The trip to the UK provided a number of things which challenged me to view as things over which I had no control, and therefore had to accept their results without judgement. For instance, the trial resulting from the auto-mobile accident concluded with the jury returning a verdict of ‘not guilty’ for the individual charged. Knowing neither the exact wording of the charge nor any evidence or argumentative points raised when I was not actually in the court room, one can do nothing but accept that the conclusion was the just and universally acceptable one in the view of those in the best position to make that judgement. So goes life.

A second lesson in this was the Federal Election whilst in the Mother Country. The Canadian people participated in the typical democratic franchise method and returned the Conservative Party of Canada to the Lower House of Parliament to a minority government with a larger block of seats than was theirs previously. I was surprised, and yet, there it was. Again, better to accept than comprehend the ‘why?’ of the matter. We had a Provincial Election on Tuesday, complete with a referendum which, if passed, would have changed the process to a Single Transferable Vote method similar to that of Ireland or New Zealand. Again, results were not as I had both anticipated and hoped would be the case. Ah-well.

The third lesson from last autumn’s trip about how to accept that which one cannot change involved the publishing company Humdrumming, Ltd. At the time of the trip I was the titular Acting President and C.E.O. of the company, even though not being a resident of Her Majesty’s ‘green and pleasant land’ of England (which is odd, given the company was specifically registered in England and Wales). Less than a month following my return to the outer colonies, I was no longer in any way connected with the company for which I had pushed myself to the outer limits of success during almost the entire previous three years without a single cent of remuneration.

While I was entirely dedicated to the blossoming of the firm, and approached it as a corporate entity in both policy and procedure. Books should be got to both paying customers and people reviewing books promptly and without delay, and dealers who had taken delivery of books would either promptly pay or be hounded until they did so. My 100% assignment of waking hours to this effort was increasingly not shared by others, with the eventual result that the company was in a position of insolvency and the decision was to declare this officially to the world, effectively ‘lock the shop doors’ until things had got sorted out, and then see where things stood. Because I tried for the foregoing six months to ensure that state was avoided, yet was foiled in that attempt; and to declare such a state is tantamount to shoving a big sign out on the roof saying “Person in Charge Has No Clue; Apply Within as Replacement if Interested”, if not at least saying you’ve lost track of where you are and are so lost you can’t keep going and sort things at the same time. In the world of Big Corporate Business, ‘re-organization’ is another way of saying “the person in charge is out the door”, as in the case of President Obama telling the C.E.O. of GM to step down a few moths ago.

Any of those matters were enough to justify my resignation from the firm, and all of them together left me no choice but to leave, swallowing a good three-to-five thousand dollars of non-compensated expenses in the process.

So… whither the Colonial now?

Back to the fray, it seems. Yes, why leave well enough alone when one can continue the inane concept that it’s possible to make money at this publishing game. More tomorrow that’s more official…!

Tags: atomic fez, Federal Election, Humdrumming, London, Publishing

Due to popular demand… Many people have asked… Someone idly asked yesterday… ‘when would this series continue?’ And so, because I am here to give the people what they want, here is what happened on the day The Colonial Went to the B.N.G.

Arising around 8:00 (although the notes for the day state an uncertainty about that time), St. Pancras International Rail Terminal is headed for, with a desire to locate coffee and food. Also, connectivity to confirm that Trudi Topham is still meeting me for the purpose of both delivering some material to me which has been ordered from both small publishers as well as through Amazon UK (which wasn’t available through Canadian sources; mostly books with different editions and/or covers), as well as accompanying me around the National Gallery.

Happily, one can check e-mail over breakfast of coffee and muffin-thing, as St. Pancras Station has free Wi-Fi! HUZZAH!

Sadly, Trudi is at King’s Cross Station on the other side of Pancras Road, but I’m able to see the grandness of this international terminal with its impressive roof of the Train Shed [image, left] which was designed by William Henry Barlow (who’s been immortalised in a statue in the Station). So, in the end, NICE!

I wander across the road, and — after working my way through a teeming mass of humanity down the entire King’s bloody Cross Station’s bloody warren of platforms and levels — locate the lady herself, complete with massive box of books. Huzzah! We head to hotel, dump the shit in my room, and then head to the wilds of the underground, where I buy an Oyster Card so as to be able to move about easily on any number of methods of available public transportation without the need to ensure my tickets not expired, correct change, and so on. For anyone visiting London, this is a boon, as you are only charged for the tickets you would normally need, but the most you can ever pay per day with this card is the maximum daily charge for unlimited use of the system and that flat rate is less than the cost of several tickets. If you plan to use the tube or the bus more than three times a day (go somewhere, go somewhere else, return to where you began), you’ve just saved money, and all you had to worry about was slapping your card on a big yellow disc when entering the tube or when both getting on and off a bus. Brilliant! Get one and make your visit to the City of Western Culture a breeze. You’ll thank me for it, I’m telling you!

