The Deixis Press Weekly - Issue #55

Salutations, tome-consumers!

Last week we launched Richard Gadz’s new book The Burn Street Haunting and Marc Joan’s upcoming The Cartoon Life and Loves of a Stupid Man at Vout-O-Reenee’s, the best little book launch haunt¹ in London.² It was a really lovely event, if slightly smaller than usual due to 1. the weather 2. impending demos 3. my experimental invitation process.³ Thank you to everyone who came out, and if you couldn’t make it this time, you can still buy the books, and maybe bring them with you to the next launch for signing.

I’m actually running a little special at the moment. If you buy The Workshop of Filthy Creation or Hangdog Souls in hardback from the press by noon on Tuesday 21 November⁴, you’ll automatically be entered into a draw to get a free paperback of The Burn Street Haunting or The Cartoon Life and Loves of a Stupid Man. I don’t usually have paperbacks, but this time I happen to have one of each! So grab a hardback and you’ll be in for the chance to get a free paperback too.

This week in press news: The launches have lunched, the two newest books are either already winging their way to their new homes (Burn Street) or sitting trembling in warehouses waiting for their chance to fly (Cartoon Life), social media is queued up, and for me it’s time to finalize some contract details, do reading/editorial work, and to consider what I will do next year. And it’s cold and it’s been so dreadfully rainy, and I’m tired, so motivation has been a challenge.

This all improved, though, when I got wind of the new Indie Press Network that has been launched by Will Dady, who runs Renard Press. The tiny indie corner of the publishing industry feels wild and lonely most of the time; I’m very much in danger of becoming a withered old hermit screaming on the edge of a desolate cliff (maybe metaphorically? hard to be sure). But I think something like the IPN just might save my sanity. Please do go sign up for their newsletter to keep up with what they’re doing.

Today? I’m in the process of trying to set up a TikTok shop. Yes, the press does have a TikTok account; no, I’m not yet any good at it. I’ve gone entirely off social media at exactly the wrong time in my career to do that. So there we are.

Yours,

Angel

1. Ew, try saying “little book launch haunt” 10 times fast.

2. I have uploaded their readings from the event to the Deixis Press YouTube “Book Readings” playlist for your viewing pleasure (and I’ve also very belatedly added the two readings from April’s launch: Greyskin by James Kinsley and What We Leave Behind by Siôn Scott-Wilson).

3. Basically, with the invitations, I decided to use my easy existing Squarespace mailing list instead of making slightly more effort to invite people with Paperless Post. I think this decision didn’t work out so well because just sending an email invitation doesn’t require people to RSVP and also doesn’t put a reminder in their calendar. It also leads to a lot of the invitations going into spam, as I learned. Always learning, always learning. I think in future I’ll still use the Squarespace mailing list IN CONJUNCTION with Paperless Post, aha!

4. This date because that’s when I’m going to the post office!