Travesty Back On Track, Icarus In A Holding Pattern

It's astonishing how much effort goes into maintaining an existing bibliography.

Even if I never wrote another word, there's still always work to do.  Updating bios, links & the book list itself, porting galleys over to new devices, selling from my current inventory when I'm not even expecting it and overhauling or editing from my database of essays.  It's not a full time job, but to do it properly it probably could be.
Last week I said that it would only be a matter of time before I started writing again.  Well, that time has come.  I dusted off the current manuscript for Travesty (the follow up book for Mockery) and started quietly adding to it.  Working on any project (like the new video show) sparks a certain momentum in the creative part of my brain, so everything else is falling into place.  A third of the Travesty  book is already complete, which leaves roughly a hundred more pages.  Piece of cake.
It occurred to me a few days ago that I've had a book published (under the Doubt It Publishing imprint or through other publishers) every other year for the past twelve years.  That doesn't even seem real to me.  I just plug along and write one essay at a time.  They pile up into a book, the book gets put together, proof read, designed and packaged, released and then promoted.
Icarus On The Mend: Memoirs Of A Manic Depressive was a much different project than anything I'd worked on up to that point (2010-2012).  It took a lot out of me, and I wanted to take a break after writing it.  Due to personal problems, the limited print run hardcover was never effectively promoted in clubs, stores or libraries.  I'm not done with it yet, but I'm certainly not going to promote it at present.
The idea for Travesty was largely inspired by working with Mark McElligott on publishing and promoting his book, Random Thoughts From A Broken Mind.  He reminded me that essays (rants, whatever you'd like to call them in this day and age) don't HAVE to be sixteen pages long and that often, they're funnier and punchier when they're short.  I went back to basics when I started writing Travesty.  When I first started writing consistently for a deadline (for the Clarence High School Advocate, which I was also the Editor In Chief on), I punched out essays on a Brother electric typewriter and wrote each one in one sitting.  Essays (at heart) are designed by nature to be written (or read) in one sitting.  They shouldn't be an ordeal that's digested piecemeal.  There's a real joy in returning to the roots of how I got started in this messy business to begin with.
If time (and routine, and my track record) is any indicator, Travesty will be in readers' hands by the fall of 2015.  I have no timetable for the mass market two volume trade paperback launch of Icarus On The Mend.  When all 50 copies of the limited run hardcovers have found a home, Icarus will fly again, so to speak.
And I've been mulling over sharing some of the new writing on my official web site: Big Words I Know By Heart.  I don't want to give the entire book away, but I'll drop a morsel this Friday just to give you a taste of what's going into the pot.  This Friday I'll post 'Your Great American Novel', an essay about the aggravations of being approached when people find out that you're a writer.  After seven days online, it's going back into the vault.  Sound fair?

See you all in three days time,
Tom Waters    

Doubt It Publishing @The Buffalo Small Press Book Fair

The show must go on!

While I'm not sure if I'll be able to attend or not due to work obligations, Doubt It Publishing will have a table at the event along with a catalog of books on sale at The Buffalo Small Press Book Fair.  Doubt It authors Mark McElligott (Random Thoughts From A Broken Mind) and David Waters (12 Priests & 3 Gnomes) will be at the event to hawk their wares, sign some books and meet and greet with attendees.  The boys will also have copies of If They Can't Take A Joke, Slapstick & Superego, Mockery and Poke The Scorpion With A Sharp Stick for sale. 

This will be the third year that Doubt It Publishing will participate in the event.  The Buffalo Small Press Book Fair takes place on Saturday, March 24th at the Karpeles Manuscript Museum in downtown Buffalo from noon-6 p.m.  For more information, feel free to visit:  http://www.buffalosmallpress.org/  

Buy our books already!

Tom Waters

Publisher, Author

Doubt It Publishing  

The Willy Wonka Theorem

            Time to face facts.  Doubt It Publishing cemented the publishing house with Voices From The Herd: An Anthology For Buffalo, NY.  Despite the time involved, anthologies are an easy project to attract local writers.  The project was a colossal success and the proceeds that the book has earned for The Just Buffalo Literary Center will resonate for years to come.   

            Lightning struck twice when heretofore unknown Mark McElligott sent his manuscript along for Random Thoughts From A Broken Mind, which was easily one of the funniest books I've read in fifteen years.  While Mark (and the contents of his book) aren't exactly family friendly, we found a niche for his talent and his book continues to entertain while finding a new audience.    

