Thursday 14 January 2010

Countdown: 2 weeks till SKIN BOOK goes on sale




You may have been following my latest project, SKIN BOOK, over at Year Zero. Probably you haven't been :) Anyway, you can read it all for free over there, but if you want a little something in your hands, complete with artwork and design by the amazing Sarah E Melville, there's only two weeks to wait.



The hard copy of SKIN BOOK will not be a standard paperback - that just wouldn't fit the book. It will consist of 8 double-sided high quality cards, of A6 (5.5" x 4.5") size, punched and threaded on a bootlace - like a lanyard programme you'd get at a festival - only bootlaces go with the feel better than lanyards. Price will be under £5 + postage if you order online, or less postage if you buy direct from our live gigs - such as the event at Rough Trade Records, Brick Lane on Feb 4th at 6pm.



SKIN BOOK is a prose poem, first performed in full at Free-e-day live on December 1st. It tells the story of a woman, never touched by another living human, who writes her lonely memories in her SKIN BOOK, her diary made of human skin. And her love for a man who spends his days stalking strangers on the subway, women he can never touch.



Above, you can see Sarah's amazing cover. Which you can have hand tinted in red or not according to taste (but no extra expense). Below you'll see chapter 1. There are also three exclusive, full-page art pieces by Sarah. I hope it's the kind of collectors' edition that you'll consider worth spenidng a fiver on.














7 comments:

  1. It's almost disconcerting, but this design is so very perfect for your story.

    Talented people you all are!

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  2. Sometimes I'd swear Sarah is psychic - I ramble away utter nonsense and then she produces something that's like she's taken a photograph of what's in my head!

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  3. Love it, Dan. The cover is superb (as is the inside). I had no idea it was so close to being finished.
    I predict it'll go cult-tasticly viral!
    A great project for SU.

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  4. Thank you, Anne - I don't know about viral, but I'd love to think it could be a cult thing - I don't know whether the limited availability is likely to make it more or less so :)

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  6. And now I totally understand your comments about why you self-publish!! You're absolutely right - you'd never create a gem like this with a mainstream publisher.
    Good luck with it: you've obviously worked hard and deserve loads of success.

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  7. Thank you, Olivia. That's hugely appreciated.

    Not everything I write is quite so unplaceable as this. Songs from the Other Side of the Wall is a gentle piece of literary fiction, but the idea of not being able to move between the two, or try something else just feels wrong.

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