garypeacock

Never eat yellow snow, that's my tip. And yes I'm frugal.

Graham, This has a bit of resonance for me. I was 'round and about' in Rotherham and Sheffield during the late 70's and 80's and spent more than 1 night in west bar and other places. Most of this was due to being 'collared' for something I hadn't done, but I got away with far more than I was caught for. Never charged with anything so I was pretty lucky. I've read the free bit on kindle and will probably buy your book. I can well remember SY police, they were bad people and have a bad reputation with many of my age and footie fans all over the country. I'm no Liverpool fan, but nothing that's come out about hillsborough has surpised me, mind you none of the Jimmy Saville stuff has either. Anyway, Do you deal with Julian at the solicitors? He's an old mate of mine. Printdomain in Rotherham did my printing 230 pages including pics, was £800 for 300 books, and I was pleased with the results. As for marketing, have you set up a website? I'm not sure how beneficial mine has been. I'm working on my 2nd book and would love a contact at Radio Sheffield to appeal for information, be great if you could send me that at garypeacock@hotmail.co.uk Finally my worst memories of the SY force are not been beaten up on nights out or at the football, not even their behaviour during the miners strike, but one of their football teams. Aztecs, who I played against many times, boy could I make your hair curl with some of their antics. all the best

Graham, did you pay 700 quid for a hundred books, if so I know a much cheaper option.

Have you got a job, or are you looking for a job? Are you responsible for 5 more adults? If so it'll have to be a very well paid job. I assume your mother's daughters are your sisters, why cant she move in with one of them. And finally if you have sisters down there anyway why can't they give you some help/assistance/info? Is this a wind up? sorry some of the above sounds like a mixture of The Smith's lyrics.

You could A, sell your 6 bedroom detached in Dore and buy a 4 bed in South London. Or B stay here.

I wasn't there, but in the intervening years I met thousands who said they were. So someone should be able to help. Saw the Clash a number of times later on if that helps. Tony Beesley has written a couple of books on that era and may be able to point you to someone. Try http://www.ourgenerationpunkandmod.co.uk

A couple of points. Blair won 3 GE's for Labour and won them well, history will judge him as a success I believe. I tend to think that he had his hands tied with the Iraq war and think that its easy to snipe from the background. We'll never know the pressure that he and the government were under to back up the yanks. And no, I didn't agree with the war, just as I didn't agree with the Falklands war, which I still think was opportunistic. I think that Blair's biggest error was trying to get 50% of school leavers to university when the country was crying out for tradesmen, designers and engineers. Not for ceramics or media studies graduates. On Jack Straw, he and his pals have to take some of the blame for not standing up to Brown, he was a meglomaniac and bully who lacked the personality and charisma to ever be elected. The tories knew it and the media knew it, but the Labour party seemed to stand idly by and accept their fate. Was it done on purpose??

I think you maybe wrong here. His first shop was on Wharncliffe st in Rotherham in the late 60's early 70's. I may have been his first employee as I tidied up his yard as a nine year old lad. The shop was just up from where the outside market was built.

Cant be you then, as I have donated to the chap that I'm on about......

OK, I'd better watch them then. Thanks

I've honestly had a good service from 1&1, what are the problems you've encountered? I was giving honest feedback to the OP and we then get comments that they are rubbish without any anecdote. http://www.deathoftheregular.com

Has anyone ever wondered about the busker on Nursery st, he seems to be there about 5 ish on thursday nights. I love him, he's that bad he's brilliant and always brings a smile to my face. http://www.deathoftheregular.com

I used 1&1 internet, a mate suggested them. Their helpdesk is pretty good and I pay about £9 a month. See my site below, I'd no experience at setting up a website, but found it relatively easy if a little time consuming. http://www.deathoftheregular.com

I really don't think that anyone has ventured too far away from the original post. With one exception I think there's been a good conversation around whats worked for people and what hasn't. Also remember that the phrase 'dedicated to promoting that work'. I for one certainly didn't expect any sales to people in the same situation as me. Gary

Why bother telling people that you are calling it a day?

