Tuesday, December 13, 2005

RANAM – the backlash.

It had to happen, I suppose. But the nay-sayers have been at it again. And it’s my decision to designate April 'Read A New Author Month' that has got them agitated.

‘Who are you to designate April as any kind of month?’ they say.

‘Isn’t it a little too convenient that April also happens to be the month when your own book comes out?’ they add.

‘It’s just a thinly-disguised publicity stunt designed to whip up interest in your book and the other Macmillan New Writing titles,’ they conclude, jabbing my virtual lapel with a big angry virtual finger.

Maybe they have a point. Or maybe, with all those shoots of new life sprouting everywhere, April is just the most appropriate month in which to celebrate new writing.

To appease them, I propose that we designate November the 1st National Nay-Saying Day (or NaNaySayDay for short). That should keep them happy.

2 comments:

Steve Kane said...

Even if you did dream up the idea as a bit of a fun way to draw attention to your own novel when it is released, RANAM is a good idea regardless and it's good to see you taking the initiative to make it a serious, regular and big event.

Besides, you'll only be able to take advantage of it once, won't you. It's not as if you have designated April as "Read A Roger Morris Novel Month" (hmm, see, you may have missed a trick there).

Naysayers be damned, the miserable buffoons.

Roger Morris said...

Drat - I did miss a trick!

But thanks, Steve, for your kind words of support. I have to say a lot of the naysayers live inside my own head - but that doesn't make them any less real. Most people have been incredibly positive and supportive. In the new year, I'll be approaching some publishers (ha!) to see if any of them are interested in putting forward titles and authors. That should be interesting. It's then when I suspect I'll meet the real naysayers.