Day 602
Friday February 28
Right. Apology to Maja here first off. When this first happened she said she was really looking forward to reading what I would write about it.
This is the day I go round around media outlets in London armed with a backpack full of books. Press day. Before I head off, I’ve identified which outlets I’m going to hit today, and who in those outlets I want to address a book to. Each book is in a wonderful cellophane book-shaped bag which fits fantastically, and each one includes a press release. I’ve also mapped out the route so that I can more or less accomplish this in at least some kind of circuit rather than going back and forth and zig zagging all over London. All that in itself is a total project and it takes some time to be ready for all this and finally set off.
I do the exact same thing again on Monday, March 3, so by the time I’m done, around 20 books have gone out to local and national media including radio, TV, and a podcaster or two. I also give a few to some receptionists who are particularly nice, helpful and interested. And unlocking my cynical side here, I think most people if they really get into a book, they want everyone around them to know about it and to read it too. If if if we just manage to get a reaction like that from someone on the reception of a major media company, who knows who they could be mentioning it to as people walk by in the morning? Maybe that’s already happened and we just don’t know yet. Hey, at least it’s out there.
However, all that aside, I’m writing this at the beginning of August and we haven’t had a single response from any of it so far. So rather than detail what happened at each company today and on March 3, I think I’m going to wait, see if anything does indeed happen, and then write about how that came about.
I have to say that I was very well received by most receptionists I encountered, and in most places I was able to leave a copy for the person I wanted to leave one for. Look, I got us in there, and whether they do anything on us or not, I hope at least a media person – or even personality – or two now knows that we actually exist. This has got an enormous ‘who knows?’ element to it. For now, I’m choosing to file it under general awareness campaign. And if we manage to hit any radars through any other means or avenues, maybe, just maybe, someone will remember, oh yeah. That book I got a while ago. Maybe I should have a look at it. Like I said, this is a big huge tower of who knows. And at the very least, I know I did the work, hit the street, and got it out and hopefully into actual hands. Oh, and while London does have great transport, things don’t always quite link the way you would hope they would. So it’s often simply just easier, and even quicker to walk from one place to another. As a result, in between a few tube journeys today, I walk around six miles. Like I said, I really hit the street. As for why, emails, social media, all that stuff. I just don’t think anyone sees it anymore. Certainly anyone working on a major newspaper or radio station. How many emails do you open? And social media is what now? I’m going to give the conclusion first. I think it’s gone from the great new exciting frontier to essentially useless. As a result, with live becoming less and less of a tractionable option and social media being, well, what I’ve just said, I think anyone trying to do anything in music right now from point zero is in a big nasty smelling dilemma. Venues are closing everywhere. Most stages that are available are run by ‘promoters’ who insist you do all the promoting and if you can’t bring 30 people you can’t play. I’ve covered this before, but it’s worth repeating. Even if you are able to bring your 30 people, they ain’t going to go to any other gig of yours anytime soon so that’s that bolt shot for at least six months. With more and more venues closing outside London, more and more people are coming to London where there are at least still places to play. Which means their friends and family totally justifiably see it as a big day out, meaning those bands can guarantee ‘promoters’ a crowd. So we’re just on something of a cycle of out of town bands getting booked. Which means that any type of local scene just becomes non-existent. And those bands bringing their entourages are just playing to their entourages because, let’s face it, people no longer go to any grassroots gigs to take a punt on an unknown band in the hope of seeing the next big stars. So fewer (to non-existent) gigs, but hey, everyone still wants everyone to know about their music, including us of course. So the whole world and its mother piles onto social media, meaning it is a ridiculously overcrowded place of desperation to the point that actually no-one cares. At all. I really don’t think any band is going to break on social media, if they ever actually did – beyond a one hit wonder TikTok sensation I mean. Of course in any equation there are outliers, but really? Yes I know, people win the lottery too but that doesn’t mean anyone should make it part of their life plan, although again, yeah. I’m aware there are people who do. Oh. Side note here. I once worked with – or at least in the vicinity of because I never actually spoke to him – a guy who used to come in every day after lottery day in a terrible mood because he hadn’t won. And I mean in a kicking bins, slamming doors, telling everyone to get the hell out his way, way. When I once asked someone what was wrong with him, after I’d noticed this was a regular occurrence – in a once a week clockwork type of way – I was told it was because he hadn’t won the lottery the night before. I can’t begin to imagine what he must have been like at home as the balls dropped and he dropped his balls.
