The Bestseller You Probably Haven't Heard About

Here's an interesting story. 

A couple of years ago a bloke by the name of John Howard wrote what he thought was a cracking children's adventure called The Key To Chintak.  It tells the story of Millie, a young girl who discovers that she can read the text in a 2,000 year old book that had previously baffled archaeologists and scientists alike and this leads her onto great adventures.

He sent his manuscript off to a variety of publishers and agents but kept getting the standard rejection letters in response.  Not an uncommon experience for aspiring writers,  but Howard thought something was not quite right.  He was sure someone would like his book if they read it.  Perhaps these publishing types had not actually done so?  How could he check?

So he proceeded to type up the contents of his washing machine manual in the style of a manuscript, called it The Silver Drum, and sent copies off to the same set of publishers and agents.  He received precisely the same rejection letters as he had the first time round.  Proof, as far as he was concerned, that no one had bothered to read his book.

Sod them, he thought, and went and published it himself.  This is what he came up with.  A slightly unwieldy, poorly typeset book with a dodgy cover which he struggled to get into many bookshops.  Undeterred he started making himself available for readings at local schools and libraries and pretty soon he had built up a bit of a following, and was selling some books to boot.  He set up a website and encouraged his young readers to post reviews and comments online.  He had an overwhelming response, as well as some constructive feedback on the content and packaging.

So he got off his arse again, paid for the book to have a professional edit and coughed up for a decent new design.  He then went back to bookshops to see if anyone would take it.  This time round he had much more luck and Waterstone's promoted it in a 3 for 2.  He also had a strong endorsement from G.P. Taylor.  Sales from schools continued to grow and he now had a decent amount of books selling on the high street.  He had managed to create a real buzz.

And this was a genuine buzz.  Signed copies of the original edition were selling on eBay for $500+ (there are two up there as I write going for just under that amount) and the book was in the Waterstone's Top 10.  And here is one hell of a stat.  For the second quarter of last year John Howard had the second bestselling children's book in the whole of the UK from a small publisher (and bear in mind that Faber count as a small publisher in that chart).  This one bloke, on his own, had created a bestseller.

And still no major publisher or agent had come knocking.  A few took a look but felt that the book needed 'too much work'.  Too much work?  So if it can sell several thousand copies, reach the Waterstone's Top 10 and be the second bestselling kids' book in the small publisher chart when it isn't, apparently, quite up to scratch then imagine what it could do with a fresh edit and the clout of a big publisher behind it!  Here is a ready made bestseller, and no one wants it.

Oh, and rumour has it that the film rights are about to be sold.

I'd sign it myself but the author is selling more than enough on his own and pocketing a higher royalty per copy than any publisher could offer him.  Although I am sure if someone came knocking with a big fat cheque he might change his mind.

Well worth a read, as it is a cracking adventure story, The Key To Chintak by John Howard is available from any book retailer that knows what it is doing.

Comments

[Steerforth]

One afternoon the phone in my office rang. 'I've got a local author who wants to talk to you.' It was John Howard. I was really busy trying to complete something in time for a deadline but I took the call because I thought authors are always getting fobbed off with excuses. He started telling me about the 'Key to Chintak'. I promised that I'd look at his web site and would probably order a few copies. At this point the conversation should have ended, but John Howard kept talking and after ten minutes I was beginning to wonder if he'd ever stop talking. By the end of the call I gone from being supportive to feeling antagonistic.

I've talked to people in other shops and they had a similar reaction, so that's probably why the book has met with some resistance. Also, an endorsement from GP Taylor won't necessarily win people over.

I admire John Howard for his guts and determination and wish him well, but when it comes to cold calling he should remember that less is more.

[Mark Robson]

Well I've never managed top tens, but I can empathise with Mr Howard. I look back now at my Darkweaver Legacy series and wonder what it would have done if it had been given a decent edit and a bit of a push by one of the bigger publishing houses. I admit I do cringe when I read some of it now, especially having enjoyed the benefits of the excellent editorial insights offered by the team at Simon & Schusters for the last couple of years. However, the flaws in the writing don't seem to have held the sales back.

