Who Is John Edward Gill?

As of this morning, Mr. Gill has not responded to my message yesterday. My publisher still has not seen the lawsuit and doesn’t know how Mr. Gill has siezed her personal assets as well as those of Cantarabooks.

A couple of interesting things to note just from digging around. On his website, he claims that his book Sacred Hearts was nominated for a Hemingway/PEN award. But of course, anyone can nominate a book for that award; however, one requirement for eligibility is that the book NOT be self-published.

The publisher for Sacred Hearts is Steel Press Publishing, based in Pittsburgh. There’s very little information publicly available about this company, but it’s website and email address are always listed as Gill’s website and email address. I called the number I found for the company, and it was disconnected. Orders for the book are placed through Gill’s non-profit organization, Children’s Rights of New York (based in Stony Brook, NY, and not to be confused with the better known Children’s Rights organization based in NYC). Is this organization even legitimate? Is there really such a company as Steel Press Publishing? it may be that they went out of business since 2003 when Sacred Hearts was published.

I still have no idea what to think about all this yet.

Who Is John Edward Gill?

I still have no idea what to think about all this yet.

More Thoughts on Cantarabooks’ Problems

Regrettably, my initial post about my publisher’s legal issues was very emotion-driven and one-sided. Of course, my relationship with Cantarabooks has been and remains cordial, but I decided today that I should try and contact John Edward Gill to see if I could get the other side of the story out of him. After all, his web site is that of a serious person and not one who should seem absurdly vindictive or frivolous. And it seems like it should be easy enough to get in touch with him.

So I sent him an email, and we’ll see what happens.

In the interest of full disclosure, this is the message I just sent him.

Mr. Gill,

I’ve come to understand that you are undergoing some legal complaint against Cantara Christopher and/or her publishing company Cantarabooks. I am also a Cantarabooks author, and although my interactions with the company have been professional and on the up and up, so far as I can tell, I wondered what the nature of your complaint is and if it is something other authors represented by their imprint might need to be concerned about.

Yours,

David Hornbuckle

More Thoughts on Cantarabooks’ Problems

Reposted from my Billy Wayne Carter blog.

So I sent him an email, and we’ll see what happens.

In the interest of full disclosure, this is the message I just sent him.

Mr. Gill,

I’ve come to understand that you are undergoing some legal complaint against Cantara Christopher and/or her publishing company Cantarabooks. I am also a Cantarabooks author, and although my interactions with the company have been professional and on the up and up, so far as I can tell, I wondered what the nature of your complaint is and if it is something other authors represented by their imprint might need to be concerned about.

Yours,

David Hornbuckle

Plans and Brainstorms

This is mainly a note for my own use, but I’m leaving it public because I welcome the feedback of my illustrious fans and friends. It’s a little early for New Year’s resolutions, but I’m trying to get all my various projects and ideas plotted out for 2009.

Writing: So essentially, all these projects are in progress already. And I just need to set aside a little time each day for each one, or at least plan to work on at least one of them every day. Lately, I’ve been slacking off..

First order of business is to try and get my novel manuscript Zen, Mississippi published. If I can’t manage to get a deal by, say, early spring, I’m probably going to publish it myself just to get it off my desk and out into the world.
Second is continued work on my as-yet-unnamed new novel.
Then I have the a series of related short stories, tentatively titled Still Life with Infidels. Several stories from the collection are complete, and most of those have been published in various places (such as here and here). I have a few more I still have to write.
I’m also building a separate collection of unrelated short stories. No title yet. Some published. Others not yet published. Still more not yet written.

I have another idea for a book, but it’s going to have to wait. Four books is enough to work on at one time. And that’s not counting the stuff I’m working on with Jennifer Blowdryer, which may eventually turn into either a book or a documentary film.

Bands/Music:

Dixieland Space Orchestra. That band has been on hiatus since, I think September. I want to write some new arrangements, maybe even write some new songs, and definitely refocus the direction and overall sound of the band. I haven’t really started on any of that except some brainstorms about the new sound. Essentially, I want it to be less rock and more Dixieland/avant garde. The rock element has been creeping up. I think I’d also like to do some actual traditional Dixieland songs with our own spin. I think that will help to establish the direction that I’m thinking about.
Gutter & Spine, the indie rock band that I play guitar/drums for. That band should plan on recording a second album next year.
Some friends and I have talked about starting a hardcore band, writing all new material. I’d like to do this. I think we probably should just get together and do it–see what we can get done in a rehearsal or two. Need to write or dig up some lyrics to bring in. I have a couple that we can start off with.
Finally, an idea I had this morning–probably a very dumb idea, and it would only work if we planned to have very limited engagements. Just the Way You Aren’t — hardcore covers of Billy Joel songs. A little something like this cover of Big Shot that my old band Eurotoaster did.

Should I Self-Publish My Next Book?

You all know about my e-book novella, the Salvation of Billy Wayne Carter, which you can buy here. I have another finished novel titled, Zen, Mississippi, which I’ve been trying to get published for about the past year. Every agent that reads it basically says, “I like the writing. You’re a really good writer. I can’t sell this. But definitely send me your next book.”

Well, if they couldn’t sell it then, it seems damn unlikely that anyone could sell it now with the entire mainstream publishing industry essentially facing Armageddon. It was already a difficult business, but this week alone, there were layoffs at Houghton Miffllin and Simon & Schuster, a major shakeup at Random House, and a payment freeze at Penguin. There were also layoffs at Scholastic and Borders recently. So if everything is going to shit anyway, why not take some control and just publish the damn thing myself?

Thoughts?

Generally, self-publishing is looked down upon by the ivory tower elites who hold the reigns of power in that business. It’s harder to get reviews. It’s harder to get distribution. And there’s a general stigma that if you are publishing something yourself, you’ve already failed at the more traditional route. I’m not quite willing to concede failure, but it seems like it might be a while before the industry straightens itself out enough to take what I do seriously. By then, I’ll have another book ready for them. I really want to do something with this book RIGHT NOW. Or soon at least. I’m getting impatient, and I’m addicted to instant gratification (among other things).

Moreover, the hurdles of reviews and distribution are much more easily overcome than they used to be with the rise of Print-on-Demand publishing, Amazon, and other resources available on the web. And even if you get a book deal with a major house, there’s a good chance that you will still have to do most of your own publicity. So I don’t know. Anybody have any advice for me?