Tag Archives: Sam&Sam

…and two back covers

Posted on September 16, 2019 by Patrick Miles

By the time you read this, Sam&Sam’s new book should be available through Amazon. No, I can’t say that… The penny has finally dropped: having Amazon print your book is a complete, utter, irreparable and gut-wrenching break with the previous … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal commentary | Tagged Amazon, back covers, Clays Ltd, Donald Trump, George Calderon: Edwardian Genius, images, John Polkinghorne, Nielsen Corporation, PDF files, Poland, printers, proofs, publication dates, publishers, quantum/chaos, Sam&Sam, What Can We Hope For? | Leave a comment

A tale of two front covers

Posted on September 9, 2019 by Patrick Miles

By the time you read this, Sam&Sam’s new book should be available through Amazon. I say ‘should’ because publishing a book through Amazon has been yet another fresh learning curve for us and sometimes we just had to wait to … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal commentary | Tagged Amazon, book covers, Clays Ltd, Dante, design, eschatology, Gabo Trust, James Miles, John Polkinghorne, Kettle's Yard, Kindle Direct Publishing, Naum Gabo, publishing, Sam&Sam, Sam1, Sam2, Tate Gallery, typesetting, typography, What Can We Hope For? | 2 Comments

The ‘mystery’ Misses and Misters

Posted on June 26, 2019 by Patrick Miles

The academics are off campus now until September/October, when Sam&Sam plan a new marketing storm in their direction, so we are concentrating on selling boxes of six copies to more bookshops. If you know any near you who might be … Continue reading →

Posted in Edwardian character, Edwardian English, Edwardian literature, Personal commentary | Tagged Amazon, Anton Chekhov, biographies, biography, comments, East-West Review, George Calderon, George Calderon: Edwardian Genius, John Polkinghorne, marketing, Michael Pursglove, Mrs Shapter, P.H. Calderon, Professor Rose, Rochelle Townsend, Sam&Sam, Uncle Vanya, What Can We Hope For? | Leave a comment

From the diary of a writer-publisher: 3

Posted on May 29, 2019 by Patrick Miles

14 May I gather, from a reliable source, that access to Calderonia has been blocked in Russia (I nearly said ‘the Soviet Union’). This would explain why no Russian viewers have featured in the stats for months. One can only … Continue reading →

Posted in Edwardian literature, Heroism and Adventure, Modern parallels, Personal commentary | Tagged Akala, Amazon, biographies, biography, British Council, Calderonia, Clays Ltd, comments, cyber warfare, Earlham, Edward Lear, eschatology, Gallipoli, George Calderon, George Calderon: Edwardian Genius, haiku, James Tait Black Prize, Jenny Uglow, John Dewey, John Polkinghorne, Kittie Calderon, Leonid Brezhnev, Marie Colvin, paradise, Percy Lubbock, plastic, pollution, ravens, Russia, Sam&Sam, Sam2, self-publishing, Shetland, Simon Cooke, The Great War, Third Battle of Krithia, Vladimir Putin, wokefulness, World War I, Yell | Leave a comment

From the diary of a writer-publisher: 2

Posted on May 16, 2019 by Patrick Miles

18 April The shortlist for this year’s James Tait Black Memorial Prize (biography) has been announced. Strong contenders are hip-hop artist Akala’s debut Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire and Susannah Walker’s The Life of Stuff: A … Continue reading →

Posted in Edwardian character, Edwardian literature, Personal commentary | Tagged Agency for the Legal Deposit Libraries, Andrew Tatham, biographies, biography, Calderón, Calderonia, comments, copyright libraries, Dardanelles, doorstops, Gallipoli, George Calderon, James Tait Black Prize, legal deposits, marketing, owls, publishers, quangos, Sam&Sam, Sam2, Spanish Ambassador, The Great War, Tinker, Victor Meldrew, World War I | 2 Comments

