“Declan Burke is his own genre. The Lammisters dazzles, beguiles and transcends. Virtuoso from start to finish.” – Eoin McNamee “This bourbon-smooth riot of jazz-age excess, high satire and Wodehouse flamboyance is a pitch-perfect bullseye of comic brilliance.” – Irish Independent Books of the Year 2019 “This rapid-fire novel deserves a place on any bookshelf that grants asylum to PG Wodehouse, Flann O’Brien or Kyril Bonfiglioli.” – Eoin Colfer, Guardian Best Books of the Year 2019 “The funniest book of the year.” – Sunday Independent “Declan Burke is one funny bastard. The Lammisters ... conducts a forensic analysis on the anatomy of a story.” – Liz Nugent “Burke’s exuberant prose takes centre stage … He plays with language like a jazz soloist stretching the boundaries of musical theory.” – Totally Dublin “A mega-meta smorgasbord of inventive language ... linguistic verve not just on every page but every line.Irish Times “Above all, The Lammisters gives the impression of a writer enjoying himself. And so, dear reader, should you.” – Sunday Times “A triumph of absurdity, which burlesques the literary canon from Shakespeare, Pope and Austen to Flann O’Brien … The Lammisters is very clever indeed.” – The Guardian

Friday, October 22, 2010

On Blowing Up Hospitals For Charity

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away (February 17th, to be precise, in a parallel universe where generosity rules), I wrote a piece about self-publishing my current novel-under-consideration, aka A GONZO NOIR, aka BAD FOR GOOD. The response was truly humbling - the three regular readers of Crime Always Pays obviously have a lot of friends.
  The idea at the time was to ‘crowd-fund’ the publication of A GONZO NOIR, by asking people to pledge a certain amount of money to the Kickstarter site. Once the sum required to self-publish was achieved, I’d go ahead and publish, and everyone who pledged would receive a brand spanking new copy of the novel. The response, as I say, was fantastic - and thanks to everyone who got in touch warning me against the idea too, the idea being to protect me from myself.
  Before I go any further - and a hard sell’s a-gonna fall, don’t doubt that - let me take a moment to reassure any non-regular readers that I’m not just another self-deluding moron, or at least that I’m not a self-deluding moron when it comes to writing books. I took the liberty of sending out the m/s to a number of writers late last year, requesting blurbs if the novel should ever be published, and a sample runs thusly:
“A genuinely original take on noir, inventive and funny. Imagine, if you can, a cross between Flann O’Brien and Raymond Chandler.” – John Banville, author of THE SEA

“BAD FOR GOOD is unlike anything else you’ll read this year … Laugh-out-loud funny … This is writing at its dazzling, cleverest zenith. Think John Fowles, via Paul Auster andRolling Stone … a feat of extraordinary alchemy.” – Ken Bruen, author of AMERICAN SKIN

“Burke has written a deep, lyrical and moving crime novel … an intoxicating and exciting novel of which the master himself, Flann O’Brien, would be proud.” – Adrian McKinty, author of FIFTY GRAND

“Stop waiting for Godot – he’s here. Declan Burke takes the existential dilemma of characters writing themselves and turns it on its ear, and then some. He gives it body and soul … an Irish soul.” – Reed Farrel Coleman, author of EMPTY EVER AFTER
  For more, and for reviews of my previous novels, EIGHTBALL BOOGIE and THE BIG O, scroll down and glance to your left. Meanwhile, the most recent big-up I’ve had was from The Artist Formerly Known as Colin Bateman, writing in the Guardian blogs:
“If you want to find something new and challenging, comic crime fiction is now the place to go … Declan Burke [is] at the vanguard of a new wave of young writers kicking against the clichés and producing ambitious, challenging, genre-bending works.” Colin Bateman, author of THE DAY OF THE JACK RUSSELL
  For a taster of what A GONZO NOIR is actually about, clickety-click here
  Now, the hard sell:
  It’s only fair to say that the reaction to A GONZO NOIR has been mixed. Some commissioning editors just didn’t like it, and that’s fair enough. Most did like it, and some even loved it, but the general vibe was that the novel isn’t commercial enough for them to take a gamble on. What that means, I suppose, is that it’s unlikely to sell in many multiples of thousands. Again, fair enough - that’s the way in the industry works, and my sales record to date isn’t exactly sending the boys over at Nielsen into a frenzy.
  It may be naïve, but for what I have in mind, A GONZO NOIR doesn’t have to sell in multiples of thousands. Let me give you some figures:
  According to a quote I’ve received from a UK print-on-demand company, I can get 500 copies of A GONZO NOIR published to industry standard for the princely sum of £1,596.92 stg, which works out at €1,802 (I’ll be using euro from here on in). If I order online, the company delivers the 500 copies for free, which is a nice bonus. That means that the raw cost to me is €3.60 per book. Including post and packaging, the overall cost of the book (were I to post you - yes, YOU! - a copy) is €8.35. If I price the book at €10 (£8.86 / $13.92), that leaves me with a profit of €1.65 per book, or €825 if I sell out the entire run of 500 copies.
  Now, €825 is not a sum of money to be sneezed at in these benighted times, but neither is going to buy me that Greek island I’ve been hankering after for a number of years now. So - what to do with the whopping €825 profit?
  Well, I’ll divert you for a moment to the fact that the Minister for Health, Mary Harney, has announced that the Irish Health Service is to be filleted to the tune of €1 billion in the next budget. That’s €1 billion on top of already serious cuts, and with even more savage cuts to come as the wasters who run this country - or have already run it into the sand - prey on the most vulnerable in order to bail out the bankers, speculators, bluffers, gamblers and sundry other parasites whose debts have been lowered onto the shoulders of the Irish people.
  I’ll also point you, yet again, to the wonderfully subversive philanthropists at the Concord Free Press, who’ve given me the idea for what follows:
Given that A GONZO NOIR is a black farce about a psychopath who wants to blow up a hospital, and that it features my lovely daughter Lily, and that the staff of the Children’s Hospital in Tallaght were absolutely fantastic during Lily’s stay there last year (see above), I’m planning - all going well - to donate the €825 to the Children’s Hospital in Tallaght.
  Yes, I know very well that €825 isn’t even a drop in the ocean of that €1 billion in cuts. But it’s something. And you never know, if we sell out of the 500 copies, we might just get to do another print run. Because the longer this recession goes on, and the worse it gets - and it’s going to get a hell of a lot worse in Ireland before it gets any better, if it ever does - the more ordinary people need to make gestures that actually mean something. The more we need to look out for one another. Because if we’re depending on the fools who got us into this mess to get us out of it, we’ll be a long, long time waiting.
  Anyway, the bad news is that Kickstarter doesn’t allow for charitable projects when it comes to raising funds, so the good news for you - yes, YOU! - is that you don’t need to pledge a penny. But I would appreciate it if you could find the time and space to spread the word about A GONZO NOIR. Because, for good or ill, I’m going to do this. It certainly beats sitting on my hands and bleating helplessly about Cowen, Lenihan, Harney, Anglo-Irish, NAMA, and all the rest of it. Over to you, folks - and thanks in advance.