            The open reading submission for 2011 was less than satisfactory.  I'm slightly saddened to announce that there won't be any Doubt It Publishing Author Of The Year this year because, truth be told, I put all of my eggs in two or three baskets.  Not one, but three promising manuscripts passed my desk that held promise.  One had potential but it wasn't polished enough.  Another had stellar character development but the author's needs and requests were unreasonable.  The final project was perfect but the person behind the collection couldn't commit.

            I've spent the last ten years interviewing writers to find out what works and what doesn’t.  What behaviors succeed, what personality traits work and which ones don't.  In the same sense, I've spent a lifetime learning what it means to run a successful publishing business.  Many schools in the music business open their doors to anyone willing to collect a paycheck and find themselves on the verge of bankruptcy within a few years.  Other ventures weed out new creative endeavors after a short time and turn to subsidy publishing, choosing only to publish and copyright their own work. 

            Doubt It Publishing is an ideal.  A publishing house that was built to foster new, subversive and talented Buffalo authors and save them from the pitfalls and aggravations that I've gone through for the last ten years.  This won't be a vanity house and it won't be a catch-all for any author coming down the pike.  It has to be an imprint that welcomes those of you promising enough to make the cut who are willing to put as much work into promoting your book as you did writing it. 

            2012 is a wash.  The Doubt It Publishing docket for this year has failed.  So we grow, evolve and adapt.  Here's the decision moving forward: The Call For Submissions will be year round from here on out.  As the Publisher and Editor In Chief, I will no longer depend on any one writer or any one manuscript.  There will no longer be a six month reading period.  If you have a promising work and you want to publish and promote it next year, I want to work with you.  The business model remains.  I'm still looking for one book to work with, but I'm swinging the submission gates wide open. 

            Tell me what you've been working on, Buffalo.  You've got all year to do it, and every year from here on out. 

Please send your sample chapters, query letters or entire manuscripts to: bigwordsmailbag@yahoo.com   

Out With The Old, In With The New

2011 was truly a banner year all around.  If someone told me this time last year that I’d launch three books in the span of 8 months while working on two more and holding down a full time job, I’d tell them they were nuts.
Mockery got better media exposure than my last three books combined and went on to sell more copies faster than any other book I’ve released.  In terms of sales it’s second only to If They Can’t Take A Joke.  It continues to sell steadily even though the inaugural push is over with.
Mark McElligott’s Random Thoughts From A Broken Mind was a resounding breakout success from a talented and previously unheard of writer.  Together we managed to find a larger audience for his idiosyncratic brand of humor in his hometown of Lockport as well as throughout Buffalo.  And while there was no real launch campaign for Poke The Scorpion With A Sharp Stick, it’s turned a tidy profit since its release in August that would make its previous poetry predecessors proud.  The collection was received as an entertaining step forward compared to both Breathing Rooms.
            Somehow this year I also managed to get banned from Time Warner Cable and earned a film credit for the music video ‘I Wanna Be Oprah’ (which is still available on YouTube).  I guess we can chalk both up to being in the right place at the right time.
            As far as Big Words Radio, Season 4 turned out to be the magic number.  Somehow despite the over-the-top comedy and subversive, offensive content the show turned out to be the Little Podcast That Could, finding an audience of over 3,000 listeners per month.  Season 5 promises to be just as crass and irreverent as it’s always been, so stay tuned!
The next two years should be light duty compared to this one.  I’m putting the finishing touches on Icarus On The Mend: Memoirs Of A Manic Depressive before working on the cover and interior design with cover artist Derek Patrick Evoy and graphic designer Brian Platter (Six Shot Studios) for a firm signed and numbered (50 copies only) hardcover release date of October 25th, 2012.  Exactly one year later the book will appear again in two trade paperback volumes for the general public.
It remains to be seen whether there will be a 2012 Doubt It Publishing Author Of The Year.  The book I devoted countless time into proofreading, editing and consultation on fell through due to contract negotiations and after Voices From The Herd I have zero interest in extending a call for submissions.  I am working with someone on something else but time will tell if the concept bears fruit or not.
Thanks for such a spectacular year, everybody.  I look forward to a productive and financially successful New Year!

