Wonderful news, dear readers who bought BHMM, I received the second revenue from Lulu, and in March 66 copies of Beyond Her Majesty’s Men were sold, which makes it – with £0.40 revenue for each wee book – £26.40 for MSF plus £7.45 gift aid because I am a UK taxpayer. 🙂
The money has gone straight to the fundraising page: http://original.justgiving.com/marquesate and thus to Médecins Sans Frontières. Thank you everybody!
Photo © DG Tate. Without permission.
The following quotes by writers about writing are all from a two-part Guardian article. I chose my favourites from the vast lot.
Neil Gaiman
The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you’re allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it’s definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it -honestly, and tell it as best you can. I’m not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter.
PD James
Write what you need to write, not what is currently popular or what you think will sell.
Hilary Mantel
Write a book you’d like to read. If you wouldn’t read it, why would anybody else? Don’t write for a perceived audience or market. It may well have vanished by the time your book’s ready.
Will Self
Stop reading fiction – it’s all lies anyway, and it doesn’t have anything to tell you that you don’t know already (assuming, that is, you’ve read a great deal of fiction in the past; if you haven’t you have no business whatsoever being a writer of fiction).
Margaret Atwood
You can never read your own book with the innocent anticipation that comes with that first delicious page of a new book, because you wrote the thing. You’ve been backstage. You’ve seen how the rabbits were smuggled into the hat. Therefore ask a reading friend or two to look at it before you give it to anyone in the publishing business. This friend should not be someone with whom you have a ¬romantic relationship, unless you want to break up.
Roddy Doyle
Do give the work a name as quickly as possible. Own it, and see it. Dickens knew Bleak House was going to be called Bleak House before he started writing it. The rest must have been easy.
Geoff Dyer
Never worry about the commercial possibilities of a project. That stuff is for agents and editors to fret over – or not.
Anne Enright
Only bad writers think that their work is really good.
Jonathan Franzen
Fiction that isn’t an author’s personal adventure into the frightening or the unknown isn’t worth writing for anything but money.
Esther Freud
Trust your reader. Not everything needs to be explained. If you really know something, and breathe life into it, they’ll know it too.
David Hare
Style is the art of getting yourself out of the way, not putting yourself in it.
Anne Enright
Write whatever way you like. Fiction is made of words on a page; reality is made of something else. It doesn’t matter how “real” your story is, or how “made up”: what matters is its necessity.
PD James
Open your mind to new experiences, particularly to the study of other people. Nothing that happens to a writer – however happy, however tragic – is ever wasted.
AL Kennedy
Defend your work. Organisations, institutions and individuals will often think they know best about your work – especially if they are paying you. When you genuinely believe their decisions would damage your work – walk away. Run away. The money doesn’t matter that much.
Michael Moorcock
Ignore all proffered rules and create your own, suitable for what you want to say.
Andrew Motion
Think with your senses as well as your brain.
Joyce Carol Oates
Don’t try to anticipate an “ideal reader” – there may be one, but he/she is reading someone else.
Ian Rankin
Learn to be self-critical. Learn what criticism to accept.
Zadie Smith
Leave a decent space of time between writing something and editing it.
Rose Tremain
Forget the boring old dictum “write about what you know”. Instead, seek out an unknown yet knowable area of experience that’s going to enhance your understanding of the world and write about that.
Jeanette Winterson
Take no notice of anyone you don’t respect.
What, did you think I was joking? Of course not! While I very much enjoy the simplicity of clear and simple covers and layout, with images that embody the story, I also love colour coordination. And to prove that the whole epic will look gorgeously coordinated in your bookshelves… 😉
This is it, it is done. The complete Special Forces epic has been published in paperback in its original version, and for non-profit print costs only.
Special Forces – Veterans in paperback.
This print version is the original version of Special Forces (1st edition), as it was edited at the time of first publication on Marquesate’s website. The Veterans cycle was published between November 2008 and April 2009. The ebook versions are available for free download and the original chapters remain on Marquesate’s website: http://www.marquesate.org/special-forces.html
This is the only version that is authorised by Marquesate.
Special Forces – Veterans is 447 pages and is £8.88 print-cost only.
Special Forces – Mercenaries Part I: the Original Version and Special Forces – Mercenaries Part II: the Original Version are now available as paperback. The Mercenaries cycle is so large, that it had to be published in two parts.
Special Forces – Mercenaries is the second cycle of the Special Forces epic, the first cycle is Soldiers and the third one is Veterans.
This print version is the original version of Special Forces (1st edition), as it was edited by the authors of the time of first publication on Marquesate’s website. The Mercenaries cycle was published between May 2007 and November 2008.
This is the only version that is authorised by Marquesate.
The print versions of Special Forces – Mercenaries Part I and Special Forces – Mercenaries Part II are strictly non-profit and print cost only. The ebook versions are available for free download (Part I and Part II), and the original chapters remain on Marquesate’s website: http://www.marquesate.org/special-forces.html
Mercenaries Part I has 607 pages and is print-cost only £11.60 and Mercenaries Part II has 565 pages and is print-cost only £10.89.