Anyway, back to it. The way we’re absolutely bombarded with adverts now to the point that so many social media concepts are simply being turned off, I think bands saying different variations of, please listen to my new song, has the same effect. And yes we also want people to listen to our new song, but we know it just ain’t happening. And. No. One. Cares. I’ll admit it. I don’t even care when a band puts up their new release and tries to shove it in front of me. I get it. The total apathy to new music and undiscovered ‘talent.’ I get it.
All that is to say that I think it’s back to hitting the street, taking hard copies which people can actually see, hold and read, and actually meeting actual real people. I don’t think the effectiveness of that ever went away. I think the internet just made everyone think they could get famous or successful by just staying at home and putting out ‘content.’ And I have to acknowledge that that does work for some – see above. Which only encourages everyone to do it more. But not just more. It seems to have become the only thing to do. But I think it’s become that to such an extent that we have reached, or already reached the point some time ago, of total oversaturation.
Because I tell you what, I really did get some great reactions from a few people on receptions and in dispatch areas today, and had some really lovely conversations with them. The overall reaction was respect at someone actually getting out and trying to make something happen the old fashioned way. And huge respect that we had a book in the first place. Quite a few times, people were perfectly proper and polite but, you know, receptiony. Until I showed them the book and, well, the level of respect and, er, reception, just went to whole new levels. So yeah. Getting it out there.
Day 605
Monday March 3
Second media day.
If you read Friday, ditto. If you didn’t, please do. Side note. I manage to walk almost ten miles today. So again, yeah. Getting it out there.
Day 608
Thursday March 6
OK Primrose Hill Community library. We’re going there. I know rejection. Almost a lifetime of rejection. Took me seven years and well over 500 approaches to get my foot in the door and get my first full time job as a journalist. Once I managed that, after being told for years that I was wasting my time and clearly wasn’t good enough, I’d doubled my starting salary within a year.
Deciding to pursue any kind of creative endeavour in even the smallest possible serious way means you have, by default, accepted rejection almost as a lifestyle choice. Including rejection of new songs when you take the risk to play them to a new audience, which we do all the time. And in a few entries time, we’ll come across someone from one of the most famous and successful bands of the 80s making that exact same point, even from the point of view of being famous. But back to basic rejection and this is on a whole nother level. A local independent library has an actual poster up saying, Read a local author? Yep. Primrose Hill Community Library. All excited and enthusiastic and, I thought, wonderfully received, I left them a book a few weeks ago. They said it would have to be reviewed by their committee. Fair enough. They emailed yesterday to say, sorry but, thankyou but, blah blah blah and all the other blahs.
When I deign to return to them to pick up the book, it’s still pristine in its cellophane package. They hadn’t even opened it to read a single word. Received, considered – absolutely most definitely not – rejected. Read a local author you say Primrose Community Library? It’s a joke. You will not even consider one.
Day 609
Friday March 14
Quite better news today when I head into Camden Guitars and meet the owner Neves, who’s always been really encouraging, to me and just about any other musician who crosses his orbit. He’s massively impressed to see the book and says of course he’ll stock a few. They’re unlikely to sell in here, he warns, as they don’t sell many books. It is after all an instrument shop. But any shelf we can be on is a shelf that is marketing us. Just to be received is a result. Whether or not anyone actually buys one, knowing nothing about us and not having seen a show, well that’s something quite different. But we’re on the shelves of Camden Guitars and we will most definitely take that. Thankyou Neves.
Day 613
Tuesday March 18
The first London chain bookstore says yes. But only one of them. It’s been quite dispiriting to discover how, as central as chains are, there also has to be an individual approach. This can be quite nice, as you can pitch yourselves. But come on. I know I said there are no magic bullets, but can’t we at least have one hit that produces a few results. I know I know. Keep going. You really do have to do everything yourself. Apparently this doesn’t stop even once you’ve successfully got yourself an agent and a publisher. Unless you end up being one of the big outliers who immediately gets a six figure advance and a big stack of books in the windows of bookshops everywhere. Even one of my favourite non-fiction music authors, and a writer of some massively notable works says that all publishing is self publishing.
To get back to it, the chain I’m talking about here is Daunts, and in particular, the one in Belsize Park. This is going to turn into a bit of a saga because even here, we discover that just getting orders processed and through our distributor can be a bit of an exercise in heavy lifting. We might get to that.
Day 635
Wednesday April 9
A new bookstore has opened in Camden, called Camden Town Bookshop. I’ve been chatting with manager Natasha on and off. Today she says she will take it. Brilliant. We’re in another one.