Inestimable Russianists: A Coming Series of Posts

Posted on April 2, 2019 by Patrick Miles

Frankly, one of the worst experiences from publishing my biography of George Calderon has been the appalling response to the 71 complimentary and review copies that I sent out. I was encouraged, for instance, by specific journalists at The Times, TLS, … Continue reading →

Posted in Edwardian literature, Personal commentary | Tagged ABEbooks, Aylmer Maude, biographies, comments, complimentary copies, Constance Garnett, George Calderon, George Calderon: Edwardian Genius, Harvey Pitcher, John Dewey, journalists, Michael Pursglove, reviewers, rudeness, Russianists, Sam&Sam, translators | Leave a comment

Yes, it’s divorce!

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Patrick Miles

It is with the deepest euphoria that I announce my permanent separation from commercial publishers. They have wasted too much of my time. They forget that serfdom was abolished in Britain in 1574. To celebrate my release, I have asked … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal commentary | Tagged advances, biographies, comments, commercial publishers, contracts, divorce, etiquette, George Calderon, George Calderon: Edwardian Genius, goodbyes, independent publishing, indie publishing, PLR, pricing, Public Lending Right, publishers, Sam&Sam, serfdom, vanity publishers, vanity publishing | 1 Comment

Heffers surrenders after 7-month siege

Posted on March 1, 2019 by Patrick Miles

As well as online and by personal communication with me, my biography of George Calderon can now be bought at the following bookshops: Blackwell’s of Oxford, Daunts of Hampstead, Foyles of Charing Cross Road, Jarrolds of Norwich, the National Archives … Continue reading →

Posted in Edwardian English, Personal commentary | Tagged biographies, Blackwell's, Cambridge, comments, Daunts, Foyles, George Calderon, Heffers, independent publishing, Jarrolds, marketing, National Archives, Oxford, Polonia, publishers, sale or return, Sam&Sam, selling books, Victor Meldrew | Leave a comment

The Errata, Corrigenda and Addenda

Posted on February 20, 2019 by Patrick Miles

George Calderon: Edwardian Genius has now been out for just over five months. I started ‘proofreading’ the book the moment I received it from Clays on 4 June 2018; it’s been ‘hoovered’ many times since. Now seems the right moment … Continue reading →

Posted in Edwardian character, Edwardian English, Edwardian literature, Edwardian marriage, Heroism and Adventure, Modern parallels, Personal commentary | Tagged addenda, bibliography, biographies, biography, comments, corrections, corrigenda, editing, errata, formatting, George Calderon, George Calderon: Edwardian Genius, Index, indie publishing, John Pym, mistakes, proofreading, publishing, Sam&Sam, typography, typos | Leave a comment

‘Normal’ blogging will resume

Posted on January 6, 2019 by Patrick Miles

A very happy and healthy New Year to all Calderonia readers old and new! (And if you are entirely new, please consider subscribing [immediate right], which does not mean paying anything, it just means that you will automatically receive each … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal commentary | Tagged Amazon, biographies, biography, Blackwell's, blogging, Boris Kustodiev, Bryon MacWilliams, commemoration, comments, Daunt Books, East-West Review, George Calderon, Kittie Calderon, Michael Pursglove, National Archives, publicity, publishing, Russian baths, Russian Venus, Sam&Sam, steam baths, The Great War, Waterstones, World War I | Leave a comment

Sam&Sam elves’ Christmas Offer!

Posted on December 13, 2018 by Patrick Miles

Minute subcutaneous examination by Elf1 of the economic condition of George Calderon: Edwardian Genius suggests that we can offer a SPECIAL CHRISTMAS DEAL to Calderonia followers and visitors who might like to buy TWO COPIES AT A 27% DISCOUNT. To be … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal commentary | Tagged biographies, Christmas, comments, discounts, elves, followers, George Calderon, George Calderon: Edwardian Genius, prices, publishers, reviews, Sam&Sam, special offers, Twelfth Night, visitors | 1 Comment

