Skip to main content

1st blog post on bahern7. Topic: Publishing and Ether Books



Ether Books launched at the London Book Fair in April 2010. They're a relatively new company and quite technological. Their whole premise is that, with roughly 70% of the world's citizens owning a mobile phone, the time is ripe to deliver short content (i.e. short stories) to a rapidly emerging smartphone market. As of now their free app is compatible with Apple's iPhone, iPod touch and the iPad, with plans to expand to the Android market i.e. smartphones operating on a Google designed platform later in 2011. The rise of smartphones along with the ever increasing popularity of e-book readers such as Amazon's Kindle does, indeed, seem to indicate that e-books and e-reading will be central to the future of literature.

Naturally, I'm excited to be involved with such a pioneering company as Ether. In the thoroughly modern fashion, I first came across them on Twitter. I saw a link to their submissions page and decided to try my luck. I was a little daunted when I saw that amongst the people they published were such names as Sir Paul McCartney, Hilary Mantel and the well-known Irish writer Maggie O'Farrell. Nonetheless, I sent one of my stories and heard nothing for about 5 days when the lovely lady at Ether, Maureen Scott, emailed me back to say that they would like to publish my story and others. She attached a two-year contract which I signed and scanned back to them. This was at the end of last year (2010). To date, they've published four of my stories with another, Afternoon Tea, due to be released at any time now. I've several more stories completed and several others in progress. I am hopeful of publishing as many as possible over the course of this year and next. It gives me great pleasure to think that to publish 10 stories, for example, is the equivalent of an entire collection published via the more traditional routes. Roll on the novel:-) Brian
Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 1, 2011 at 2:03 PM

    Hi Brian
    Agree Ether is a great idea and of the moment. I too sent in a submission 'on the off-chance' and now the story is on there. Good to be out there not to mention 'upsides' with celebs. ~good luck with your writing.
    AliB

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownMay 3, 2011 at 12:27 PM

    Hi Brian - have you made any money from Ether books?

    ReplyDelete
  3. bahern7May 4, 2011 at 3:15 PM

    Hello Kate, No money thus far I'm afraid. But we shall see. For me at this stage the thrill is simply in being published. Perhaps that's naivety on my part, however, I've no doubt I'll grow out of it:-) Brian

    ReplyDelete
  4. bahern7May 4, 2011 at 3:16 PM

    And thank you, AliB for your good wishes:-)B

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Year in the Life (thereabouts)

                                                  It begins. November 2017. He read the following: 'with such a look of bliss on his face that the people realized he had been transfigured by a holy ecstasy'.  I see you lithe and watery-eyed, flitting and flecked from activity, your fine bounce and flawless stride pump the rivers of my ecstasy. What's gone wrong, what's brought on such a massive change? From highness on the wine of life to hungover on earthly strife. Gliding gulls in the grey sky. Dublin December morning. You're the golden summit of what comes up here to live every single day.  He worried that he was becoming numerically dyslexic. He would seek out Catalan lessons in the new year. It was the day when Unwin and Quintana came by. One of those recurring dreams I have set on Abercorn Road. In a technology trance he thought of colonies on the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Far Enchanting Shore

  v.1  I felt the breath of angels        As I walked out the door        They came from the future        From a far enchanting shore.        I spoke to my robot        When I got home at night        I asked it to show me        God's eternal light.                      chorus                 First we're here             And then we're gone  x2 v.2 I danced with the angels       In the morning on the beach       They spoke to me of places       That were just beyond my reach.       I spoke to my robot       Later in the day      I told it I relied upon      The things it had to say.       ...
Post a Comment
Read more

A True Story

      Wherein we encounter Mr. Grudge Galmount...   Forget wood. He wanted to be a carpenter of words. So he persevered and wondered if he was writing the longest suicide note in history.   He was jolted in his mind to St. Valentine’s day in 1996:                                                          “Morning time blinding sun,                                               Terrible letter has come,            ...
Post a Comment
Read more