Written in Dead Wax: Going Underground

Okay, it may not surprise you to learn that it's been a hectic week. As I described in last Sunday's post, my debut crime novel Written in Dead Wax has just been published. In case you're intrigued, here's an account of what's been happening since...

Right, well on Monday I recovered from throwing the launch party on Sunday (which I catered myself; I also did the cleaning up afterwards — I'm multi-talented). 

Tuesday was the official publication day. I say 'official' because bookshops had already been selling copies for over a week, bless them.

Once upon a time books used to be "embargoed" until the publication date and it was a big no-no for a bookseller to break that embargo. 
 
Nowadays things are much more relaxed — unless it's a huge publishing event like, say, a new Harry Potter. And shops can start selling a book as soon as they get copies.

Publication week also saw the beginning of the poster campaign in the London Underground. I'm eternally grateful to my publishers, Titan, and my wonderful publicist Lydia Gittins for swinging this. Trust me, not all first novels get this kind of publicity push.

Officially the campaign runs from the 9th to the 22nd of May, but friends began to report sightings a few days early.

It's an amazing, trippy sensation to see your own beloved book on posters all over the Underground, or the Tube as we Londoners affectionately call it. I still can't quite believe it's happening. Indeed, when Lydia told me she'd got me some Tube advertising I thought she said "cheap advertising."

I celebrated the event by going on a pilgrimage with a list of poster sites. I didn't manage to visit (or even find) them all, but I did pretty damn good job. 

And here are the cream of the photos, all taken with my primitive phone camera, including a shaky portrait of the author obtained by importuning a passing commuter. I'm also oddly fond of the one with graffiti on it.

But — one of my absolute favourites — is the Bakerloo Line corridor at Oxford Circus which has a poster on both walls.

We're going to get them coming and going.

(Image credits: Mine, all mine... Maniacal laughter...)