The card, oddly, comes in a little yellow wallet with an advert for IKEA on the back. “Oh…! It’s got IKEA on it”, I remark to Trudi, whereupon we say “Oooooooo-OOOOOO!” at each other. Why it’s called an “Oyster Card” and not a BLAN or TORVELD as a consequence of the IKEA sponsorship is good for a few minutes of discussion. It may have something to do with IKEA’s brand-new Family Mobile — a virtual mobile phone network — but I suspect the new London Buses will be built from flat-pack kits. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: book, books, British Fantasy Society, economy, England, FantasyCon, Humdrumming, London, National Gallery, Publishing, pubs

And, for those of you not checking the Humdrumming Blog on a regular basis, out now is the ‘Short List’ of those individuals and / or works which are the top five voted for (or six, if there’s a tie) by members of the British Fantasy Society and attendees of the 2007 and 2008 FantasyCons. You can read the complete list right here.

Humdrumming titles have made the short-list in two categories:

• Best Novella: All Your Gods Are Dead, Gary M^cMahon
• Best Anthology: The First Humdrumming Book of Horror Stories, Ian Alexander Martin (as editor)

The competition in both categories is considerable, and very much worthy of your regard. We are chuffed to be considered alongside them for these two awards.

Should you wish to examine these two titles for yourself, move your little clicky pointer and select the cover of the book you are intrigued by through the images below.

All Your Gods Are Dead Gary McMahon	The 1st Humdrumming Book of Horror Stories

The awards are announced on Saturday, the 20^th of September, 2008, at the Britannia Hotel, Nottingham, UK. Everyone at Humdrumming wishes the best of luck to all those nominated in every category.

Tags: 9781905532407, 9781905532483, All Your Gods Are Dead, Anthology, BFS, British Fantasy Society, FantasyCon, Gary McMahon, Humdrumming, Ian Alexander Martin, novella, The First Humdrumming Book of Horror Stories

Yes, The Second Humdrumming Book of Horror Stories is on its way, and we’re pleased to announce it will be available in two versions: traditional paperback, and now Jacket-less Hard-Cover!

Both of the versions will have the same artwork on their outsides [image, left], and both will have the same 258 pages inside filled with horror and terror! Rammed-full of scary and disturbing tales of things guaranteed to make your tummy all wobbly-like!

The Limited Edition, hard-cover, signed by as many people as we can, Printed Paper Case, matt laminated, un-numbered, strictly limited to 100 copies World-wide, Vitamin-D® injected, Collector’s version is made available to you for the low, low, ultra-reasonable price of only £20 and can be pre-ordered right here.

Each and every author will be signing the books using a signature sheet entirely designed & created in the Humdrumming Canadian Headquarters. That’s a total of 17 signatures: Guy Adams, James Cooper, Christopher Fowler, Gary Fry, Rhys Hughes, Davin Ireland, Andrew Jury, Michael Kelly, Tim Lebbon, Gary M^cMahon, Ian Alexander Martin Mark Morris, Sarah Pinborough, Simon Strantzas, John Travis, Carol Weekes, and Conrad Williams!! Oh yes!

The traditional version will be available for £9.99 and can be pre-ordered by clicking right here for as long as we can sell it.

Which version will you get? The traditional, boring version, or the exciting signed one? You know you want both…!

Tags: Anthology, book, Humdrumming

It’s fairly simple: don’t travel.

That’s my solution; watch the Police and the Tax-Man miss me; I’m immobile!

Having arrived at the start of June realizing that The British Fantasy Society’s FantasyCon was only a little over four months away, the state of the finances of both myself and the company couldn’t be described as being ‘set on solid ground’, and indeed the great statistical likelihood that things will get worse before they get better, the decision has been arrived at that the United Kingdom will be an I.A.M.-free zone during the coming autumn.

This is not something I’m too happy about, obviously, but given the reality that I have yet to repay a single dollar of the costs of last year’s event-filled trip (my première voyage off the North American continent was destined to be legendary, and I’ve never known how to do anything in half-measures) and as my only employment is through Humdrumming it’s unlikely that I’ll be able to do anything about that in the interim, never mind get my hands on the same amount again in a matter of a dozen weeks, there was no choice but this one to be made. Granted, a way for the company to pay my way over and back could be found, but only at the cost of the authors’ well-deserved fees. This is hardly a solution, however, as the only thing that the firm has in any tangible fashion is the goodwill of the authors whose works we publish. Lose that, and the firm has little — if anything — with which to exist.

Our Table at the 2007 FantasyCon

What is potentially the most disheartening possibility is that this may be the year that Humdrumming is realistically likely to be nominated for, and potentially win, something during the BFS Awards event. Even if we were only to be granted a look in on the nominations list, the opportunities presented during three-day flurry of events to meet authors we’re publishing, as well as ones who might be a part of our stable either soon or in the more distant future, is not one which is properly appreciated until the thing is experienced. You fall into conversation with people you’d not have met otherwise, people whose work is already proudly presented is seen in a new and brighter light as a result of hearing others speak in reverential terms of the writing, perhaps a chance meeting with a Guest of Honour leads to opportunities not even considered possible until then.

Indeed, this year we have a number of wonderful books to launch, and even have a couple of wonderful things to make official announcements of for the first time. We even are to have our own book launch event, something rarely heard of for any publisher, and certainly not for one whose existence is less than five years in age.

Yet, sadly, this is the way things have transpired this year.

Ah well, one makes what decision one can based upon the information available at the time one makes it.

Still… it’s an arse, i’nit?

Tags: BFS, British Fantasy Society, FantasyCon, finances (or lack thereof), Humdrumming, Nottingham