Just to remind you, if you are ever being charged more, and especially for less pages, then whoever charges you does receive a profit. It’s quite interesting to see what the actual print costs are, isn’t it? I am publishing Special Forces in paperback as a labour of love for all the wonderful readers who have shared their of this story with me over the years, and to all the fantastic friends I made through writing Special Forces. 🙂
The third cycle, Veterans, is currently being prepared and will be published soon. Currently available in paperback are:
Special Forces – Mercenaries Part I
Special Forces – Mercenaries Part II
The pictures speak for themselves, aye? It’s a wonderful feeling to hold the first tome (of four!) in my hands.
Download is free and the paperback is (print cost only) £10.78. The printing costs aren’t the cheapest, because Lulu doesn’t do bulk discounts unless we are talking BULK, but with 559 pages there’s a lot of book for one’s money, and the quality is lovely. Just to fondle the book … mmmmm … 🙂
Special Forces – Soldiers: the Original Version, is now finally available as paperback.
Special Forces is the story of a Scottish SAS soldier and a Soviet spetsnaz soldier. Two enemies who meet in the line of duty during the early days of the Soviet Union’s last war in Afghanistan. Behind enemy lines respect and finally love grow … but that’s only the official version. This epic spans across over twenty-five years of their lives.
Special Forces – Soldiers is the first cycle of the Special Forces epic, the second cycle is Mercenaries and the third one is Veterans.
This print version is the original version of Special Forces (1st edition), as it was edited by the authors of the time of first publication on Marquesate’s website. The Soldiers cycle was published between July 2006 and March 2007. This is the only version that is authorised by Marquesate.
The print version of Special Forces – Soldiers is strictly non-profit and print cost only. The ebook version is available for free download, and the original chapters remain as on Marquesate’s website: http://www.marquesate.org/special-forces.html
Beyond Her Majesty’s Men takes place after HMM. It explores a little further the story of these two soldiers in the British Forces, and gives insight into how their friendship develops.
This small collection is a special charity publication for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). It is not available in print, because the (very generous!) charity auction winner exclusively received the print version.
All profit – £0.40 – goes to MSF, and I do not earn a penny from this publication. This, dear readers, is one of the greatest sources of happiness to me, that I might be doing something good in this world, with my wee bit of imagination. So please spread the word and see how much Tom & Alex can raise for this excellent charity.
I will periodically post how much Beyond HMM has made in donations (every penny counts, and many times 40 pence makes quite a few pound) and will directly send the money every month or so to my main charity fund-raising page: http://original.justgiving.com/marquesate
Purchase as download Beyond Her Majesty’s Men:
http://www.lulu.com/product/file-download/beyond-her-majestys-men/6517075
With a little delay (I didn’t like the look of the first cover) the small print publication of Tom and Alex’s lives after Her Majesty’s Men has been safely on its way to the Charity Auction winner since Friday. This means that – since the generous winner agreed – once the auction win has arrived and has been read, I will make Beyond Her Majesty’s Men available to buy as PDF, and every single penny will continue to go to MSF, the charity of my choice. A print version will never be available, because this was exclusively for the auction winner, but an e-version will.
Watch this space! Soon the time for a bit of Tom & Alex will be here.
I was asked if the two episodes offered in the Haiti charity auction, which show a glimpse into the lives of Tom & Alex after the end of the book, would only be made available once – for the winner of the charity auction – or if they became available.
Actually, the idea was of course that the episodes are uniquely available to the winner of the auction. However, I intend to ask the winner if they were happy with other readers being able to purchase the two episodes in PDF version (not as a print one ever, this will be absolutely unique to the auction) with every little bit of the money (the price would be very reasonable) going to MSF and for Haiti relief as well. So watch this space. 🙂
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220540804311
Friendly Fire is a 6K short story, set in the current war in Afghanistan. British Sergeant Major Phil Mason, and American Gunnery Sergeant Jon Rivera, take part in friendly fire, only to encounter enemy fire, that forces them to work together to survive in the Afghan mountains.
In true Marquesate style, those two soldiers are alpha men, fuelled by aggression that finds an outlet in more than fighting. But they are also men who learn to understand that being comrades in arms is above and beyond anything else.
This is a very interesting question, and one that clearly has no definitive answer, only answers that are right for every individual author. I guess you can imagine which answer is right for me, certainly after my post on the integrity of the author’s voice.
There’s been a discussion on a forum I’ve been on for years, about this very thing, if one should write for a market, regardless if one feels like it, to maximise publishing (and money earning potential), or if one should write what one strongly feels like. I suspect the answer isn’t straightforward, but tied into an individual author’s context. I, for example, don’t “need” to make money from writing, I don’t live off it nor try to, I have a demanding job. Clearly, that puts me in a position where money I make from writing is regarded as luxury, not necessity, and every penny makes me happy because it’s just wonderful to sell stories. That luxury also comes with the luxury of not having to write for a market – at the same time I can’t write for a market anyway, because it’s just not the way my creativity functions.
