Comic Cuts - 12 April 2024

After last week's late-running Comic Cuts column, I was convinced I wouldn't have any similar problems this week. Of course, I wasn't taking into account trying to hit a deadline with a piece I'm writing for The Guardian that I want to get out of the way before my birthday. So yesterday was dedicated to getting a first draft finished rather than my usual sit back, feet up Comic Cuts ramblings.

I won't mention the subject, as I'm writing a file obituary, which will be held on file by the paper so they can get it into print promptly when this person dies. It's a bit ghoulish, but this is how I earn a living.

Sales of BEYOND THE VOID are going OK at the moment, and I've finally managed to put together a bit of information about the book that has gone up on the Bear Alley Books page. For various reasons, I wasn't able to post this earlier — basically it boils down to how quickly Amazon and Ebay want you to supply books when an order comes in. All my orders have to be filled within three days and sent out using a service that allows tracking. If I was to wait for Lulu to print the book every time one was ordered (which can take up to five days), I'd be thrown off both platforms.

Following a successful trip to the Paperback & Pulp Book Fair, I had sold out, so I had to wait until I got another batch of books in, and as they were running late, I put in a second order so that they could be working their way through the system while I was waiting on the first batch.

So I had a couple of boxes of books land at chez Bear Alley during the week, so I'm stocked up to the max and I'm doing a stock take this weekend so that I'm not short of any other books. This is what writing obituaries pays for!

The pre-publication special offer on BEYOND THE VOID has come to an end now that the books are more widely available — you can now get copies through Ebay (you can see all my books at my Ebay store) and on Amazon. The varied price reflects how much those two platforms take out of every payment. Amazon also underpays postage and then takes a percentage of it, so that has to be added to the cover price: Amazon swallows up almost 30% of the cover price + postage, and I'm left to pay the true postage & packaging, printing costs and the costs of getting the book to me here; I also have to print out a postage label, which costs 4p but takes ages, because I have to do it on my old PC, which is old and cranky, like me.

Look at me and my middle-class problems!

That's it... I've got to get back to filing this obituary.