Eoin Purcell's Blog

Blogs don’t have deadlines
But workplaces do and I am banging up against quite a few of them this week, the product of an ambitious October & November release schedule and my recent extended holiday. So I have had to shelve plans to finish writing and post the Long Tail series this week. I will get it done over the weekend and kick it off next week instead.

What a Blooking idiot(Forgive the poor attempt at humour)

I normally have fine words for all involved in The Friday Project; I like their style and their books too. Their tone can sometimes seem a little forced but that’s hardly the worst complaint. But today Pal Carr wrote this on their Vox blog:

What is less good is the fact that so many commentators insist on using the word ‘blook’ to describe books made from blogs. This is, of course, the fault of Lulu.com who coined the word to promote their Blooker Prize last year.

A film made out of a book is still a film, not a bilm. An animated TVseries based on a film is not a fanimation. A t-shirt based on a blog does not become a b-shirt.

We already have a perfectly good word for a book, based on a book. And that word is ‘book’.

Consider this post notice that I intend to punch, hard, in the face, the next person who uses the word blook in my earshot.

It just seems so stupid to me. Who cares what people call your products? So long as they buy them they can call them anything they like. I should have thought too that Paul would have more time for lulu and its efforts to democratize publishing given that it has over its short existence made enormous efforts to legitimize the kind of publications that the Friday Project publishes?

In any case the post is in poor taste and really does not reflect well on him. Otherwise I still very much admire their work!

Mortal Ghost Interview
I mentioned a little time ago a new effort to publish material online by Lee Lowe. He is interviewed here by Clare Dudman. It is well worth reading.

Dealing well with submissions
Snowbooks are a company I have enormous respect and time for have posted a comment on the submissions pile that has built up in their office:

Er, we are in a bit of a spin, submissions-wise. We have hundreds of manuscripts to read, dating back to 9th May, and are already at maximum work capacity. We really don’t want to close the door on submissions, even temporarily, but this is an apology to those who’ve already submitted, and those who are about to, because it’s going to take us a while to read through all the scripts. It’s heartbreaking because we’re pretty sure that, nestled in the hundreds of emails, are one or two gems, twinkling away. I just hope we get to them before their owners give up on us… so again, a plea to bear with us and an apology for it taking so long.

I respect this kind of openness and what better forum for it then a blog, instead of writing hundreds of individual letters to authors to let them know and spending even more time doing it, Snowbooks has let everyone know very quickly that they appreciate their submission and are sorry for the delays. Fresh approach and fresh thinking! Sure beats the traditional silence or Black Hole of Submissions.

Working to deadline
Eoin