I've sold approaching 50 000 units of the Darkweaver titles from my garage now and sales continue to tick along at a good rate. I guess I should count myself lucky to be taking the publisher's cut and just keep on reprinting. Having the instant profit appearing in the bank account from those four titles every month certainly makes life as a full time author a lot more comfortable. Any offer on the rights now would have to constitute a very good deal to make it worthwhile my selling them.

[John Self]

I've no comment on this book as I haven't read it. But as Steerforth suggests, to me an endorsement from GP Taylor is the kiss of death. This is the man who (a) can't write to save his life, (b) is an arrogant prick with no cause for such arrogance, and (c) called Sean Wright's pisspoor Jesse Jameson books "really exciting and fun" or something, which they clearly were not.

And Sean Wright, Dominic Mieville, G.P. Taylor and their ilk are the reason why it'll be a cold day in hell before I buy a self-published novel - particularly a science fictiony one.

[Merlot]

I'm no expert on cold calling and neither is John Howard by the sound of it. Presumably thats why he's writing childrens books and not tucked away in a call centre? Whatever Mr. Self's opinion of an author is one has to admire GP Taylors success with Shadowmancer and after all we are here to discuss books are we not? I also feel having read John Howards' The Key to Chintak several times that I have a valid opinion.
I think Scott Packs comments are correct, it does need some work but what gives Chintak that sparkle is the unmistakable magic the basic story line has. You do care about the Grandfather, Millies guardian. Yes, Millies character can be grating and annoying sometimes, hey! Just like a real teenage girl can be!
I believe John Howard has got it right with The Key to Chintak. You just have to look a little deeper, blow away some of that dust and find the key buried beneath. A little less cynicism please Mr. Self and a little more imagination please. And Mr. Steerforth, of course Mr. Howard will bang on about his book! Its his baby, he wrote it. He thinks its the best thing since slice bread! I think we all need to take a long deep breath here! :-)

[sara]

I really admire the determination and self belief that Mr Howard has shown. It's amazing to see how far he has been able to get, and the washing machine story is fabulous. However, the children's buyer at my branch held The key to Chintak up to me on Saturday as an example of just how bad a book can be. Hmmm.

[John Self]

Merlot: "one has to admire GP Taylors success with Shadowmancer"

Well, if we judge a book by sales, perhaps. If we judge it by literary merit then his sales are a matter for depression and mystification, not admiration or celebration. One Amazon reviewer pointed out that the worst thing about Shadowmancer is that it lowers children's sights of how great and transporting and interesting books can be.

However as I say, I have nothing against Mr Howard (though Sara's comment above suggests some cynicism is justified). Maybe I'll pick up a copy and see how it compares to Taylor, Wright and the like.

[Greg Stanwick]

What are you talking about Steerforth? I find it really hard to believe you are a bookseller. Of course John Howard will talk for England about his book - it is his creation and sales depend on him being forthcoming you idiot! Sorry, but I can’t help it.

I run a small independent and I have had many an author chew my ear about their latest creation. Sure, sometimes they can call at the most inopportune moments, but disregard them at your peril. Without exception, every relative unknown local author that I have given some time to has driven sales to my door. On more than one occasion I have run three figure sales through my till purely because I took an inconsequential risk and stocked their book.

I must confess to not having read John Howard’s book – although I now intend to – but I would happily help promote it with him as without this type of independent/author interaction I think shops like mine will hit the wall.

[Jackie]

I am staggered by the comments posted on here – how petty can people be? What the devil has John Howard’s ability to talk the hind legs off a donkey or the fact that he had the misfortune to have GP Taylor write his foreword got anything to do with the book itself??????

You are all missing the point. This book is written for kids and kids love it. It is as simple as that. I know this because I am a literacy coordinator and have seen first hand what my pupils make of John and his book. I have never had a better author into the school.

My 11-year-old put me onto him – actually she emailed him after she read his book asking him to visit her (my) school. Obviously as an 11-year-old she told him that I was aware of the mail – which I wasn’t – and really wanted me to visit! A couple of phone calls (and a telling off) later John arranged to visit and what an excellent session it was for teachers and pupils alike. Books galore were purchased and read with such vigour as I have never seen. What did they all make of the key to chintak? They all loved it. This by the way includes my very fussy and potterholic daughter who has since declared it her ‘favourite book in her whole life’!