I am fascinated by authors who can write for markets, and turn out stories that might not have been in their heart. I could never do that, since I regard writing as an art, not a craft, and art always comes from deep within. Motivation, emotion and creativity are strongly interconnected.
So, do I want to make a judgement of what is “better”? I am inclined to do so, because if I am anything then a person of strong opinions, but I wouldn’t think that it is fair, not regarding the context that every individual exists in. Do I make a judgement for myself? Yes, I feel confident to do so.
I, personally, would never write for a market, and I only write what I want to, what I feel strongly about, what I am emotionally involved in, and what is in my heart, so to speak. Let’s face it, when I started writing military gay erotic fiction, it wasn’t really a genre. No one specialised in it, and anything military was only used as a backdrop like a stage prop. Let’s not get started with the factual errors in some stories, either. I still wrote it, though, because that’s where my interest lies and where my expertise is now. As Marquesate, I certainly won’t write anything else, because that’s what Marquesate does.
I firmly believe that if one writes what one strongly feels about, then there will be readers. Because a story comes to life when the author truly feels for the characters, the plot, the setting and believes in their own story. If the same goes for something written for a market? I wouldn’t want to answer that, because that is a question that each reader would have to answer for themselves.
I would still write what I write even if no one wanted to read it. 🙂
Photo copyright its copyright owner. Without permission.
Jen posted an absolutely wonderful review of Her Majesty’s Men on her review blog Well Read.
Jen reviewed Her Majesty’s Men because she had read Code of Honour in the I Do anthology, and I am extremely thrilled that she liked Tom and Alex’s story just as much as Joe and Roux’s.
This is a brilliant quote from her review, which made me grin:
Many of you who read this blog will know that I like my heroes to be ‘real men’; to be masculine and to be comfortable in their alpha status. Well, to get an idea of how manly the characters are in this book, you need to think of the most manly man that you know or have read about and then inject him with three buckets of testosterone. That will give you an idea of the sort of men that Tom and Alex are in this book. Marvellous.
Fantastic, isn’t it? The rest of her review is well worth a read, and so is her entire blog. Jen’s reviews are always witty and interesting to read.
Thanks, Jen, for the vote of Excellent. I close with another quote:
Apart from that, this book was a rough ride from start to finish. I loved it because violence, pain and brutality are issues that don’t bother me and I welcomed a read that was so different from the normal m/m fayre. If you don’t like those things in your romance, then I suggest you stay away from Her Majesty’s Men. If you like books filled to the brim with testosterone, packed with action with men who are a mix of arrogant and confident on the outside, yet a seething mass of insecurity and self-hatred on the inside, then this book is for you. For those people, I highly recommend you read this and it gets a grade of ‘Excellent’ from me.
Quotes copyright Jen from her blog Well Read. Read the full review.
Her Majesty’s Men is available as e-book and paperback from the following places. It can be ordered directly from the printer, where it is available both in print and as an e-version.
Her Majesty’s Men is available in paperback from all known book stores, such as Amazon, but please consider to either buy directly from the publisher or the printer, or from independent bookstores or chains other than Amazon. Here is a collection for you, in addition to buying directly from the printer:
I have been privy to many a conversation, discussion and plain annoyed rant about the simplification and standardisation of the author’s art (words! voice! style!) as it is employed by numerous publishers.
I shall not name any names nor point any fingers, but this topic really is extremely close to my heart. The policy to “de-was” by many publishers is not only shocking, but also ridiculous, and basically results in a text that has no “was”. I assume that every reader can easily imagine what a sad and simplified text that would be, if the author’s craft is taken away and instead maimed and mangled into a misunderstood mould of what language should look like.
Writing is Art. As much or as little as painting or singing or drawing or sculpting or any creative endeavour that taps into the richness of the creator’s imagination and allows us to see the world through the artist’s eyes.
Language is Art. Language is the tool of the writer as Artist, like the colour palette and the brushes are for the painter. You reduce the tools to a standardised minimum and your colourful painting, bursting with life and emotions, is turned into a poor caricature of its self.
Authors should have a distinctive voice. If they don’t then they are no artists, but as mass produced as a Hollywood plastic surgeried “beauty”, to please the masses. The integrity of the author’s voice is more important to me than anything else, and part of this integrity is the choice to write what I want to write and what I strongly feel about writing, and not anything/something as sterile as “the market” might demand. That’s not art, that’s a cheap sell-out.
Because this is what makes literature fascinating, versatile and rich; this is what gives every reader something to like or to dislike. This is what Art is, to express oneself, and to find one’s artistic integrity.
As for what this means for Marquesate: I rather be less commercially successful than sacrifice the integrity of my writing and thus my Art. Take it or leave it, like my writing or dislike it, but this is a promise.
It appears that the “I Do” anthology has raised over $1000 dollar in the first quarter. This is a conservative estimate from the print book and the e-book.
This means that the concerted efforts for the anthology have raised that much money for Lambda Legal to fight for marriage equality.
Hooray! Let’s celebrate and hope the anthology continues to raise funds.
Marquesate's Gay Military Fiction 