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Underground > Books, Criticism & Writing >

My book's out in the UK now

matsya

08:05 / 01.08.04

All very weird and remote for me, since I'm all the way on the other side of the world. But there you go. Man Bites Dog is its name. It's about a postman who has trouble with a big bad doggie on his round, and how his friend with the Murder, She Wrote obsession is planning on fixing all the problems.

Should be in bookstores now. If not, you should be able to order it in from Orion Books, who're the UK distributors.

If anyone's anywhere near a bookstore with a camera of some kind - mobile phone, digicam, whatever - and happens to spot it, it would make my fucking day if a photo found its way back to me (pm me for my email if ya want - can't remember which email i've got in my profile).

I've got a sample chapter on me site if anyone's interested. Just click on the "books" link in the menu bar and bob's your auntie's husband.

cheers to everyone who recommended review places to send copies, too. was a big help.

m.

Opps!!

20:44 / 01.08.04

m. (how James Bond is that signing off)

Great to hear about the book and i'll keep an eye out. Am going to put in an Amazon order in a couple of weeks (once i'm through a pile of Peter Ackroyd novels) so i'll pick it up then.
Btw - if i see any reviews do you want i copy scanning and sending? Will also see what i can do with the photo.

matsya

21:15 / 01.08.04

yeah, scans would be great, sjhrbr. just had a look on amazon.co.uk and the book's only available 2nd hand at this stage. I'll chat to orion and see what's up with that.

cheers

m.

Sax

13:45 / 09.08.04

Well, my copy just arrived. I'll let you know when there's a review available, matsya.

matsya

06:53 / 10.08.04

hoorah!

m.

Tamayyurt

11:30 / 10.08.04

Is your book available in the US?

matsya

23:24 / 10.08.04

Hey Impulsivlad.

No, it's only in bookstores in Australia and the UK, but if you're real keen you can buy it online from a couple of Australian booksellers:

You can go direct to the publishers, Allen & Unwin or you can try these guys.

The aussie dollar being as puny as it is right now, it might be cheaper for you to do it that way.

cheers

m.

Sax

14:28 / 13.08.04

"I click on a random name in my address book and fire off a letter to Joe, a guy from London I met on a bulletin board dedicated to the work of an obscure Scottish conspiracy-theorist comic writer."

Heh.

grant

15:07 / 13.08.04

It's also on Amazon.co.uk, where I recommend everyone pen a glowing review to make people buy the thing.

matsya

05:28 / 14.08.04

lovely. 6 pound 99 p? is that what a new novel goes for in the UK these days? cor. here it's more like thirty bucks. well, between 20 and 30 anyway.

and sax - oh yeah. i'd forgotten that I'd written that. hee.

m.

Sax

10:58 / 16.08.04

I was going to put this in a PM to matsya but it's probably better off here where others can read it.

I confess to reading Man Bites Dog initially from a sense of duty - a mate wrote it, so give it a go.

In the end, I absolutely loved it. Great little story, nice wacky urban feel, and characters I really cared about. Two days after finishing it, I'm still thinking about the characters. Loved them.

Buy this now.

(I'll be joining grant in an amazon review, btw)

FinderWolf

14:26 / 24.08.04

Does amazon.com.uk have a relationship with regular ol' US amazon.com? How can US people buy your book?

matsya

07:17 / 25.08.04

You can order via amazon.co.uk in exactly the same way you can on amazon. the book would have to be shipped internationally, so there might be a bit more postage cost that way.

As far as US people buying the book, you'd have to order it online from one of the three links I mentioned above - two of them are based in australia and one's in the uk, so sadly some international shipping would be necessary. but like i said, the aussie dollar ain't so powerful these days so you might find that with the exchange rate, even taking postage into account you get it pretty cheap.

Hope that helps.

Good news day today. The Independent reviewed me, and gave me 3 out of 5. The review's online here. Scroll down - it's the third in the list.

m.

mondo a-go-go

14:33 / 25.08.04

I still have your lovely book of poems sitting on my shelf at home (well, I say "still" but it was in a cardboard box doing the rounds since January 2001, from New Jersey to three various places in the DC area until last November because I left it at my friend's house and she held onto it for me all that time...)

I'll get hold of this when I can justify buying some new books -- which is when I get rid of more old ones... but it'll leave me something to look forward to.

Sax

14:42 / 25.08.04

That is muchly good news, Matsya - a review in the British national press is not to be sniffed at at all. Hope it translates to sales for you.

And Kookster! *Twilight Zone music* I was just wondering about you today. How weird.

mondo a-go-go

14:22 / 07.09.04

Heh, that's been happening to me a lot lately, Sax.

mondo a-go-go

17:40 / 06.10.04

Guardian book review, yo.

matsya

22:03 / 06.10.04

Thanks, Anna. Spotted it last week. Linked to it in bragtastic style on my site, too.

My fucking publisher, though, is all "I wouldn't get too excited your sales aren't great" and I hate the bitch. She's being actually mean these days. I'm done with that lot - going to find me a new publisher and get a god-damn agent.

Hey Sax - any idea if or when your review's going to see the light of day?

m.

Sax

06:08 / 07.10.04

Due to the strange mechanics of the newspaper I work for, it'll be in a week on Saturday and it will be reviewed under a made-up name. I'll explain later.

matsya

20:46 / 07.10.04

hey, no complaints here. Is your made-up name "Sax", by any chance?

hee.

m.

mondo a-go-go

14:23 / 22.10.04

I have not seen a single copy of your book in either Borders, Foyles or Waterstones.

Which is annoying, because I actually want something new to read.

I'd have words with that agent of yours about distribution or something, mats. Because it apparently isn't being so. Or, not much, anyway.

Sax

14:38 / 22.10.04

I've done a review, matsya - shall I scan it and e-mail it to you? PM me your address.

It was by "Barbara Lith", by the way.

matsya

04:11 / 01.11.04

Hey Sax,

Got a clipping of B. Lith's review in teh post today. yay. thanks heaps. nothing like a little transcontinental nepotism. will scan and put up on me site soon enough.

m.

matsya

19:55 / 10.11.04

Anna -

Did you try talking to the staff at these stores about ordering the book in from Orion Publishing? Because you should be able to do that. I've got the people at Orion checking out distro, but they tell me you can order it in.

cheers

m.

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