I am trying to emphasise a point here. Which is don’t judge a book by its cover. So what if it is self published as long as it goes down well with the kids – the ones it was written for.

Now ‘grow up’ as my daughter would say – and get a life (that’s my bit).

[Steerforth]

Wow! The book must have something about it to inspire so much passion in people. However I must take issue with Mr Stanwick's comments. I am a very good bookseller, thank you, but I am also a very busy one - much busier than I ever was running an independent bookshop and I appreciate a little brevity from authors and publishers when they ring.

Jackie is quite right. John Howard's phone manner has absolutely nothing to do with the book itself. However I thought that mentioning it might serve as an explanantion why such a popular book initially encountered some resistance from booksellers and publishers. It might seem petty, but if John Howard's cold calling was actually detering people from stocking his book, I'd say that's pretty important.

[John Howard]

As the author I felt it was about time for me to chip in to the debate.

When I started out I wanted to hook up with a local bookshop to push all my local school visits through. I called a number of shops trying to find the right one to champion. I guess during that period I must have overdone the sales pitch a touch as Steerforth will testify to. Anyway, I ended up getting together with an independent in Battle called Marmaduke that was run by two incredibly enthusiastic people. During the time we worked together they sold 2128 (at full price) and 292 (at £5) copies of my book. On £16344.72 received they made a fair profit. My point is that I agree with Mr. Stanwick - sure author’s can talk too much, but give them a bit more of your time than you would like and you never know where it might lead.

From then on I spread my wings further afield and hooked up with Waterstones and the rest, as they say, is history.

Alas Marmaduke are no more, which is a shame, but I think with the squeeze from supermarkets and the internet it is inevitable that most of the independents will go to the wall. I remember Maramaduke telling me that they only sold 40 odd copies of the last Harry Potter as the price they could buy it for (from their wholesalers) was the same price as their local ASDA were selling it for.

I would go as far as to say that a lot of the high street bookshops, including Waterstones & Ottakars will be disappear over time. Anyway that’s another topic.

The only comment on here that really concerned me was the one from Sara about my book being held up as an example of ‘how bad a book can be’. I can only think you are referring to the old cover (the black one - which I too don’t like by the way!). If it’s anything else then please email me!

In fact anyone with anything constructive to say is more than welcome to email me (even Steerforth is welcome and I promise to keep my reply short!)

[Mark Robson]

I take my hat off to you, John. Whether you need a good editor or not, you've sold a copy to me today.

The point, as I see it, is that you've created a market for your work. You've done the legwork and built the readership. I know how hard that is to do successfully. Even if they don't want to re-package and re-launch 'The Key to Chintak', the major houses will have to take any subsequent stories you write very seriously. Your sales figures have made you a 'no-brainer' as far as making a profit is concerned.

Best of luck for the future.

[John Self]

Had a look in my local Waterstone's for The Key to Chintak today but no sign.

On a tangent, when Mark Robson says, "Your sales figures have made you a 'no-brainer' as far as making a profit is concerned," this makes me sigh a little. Isn't that the problem today, that publishers are too often looking for something that will turn a quick buck rather than something that will still be read in ten or fifty years' time? Shadowmancer for example, can only have been taken on by Faber on the basis that, "Well, it's complete rubbish, but it's the sort of thing that might pick up a readership on the coat-tails of Harry Potter." Again no dig is intended at Mr Howard, whose book I haven't read, but the idea of sales and profit being a publisher's *only* consideration is a bit of a depressing one.

[Scott Pack]

This really has sparked an interesting debate. What I find fascinating about the book is that it has sold over 10,000 copies which is a lot more than many kids books sell, even those that were bought for huge advances and hyped to death, and still publishers seem to be ignoring it. Worldwide rights alone would fetch a decent amount with the right person selling them.

When it comes to the quality of the book, the attitude of the author, the association with GPT and all that stuff I can happily cast it aside and point everyone towards the hundreds of reviews from kids on the author's site. These are all genuine readers. Kids love this book, as the teacher who commented above will testify, and that is pretty much all that matters.

