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Debut novel
from Charlie
Seventy-three-year old Charlie Gregory
has recently self published his first novel Fated by taking
advantage of Lulu.com’s print on demand system.
‘That’s where the future of publishing lies,’
he explains, ‘POD books don’t take up any shelf
space so they never get remaindered or pulped. They are
there forever. ‘
Lulu.com is a site that allows anyone to upload their work
and then sell copies or order them themselves. Lulu charges
for the cost of printing and takes a small percentage of
the profit but other than that there are no charges and
the service can be used for anything; from making books
to sell commercially to publishing a diary and only ordering
one copy for yourself. While users will have to do all their
own marketing, this opens up many opportunities for writers
who just want to see their work in print.
‘It isn’t vanity publishing because the author
doesn’t pay anything. If I can do it, anyone can do
it.’
Fated is inspired by true events and Charlie decided to
write the story after his mother’s death in 2002 when
he found the letters he had written while serving as a ship’s
radio officer. ‘It was during a voyage in 1953,’
he recalls, ‘that a terrible and mysterious tragedy
occurred. It numbed the crew at the time, but we took it
in our stride and got over it. Or so we thought.
‘A decade later a colleague told me a story that appeared
to have sprung out of the tragedy. That rumour, if true,
brought an almost unbelievable twist to the tale, deepened
the mystery, and held shocking implications. Then, while
re-reading my old letters, I was taken aback by the uncanny
recurrence of occult signs and superstitions in the dates
and numbers associated with that fateful trip.’
This was the inspiration for Fated, a story that sees a
freighter and a cast of colourful characters on a voyage
to the Far East during the days of the British Empire. During
this trip the chief steward, an amateur numerologist, predicts
an impending tragedy. Years after the event occurs, ‘Sparks’,
the ship’s radio officer, sets himself on a quest
to discover the truth.
Details: Fated, by Charlie Gregory (£7.34, Lulu.com),
is available now from www.lulu.com |
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