Donovan Street Press Inc. Update

Cuz I thought you might like to know

Joe Mahoney

Nov 07, 2024

Being the 43rd edition of Assorted Nonsense, the official newsletter of Donovan Street Press Inc.

Wondering how Donovan Street Press Inc. is making out?

No?

Oh.

Uh…

Well, I’m gonna tell you anyway. :-) I thought that would be a better use of time than ruminating on this week’s crazy events, which you can hear from just about everybody else.

Donovan Street Press Inc., you might recall, is the little indie publishing company I created last year to publish my memoir about working for CBC Radio called Adventures in the Radio Trade. I also used the company to publish my novel A Time and Place after Five Rivers Press relinquished the rights, my collection of short fiction Other Times and Places, and my father’s book The Deer Yard and Other Stories.

All that went fairly well. The day before I published my memoir I retired from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, where I’d been in management for sixteen years, and in production nineteen years before that. With some time on my hands, I decided to take a serious stab at writing and publishing. Every three or four years at the CBC I’d found myself running a different department; I figured I’d approach running my own indie publishing company exactly the same as if I’d just been transferred to a different department within the CBC.

Running my own publishing company is a little more daunting, mind you: I don’t have the financial or operational resources I had at the CBC. And it’s my own damned money. But I do have some skills garnered over my time there. Plus I’m stubborn, and one of my bosses once described me as a “workhorse.” I once considered changing my bio on Linked In to simply, “Gets shit done,” which I think sums me up.

Donovan Street Press Inc. certainly has kept me busy. Busy enough to keep me from missing the CBC (which I do, a little bit). Frankly I don’t understand people who retire and complain about being bored. I don’t have enough time in the day to do what needs to be done. Bored? Come and work for me! I got stuff you can do.

The first thing I did before making this real, by which I mean taking on other authors, was approach my friend Jenn Delagran about helping me with the venture. Incredibly, she agreed. Her role at the moment is Business Manager, cuz I need someone to help me make responsible financial decisions, and keep track of expenses and income and deal with Royalties and all that other fun stuff. She also helps with other areas as they come up. Plus she’s a writer as well as a Senior Manager at a Major Financial Institution.

With Jenn in place, we decided to take one single novel from another author and publish it as an experiment. That author was Mark A. Rayner (who you might recognize as my co-host on our podcast, Re-Creative.) I wanted someone with whom I felt comfortable to go through the whole process. (It didn’t hurt that his book of short stories is exceptional.) So we placed Mark under contract with help from his lawyer brother Mike. (Thanks Mike!)

And then a funny thing happened. Another writer friend, Tanah Haney, had a book ready to go. And it just seemed to make sense to publish it under Donovan Street Press. (It didn’t hurt that her book is superbly written.) So we placed Tanah under contract.

And then my buddy Matt Watts came into the picture. Matt had a book too. I suggested he find a bigger publisher, cuz Matt, who’s been in showbiz for a while, has a real, live agent. And I wasn’t sure I wanted three books on my plate. But Matt and I work really well together (we’ve produced over twenty radio plays together). (It didn’t hurt that his novel is sweet, funny, and hugely entertaining.) So, after some hard-nosed wheeling and dealing with Matt’s agent, Matt came on board as well.

So, where are we at with all that?

Here’s an update, an abridged version of a bi-weekly update I sent out to the DSP Inc. team earlier today (my former teams at the CBC are all too familiar with my bi-weekly updates):

The New Books

A Peculiar Symmetry by Tanah Haney

My focus right now is finishing A Peculiar Symmetry in time for the launch of Tanah's book Dec 1st.

The launch is scheduled for Sunday Dec 1st at 7pm. It will be a private, virtual launch, by invitation only. There is still a bit of work to be done on the book itself but we're 99 percent there.

