An inside account of an aspiring author trying to get his first (and possibly only) book published.
Why bother subscribing to A Certain Romance?
One day, you may be able to pick up a copy of ‘A Certain Romance - An Oral History of the New Yorkshire Wave’. Perhaps it’ll never get that far. Having spent six years working on a manuscript, it feels like the end is near. Those long afternoons in Sheffield City Library poring over microfilm of The Sheffield Star’s Gig Guide to hours spent transcribing interviews. Every date has been meticulously checked, every quote selected and put into the right place.
At times laborious, at other points fascinating and fulfilling. The whole experience of writing a book is fraught with conflicts over whether or not anyone is actually bothered enough to spend money to buy the book you have spent years compiling. Now, it’s a matter of getting published.
I was in Sheffield from 2002 and had an intimate view of the local bands that generated national acclaim. Mine was a single view so I have made it my mission to speak to other people who were there. Hopefully, the end result is a tapestry of accounts that form a thorough and complete narrative of what happened, how it happened, and how it felt to be part of a regional music scene that helped launch one of Britain’s biggest bands.
Whatever happens, this is a behind-the-scenes look at how an aspiring author is trying to get published.
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