Sincerely,
Tom Waters

Book Signing Dec.4th @Talking Leaves Elmwood w/Mark McElligott

After a four month flurry of promotions together, Mark McElligott and I are still a bit tired and weary.  Nevertheless, we are planning some book events during the busy holiday season.  On Sunday, December 4th, we'll both be at Talking Leaves on Elmwood from 4-6 pm signing copies of Poke The Scorpion With A Sharp Stick, Mockery and Mark's breakout hit Random Thoughts From A Broken Mind.  All three books will be available for $15.  Talking Leaves currently has all three books in stock at both their Elmwood and Main St. locations.

I'm also in the process of setting something up at Dog Ears Books in South Buffalo for December, so stay tuned for news about that.  On top of that, Mark's shown an interest in booking an event at Café Karma in Lockport, so odds are strong that we'll book something for him there. 

Even when we're not busy, we're busy.  I'm promoting lightly on Poke The Scorpion until my calendar frees up, so please try to make it out to Talking Leaves if you want a copy.  My time for the next month is deeply invested in proof-reading an editing a possible manuscript for next year and everything else is on a back burner for the time being.  While my poetry books have never been blockbusters in terms of sales, they're steady sellers over the years and they mean every bit as much to me as the humor books or other projects. 

We look forward to seeing you in December,

Tom Waters

Poke The Scorpion Publicity Junket Rescheduled for late October

     I try to follow my instincts, and my gut tells me that it's a smarter idea to promote Poke The Scorpion With A Sharp Stick during the actual Scorpio season, which runs from October 23rd through November 21st.  While the book is already out online, it makes more sense to promote it effectively during the boom season for the rest of my tribe, so to speak.  While I'm not superstitious and while I don't cling to too many pat philosophies, there are too many parallels and far too many coincidences associated with the Scorpio sign that are worth giving tribute to.  The entire book is devoted to the Scorpio mentality along with scorpions as a species.
     While my poetry collections make up a very small percentage of my overall revenue, the new book is still worth hitting the road and promoting.  Some people shut down instantaneously when you even mention the word poetry, so they're not going to even be receptive.  Other people's ears perk up at the notion of something new and innovative.  Others can be converted given the right circumstances.  That's the market I'm going after.  It's my wish to incorporate a few readings, signings and related events along with some old tricks that have worked in the past.  Mark McElligott will be joining me on the journey in Buffalo and beyond.  The Monsters Of Verse will get back into the habit this fall with a few coffee houses and a few bookstores.  I'm entertaining the idea of even doing some guest bartending stints just for the hell of it.
     Breathing Room Volume I was wildly successful considering the miniscule hopes I had for it.  Volume II did just okay by comparison, but it was weirder, so that's okay.  The few people who picked up the first batch of Scorpion books have called it 'the best poetry book I've written so far.'  It may be my last.  Locking into that frame of mind is difficult to do, but I'd be happy to go out on a high note where poetry is concerned.
     Please enjoy your summers and free up a few weekends in late October and November.  Poke The Scorpion will be hitting you where it hurts soon enough.  In the mean time, I'll be crouched in a small dark place waiting to strike.  Like most scorpions.
Thanks for staying tuned,
Tom Waters 

Poke The Scorpion With A Sharp Stick: 30% Off Soft Launch Orders!

Here we go again…

            It's July 1st and (as promised), I'm proud to announce the heavily discounted soft launch of Poke The Scorpion With A Sharp Stick, my third collection of angry, funny and oversexed poetry.  While I wouldn't say that this go round is tamer than Breathing Room Volume I and II, it is softer somehow.  I wrote the bulk of the book right before and right after my wedding, so there's a soft sense of acceptance and inner peaceto the body of work that sets it apart from the other two books.  I'm very proud of the collection for the leap forward in originality as well as the design and the format.  For those of you willing to take a chance on something different, you won't be disappointed.  From now until August (when I plan on promoting the book in Buffalo), Scorpion will be 30% off if you buy direct on lulu.com.  Here's your quick link:

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/poke-the-scorpion-with-a-sharp-stick-selected-poems-2008-2011/16130225

            After four solid months of interviews, press releases, and appearances for Mockery, I'm ready for a break.  Mark McElligott, Dave 'The Real Deal' Waters and I have one more outing at Brennan's Bowery Bar next Sunday (The Brennan's Boxed Trifecta) on Sunday, July 10th at 6 p.m. and then I've got a month off before we kick back into high gear.  I've never felt that summer was a good time to promote because there are too many other events going on to compete with, so we'll be resting up and waiting out the season before we get right back into it this fall. 

