Hi guys,
I hope this doesn't count as spam - apologies if it does. The reason I'm posting is that I'm promoting a new novel that I thought might be of interest to users of this forum. It is called Princess Diana's Revenge, and it is by Michael de Larrabeiti, who you might know as the author of The Borrible Trilogy.
Princess Diana's Revenge is a comical, satirical thriller which deals with conspiracy theories relating to the death of Princess Diana. The story revolves around Joe Rapps, a director/cameraman just out of prison who is whisked off to a village in Oxfordshire and becomes embroiled in a plot to avenge Diana's death. Along with The Queen, Princess Diana's Revenge is one of the first fictionalisations to deal with the death of Diana.
Despite the fact that Michael de Larrabeiti is an established author who has published 14 books in his career, being nominated for the Crime Writer's Association Gold Dagger, the Travelex Travel Writer of the Year Award, and The Whitebread Award along the way (amongst others), and despite the fact that his last novel, Foxes' Oven, was long-listed for the Booker Prize, Michael was unable to find a publisher for Princess Diana's Revenge - despite approaching over 30 separate firms. Even his literary agent refused to touch it. Something about this book meant publishers were too scared to go near it.
20 years ago this would have meant that Princess Diana's Revenge would never have been read, like so many other novels which deal with controversial issues. With the advance of the internet, however, Michael has been able to self-publish his novel under his own imprint, Tallis House. It is available to buy through his website, michaeldelarrabeiti.com. More information is available there, and you can download the first chapter of Princess Diana's Revenge for free. There's more stuff on Wikipedia, but I can't add links here as I'm a new member. Search for "Michael de Larrabeiti" and you should find all the information you need.
Thanks very much for taking the time to read this. I'll be monotoring this thread for a while, so if you have any questions about Princess Diana's Revenge then please either ask them here, or email me at info at michaeldelarrabeiti dot com.
Princess Diana's Revenge - a new novel by M. de Larrabeiti
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Bored_Wombat
- Posts: 377
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Princess Diana's Revenge - a new novel by M. de Larrabeiti
It don't matter how vengeful she gets, she's not gettin her look back:
Princess Diana's Revenge - a new novel by M. de Larrabeiti
Bored_Wombat wrote:
Talk about puppy dog eyes!
What an adorable beagle Wombat!
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Jim0203, I'm a huge fan of Princess Di and have just finished reading "The Bodyguards Story". But, tbh, there are SO many books on the market about her that the market is glutted and the hype has become boring. The majority of books are written by people who appear to know her intimately yet have probably never even met her.
A good conspiracy theory would probably be snapped up so for your book to be untouched probably means its just rehashing old material and trying to be sensationalist. Sorry to be a party pooper.
Talk about puppy dog eyes!
What an adorable beagle Wombat!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jim0203, I'm a huge fan of Princess Di and have just finished reading "The Bodyguards Story". But, tbh, there are SO many books on the market about her that the market is glutted and the hype has become boring. The majority of books are written by people who appear to know her intimately yet have probably never even met her.
A good conspiracy theory would probably be snapped up so for your book to be untouched probably means its just rehashing old material and trying to be sensationalist. Sorry to be a party pooper.
Princess Diana's Revenge - a new novel by M. de Larrabeiti
Hi guys,
Apologies for taking so long to respons to your points. I've been somewhat busy. Now, to answer each point in turn.
rapunzel wrote: Jim0203, I'm a huge fan of Princess Di and have just finished reading "The Bodyguards Story". But, tbh, there are SO many books on the market about her that the market is glutted and the hype has become boring. The majority of books are written by people who appear to know her intimately yet have probably never even met her.
A good conspiracy theory would probably be snapped up so for your book to be untouched probably means its just rehashing old material and trying to be sensationalist. Sorry to be a party pooper.
Hi Rapunzel,
Thanks for your post. The market is indeed glutted with Princess Di books, but I do think that PDR is something a little different as it is a novel: it is a fictionalised account of various conspiracy theories that are doing the rounds. It was not conceived of to make a quick buck from the hype currently surrounding Diana, but more to critique the books that are doing this. Mike has been working on the book since Diana's death, following the various conspiracy theories that arose.
I can understand your presumption about the book being snapped up if it was any good, but the fact is that the publishing business does not work like that. I have worked in an around the business for a good while. PDR does not rehash old material; instead, it is the first book I have read to actually critique HOW this material is rehashed.