[Mark Robson]

If Mr Self is in business he will surely know that a business sets out to make a profit. If on the other hand he is one of the employed masses, then he will know the comfort of a nice, regular salary and possibly not know the pressures involved in making a business profitable. Any company that doesn't have this mentality is not going to last long in today's climate. Whilst as an author I always strive to find that perfect balance in a story - something special that will make it stick in the mind of my readers - I also have to appreciate the needs of the company that is laying a large amount of money on the line in what is essentially a gamble on whether my story will sell, or not.

I started out self publishing my first book as a hobby in 2000. People spend money on hobbies - that was my attitude. I would happily spend a thousand pounds a year playing golf and not think anything of it. So why should it hurt anyone if I spent a few thousand printing a few books. If I got the money back - great! If not, then I looked forward to having a bit of fun trying. By 2005 my printing bills were more than I paid for my first house! With no small effort I recouped it all in the space of 6 months. When you gamble with that amount of money it concentrates the mind somewhat. Having experienced this side of publishing as well as the writing side I would be the first to say 'Yes, it's important that the publishers choose books that turn a profit.'

Is money everything? No, of course it isn't. I gave up a very well paid job as an RAF pilot to write books for youngsters and to spend time trying to inspire them to find a spark of ambition and to chase their dreams. On average I expect to earn about half what I did as a pilot for the next few years. I understand that Mr Howard has given up a similarly well paid job (if not more so) to pursue his writing career. It's easy for people who have not taken this sort of risk to stick the boot in.

Was my first book good enough to make the cut and stand out from the slush pile? No. The second was better, but I never sent it to publishers. The third was better still, and by the time I got to my fifth title I was finally ready to try again and submit it. Hey presto! I got a deal ... with a bit of help! The strange thing is that although my books are now far better written than those early self published works, a recent poll on one of the biggest SFF websites around showed my first series to still be more popular with the young people. Will The Key to Chintak be around in 50 years? I don't know, but I still take my hat off to John for his efforts. If he has generated this much interest with his first effort, why shouldn't he get the backing of a major company to hone his skills?

[John Self]

Well I did say it would be depressing if turning a profit was a publisher's *only* consideration (I even emphasised the 'only' that time too). Indeed they do have to be profitable, but traditionally publishers' lists were made up of two types of book: the ones they really wanted to publish because they liked them and thought them worthy of a wider audience and a stab at posterity, and the ones they didn't love quite so much but which would sell better and subsidise the 'good' stuff.

I'm not sticking the boot into anyone: as I've said, I haven't read Mr Howard's book (or Mr Robson's books), but the prime difficulty with self- or vanity-publishing is that it removes the all-important publisher's filter. If a book is published by a 'proper' publisher, OK, there's still only a fairly low prospect of it being any good, but it will at least have had some editorial attention and been approved of by *someone* before it reaches you. Self-publishing removes that filter which means that, even though there will still be worthwhile stuff in there, the chances of finding it among the dross are absolutely infinitesimal. Scott has pointed out the odd gem, such as Imran Ahmad's Unimagined, but in my experience (of the likes of Dominic Mieville and Sean Wright), a lot of self-published stuff couldn't find a publisher for a very good reason.

All in all I tend to side with Martin Amis, who in the guise of Richard Tull in The Information, said publishing is like sex: "a man should be able to say he had never paid for it in his life."

[Mark Robson]

"Well I did say it would be depressing if turning a profit was a publisher's *only* consideration (I even emphasised the 'only' that time too)."

I acknowledge the distinction, Mr Self. Sorry if my post sounded a bit of a rant. I also acknowledge the need for the filter. However, have you ever tried batting your head against that filter? I'd say it's pretty clogged up. The chances of being spotted unless you have an inside track, or have come to the notice of the publishers through some other means (like selling a lot of books on your own) are very limited these days. Should the publishers look to make a quick buck? If it keeps them afloat and able to continue publishing, then I can't argue with their need to do that on occasion. 2c.