Well I'm no cabal member. Its a good starting point for getting a book in print. Most of the posters q's will be answered. http://www.deathoftheregular.com

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1010947 Try this its in the writing section of the forum. I had my own book printed by printdomain in Rotherham. 220+pages with pictures. I ordered 300 and they came in at less then £3 per paperback. Gary http://www.deathoftheregular.com

Go back to the school and have a go, do a presentation rather than a speech, ie a projector that way the lights would be out and your initial nerves would disappear as it went along. Believe me, kids would be agood start and then onto the big kids. Gary http://www.deathoftheregular.com

Sarah, Everythings been a bit convoluted really. I'll give a brief description of the process. I initially decided, much against, a mate's advice not to do a mass approach to the local media, I felt that I needed to know that my book was 'good enough' to merit the interest. I suppose I was fearful that if it was crap, then I could get castigated in public. I concentrated on some small scale local advertising which brought in people I know and those featured in my book, once I'd gotten some feedback I then went on overdrive contacting local mags/papers and radio. I got zero response. The first break came when someone local who worked in telesales for the derby telegraph approached me and asked for a copy of my book to be reviewed by the paper it ended up as a full page feature in the 'bygones' section. The only problem was that it was released on bank holiday monday and my local newsagent told me that sales would be down because of that. I can only attribute 3/4 sales to that piece. The Radio derby interview came about througn a mate of mine tweeting my book and website to his 'followers', one of whom was a presenter on the daytime show. I had about 20 minutes and worked out that I'd had approx 20 site hits and 2 sales as a result. The amber sound interview came about from a local who's dad had bought my book and she then chased me down a street to ask me if I'd do an interview. I did this on Monday and it was supposed to air last night, but will now be next week. Another friend who has read the book knew the owner of amber valley voice, a free adverts based local paper, who actually do a book review each month. This is due out next week and the lady who reviewed it has said that she loved the book, so I'm hopeful that this will get some sales, although it might not give me the break I need outside the local area. It does go to 4,000 local homes though. My biggest area of sales has been the local pubs and newsagent, he's been brilliant selling at cost and refusing my offer of a percentage, he's sold approx 70which is great. I think my lesson has been that its who you know and a lot of luck to get on the radio, rather than direct marketting. Poor sales resulting from my 'media appearances' have also been a bit of a downer, but very good for the old ego. I've now had nearly 4,000 website hits, but they dont seem to lead to many sales, although I've done about 20 kindles, which must have come via the site. I joined the select thing at the beggining of the month and nothing seems to have come from that. It's not easy is it? I'm still working on The Star and Rotherham advertiser to get some exposure, so we'll see how things go. Finally I firmly believe that the easiest part of selling a book is the writing it bit. Gary http://www.deathoftheregular.com

Had another radio interview this week, amber sound fm. It was quite weird though, I wasn't allowed to say where my book was on sale, mention my website or mention the names of anyone featured in the book. I was also asked not to swear, which was a fair point. I've done bbc radio derby and they actively mentioned the places that the book was on sale. Gary http://www.deathoftheregular.com

Sarah, Was it any good? http://www.deathoftheregular.com

Thanks http://www.deathoftheregular.com

Remember that drug taking as we class it today is nearly as old as brewing beer. Its all subjective and dependent on which point in history we are talking about. I stick to my original point that we are in danger of alienating younsters from the local pub, and its a shame. http://www.deathoftheregular.com

I am not an apologist for drug misuse. http://www.deathoftheregular.com

I agree with all of the above and what Xenia has written. The demonisation of our youngsters as far as drinking goes I believe is a major factor in the death of the local pub. Years ago we could drink underage without too much of a problem, you were supervised by people who knew your parents and you did not fall out of line, if you did everyone in the area knew about it. In my area it was a sin not to know your limit and the stigma of 'not being able to take your ale' was a curse that was never lifted. Today anyone caught buying a drink for an under 18 can be fined up to 5k. Think about that for a 19 year old that could equate to a years minimum wage. So we end up with kids in parks drinking cider and toying with drugs, with no older, wiser role models to show them the rules of pub going. When they are eventually old enough to venture into a bar, they have no idea how to behave, they are usually in big groups and create problems with other customers. The pub as a local is dead unless we stop the greed of the pub companies and stop being daft with our youngsters. Advertising I know but you can read more on this in my book, a section of which is free to read on amazon. http://www.deathoftheregular.com Gary