Chomu update

Chomu Press have recently released our eighth book, Dying to Read, the long-awaited second novel from John Elliott. It's a kind of murder mystery that should appeal to anyone who likes something gritty, something funny, something a bit hip in a literary way (in the way of Queneau, Ballard, the Beats), or any combination of the three.

I am reminded by this fact that it's been ages since I featured any kind of Chomu update here, so it's about time I gave some news and general links.

First of all, as I said, we now have eight books out. They are all listed here, along with our forthcoming books. The next book to be released will be Link Arms with Toads!, by Rhys Hughes (incidentally, the story '333 and a Third' in that collection mirrors exactly how I feel about my life at the moment). I'd also like to direct people's attention to Jeanette by Joe Simpson Walker, the most recent book to be announced from us, and something a bit special for those who like either boots, or just a really good story, or possibly both. Quote: "Joe Simpson Walker is to kinky boots what William S. Burroughs was to junk."

The latest cover to be posted is that for Nemonymous Night, by D.F. Lewis, a cover by the marvellous Heather Horsley. With the help of Bigeyebrow, we hope to continue the interesting design and cover images.

While I'm here – a notice about something that should be mentioned that may be worrying some people. Amazon UK (and possibly other European Amazon sites) have been listing all our newly released titles with ridiculous delivery times like 1-2 months. From what we can ascertain, this is due to the fact that, against all reason, Amazon EU are sourcing all their Lightning Source publications from the US rather than the UK printers, causing delays. There is some discussion of this here. Lightning Source are apparently taking this problem seriously, as are we. However, I should mention that in every case I have heard of so far the books actually arrive much sooner than predicted by Amazon themselves – usually within two weeks. If the books you order are taking longer than this, please to write to Chomu to let us know. Also, bear in mind that there are plenty of other online retail outlets stocking our titles, including The Book Depository, who also provide free worldwide delivery (and Barnes and Noble, WHSmith, etc.). We're also beginning to place titles with independent book shops such as Ziesings.

And now for miscellaneous links that I hope will give a general sense of updating things on the Chomu front:

Revenants, by Daniel Mills, was listed in the Booklist Online top ten works of historical fiction for 2011.

You may read the complete International Wota Justin Isis interview here.

Signed copies of The Dracula Papers, Book I: The Scholar's Tale, by Reggie Oliver, are available from The Aldeburgh Bookshop (contact them here).

The latest review of Brendan Connell's fabulously eccentric The Life of Polycrates and Other Stories for Antiquated Children may be read here, at Pank.

A review of the majestic The Great Lover, by Michael Cisco (released earlier this month), may be read at Empty Your Heart of its Mortal Dream, here.

And a review of The Man Who Collected Machen and Other Weird Tales, by master of the modern macabre, Mark Samuels, may be read at The Black Abyss, here.

Chomu will also be announcing new titles before long, so please keep watching the website, and also sign up to the mailing list.

Cheers!