Creek Water by Robert Starr

[kailhofer]

I thought it would be appropriate here to say a few words about this novel from one of our own in case some of you don't know about it yet.<br><br>Creek Water by Robert Starr Paperback, $6.99. Sold by stonegarden.net, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com<br><br>What seems like a long time ago now, Rob asked for anyone willing to write a blurb for his book. I've written plenty of ad copy in the past, so I said sure. Gareth Lyn Powell joined in, and friendly editor Dan Hollifield said he would too. Some time later, Rob emailed me to let me know that my blurb, or at least part of it, would be on the book. Somewhere.<br><br>That was cool, I thought. But then it it struck me. I didn't even know what all was in this book. I've read a lot of Rob's stories, but not all of them. What if it wasn't good?<br><br>Rob gave the word, and I pre-ordered 2 of them--one for my collection, and one to cut the cover off & frame on my wall. Hey, your name on the back of a book--even someone else's--is a big deal the first time it happens. <br><br>It arrived, and I had to stop to take it all in. I'm a printer, so first I looked at with those eyes. Process color cover, 10 or 12 pt coated one side (and probably clear-UV coated, too) stock. Interesting cover design. Intriguing verse lightly in the background. <br><br>Flipped it over, and there was my blurb, just below Gareth's. I had an "I love me" moment with a big, dumb grin on my face and had to show it to just about everyone I knew. The font of the blurbs was a little hard to read, but it was compelling, adding to the "mood" of the cover. Ivory text stock (some vendors might call this "natural") for the text pages, 60 or 70# offset basis weight. Couldn't tell which without my micrometer, and it was at work. <br><br>I popped it open and looked. Nice title page. Following that, a nice table of contents.<br><br>Dan's forward came after that. The formatting of it was off, with some improperly formatted tab stops, but gave a good list of the stories and which issues they came from. It seemed to me Dan might have plugged Aphelion as much as Robert's book, but I can't honestly blame him--this is, after all, where Rob built an audience. And he did plug Rob's writing ability, no mistaking that. He said, amongst other things, "Robert Starr is one hell of a storyteller, and you dear reader, are in for one hell of a ride!"<br><br>It's hard to take that the wrong way.<br><br>Moving on to the stories, I was a professional typesetter for a dozen years, so things like the size of the initial indents and the space after paragraphs caused my eyebrows to raise, but I'm trained in this. Still, the meat of the matter is what's important.<br><br>The meat of this matter in this case is the content, and I was not let down. These stories rocked! Psychological horror... some SF, but most not. Still, Rob's manner of describing situations is a thing of joy to read. As I pointed out in my blurb, he really does capture things in a uniquely human way. If you authors out there don't know what that means, buy the book. You'll see. You'll learn from a great example. In fact, that $6.99 may be the best investment you'll ever make in your writing career.<br><br>I am proud to stand behind what I said in the blurb, even the long form you can only see on Stone Garden's site or Barnes and Noble. Rob is a true craftsman. <br><br>Perhaps Rob could be coaxed into enlightening us as to the process that lead up to this, because it might teach the rest of us a thing or two. <br><br>What exchanges happened with the publisher? What's an inital offer look like? How long is the contract you had to sign? Did you get galleys for revisions, or was it all digital? Did you get to see a copy before it came out, or were you as surprised as I? What kind of a marketing plan is there? Does Stone Garden do any footwork on this, or is it up to you??<br><br>Nate

[StoneGarden]

Nate, <br><br> I'm glad you enjoyed the book, and the cover design. Marie has done some wonderful work for us, and I'm proud that she was able to work with us on this one.<br><br>Anyone interested in how we work, our contract, etc is more than welcome to send me a PM. ;D

[Megawatts]

I just ordered 'Creek water' and am looking forward to reading it. Robert has talent as evident from his story 'Bill Goes to Werkworth.' <br><br>

[Daniel_Sosa]

If you Aphelions (Aphelioites? Apheliophiles?) want to help Robert Starr out, a great thing to do is post reviews on Amazon and the like. I recently bought a fantasy novel by a no-name author on Amazon based soley on customer reviews, lacking any other information about the small press book. :-/