The day you deliver a new manuscript to your publishers is one of blissful happiness, apprehension and fear - roughly in equal proportions. Sometime in the next 48 hours, members of my publishing team will start phoning to tell me what they think of the new book - and if you listen very carefully, and are able to dismiss the meaningless platitudes, you will discover what they really think. They're all off to the Frankfurt Book Fair this week, which in some ways makes it even more intense.
The 14th draft of Paths of Glory was delivered to the Chief Executive of Macmillan in London, and to St Martin's Press in New York, at 12.04pm, and an hour later to my agent, Jonathan Lloyd, who I joined for lunch. It's a coincidence that I should be handing in my new book in the same week that the paperback of my latest book, A Prisoner of Birth is being published, so Jonathan was just as interested in focussing on the launch of the paperback this Friday.
I'm taking a short break from writing, before jumping back on the merry-go-round in January. Mind you, looking at my diary, I see that I have 16 charity auctions between now and early December, which funnily enough does give one a complete break. The first is tonight at the Waldorf for Leukaemia Research, and tomorrow for St John Ambulance at the Guildhall. I'll report on these later in the week.
The 14th draft of Paths of Glory was delivered to the Chief Executive of Macmillan in London, and to St Martin's Press in New York, at 12.04pm, and an hour later to my agent, Jonathan Lloyd, who I joined for lunch. It's a coincidence that I should be handing in my new book in the same week that the paperback of my latest book, A Prisoner of Birth is being published, so Jonathan was just as interested in focussing on the launch of the paperback this Friday.
I'm taking a short break from writing, before jumping back on the merry-go-round in January. Mind you, looking at my diary, I see that I have 16 charity auctions between now and early December, which funnily enough does give one a complete break. The first is tonight at the Waldorf for Leukaemia Research, and tomorrow for St John Ambulance at the Guildhall. I'll report on these later in the week.
7 Comments:
Dear Lord Archer
Good day. You had written "the prodigal daughter" as a sequel to "kane and abel" and it was great. I was wondering why you dont do more sequels, and would especially like to read a sequel to your first book, "not a penny more, not a penny less" , they say you can never forget your first love, or in your case, you should never forget your first book, especially the book which set you off as a great writer and made so many readers happy...just my two cents....looking forward to reading more of your books...cheers...Sachal Lakhwani (essel1@yahoo.com) Pakistan
anonymous - many thanks for your comments. I did think of writing a sequel to 'Not a Penny', but in the end, decided against it. Best wishes.
Can't wait when Paths of Glory are in the bookshops... or should I rather say are available for pre-order on Amazon :) It took me one Saturday afternoon to read A Prisoner of Birth and I thoroughly enjoyed it - like all of your books in fact. I must have been around twelve when I first read Not a penny more, Not a penny less and I would lie if I said that any of your books disappointed me :)
It's good to know that another one's coming!
Dear Jeffrey
I was at the Cheltenham Literary Festival last weekend - Do you ever attend any of these events? When I got the brochure I avidly looked for your name as i would have loved the opportunity to meet you.
Can't wait for your next book as I have them all.
Kindest regards,
Rosemary x
Dear Lord Archer
I am damn glad to know that your next book Paths Of Glory is on the way. I am eagerly looking forward to reading it. I have read all your books and have enjoyed every one of them.
Warm regards
Panchali.
Dear Jeffrey,
I can see that you are taking a well earned rest. However, please bear in mind ‘we’ poor readers. As it is apparent in the publishing industry, people finish reading books well before another is published by their favourite author. So, we either switch to another ‘well known’ author, or we choose a a different book based on it’s title and/or synopsis by ANY author, or we just twiddle our thumbs whilst reading any old jargon that keeps us remotely occupied and happy....Short Sharp Satisfaction.
Here are a few absolutely barmy brainstorming ideas :
1) Could you possibly clone yourself at least 11 times, so that every month in the year is covered by a different book written by you (and your clones) ?
2) I am sure there is some kind of authors’ club, where you meet and exchange ideas etc. Why can’t the top authors agree to schedule their books’ release dates, so that the readers are not left with empty voids.
3) Perhaps you could simultaneously write 12 books (as they do in the TV serials and soap operas, but using more resources) and then take a break in the caribbean and watch some cricket. CRICKET + GOOD WEATHER = BLISS.
4) You could write a book with a record breaking amount of pages and small print, where it would take more than 6 months for the average reader to finish (and perhaps very strong reading glasses too).
I can appreciate the time and effort that goes into writing a ‘Bestseller’, and would never suggest compromising quality. I have tried on many occasions, to write a book myself (about my life). I got as far as opening ‘Microsoft Word’, stared hopelessly at a blank document, then reverted to doing fun stuff. So, I can see how difficult it must be to churn out book after book.
I look forward to reading ‘Paths of Glory’ when it’s released.
Best regards,
Hitesh
Hitesh - many thanks indeed for your email and your comments - which I enjoyed so much I read to my agent! Much appreciate you taking the trouble to write. Best wishes.
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