Being objective...

moira

moira

I just hope nobody takes this the wrong way...please be open minded as you read it.
I was in my local library browsing when I came accidentally across Railway Women by Helena W. I'm only saying this here because if I remember correctly it was self-published and I wanted her to know what a great book I think it is. This is a top-quality, professional, well-written, well-researched book. It looks and feels good and is beautifully illustrated with B&W photographs of women doing very hard physical labour and other more 'seemly' tasks and it was great to see these pictures of women breaking the rules of being pretty and manicured and incapable of hard graft, I loved that.
I just wanted to say that this book was great, so well done Helena, I don't care about the past threads people have talked about because I never read them if they start to get like that, I just think that you deserved to be mentioned and have your book given the credit it deserves and thought you would be pleased to know it's available in libraries and that someone else genuinely liked it.  Well done, you have every right to be proud of it.

montholon

I'll look out for it in my local library, Moira.  It sounds very interesting. Some of my mother's family worked on the railways in the York area, but I didn't know that women had ever done the same kind of work.

Butterfly

It is indeed a wonderful crafted book and desreved to win the self-published trophy. Helena is a bright and bubbly lady and very knowlegeable on her many facets of writing and the publishing process - I found that out when meeting her at the prize giving. It is a quality book and the work involved showed dedication and years (16) I believe to bring it to print. Well done Helena.

Betsie

credit where credit is due - well done

Nefertari

yes well done, Helena.I must keep a look out for that.

Carol

Anyone who has managed to get their book published and sold widely deserves praise, yes.

Joanne

Yes, we had a look at Helena's book at Harrogate and were very impressed both with the production of the book and with the extensive research involved.

Amanda

is this the same book that is being removed due to lack of liability insurance?  very very sad indeed.  it looks like a fasinating book not just for railway intrest but more for the history of women. 

Butterfly

Yes Amanda it is the same book. I don't understand these things that well, but surely the shop has it's own insurance for this kind of thing - or do all publishers pay this kind of money for each book? It seems a little excessive to me.

Helena

WOW! I just this moment saw this thread for the very first time. You girls make me blush!

I'm thrilled that Moira felt something stirring in her when she saw those wonderful women working in jobs from which women had always been banned. They were exhilirated by their jobs and it was an exhilirating experience for me to be the first person ever to uncover their story, and to bring the photos out of the record offices where they have been buried for decades and give them a public airing. We should indeed celebrate what our mothers' and grandmothers' generation did. I love "my" railwaywomen, every one of 'em!

Thanks to all the others too for their kind comments. I did everything for the book except the actual printing, so I do beam with pride when people praise the cover, the layout, the design etc.

According to "some people" that makes me an arrogant pig, because women are expected to always degrade their expertise, hide their lights under bushels and always put themselves down. Well I am fed up with that misogynistic attitude (women can be misogynists, too). I worked darned hard on Railwaywomen and I am proud of it.

I don't think this makes me arrogant as a person, because I am the first to own up to being absolute rubbish at rather a lot of things. 

Regarding the insurance issue, on 1st April (honest) Swindon Council brought in new rules for ALL their suppliers - they must have Public Liability Insurance to cover claims of up to £5million. Now, nearly all of their suppliers already have this insurance, but me and another self-publishing author, Mark Sutton, don't. We thought they'd make an exception but they refuse. The insurance costs more than we earn by selling books via Swindon Council's book outlets (Mark sells in the Tourist Info Centre; I sell in the Steam railway museum.)

Anyway I could not care less, in fact I am glad, because I am losing about ten sales a year, but getting in the Daily Mail will probably lead to dozens or even hundreds of book sales. So, great result, thanks Swindon, you red-tape-gone-mad lunatics!

LOTS OF LOVE

Helena

[PS I note that Moira is almost apologising for posting a thread that praises the winner of the Writers' News award -  why? Just because Dorothy Davies (dorothyd) believes that bad grammar and lack of punctuation are acceptable in our formal writings and I don't?  Well I stand by everything I said. We should try to get our punctuation and grammar correct if we want to call ourselves writers, to get published, or to win awards. What is so wrong with striving to improve ourselves? I'm currently being paid to proofread, design and typeset a book. If I wasn't a stickler for correct punctuation, spelling and grammar these clients (two PhDs) would not be paying me, so there!] 

And just for the record, my long absences from Talkback do not indicate anything other than the fact that I am working about 16 hours every day, 8 on the paid project and 8 on my next book. Rest assured I am not being hounded out by a couple of jealous little madams with nothing better to do with their time. I worked as a railway guard for twenty years and compared to what I faced there everyday these petty bullies are nothing, as I am sure you can imagine.

I do have a lot of knowledge to share on the process of self-publishing, and I know that my experience can help others, but I am not going to waste hours of my precious time constantly defending myself from petty attacks by "jealous dogs".

If any genuine, sensible person wants advice on self-publishing, my door is always open. Email me, I'll always try to help, even though I am up to my eyeballs in work.

Helena

PS Carol I didn't get the book published I did it myself.

And if anyone wants to read it, order it from the library, I'll be glad to sell one to your local authority! Or buy one while there is 33% off

http://www.railwaywomen.co.uk

Carol

Helena, I was generalising. I do hope the DM stuff gives a boost to your sales.

SilentTony

HW can you not let it lie? Jesus people have been complimentary and you use that forum to still stab at Dorothy. Even reading that post I saw quite a few smuggled digs at others. If you are good at what you do then great. If you need to vent please do so else where because I and others do not appreciate this friction.