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Delays, Disappointments & Decisions

Writer's picture: Richard SimonRichard Simon

Yesterday I received an email from my friend David Sansoni, who has taken a fatherly interest in Thomia and done much to promote the book in Australia, where he lives. ‘I attended the AGM of the STC OBA here on Sunday the twenty-seventh,’ he writes, ‘and paused in wonder that a year has passed since the AGM of 2023, at which I handed out several flyers publicising Thomia. A whole year.’

       He is quite right, of course, and I deserve his unspoken but plainly intended rebuke: a year is far too long to make expectant readers wait (unless you happen to be George R.R. Martin). The plan, originally, was to have Thomia printed and available to buyers on Old Boys’ Day 2025; I was still working towards that deadline as late as July, when I last posted on this blog. But circumstances beyond my control have not merely delayed the launch but now threaten to prevent Thomia from ever being published at all.

       Part of the delay comes from the fact that proofreading has taken far longer than expected. This is not a task that I, as writer and editor of Thomia, can perform myself. I am so intimate with the text, I can almost repeat it from memory; a proofreader, in order to spot the typographic and other errors it is her job to find, needs to be unfamiliar with the material. The very able and diligent lady who is proofing the text for me was delayed on the job for unavoidable reasons; and though the work is now complete and final adjustments to page artworks will take no more than a few days, I shall be forced to miss my self-declared early-February deadline. Still, Thomia is now ready to print, and if a slight delay was my only worry, I’d be a happy man.

       Unfortunately, my efforts to interest a commercial publisher for the book never succeeded, so I have been reluctantly obliged to become my own publisher. I don’t like it – I’m a writer, not a publisher or an entrepreneur – but I have no choice. I have already paid, out of my scant personal savings, for all the pre-press work (hence all this palaver about proofreading and page artworks). But the biggest cost of all is printing. I’ve been getting quotes from printers, and what I have learnt is this:

       I can’t afford to finance the cost of printing myself. Prices have risen, and my resources have shrunk.

       This is an eventuality I partly foresaw, which is why I started the Thomia Mailing List. The idea was that the list would help me estimate what the potential market for the book might be, and provide a future sales channel when it was finally published. Insurance, you see, although I had no thought – at that point – of asking anyone for money till I had a printed book to sell.

       When I realised I don’t have the money to print Thomia myself, I reached out to a few wealthy Old Thomians whom I hoped might be willing to help subsidize a print run of 500 copies. Sadly, no-one has been willing to do so. Which leaves me with a decision to make; either delay the printing until, by some miracle, I find the money myself… or ask you, dear reader, to pay for your copy (or copies) in advance of printing and trust me to deliver them to you as promised – or, if that proves impossible for some reason, to return your money in full.

       How shall I decide?

       Would you trust me so far as to pay for Thomia in advance of publication? The price will be in the region of Rs 27,000 (plus postage/shipping charges). For your money, you’ll get two elegant hardbound volumes, totalling 992 pages, in a matching coloured slipcase. No illustrations, I’m afraid; if I put any in the book would be too big and unwieldy to read. I think, however, that the words are worth the money: a history of STC and Lanka that isn’t just a dull catalogue of facts but an exciting and insightful story.

       If the price sounds high to you (it certainly does to me!) all I can do is assure you that my profit margin will be slender indeed, even if I manage to sell all 500 copies. More likely I will make a loss. But this seems to be the only way I can possibly get Thomia to you, and I want you to have it.

       Please let me know if you would be willing to risk buying at least one copy of Thomia in advance of printing, either by leaving a comment on this blog post or by sending a mail to gallebuck@yahoo.co.uk. If I’m assured of enough potential buyers to make it worthwhile, I’ll set up a payment gateway of some kind and start taking orders within the next week or so. If not, well… we’ll all have to wait, I guess.

       Or perhaps you can think of some other solution. If you have any suggestions, please email me.

Vive in perpetuum alma mater, Richard Simon

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19 Comments


Richard Brohier
Nov 15, 2024

I will be happy to pay $250.00 or more for the book Richard. Even buy a second copy for another.

I did meet the lady you refer to, on my recent visit to SL. Having proof read it, she assured me of its monumental and definitive place in the annals of the College.

Well done! Looking forward to indulging in it.

  • Richard

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Unknown member
Nov 16, 2024
Replying to

Thank you, Richard. Would you please send a message to gallebuck@yahoo.co.uk so that I can contact you about this directly? Feel free to ask a test question in your mail to confirm that it's me.

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Sanjiva
Nov 11, 2024

I will be happy to pay up front for one copy


Best

Sanjiva

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Unknown member
Nov 12, 2024
Replying to

Hello, Sanjiva. Would you please send an email with this same message to gallebuck@yahoo.co.uk with your name so that I can put you on the list? For privacy reasons, Wix doesn't give the blog owner the names and emails of those who comment. Sorry for the added inconvenience!

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Guest
Nov 10, 2024

Happy to pay in advance for a copy.

Chandran M.

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Unknown member
Nov 11, 2024
Replying to

Thank you, Chandran. Could you please send an email to gallebuck@yahoo.co.uk to let me know who exactly you are? Unfortunately (but very rightly) Wix security won't let me see these details.

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Guest
Nov 10, 2024

Richard,


Happy tyo pay in advance for 2 copies.


Thanks,


Milroy - Sydney

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Guest
Nov 10, 2024

Hi Richard

Congratulations on your great endeavour. Self-publishing from my experience is always a challenge. However, you will make a valuable contribution to STC and Lanka history.

Happy to pay in advance.

Thank you for sending your bank details and Swift number.

Warm regards

Peter Selvaratnam

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Unknown member
Nov 11, 2024
Replying to

Hi, Peter. I've emailed you separately. Thank you very much indeed.

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© 2023 / Richard Simon. 

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