[R P Barnes]

Dear readers and fellow authors. I am slightly confused as to why Mark Robson, an author, should become so upset over this exciting news for John Howard. This is an open forum and one that hopefully many will read. John Howard has written a book and attempted to become published. In doing so he has sold some 15,000 books in lass than a year. In doing this he has taken a great deal of time off work to enable him to visit schools and shops and attend a great many signing events. This has all be done without any form of help from a publishing house. Unlike Mr Robson, John Howard has already become a childrens author in his own right. Mr Robson has yet to obtain as many sales, and as many readers. Why on earth would a simple forward by another author cause so much pain to someone is beyond me.The very core of authors intentions is to gain sales and that illusive publishing deal. To be born with a silver spoon in ones mouth is, I suppose, one advantage, However, to work your way through countless months on the road without publicity generated from a large publisher, is a disadvantage. I say well done to Mr Howard for at least attempting to please his readers, which incidentally, he has. I would also say well done Mr Robson, you have now learnt your first lesson in the world of literary circles!!!!!.Oh, the lesson, don't throw stones in glass houses Mark, especially when a fellow author has sold several million copies of his self-published book and has an 11 book deal worth 7 figures per book, and a film, and a new series of 6 books about to be released, oh, and another film deal in the bag. Keep up the good work Mr Pack, an excellent topic to write about, and one that will no doubt cause and responce from "Hell"????? Yours Aye R P Barnes

[Scott Pack]

I am a bit confused by this last post as Mark Robson has only posted support for John Howard on this site. I suspect that RP Barnes has mis-read the author for one of the comments.

[John Self]

Yes, now I'm confused too. If RP Barnes is an author, I hope he has a good editor and spellcheck. Far be it from me to suggest that, as his email address is "plymbooks@...", he has a vested interest in defending the likes of GP Taylor: a cool quarter of a million for the manuscript of Shadowmancer, anyone?

http://www.plymbooks.co.uk/?page=shop/flypage&product_id=165&CLSN_658=117334296765894f25d4525b1fa54cce

[R P Barnes]

Mark Robson, I am ever so sorry that I have slatted you in such an aweful way, I have not read this forum correctly and thought you had posted the comments on John Howard and the other authors. Please accept my apologies. John Self is the intended recipricant for my comments. I also note that this is the same author who takes part in plampset, an authors blog made up entirley to destroy self-published authors and one which has a vile attitude towards Sean Wright and G P Taylor. John Self, you really are missing out on what is happening here. Any author who tries so hard should be commended for thier efforts and not subjected to a barrage of abuse. Messers Howard, Taylor and Wright have worked very hard to have their books published with varying degree's of success.Why are you so intent on leaving acidic comments on as many forum's as possible. John Howard and Mark Robson have been through a great deal with their efforts and should be treated with fair comments and not those you have left. I do recommend you write your own book entitled " Get a life ".I am sure that public abuse on such an informative site is bordering on slander and no doubt you will feel the rebuttle from Mr Taylor.

[John Self]

Well there's only one thing worse than being talked about, Mr Barnes...

Your semi-literate ramblings are of little interest to me. But how invigorating to be the subject of such venom for one's sincerely intended views! Palimpsest, or "Plampset" as you call it, is not "an authors [sic] blog made up entirley [sic] to destroy self-published authors" but a book, film and music discussion site which only raises opprobrium against self-published authors when they spam the site under assumed names pretending to be fans of their own work. I invite anyone to visit Palimpsest and try it themselves; it's a nice place to hang out:

http://palimpsest.org.uk/forum/index.php

As for my leaving 'acidic' comments on as many forums as possible, I invite you to browse this blog, Susan Hill's, dovegreyreader's, or indeed my own, and stand over that comment.

Anyway, The Key to Chintak: now where were we...?

[R P Barnes]

I agree. Sorry, The intended subject matter is the book and should be exclusive of mere argument. Trying to become published is becoming so hard that I wonder who is actually being taken on. John Howard's book is an exciting read for children and this has been shown on the authors website with a great many emails of support. Mr self you should read this novel and post your own views, you may find you like it. My daughter found it stimulated her imagination and the story itself was new and very informative overall and not full of the continual quest for dragons, wizards and magic. It is a shame that when a book is recommended that publishers do not look into the comments in submission letters or manuscripts as I am sure they would find a great many authors works are liked and indeed wanted by children. Quality books for children are becoming very difficult to find as it is and anything new in the market is alway's nice to see. Enjoy reading and encourage all children to read. After all, they are our future authors and scribes.

[John Howard]

Enough everyone! This is just a book. Oh, and I know (or I guess) you are defending me Barnes, but please don't!

Please do me a favour, anyone who wants to find out first hand about my book, buy one and pass it to a 9 to 13 year-old and ask them what they think. Whatever that is I would love to hear it.