Obviously it is difficult for me to make myself believable on a forum, as until you have read the book you cannot tell whether what I say is true or false. Hopefully PDR is being reviewed by a few nespapers in the UK in the next couple of weeks; when that happens I will post the reviews here.
flopstock wrote: What's your take? how much are you making from each copy sold? Are you aware that the administrator of this site would probably sell you advertising space to promote the book? Can you guess why they don't allow link usage to new members?:rolleyes:
If you read this in an online community that you actually frequented, would you regard it as spam and be a little irritated that someone joined up to waste your time, by having you read something you would have shot right past anywhere else?
that's all the questions I can think of at the moment, but then again I just woke up...give me a few, I'm sure I'll have others
My take is precisely nothing. I work for a small, fixed wage for Michael, who cannot afford to pay me a full wage. I make my main living at another job. I am promoting PDR for other reasons, but if I were to go into them I assume, from the tone of your post, that they would be disregarded. Let's just say that it is not financial gain that's motivating me to promote PDR.
So that I am being completely open, the total profit on each book sold was, until recently, around £2. I recently managed to find a new printer, so our profit on each book is now closer to £5; but that is the pure selling cost minus buying cost profit and doesn't account for any other costs we incur sending out review copies, for example, soon gets very expensive, as does the tiny amount of publicity work we are doing in the real world.
I am aware that the site admin would sell me advertising space - but I can't afford to buy any. As I said before, we are not exactly rolling in money.
I can guess why new members aren't allowed to link, and I can understand your cycnicism: internet forums can be awash with spam, and everyone finds it irritating. However, I went to the effort of targeting around ten forums whose members I felt might be interested in the book, and I didn't pretend to be someone who had read PDR and was overjoyed by it: I was quite honest from the start. If you don't mind me saying so, I think your cynicism is a little over the top. There are still a few good people out there in the world: in fact, most people are pretty good really, in my experience.
Apologies for taking so long to respons to your points. I've been somewhat busy. Now, to answer each point in turn.
rapunzel wrote: Jim0203, I'm a huge fan of Princess Di and have just finished reading "The Bodyguards Story". But, tbh, there are SO many books on the market about her that the market is glutted and the hype has become boring. The majority of books are written by people who appear to know her intimately yet have probably never even met her.
A good conspiracy theory would probably be snapped up so for your book to be untouched probably means its just rehashing old material and trying to be sensationalist. Sorry to be a party pooper.
Hi Rapunzel,
Thanks for your post. The market is indeed glutted with Princess Di books, but I do think that PDR is something a little different as it is a novel: it is a fictionalised account of various conspiracy theories that are doing the rounds. It was not conceived of to make a quick buck from the hype currently surrounding Diana, but more to critique the books that are doing this. Mike has been working on the book since Diana's death, following the various conspiracy theories that arose.
I can understand your presumption about the book being snapped up if it was any good, but the fact is that the publishing business does not work like that. I have worked in an around the business for a good while. PDR does not rehash old material; instead, it is the first book I have read to actually critique HOW this material is rehashed.
Obviously it is difficult for me to make myself believable on a forum, as until you have read the book you cannot tell whether what I say is true or false. Hopefully PDR is being reviewed by a few nespapers in the UK in the next couple of weeks; when that happens I will post the reviews here.
flopstock wrote: What's your take? how much are you making from each copy sold? Are you aware that the administrator of this site would probably sell you advertising space to promote the book? Can you guess why they don't allow link usage to new members?:rolleyes:
If you read this in an online community that you actually frequented, would you regard it as spam and be a little irritated that someone joined up to waste your time, by having you read something you would have shot right past anywhere else?
that's all the questions I can think of at the moment, but then again I just woke up...give me a few, I'm sure I'll have others
My take is precisely nothing. I work for a small, fixed wage for Michael, who cannot afford to pay me a full wage. I make my main living at another job. I am promoting PDR for other reasons, but if I were to go into them I assume, from the tone of your post, that they would be disregarded. Let's just say that it is not financial gain that's motivating me to promote PDR.
So that I am being completely open, the total profit on each book sold was, until recently, around £2. I recently managed to find a new printer, so our profit on each book is now closer to £5; but that is the pure selling cost minus buying cost profit and doesn't account for any other costs we incur sending out review copies, for example, soon gets very expensive, as does the tiny amount of publicity work we are doing in the real world.
I am aware that the site admin would sell me advertising space - but I can't afford to buy any. As I said before, we are not exactly rolling in money.
