still the positive reviews keep coming in. The latest has just been posted by Black Abyss, where they review both Gary McMahon’s What They Hear in the Dark and Gary Fry’s Abolisher of Roses. The people at Black Abyss consider “Spectral Press’s new range of chapbooks…” to be ” …really something special…” and that “this series is already proving to be unmissable…” The review can be found here.

So, if you’ve been dithering over the decision whether to order a four issue subscription to this rapidly rising publishing star of the horror, supernatural and dark fiction scene then this is further incentive to get your order in now. Purchasing couldn’t be easier – there are Paypal buttons provided on the front page for your convenience. If you want to pay through any other means please contact Spectral at spectralpress[at]gmail[dot]com for further details. However, there aren’t many places left from Volume IV onward, so if you’re interested in subscribing it’s advisable to buy one soon. (If you’d like to reserve a subscription, then write to the above email address telling us so and we’ll keep you a place for a whole month).

Onwards and upwards!!

Subscriptions: a reminder

Just a little note to remind people that subscriptions to Spectral Press chapbooks are still available, but will now be starting from Volume IV (Paul Finch’s King Death). Subscriptions are £13.50UK/£16EU/$30US/$40RoW and for your convenience Paypal buttons can be found on the right-hand side of this blog. If wanting to pay by any other means please contact me at spectralpress[at]gmail[dot]com. Those of you who have already subscribed and who now wish to extend their subscriptions to Spectral VII are also encouraged to renew at this point (but let me know that it’s a renewal. =)

If you’re unsure about wanting to take out a subscription, then think of it like this: you’ve seen the author names being bandied around here and there, or seen their books on various internet sites or bookshops, or even read the great reviews of these writer’s books on book-blogs and review sites, BUT you’ve never been entirely convinced because you don’t know whether you’d like their style of work. Spectral chapbooks are a great way of introducing you to all these writers and you won’t have to break the bank in order to check them out! Plus, at the four-issue rate Spectral is currently offering, it represents an absolute bargain!

However, just to give you guys advance warning, both subscriptions and individual issue prices will go up slightly from Volume V to cover increased postal rates – I will endeavour to keep the increase as minimal as possible, however, but even so it will still represent remarkable value for money.

So get subbing!! =D

Subscriptions update and other news

Subscriptions are still available BUT there are only 28 places left, and will now start from Spectral Volume III, Cate Gardner’s surreal Nowhere Hall, due out in September of this year. However, I am considering plans to either extend the print runs should all places be filled OR, as is more likely, find some other way to make the stories available without compromising the exclusivity of the chapbooks themselves. This won’t happen until next year at the earliest, so there will be plenty of time to work something out. Of course, I will be consulting with the individual authors as well on this and there will be an announcement here in due course when it’s been decided.

Anyway, yearly subscriptions (4 issues) are available for £13.50UK/£16EU/$30US/$40RoW – there are convenient Paypal buttons for ordering subs on the home page of this site. There are some exciting authors and brilliant stories coming up over the next twelve months, so subscribing is the best way NOT to miss out on any of them!!

In other news, next on the agenda is a possibility of specially-made binders to keep all your chapbooks pristine and undamaged. Still mulling this one over and doing some research – more news when I have a better idea of costs and all that.

On the publishing front, there will be some major developments that I will be announcing in about two weeks’ time – but it could be the next step for Spectral Press. Again, watch out for news in a fortnight or so.

That’s all for now, except to say that numbers of copies of Gary McMahon’s fantastic What They Hear in the Dark are dwindling quickly – if you haven’t got one yet, I suggest you ACT FAST!