            For those of you who helped to make Mockery my fastest-selling book, thank you.  It's on target to be my best-selling humor collection to date by year's end.  There's a momentum to all of this that seems to be catching up to me this year in a good way.  Hopefully most of you will make the leap of faith over to Scorpion and join me for the second half of this year.  Things are only going to get better from here on out.  There's a lot left to accomplish. 

Enjoy your 4th of July and buy my new damned book!

Tom Waters  

'Scorpion' Rising, Icarus Ascends & Rust Belt Books On The Horizon

            While Mockery is winding down and Mark McElligott's Random Thoughts From A Broken Mind is still gaining momentum, I've been quietly preparing to go full steam ahead with promotions this fall with Poke The Scorpion With A Sharp Stick.  Brian Platter (Six Shot Studios) and I finished the book in record time.  While I originally set a deadline for the final version of the book at August 1st, it's already done.  You can buy the book in advance by clicking your way over to:

  http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/poke-the-scorpion-with-a-sharp-stick-selected-poems-2008-2011/16069791

            Please click the FB 'Like' tab to the right of the book and feel free to review, comment or rate the book while you're there.  There's a ten page preview of the contents on the page in order to give you a sneak peek at how the book looks. 

            Starting on July 1st (through the end of the month), I'll be running a 30% off sale on lulu for those of you interested in buying the book online.  This should offset their shipping rates and make the book more affordable to those of you who live out of state who are interested in picking up the third poetry collection.  After that I'll be doing a soft launch on Sunday, July 10th at Brennan's Bowery Bar in Williamsville at 6 p.m. along with Mark McElligott and a live musical performance by Dave 'The Real Deal' Waters.  If you're a former classmate from Clarence High School, it sounds as if the classes of '92, '93, '94 and beyond will be dog piling into Brennan's on the same day for an informal reunion.  At last count, there will be no less than 50 other alumni showing up, so this event is shaping up to be a real barn burner.  Signed First Edition copies of Poke The Scorpion, Mockery, Slapstick & Superego, Breathing Room Volume I & II, and If They Can't Take A Joke will be available along with Random Thoughts From A Broken Mind by Mark McElligott and 12 Priests & 3 Gnomes by David Waters. 

            The hard launch for Poke The Scorpion will hit in August and Mark and I will start touring and promoting in Rochester, Buffalo, Alfred and beyond.  While I was apprehensive about releasing two of my own books in the same year, it was a necessary evil I had to carry out in order to devote the time and energy it's going to take to bring Icarus On The Mend in on time for a fall 2012 launch as a numbered hardcover limited edition of no more than 50 copies.  I'll be devoting at least six months to proofreading, editing and re-writing the manuscript so that it's grammatically correct as well as entertaining from a pacing standpoint.  One year later in 2013 I'll be retiring the hardcover format and launching two smaller volumes of the same book with the intention of releasing a third volume when I get older.  Somewhere in the interim I'll release Travesty, a return to shorter form where my bombastic essays are concerned.

            Mark McElligott and I will both be reading this Sunday at Rust Belt Books on Allen St. in the heart of downtown Buffalo at 5 p.m.  We may be a little late, so please be patient with us as we're both driving from the suburbs.  We're paying to rent the space, so attendance and book sales for this event will be crucial.  The turnout will determine whether I go back to Rust Belt books or not, so if you live downtown, make Sunday count for us please.  This is the first reading I've done at Rust Belt in almost a decade.  Mark is polished and primed and almost pitch perfect where his timing and delivery are concerned.  Stockman's, Caz Coffee and Finnan's were good practice for breaking his teeth on audience response and now he's ready for prime time.  Look out, Buffalo, because we're ready to make a sizeable entertainment dent in the collective populace for the rest of this year and we won't stop until we win you over.

See you this Sunday,

Tom Waters   

Cheers & Jeers: Events As They Develop

Okay, here's the rundown for this particular week…

            Doubt It Publishing Author Mark McElligott will be reading selections from his breakout debut book Random Thoughts From A Broken Mind  this Saturday at Caz Coffee Café at 7 p.m. in South Buffalo.  Our turnout was less than ideal at Finnan's Pub last Sunday, so it would be really nice to see some of you who might be remotely interested in supporting local arts actually show up.  While we both realize that the weather is nice out, we're in the final stretch of a three month junket and we're busting our asses to get his book out to a new audience.  If you live in (or near) South Buffalo and you're free on Saturday, please show some support and stop out to see us at Caz Coffee Café. 

