Spent over six solid hours with friend John Head finishing off our book on Le Paradis and I think we were both exhausted but very happy with the end product. This has taken hundreds of hours to write, to check and to finish off. It's been a labour of love but a tough task that seems to have gone on and on with numerous revisions and re-writes.
We are hugely disappointed that the book was turned down by a number of publishers and particularly unhappy with Pen and Sword who accepted a precis of the book and even talked about giving us an advance and also said they were "excited" by the project. I have the e-mails to prove this. I had a number of telephone conversations with a commissioning editor and then, out of the blue, received an e-mail saying they had changed their minds. I don't think this show that publisher in a very good light as they didn't even have the nerve to phone me with the news. I haven't as yet replied to their last e-mail but I certainly will be doing when our book is out. I might even send them a copy to show them what they have missed out on.
A number of other publishers turned us down which is highly disappointing when you see the number of second-rate books being published every day of the week. We are certain that we have a quality publication that looks not only at the massacre itself but at the lives it affected and at those who died in the horror and their families, I like think that it is a slice of social history.
Now we are left to find our own publisher and will have to meet the costs ourselves. Going down this path does mean that we will have total control over the process which is good but it also means that we will have to do our own promotion work. I am convinced that the book will sell well through all our contacts etc and I am also convinced that Pen and Sword Books made a bad error in changing their minds over publishing without giving us any good reason for so doing.
The book is now in the hands of the members of the Le Paradis Commemoration Group for a final final read through before we approach printers/publishers. I would like to think that it will be out by early spring but who knows.
While I'm on the subject of Le Paradis, I have just watched a short film by Dan Hill on the massacre. Our group co-operated with Dan on this project and I think the film is both informative and interesting even if the attempt at a Norfolk accent comes out, as usual, as Devonian. If you want to watch it, you will find it on You Tube. Just search Dan Hill Le Paradis.
As John H says, people who do not come from Norfolk should never attempt a Norfolk accent. Leave it to the locals.
Went into Norwich yesterday evening (will tell you more about that in tomorrow's blog) and ate at a French themed restaurant in Exchange Street in Norwich. The staff were very friendly and the person who showed us to our table said:
"I hope you've had a good day."
"Yes so far," I replied.
"What have you been doing?" I was asked.
"I've finished off writing a book about a massacre in the Second World War." I replied which obviously stumped her.
"Oh good," she said as she moved away from the table.
Perhaps I've found a new way of stopping conversation.
Tomorrow I'll tell you about our evening in Norwich and about a man who makes money while being lazy and drinking coffee. Bet you can't wait.
Just finish today by saying that I enjoyed another Government minister squirming under questioning on BBC this morning. Chris Heaton-Harris (who?) was trying to answer questions about immigration and why Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick has resigned. Jenrick was on TV a couple of days ago supporting something that he was obviously at odds with. Heaton-Harris gave trite answers, mainly based on attacks on the Labour party. At times I felt he hadn't a clue what he was talking about.