Lindsey's Page

My busy summer continued with a trip to the USA to a Latin students’ convention in Fargo, and I am now contemplating my next major visit to the Bouchercon in San Francisco next month. The programme is still being worked out but you will see on the News page that my enterprising US editor has arranged what could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see and hear the three originators of Roman mystery fiction all in one place…

For readers in the US who want to buy the Companion, it is now available to order. There will be no separate US edition so tell your retailer the book is distributed for Random House UK by Trafalgar Square.

Both Nemesis and the Companion have been very well received by critics; I am particularly pleased that the Companion attracted notice. It was your book, containing what I thought you wanted and it’s interesting how much (surprised?) approbation it has garnered.

Maps for Audio Readers

In response to several requests I have obtained permission to put the maps from the novels on the website as they are generally not included with audio editions. This will be done slowly, because of the amount of scanning required but you will soon be able to find them on the same page as the Map we already have on the site.

Next Book

After doing two Falco-themed books at the same time, the one thing I know is that I am not going to write another immediately. Otherwise, an announcement is likely in the near future.

E-Books 

People have asked me when the whole series will be available so let me explain how things work and what I think.

I welcome all technologies, but please remember that I, and many of my colleagues, write to earn our living. Whenever someone says that e-books are ‘cheap to produce’, they are handily forgetting that without an author to write the words, no story would exist. Putting out very cheap digital editions simultaneously with the print version will eat into my ‘salary’, my pension and provision for my care in old age. This is exploitation and I am campaigning against it. (For your information, my last English digital royalty was £7…)

My old books were contracted without provision for e-books, so the rights are mine. Slowly, retailers and publishers have realised that this means authors – previously offered only filthy low rates – may actually be controlling a valuable portfolio. We expect that in future reasonable requests for payment will be met!

For some years book contracts have insisted that authors do give the right to digitise. Some of mine are, or will be, e-books. Even then, making the books available is in the hands of the e-book sellers. They are concentrating on new releases, so older books are waiting in queues.

Books which are currently out of print, which includes quite a few Falcos in America, will probably not become e-books unless or until they are relicensed. If I licensed the e-books separately it would make reprints less attractive – and there are still many people who like to read a ‘real’ book.

Piracy

A reader took up this point to berate me for ‘allowing’ internet sites that advertise unlicensed downloads of my work. I don’t allow it. I recently became aware of one such site and am going through the protracted, and to my mind feeble, procedures an author has to follow.

I can only point out that this is piracy, a blatant form of theft. Anyone who does download unlicensed files is a receiver of stolen goods. When teenagers did this with music, they and their parents were astonished to receive visits from the police. There is no reason why the same should not happen with pirated audiobooks. Only the lassitude of my trade is preventing it and I hope that will change.

Classical Association

In 1997/8 I was Honorary President of the UK Classical Association. I recommend joining if you are interested in the jolly side of classics. See their website, www.classicalassociation.org.

Organ Donor Card Appeal

This is a personal appeal on an issue where I have experience from both sides.

Please carry a donor card. And if ever you are in the sad position of having to decide whether to agree to organ donation from someone close to you, please consider the good you may do. Honour their wishes if they carry a card. If not, then it is your choice; please use the opportunity. I understand just how hard it is at the time – but I can also tell you, because I have had to do it, that afterwards you will feel glad you took the decision to say yes.

Lives can be saved or dramatically improved by organ transplants. From childhood, I had a rare eye condition called keratoconus. Eventually I needed a corneal transplant – not often mentioned when organ donation is discussed, though in fact one donor can save the sight of two people. Being able to see, without discomfort, helps me to write. A stranger's generosity freed me from years of pain and anxiety. I was never able to thank my donor or their relatives, but I shall always remember them. Every time you read one of my books, you too are a beneficiary of their gift to me.

"A Famous Reader -- Minimus in Corduba"

For more information about Minimus, drawn by the talented artist Helen Forte, please visit
  www.minimus-etc.co.uk.