21 comments:

Unknown said...

Just let me know when the book is ready. I'll take a copy and spread the word on my blog. My three readers will buy a copy as well - or else!

Declan Burke said...

Much obliged, Michael - that's four down, 496 to go. Well, 495, once I get Mary Harney in a half-nelson ...

Cheers, Dec

Anonymous said...

You may be a moron, but you're our moron.

Why not make it €12, and make some more money? 10 or 12 won't make much difference to us.

Alan Griffiths said...

I'm deffo in for a copy, Dec. Best of luck with this project and looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Paul D Brazill said...

A smashing idea. All for it. I've just started Crime Always Pays by the way.Smashing.

David Baynham said...

Dec, I'm in for at least one copy ( probably more as gifts ). And, I will spread the word around Kentucky to libraries for instance. Great idea about the hospital; one of my daughters spent the first months of her life in a neo-natal unit.

David Baynham said...

Dec, I'm in for at least one copy ( probably more as gifts ). And, I will spread the word around Kentucky to libraries for instance. Great idea about the hospital; one of my daughters spent the first months of her life in a neo-natal unit.

Naomi Johnson said...

I'm in for four copies and blog promotion.

Glenna said...

Definitely let us know when the book publishes. I'm looking forward to reading it, and I think that's a very nice idea you had.

Anonymous said...

OK, OK, I'll have a copy or two before they're all gone.

Anonymous said...

Count me in as well.

lil Gluckstern said...

What is that in American? And how can I buy a copy? What a beautiful idea.
So glad Lily is well and delightful.

michael said...

Of course you have my support as well. But I am confused, do I need to go to Kickstarter or pledge here or wait until? I will go for two. If it is possible to just send me one of the two, save yourself the cost of postage and donate my second copy to a local library or hospital or anywhere it will be loved and read.

seana graham said...

I'll bite, as long as you can figure out how we Americans will pay you.

Declan Burke said...

Dear All - much obliged, folks, and thank you kindly for the good vibes. Still at the very early stages, so lots of details to be ironed out, but I'll keep you posted.

Ms Witch - I'm hoping to keep the price of the book to a minimum. Raising the cost of it by a couple of euro isn't really going to make much difference to the donation in the end, especially in terms of that €1 billion cut. It's more about the gesture, really.

Paul - let me know how CAP treats you. Looking forward to it.

David - nothing scarier than a sick child, is there? I used to think I had fears before Lily was born ...

Naomi - a very nice touch re: the blog promotion, ma'am. Much appreciated.

Michael - no need to go to Kickstarter, I can't go that route with a charitable cause, apparently.

Everyone Else - ta for the support, it's marvellous.

Cheers, Dec

critical mick said...

Hey dude,

Sign me up, too! I'll take three.

All the best,

Mick

Ali Karim said...

I'm in for 3 copies - crack on! Ali

Declan Burke said...

Much obliged, gents - multiple copies, too! Very nice indeed ...

Cheers, Dec

TheQ47 said...

Declan, I said it the last time and I'll say it again, you can count me in for at least 1 (maybe 2) copies. I don't have a blog to publicise it, but I'll tell as many people as I can to promote this fantastic idea. Having 3 daughters myself, I hope to never have the hospital experiences you had with Lilly.If I had to, however, I'd like to think it could be as positive as your time in hospital was.

Rob Kitchin said...

Dec, I'll be taking a couple of copies at hardback rates. As for blowing up hospitals, any chance you can change it to Leinster House?

Ego said...

Count me in for one... or two if you have any left.