Wednesday 14 July 2010

MATTHEW P. MAYO: His News


Once upon a time most books could expect a paperback deal to follow. These days it is not so much the case.
So, when Matthew P. Mayo announced that a paperback deal had been made with Dorchester/Leisure books I was quite thrilled and can only congratulate him on this acheivement.
I think that Matthew P. Mayo is the first Black Horse Western writer to have his novels reprinted in paperback.
The first novel in print will be 'Winters' War' which will be available in May, 2011.
'Wrong Town' and 'Hot Lead, Cold Heart' will follow a few months after.
The word is that Dorchester/Leisure are looking for authors who would like to see their books reprinted.
I hope that some of the Black Horse Western writers will seize the day and take advantage of the opportunity.

9 comments:

David Cranmer said...

Congrats to Matt. Super news!

Steve M said...

Ray, I think you should approach Leah at leisure too.

Matthew P. Mayo said...

Hey Ray!
Long time, no chat. Thanks much for your kind words. It's a fine turn of events, no doubt. And I hope other folks will be able to do the same, as BHWs deserve a wider audience.

(And when WRONG TOWN comes out in the States, and someone in Omaha is in the middle of reading the bear mauling scene, that their Alsatian jumps on their bed and scares 'em. If you know what I mean....)

Thanks again, Ray!

Cheers,
Matt

Ray said...

Thanks, Matt - and I know what you mean.

Steve - I think I might do that. Though I don't think any of the old manuscripts exist anymore.

Matthew P. Mayo said...

Hey Ray,
They work from a hard copy of the book, at least they are in my case, and will have it typeset for a US readership.

Email me and I'll be happy to give you what info I can.


Cheers,
Matt

Unknown said...

Well done, Matt. From what I've heard, Leisure have never been an easy market to crack, taking ages to reach decisions. One wrinkle for most BHW writers: Robert Hale Ltd's standard contract for westerns also gives them "exclusive rights of printing publishing and selling the said novel or any part thereof throughout the world". It also entitles them to 50% of the proceeds from any subsidiary rights sale. Presumably this would have to be resolved before a writer approached Leisure.

Gary Dobbs/Jack Martin said...

Again well done Matt - I'll do a feature on this closer to the date of publication.

Nik Morton said...

Chap, Matt's rights revert after 3 years, as do mine. His last published BHW was in 2008, so presumably there isn't an issue there. Interesting that Leisure use the hardcopy from the book - I've just spent a couple of hours changing my original MS to American spelling! Yes, Ray, go for it!

Ray said...

Well, the books that I was thinking about would be those published in the 1980s.
Even so 50% (if that was the case) would be, to me, a small price to pay for a wider readership.
Thanks Matt, Steve, Nik and Chap for your encouragement.