First books arrive

Friday lunchtime. Doorbell rings. Peanut (beloved schnauzer) barks ecstatically, as she always does for the doorbell.

I open the door.

See van parked in middle of street. Take photo through roses:

Photograph from the doorstep of terraced house in London, showing a DPD delivery van in the middle of the street, with doors open.

One by one, the driver brings over four boxes. They’re marked FRAGILE.

He puts them on the doorstep and takes a photo for his records.

I reciprocate:

Photograph of four boxes marked FRAGILE, on a doorstep, with legs of delivery driver visible behind.

Unless I’m horribly mistaken, these are the first 90 printed copies of my self-published book, A Speccy Man Has A Breakdown.

It’s about a time when I too could have been marked FRAGILE, though preferably not with a binding of red-and-white tape.

***

Self-published?

"Lately, I have noticed a push to specifically label self-publishing as “indie” publishing... this use of the term "indie" to refer to self-published books is, ironically, using language to make your book appear more mainstream. The indiest thing you can do is call your book self-published. And, I think, the most impressive thing someone can do is create a terrific looking book that they are unafraid to call self-published." — Nathaniel Roy