I can guess why new members aren't allowed to link, and I can understand your cycnicism: internet forums can be awash with spam, and everyone finds it irritating. However, I went to the effort of targeting around ten forums whose members I felt might be interested in the book, and I didn't pretend to be someone who had read PDR and was overjoyed by it: I was quite honest from the start. If you don't mind me saying so, I think your cynicism is a little over the top. There are still a few good people out there in the world: in fact, most people are pretty good really, in my experience.
Princess Diana's Revenge - a new novel by M. de Larrabeiti
plenty of good people & floppy's one of them, do you intend to contribute anything else to the forum or just this thread?
Princess Diana's Revenge - a new novel by M. de Larrabeiti
buttercup;443912 wrote: plenty of good people & floppy's one of them, do you intend to contribute anything else to the forum or just this thread?
Hi buttercup,
Don't get me wrong, I wasn't implying that floppy wasn't one of them. All I was saying was that there's so much astroturfing (see wikipedia) going on that it's easy to be cynical. Also, the state of publishing is such that most of the business is driven by a desire to make a quick buck. That certainly isn't my intention; I'm just trying to promote a book that I believe in.
I'm afraid I don't have any time to contribute to the forum, mainly because I'm spending so much time promoting Princess Diana's Revenge. My initial post wasn't supposed to be a usual contribution, but merely to alert the forum's regular users to a book they might like to read. I chose the thread very carefully so that my post wasn't too off-topic. I tried to be very clear at the start of my post that I was describing a product for sale, so that people didn't waste their time reading through it. I am an active member of various internet communities and know that veiled promotion is annoying, but I think that what I did was quite straightforward.
I guess the bottom line is that I cannot yet direct you to any revied of Princess Diana's Revenge elsewhere on the net, so whatever I say has to be taken with a pinch of salt: why should you trust the word of a publicist? That is fair enough. What I will say, however, is that I hope to be able to post some reviews here as soon as they are done. Michael has already been interviewed by BBC Radio Oxford, and the Oxford Times are running a feature on Princess Diana's Revenge on Friday; I will be chasing up a few other people who promised a review on Monday, and will get back to you when the reviews are available.
In the meantime, if anyone has any further questions about Princess Diana's Revenge, or would like to add to the debate so far, then please post here as I am watching the thread.
--Jim
Hi buttercup,
Don't get me wrong, I wasn't implying that floppy wasn't one of them. All I was saying was that there's so much astroturfing (see wikipedia) going on that it's easy to be cynical. Also, the state of publishing is such that most of the business is driven by a desire to make a quick buck. That certainly isn't my intention; I'm just trying to promote a book that I believe in.
I'm afraid I don't have any time to contribute to the forum, mainly because I'm spending so much time promoting Princess Diana's Revenge. My initial post wasn't supposed to be a usual contribution, but merely to alert the forum's regular users to a book they might like to read. I chose the thread very carefully so that my post wasn't too off-topic. I tried to be very clear at the start of my post that I was describing a product for sale, so that people didn't waste their time reading through it. I am an active member of various internet communities and know that veiled promotion is annoying, but I think that what I did was quite straightforward.
I guess the bottom line is that I cannot yet direct you to any revied of Princess Diana's Revenge elsewhere on the net, so whatever I say has to be taken with a pinch of salt: why should you trust the word of a publicist? That is fair enough. What I will say, however, is that I hope to be able to post some reviews here as soon as they are done. Michael has already been interviewed by BBC Radio Oxford, and the Oxford Times are running a feature on Princess Diana's Revenge on Friday; I will be chasing up a few other people who promised a review on Monday, and will get back to you when the reviews are available.
In the meantime, if anyone has any further questions about Princess Diana's Revenge, or would like to add to the debate so far, then please post here as I am watching the thread.
--Jim
Princess Diana's Revenge - a new novel by M. de Larrabeiti
so you want to post reviews about your book in this thread, keep throwing it in our face & not contribute to our forum in any other way, we tend to avoid those kind of people jim
sorry everyone for bringing this thread up again, i just wanted to confirm if this was a member wishing to be part of the forum or not
sorry everyone for bringing this thread up again, i just wanted to confirm if this was a member wishing to be part of the forum or not
Princess Diana's Revenge - a new novel by M. de Larrabeiti
Jim0203 wrote: In the meantime, if anyone has any further questions about Princess Diana's Revenge, or would like to add to the debate so far, then please post here as I am watching the thread.What puzzles me, Jim, is that you think this is a legitimate use of a web forum. I certainly don't, myself. You're copy/pasting the same text all over the Internet, from what I can see. I'd call it spam.