I'm easily pleased...

[scobbs]

I couldn’t stay out of this one any longer. I hate self published books. However, before everyone jumps on my back, I will qualify that by saying there are always exceptions to the rule. On world book day my daughter wanted to dress up as Millie. That was it. That is all she said and fully expected me to know what she was talking about. I went onto learn, after much frowning and foot stamping, that Millie was from the key to Chintak. A book she was reading at school. A book I was told in no uncertain terms that she, and her posse, thought was great.

Now imagine my horror when I opened said book to read a foreword that clearly stated the book was self published. What was the school up to? I needed ammunition to throw at the English department when I next saw them so I decided to read the book. And do you know what? It was good. That by the way is good through gritted teeth, because I have been rather vocal in my thoughts about self publishing up to that point. I put my hands up and say I was wrong. Well wrong on this book. Some must just slip through the net. I could say more, but a wounded ego wont allow it.

[Markus]

Hat in the ring time. I’m on here because my good friend Jackie made me - and she is not for crossing! So here’s what I think.

I’ve read this book and it was neither the best book I have ever read nor was it the worst book I have ever read. But it was certainly closer to the best than the worst. Does it need an edit? Maybe, but then I thought Harry Potter needed editing, which leads me onto the conclusion that most people find fault in most books. I must say that my birth certificate states that I am over 50 - not good - but my son’s shows only a mere 13 years on this planet. A son weighed down with testosterone and unable to offer much more than a grunt on most subjects. On the other hand, ask him what he thinks of the key to Chintak and you can’t stop him talking excitedly about it. Any book that has that effect on him is good enough for me.

[Matthew]

I think Marcus has a point about the later Potter books. It seems to me that as JK has become more powerful and influential Bloomsbury have been terrified of editing her books. I'm a moderate fan of HP. I haven't read no. 6 but 3,4 & 5 could have done with a serious edit. In fact I would go so far as to say the later HP books are so clunky that they resemble many a self-published book.

[Scott Pack]

Well, 3 people have bought Chintak by clicking through from the blog so the audience is growing all the time!

[amanda]

Personally I haven't read this but it certainly sounds interesting. I'm also intrigued as to why a big publisher hasn't taken it on and continued to push it to the chains as a core stock line. Many other self published works have gone down this route to various degrees of success but to reach W's top ten and not get picked up is astounding.
Maybe since Waterstones has a new team in place the author should send them a copy to remind them? Afterall they'd presumably be able to influence the publishers?

[Clare]

I'm afraid I haven't time to read this enormous comments box, so apologies if this comment has already been made...

If a publisher or agent received a washing machine manual packaged as a book, they would send out a standard rejection letter. They would probably read the first page - most people do - and that would be enough. They would reject it. They wouldn't feel the need to say, "But this is a washing machine manual!" They would just say to themselves, "Nutter. No thanks."

In what way can this be taken as proof that they didn't read the other book? It proves nothing. They probably read the covering letter and first page and thought, "No thanks." There is already an admittance that the book needed a lot of work. The first page (at that point - it's probably changed since then) may have been rubbish, and enough to put anyone off reading further.

It's a lottery out there, and very hard to make a good first impression. I don't think any other conclusions can be drawn from this tale.

[Steerforth]

Which neatly goes back to my initial point - it doesn't matter how good the book is, if you can't effectively sell it to a publisher or bookseller then you face an uphill struggle. To Mr Howard's credit, not only has he managed to achieve the very difficult task of getting a bestseller without the usual support, but he has also built-up a loyal following. If it's that popular with young readers then I think we have to accept that this isn't just another self-published novel heading for oblivion.

Is 'The Key to Chintak' any good? I've no idea - I've never read the book. All that matters is the passion and enthusiasm it generates in its young readers. Now that I've had an opportunity to see how strongly people feel about this novel I shall obviously give it more support.

[Merlot]

Hurray Mr. Steerforth, I want to hug you! :-)

That is just the point. John Howard has created a whole readership for his book through hard work and creating an engaging and, judging by some of the comments here, a fantastic childrens book.

One thing is clear wether John Howard is signed by a publisher or not, He and The Key to Chintak are already a success! Ask the kids.