            Most marketing and PR experts would suggest that I shouldn't complain about a lack of turnout because it makes me look whiny or it makes us look bad.  I simply don't care.  Mark and I have both invested a great deal of time and money into publishing two books and promoting them and it seems as if (now that the weather has improved) most of you have no interest in discovering just how funny his book is.  Please prove me wrong.  Clear up your schedule, skip a forgettable trip to the beach or a laughable summer venue and come out to see something real.  If you're the sort of person who needs a newspaper to tell you what you should be interested in or what you should spend your disposable income on, take a chance for once and discover the actual art scene in Buffalo versus the Reader's Digest abridged version.  Copies of Random Thoughts From A Broken Mind will be available for $15. 

            On the whole I've been deeply disappointed with audience turnout for this junket.  I have no control over it and there's no way to analyze it, but many of you have let us down.  It's easier to do nothing than it is to do something, so take comfort in your complacency.  To those of you who continue to show up for the book launches, readings and signings and those of you kind enough to tell your friends, spend money at our scheduled venues and spend your hard earned money to support our work, we really appreciate it.  If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be able to continue creating and publishing new books.  If there were more people like you in Buffalo, there's a strong possibility that we'd actually be able to make a living wage doing this and we'd be able to produce a larger body of work, but odds are that that will never happen since most people in Buffalo (again) need to be told what art is worth buying by their local media like lost and sluggish sheep. 

I appreciate the cross section of you smart enough to make your own decisions and the fact that you march to the beat of your own drummer.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making your own informed decisions based on internal judgment instead of a deep-seated need for peer approval or a desire to have someone else tell you what is and isn't entertaining.  If you receive this message via email, I understand that it's infinitely easier to delete this message than it is to take the time to read it and react or respond to it, so for those of you who are reading this right now, thank you.  To those of you who reply or react by showing up to a reading, thank you even more.  I'll get off my soap box now.

At the time of this writing it is now June 9th, so the Doubt It Publishing call for submissions is now wide open until November 1st.  Again, if you're a local (Buffalo) writer and you have a completed manuscript or a draft in the realm of fiction, non-fiction, poetry or short stories, please send your manuscript in at: bigwordsmailbag@yahoo.com.  One of you will be chosen for publication in 2011 and I'll give you the full force of my attention and publicity skills to ensure that we both turn a tidy profit on your brain trust in addition to setting up a slate of appearances and book signings.  If you're willing to put in the work, so am I. 

Thanks in large part to graphic designer extraordinaire Brian Platter (Six Shot Studios), Poke The Scorpion With A Sharp Stick is coming along at a brisk pace.  The book should be available by August 1st at the rate we're going, but I won't count my chickens yet.  The format size is being developed so that it bridges Breathing Room Volume I and II.  The size of the book will be somewhere in between both, which says a lot about the content.  The cover looks gorgeous and I couldn't be happier with the bold design choices that Brian has made for the interior.  For those of you daring enough to jump head first into a poetry book, you're in for a pleasant surprise this fall.  JR Finlayson, David Waters and a host of other local poets and I will be touring throughout Buffalo after the festival and concert season in autumn to promote the book as well as other books. 

This Sunday I'll be returning to Think Twice Radio to interview broadcasting icon Brian Kahle for The Big Words I Know By Heart Radio Hour along with local artist and blogger John Kindelan.  We'll be talking about censorship, the line that's blurred between advertising an investigative journalism and the current state of Buffalo broadcasting.  The conversation will be bold and uncompromising, but I'm sure you've come to expect that from me.  Your frequent (and often vocal) encouragement has molded me into the person I am today. 

These are exciting times.  While my pace may be brisk and my candor unforgiving, it's all because I'm building the framework for a larger plan.  The first ten years of my professional career as a writer are over.  I'm headlong into the next ten and the scope and landscape of a grander design is well underway.  For those of you willing to participate and play along, I'm eternally grateful.  As for the rest of you, you're missing out on something very real and extremely fun. 

Race you to next week,

Tom Waters