The 150th anniversary of a very remarkable man

Posted on December 2, 2018 by Patrick Miles

One hundred and fifty years ago today, early in the morning, Clara Calderon (aged thirty-two) gave birth to George Leslie Calderon at 9 Marlborough Place, St John’s Wood. If not present at the actual birth, his father the Victorian painter … Continue reading →

Posted in Edwardian character, Edwardian English, Edwardian literature, Edwardian marriage, Heroism and Adventure, Modern parallels, Personal commentary | Tagged Amelia Storey, anniversaries, Arabella Court, biographies, birthplace, Clara Calderon, Dardanelles, Frank Calderon, Gallipoli, George Calderon, George Calderon: Edwardian Genius, John Calderon, Marlborough Place, Philip Hermogenes Calderon, readers, Sam&Sam | Leave a comment

Thank you, Blackwell’s of Oxford!

Posted on October 24, 2018 by Patrick Miles

One day, perhaps, I will describe how my whole post-7 September marketing strategy was upset and I had to re-focus immediately on my potential Russianist readership worldwide… Thank you to ALL Russianists everywhere who have responded magnificently! I know there … Continue reading →

Posted in Edwardian literature, Modern parallels, Personal commentary | Tagged Anton Chekhov, biographies, Blackwell's, Bookseller of the Year, Clare Hopkins, comments, George Calderon, Heffers, Laurence Binyon, marketing, Oxford, Sam&Sam, St Andrews, Toppings, translation, Trinity College Oxford | Leave a comment

FIRST BIOGRAPHY OF THE MAN WHO BROUGHT CHEKHOV TO BRITAIN!

Posted on September 7, 2018 by Patrick Miles

This book, the first full-length biography of the significant Edwardian literary and political figure George Calderon, who lived in Russia 1895-97, was an expert on Russian folklore and literature, premiered Chekhov in Britain, wrote the best seller Tahiti, and was killed … Continue reading →

Posted in Edwardian character, Edwardian English, Edwardian literature, Edwardian marriage, Heroism and Adventure, Modern parallels, Personal commentary | Tagged Anton Chekhov, Arch Tait, biographies, biography, buying the book, Catherine Andreyev, Clays Ltd, commemoration, comments, Damian Grant, Dardanelles, folklore, Gallipoli, George Calderon, Harvey Pitcher, John Dewey, John Pym, Jones, Kittie Calderon, Laurence Senelick, Patrick Miles, printers, publication day, publishers, Russian literature, Russianists, Sam&Sam, The Great War, Third Battle of Krithia, Tufts University, World War I | 2 Comments

Guest post: Sam2 on… ‘How to Typeset a Book’ (Part 2)

Posted on July 23, 2018 by Jim D G Miles

“Pages… Pages EVERYWHERE!” ————— In the previous entry I went over some fundamentals of self typesetting. I want to point out that those techniques were merely what I had used myself…that is, how it appeared logical to me to do … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal commentary | Tagged Adobe Acrobat Pro, Adobe InDesign, Ashitaka, biographies, biography, bottom justification, bugs, captions, Clays Ltd, comments, crop marks, Dante MT, fonts, formatting, George Calderon, George Calderon: Edwardian Genius, GIMP, glitches, hair leads, hair lines, image trials, images, indie publishing, inset images, Jiro Horikoshi, Johannes Gutenberg, LibreOffice, orphans, PDF files, Prince Ashitaka, Princess Mononoke, printers, publishers, publishing, resolution, Sam&Sam, Sam1, Sam2, self-publishing, software, spacing, Studio Ghibli, The Wind Rises, tilting, trim marks, typefaces, typesetting, typesetting a book, typesetting styles, widows | 1 Comment

Guest post: Sam2 on… ‘How to Typeset a Book’ (Part 1)

Posted on July 16, 2018 by Jim D G Miles

She shuffled forward. “I would…” “Speak up!” “I would like you to…” “Yeeeeeesssss?” “I would like you to typeset this.” A messy wad of pages; some in different colours, some upside down, some not in any recognisable language. “You would … Continue reading →