I'm not quite sure what 'Clare' hoped to bring to the discussion with her comments, perhaps I could suggest next time she reads the posts first? Strange, all these people making comments on a book and blog some of them have not yet read. Reminds me of a bunch of disengenuous Politicians enraged at the previous nights viewing which none of them have seen! Although there is clearly plenty of frankness and passion here!

[sara]

Oh cripes, I feel bad now, sorry I have only just read the rest of the comments here, and I note that the author was concerned by my comment. I hope I offer reassurance when I say that yes, it was the old cover that the book buyer was referring to, and the new one is a great improvement. Best wishes.

[Scott Pack]

This is now by far the most commented upon post in the history of Me & My Big Mouth. Clearly some strong opinions here and I was personally heartened to see so many parents of fans of the book speak up. It is daft that Howard has no agent and no major publisher seeing as how good a self promoter he is and his proven sales record.

Could it be that the big guys have lost the ability to discover an author themselves and that without the help of agents and the artificial excitement of a bidding war they are at a loss as to what to do?

Howard is presenting them with a bestseller on a plate and still they ignore it.

Interesting.

[Markus]

Scott, I expect the answer to that is pride. Just how can any publisher who has looked at this book and said it will not sell - only to watch it outsell many of their own titles and make number 2 in the best seller list and, it would seem, attract film interest - suddenly come back and say, actually you know what, I change my mind? Having said that I can’t help but think there are a few publishers with their fingers hovering over their send buttons as we speak. As you said, interesting.

[John Doe]

What an interesting debate this is - if a little fractiuos. I'm putting together a piece about self-publishing and am constantly looking for examples like this to add to my Eragon pile (as I call it). You may or may not be interested to know that my piece (were the commission to be used, which I hope it will as my advance doubles and I need to eat) centres around the changing face of publishing; with emphasis on a shift towards self promotion. During my research I have read vat loads of self-published tat, but every now and then I find an exception. I have little doubt that some time very soon one of those exceptions will rock the charts, debagging the establishment in the process. Will The Key to Chintak be that book I wonder?

Apologies for alias.

[Emily]

I came here from the book website. I have read some of the peoples commetns and i cant see why you moan about this book. my friends realy love the key to Chintak we have all read it after he came to our school. my brother loves this book to. i think it is better then harry potter to. it is amazing with lots of great stuff in it. we realy cANt wait for the next one.

[Linda Caswell]

I am 48 eek! and read loads of books of all sorts including children's sometimes as I have 3 kids who are bookworms.

My 11 year old brought this home from school after meeting John Howard and we loved it so much that I now have a natter with John occasionally after emailing him with our comments. I can't wait for the second book and thin it would be great for there to be a film of the first book.
As to the self publishing side of it..well..all power to him. I tried to get publishers to take my artwork and if book publishers are half as conceited as art publishers, the John Howard deserves applause for his guts and gusto,confidence and belief in his work! The book publishers should wipe the egg off their faces, swallow theri pride and jump on the bandwagon before it passes them by.
Children won't be fooled by opinions, theirs are the one's that count and if they are buying the book, who can say more??
Soorry, longwinded, but I loved the book!

[Simon Temprell]

I had three novels published by Pan Macmillan earlier this decade and I was naive enough to believe that I'd finally 'made it' as an established author. I bought in to all the hype and spin and was consequently crushed when Macmillan dropped my contract after the third book due to unsatisfactory sales. For the past five years I have been struggling to find another publisher but my agent finally gave up the ghost and left me with three unpublished novels and a demolished ego. In some respects it is a handicap to have published work under your belt when searching for representation because prospective publishers are nervous about taking on a 'failed' author. And so, encouraged by John Howard's experiences I decided to try self-publication. I am currently in the process of preparing my novel INTENTS & PURPOSES for publication through www.lulu.com and it should be available by the end of May 2008. I feel slightly 'amateur' in my approach and hope the book doesn't look too cheesy when it's finished but I felt at a loss after receiving numerous rejection letters from agents and publishing houses and really feel that I have no alternative but to do it myself. I believe in my storytelling abilities and have had some really great reviews in the past; now my main concern is marketing my own work and making it accessible to as many readers as possible. If anyone out there has any positive advice for me I would love to hear anything you've got.