The Gates of Polished Horn by Mark A. Rayner

This title is ready to go!
I'm meeting with Mark Friday morning to discuss the marketing, pre-release phase
No publication date set yet; this will be determined by review timelines

Huey and the Wasteland by Matt Watts

We may be changing the title to Hope of the Wasteland. (We just think the world could use a little more "hope" right now)
We are also considering a series name, as we plan more books in the series
We still have to assign ISBNs and secure Cataloguing in Publication for it

Re-Creative Podcast

We have just released our 61st episode
We have two in the can, one to be edited, and three lined up to record
This will wind up Season 3
We'll take a brief hiatus over Christmas before Season 4
Mark and I will review the format before Season 4.
DSP Inc. authors will be included in Season 4

Assorted Nonsense, Substack Newsletter

We have published 42 editions of Assorted Nonsense, our newsletter on Substack
We pruned the subscriber list, removing subscribers who never received the newsletter (defunct email addresses)
This may have been a mistake, as they may have received it via the app. Well, live and learn. :-)
We currently have 80 subscribers (78 free, 2 paid), a decrease of 3 from the last update because of my (perhaps foolish) pruning
We currently have 136 followers, an increase of 7 from the last update
The 2 paid subscribers contribute $73 annually
The 30 day open rate is 63%

Captain's Away! Serial on Substack

I have published 4 chapters of my novel Captain's Away! on Substack
Chapter 1 has 201 views so far
Chapter 4 has 134 views [an increase of 6 since I sent out the update to my team this morning]... indicating at least some retention
In comparison, my last nonfiction newsletter [the edition of Assorted Nonsense prior to this one!] has only received 141 views

Submissions

Although Donovan Street Press Inc. is not officially open for submissions, some have crossed my desk anyway
I'm currently reviewing two submissions
One is a memoir by a writer from Nova Scotia
The other is a young adult novel by a writer from Prince Edward Island with whom I am somewhat acquainted (hint: her initials are SAM)

To Do

Finish preparations for A Peculiar Symmetry
Polish Huey and the Wasteland (or Hope of the Wasteland)
Create marketing plan for The Gates of Polished Horn
Finishing editing Cathi Bond's episode of Re-Creative
Secure ISBNs and CIP for Matts' books
Secure Distributor
Plan next publishing cycle (which will be 2 years long from this point on)

Books Officially in the Pipeline

The Gates of Polished Horn
Huey and the Wasteland
A Peculiar Symmetry, release date Dec 1st 2024

Books Unofficially in the Pipeline

(Privileged information! Sorry)

Backlist So Far

A Time and a Place
Other Times and Places
The Deer Yard and Other Stories
Adventures in the Radio Trade

So there you have it. What I’m doing and where we’re at with Donovan Street Press Inc. I appreciate you coming along for the journey.

Captain's Away! Chapter One

Joe

October 13, 2024

Captain’s Away! is a long form, weekly serial. New chapters come out every week (more or less). Comments and suggestions welcome as we go along.

Read full story

Advance Readers Wanted

Donovan Street Press Inc. is looking for advance readers for upcoming books. If you’re interested, drop us a line at contact@donovanstreetpress.com

Podcast

Re-Creative: a podcast about creativity and the works that inspire it.

This week Mark A. Rayner and I spoke to author Peter Darbyshire, who joined us to champion the classic Roger Zelazny fantasy series The Chronicles of Amber. I've loved Zelazny's fiction from the moment I first encountered the Amber series, and Mark's a fan as well, so Peter was in good company.

“Roger Zelazny is one of the reasons I wanted to become a writer,” Peter told us. “It was coming across The Chronicles of Amber that changed everything that a book could be. They’re the best noir-fantasy-scifi-horror-political-thriller-family-drama-literary-fiction-metaphysical-inquiry that I’ve read.”

Peter also tells us about his own work and gives us some insight into his writing process. Another fun conversation with a fellow Canadian writer!

Peter Darbyshire on Re-Creative

All previous episodes are available online, comprising the first 3 seasons, over 60 conversations with creative people from all walks of life about the art stoking their imaginative fires.

Appearances

Coming up:

This coming weekend, Saturday and Sunday Nov 9th and 10th I’ll be in Summerside PEI attending the Three Oaks Craft Fair in Summerside Prince Edward Island, where I’ll be helping sell my sister Susan Rodgers books as well as my own