Introducing Pixel Hall Press

I was recently contacted by Cynthia at Pixel Hall Press about 'Annabelle' by Nancy Christie, a short story they are publishing as an ebook. I asked Cynthia to provide some more information about the ebook and the Press itself, and I am sharing the publisher's words here with you, in case what they have to offer is of interest for other book reviewers and also for any writers out there. Please note this is the publisher's piece and not mine and I have not received anything for posting this information, I am merely sharing it out of bookish interest!

In this era of digital technology, Wall Street involvement and merger mania, mainstream publishers seem to have lost sight of the core principles and purpose of publishing. At the other end of the spectrum is an avalanche of self-published books that are notoriously uneven in quality. Small boutique imprints, such as Pixel Hall Press, are reclaiming the heart and soul of publishing by reviving the idea that a publisher's “raison d'être” is to find and nurture great writers, and to provide readers with beautiful, meaningful, truly enjoyable books.

Pixel Hall Press is a relatively new, old-fashioned small publishing house whose focus is on discovering literary gems and great stories that might have otherwise been overlooked. Their stated mission is “To publish books that energize the imagination and intrigue the mind, and to be a conduit between readers and provocative, stimulating, talented authors.” Determined to remain small, Pixel Hall Press has announced that they will be moving forward slowly and deliberately. They plan to add only one or two new book authors a year, giving them more creative control, the opportunity for greater dialogs with readers, and a higher percentage of the profits.

Though Pixel Hall Press has been in existence for less than a year, they are already gaining a reputation for finding and publishing books and stories of significant literary merit, such as “Jo Joe” by Sally Wiener Grotta.

In addition to more traditional printed books, Pixel Hall Press has recently rolled out its new PHP Shorts imprint. PHP Shorts is carefully selecting a few short stories, to publish as stand-alone eBooks. For instance, on September 8, 2013, PHP Shorts will publish “Annabelle” by Nancy Christie, a hauntingly lyrical short story about the price exacted by the passion for creating art from an artist, his wife/model and his daughter.

While Pixel Hall Press will publish only a few authors, they are quite open to queries from writers, and respond to all emails. Writers should first read PHP’s published Writers Guidelines, before submitting anything. Reviewers who want to be on the list to receive information about upcoming titles and the availability of review copies should contact Cynthia Dadson - Cynthia AT PixelHallPress DOT com.

Mark Edwards - Author Guest Post - Relationship between writers and readers

I am delighted to welcome crime fiction author Mark Edwards to the blog today! 

Mark has written a guest post all about the relationship an author has with their readers - would love to know your thoughts about this.

I Want You to Shout it from the Highest Mountain Top…

a guest post by author Mark Edwards

Recently, this meme sprung up on the web and was shared and commented on by numerous writers.

Entitled ‘The Care and Feeding of an Author on Amazon’ it asks readers who have enjoyed a book to share it on social networks, write a review and like it on Amazon. The idea is that by doing this you help to keep authors whose work you have enjoyed ‘fed’ so they will and can write more books for you to enjoy.

This made me think about my own relationship with my readers and what we writers expect from the people who enjoy our books, and vice versa. Of course, ‘expect’ is a strong word. It’s more what we would like to happen. Or rather, seeing as we writers are a needy bunch who crave praise like vampires crave blood, it’s what we would love to happen.

Until recently, readers had little access to the writers whose books they read, and little opportunity to share their opinion of their books. Cast your minds back to the mid-nineties, before Amazon was founded, long before Facebook and Twitter existed. Back then, a book would be published, the writer might go on a tour of bookshops and festivals, and very keen fans might write letters using these antiquated tools called paper and pens. Apart from encounters at signings and the occasional receipt of a letter, the only feedback writers received was from professional critics and their mums.

Then, as now, the most powerful marketing tool was word of mouth. Back then, it was really was passed from mouth to ear. Most of the books I read in my teens had been recommended to me by friends or family, or because I’d read about them in a magazine or paper. You recommended a book to one person at a time rather than tweeting about it to your thousand followers.

When I walked into a bookshop to browse the shelves, I had to trust the blurbs on the back of books. I had no way of knowing what the masses thought about this book in the way I do now, when I can skim the reviews on Amazon or Goodreads, or Google bloggers’ reviews. 

The internet changed everything for books and writers. Now, we writers are available 24 hours a day for readers to chat to. Most of us have websites, Facebook accounts, Twitter, Goodreads… We are easy to reach and communicate with. I personally respond to every reader who contacts me or tweets about one of my books, usually within hours or minutes.  On the Louise Voss and Mark Edwards Facebook page, I chat with readers every day. For me, it’s a hugely enjoyable part of being a writer.

Then there is that double-edged sword: the Amazon/Goodreads review. Now anyone can express their opinion – it’s like walking into that old-fashioned bookshop and finding thirty people standing by each book telling you what they thought about it. For writers, this is scary. When you notice that your review count has changed, you scroll nervously down the page, eyes half-averted, to see whether it’s a five-star winner or a one-star stinker, ecstasy or agony following.

Apart from the effect of all this on writers’ egos, and how much easier it is to contact authors, social media and reviews have a strong practical effect – and can make the difference between whether or not a book is a hit. There are so many books published every week, both traditionally and self-published, that getting noticed is a huge challenge. Most books vanish without trace, including many great books, because most readers don’t know they exist. It is not true that cream always rises. Yes, a book needs to be good – to connect with a lot of people – in order to break out, but the hard part is letting people know it exists.

This is why Sherry Snider, the creator of ‘The Care and Feeding of an Author…’, put together that graphic. Because she understands, as an author herself, how much we writers need our ‘fans’. If you don’t have a huge marketing budget, you are completely reliant on people spreading the word for you. So every good review, every tweet, every Facebook share, every face-to-face recommendation – they all make a difference.

In America, some writers have street teams – groups of fans who they ‘employ’ to spread the word about their books. They send the members of their teams free books, bookmarks, name characters after them in books, send them vouchers and so on, in return for favours, which could involve telling everyone they know about their books and asking their local bookshop to stock them.

Hugh Howey, author of Wool, has said that a large part of his success was being nice to his readers. He says writers should not concentrate on trying to get new readers but on nurturing those you have. This is a simple rule of business – your best customers are your existing ones, and it’s interesting to see a writer talking about his fans in such a way.

So what do you think? If you are on this blog, you must be a book reader. You must have favourite authors. Do you think that it’s fair for authors to expect so much? Do you resent being asked to share and help. Do you do it anyway? Or has this article made you think that you should do more to spread the word about authors you love? I’d love to hear what you think.

Many thanks to Mark for this very topical post. Please do share your views in the comments.

Mark Edwards’ most recent book is The Magpies, a psychological thriller about neighbours from hell, which is currently in the Amazon top twenty. If you have read it and liked it, please tell all your friends! Mark has also written three novels with fellow writer Louise Voss.

Kindle version

Paperback