Here's a few of the available links just to give credence:
http://forum.vigay.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1160469019/2
http://groups.google.co.jp/group/alt.ta ... 550b?hl=ja
http://www.londonnet.co.uk/forum/viewto ... ad10ff4399
http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/f6 ... 11042.html
http://forum.vigay.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?action=recent
http://forums.techguy.org/civilized-deb ... ost4059673
Here's a few of the available links just to give credence:
http://forum.vigay.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1160469019/2
http://groups.google.co.jp/group/alt.ta ... 550b?hl=ja
http://www.londonnet.co.uk/forum/viewto ... ad10ff4399
http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/f6 ... 11042.html
http://forum.vigay.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?action=recent
http://forums.techguy.org/civilized-deb ... ost4059673
Nullius in verba ... ☎||||||||||| ... To Fate I sue, of other means bereft, the only refuge for the wretched left.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious.
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious.
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.
Princess Diana's Revenge - a new novel by M. de Larrabeiti
SOMEBODY REPORT HIM AND GET HIM OUT OF OUR GARDEN!!!!
Princess Diana's Revenge - a new novel by M. de Larrabeiti
Ummm... okay.
I posted to a number of forums, and used the same text in each one because I had the same information to deliver. I've watched each forum thread and responded to any questions anyone has asked. I haven't bumped my threads, or posted more than once to different threads. I have watched all the threads carefully, with the intention of responding to any queries that might arise: in this forum there hasn't so much as been queries as a downright hostile response. As I have said before, I deliberately avoided astroturfing because I don't think it is the right thing to do. I am trying to target certain demographics (in this case, one that is interested in conspiracy theories; I found the forum on a Diana conspiracy theory page), and using web forums seems a good idea.
I should point out that in the other forums I posted in, the following things happened: people either ignored the thread completely, meaning that it quickly sunk to the bottom of the pile and didn't bother anyone; they asked questions to do with the book; they questioned what I was doing; or, in one case, the admin of the forum requested a review copy of the book. The last instance was particularly helpful as I am then able to get someone whose opinion is respected to vouch for what I am promoting. For some reason, and this may just be the law of averages, the response I got on this forum has been much more negative than on other forums.
I don't intend to post reviews here, just links to reviews so that people could make up their own minds about the book I am publicising. I don't intend to bump the thread, and only post here to reply to someone else's points.
The whole point of spam is that it is easy to do: and, although you might choose to call what I originally posted "spam", I intended it merely as a way to raise awareness for a project which I think is important and which, because of financial limitations, can't be publicised in many other ways. It certainly hasn't been easy to write these reponses to every post that is made.
I am truly sorry if this has upset anyone. I am still willing to answer any questions you might have about the book, but if the admins decide to close the thread then that's fine too. I would just like to say that I have told the truth throughout all of this; I am a real person, not a spammer, and the project I'm working on is completely genuine and not for financial gain. Best wishes. --Jim
I posted to a number of forums, and used the same text in each one because I had the same information to deliver. I've watched each forum thread and responded to any questions anyone has asked. I haven't bumped my threads, or posted more than once to different threads. I have watched all the threads carefully, with the intention of responding to any queries that might arise: in this forum there hasn't so much as been queries as a downright hostile response. As I have said before, I deliberately avoided astroturfing because I don't think it is the right thing to do. I am trying to target certain demographics (in this case, one that is interested in conspiracy theories; I found the forum on a Diana conspiracy theory page), and using web forums seems a good idea.
I should point out that in the other forums I posted in, the following things happened: people either ignored the thread completely, meaning that it quickly sunk to the bottom of the pile and didn't bother anyone; they asked questions to do with the book; they questioned what I was doing; or, in one case, the admin of the forum requested a review copy of the book. The last instance was particularly helpful as I am then able to get someone whose opinion is respected to vouch for what I am promoting. For some reason, and this may just be the law of averages, the response I got on this forum has been much more negative than on other forums.
I don't intend to post reviews here, just links to reviews so that people could make up their own minds about the book I am publicising. I don't intend to bump the thread, and only post here to reply to someone else's points.
The whole point of spam is that it is easy to do: and, although you might choose to call what I originally posted "spam", I intended it merely as a way to raise awareness for a project which I think is important and which, because of financial limitations, can't be publicised in many other ways. It certainly hasn't been easy to write these reponses to every post that is made.
I am truly sorry if this has upset anyone. I am still willing to answer any questions you might have about the book, but if the admins decide to close the thread then that's fine too. I would just like to say that I have told the truth throughout all of this; I am a real person, not a spammer, and the project I'm working on is completely genuine and not for financial gain. Best wishes. --Jim