Telos News

END OF TEN HARDBACK

We're pleased to report that the hardback for End of Ten arrived on Friday, and very lovely it looks too. We're sorting out the copies for everyone at the moment, figuring out who wants which limitation numbers, and they should be posted off on Monday.

It also looks like the book is sold out already - we need to collate the orders and shop orders to double check.

Posted by David @ 4:53 pm

INSIDE TELOS

People often contact Telos asking about our staff, offices, Marketing Managers ... and I have to suppress a wry smile, as although we hopefully publish some great looking books, we're not big enough to be able to warrant any of those things ... instead we do everything ourselves.

So a little insight into how Telos works might help to allay some questions from interested readers, and might also help to explain why sometimes it takes a little longer to process orders or to get things sorted out.

So ... you place an order through the online site ... what happens next?

Well the first thing that happens is that Debbie Bennett, who handles all the online ordering, picks the order up either on an email or from the Paypal system, and logs it into her Master Database Of Everything Telos. If what has been ordered is not published yet, then she holds all these orders until the book is published. For things which are available, then approximately once a week (holidays and real life intruding) she pulls the list off the Database and emails it down to Sam and I.

We then print that off, and then Sam (usually, because I am often at the office doing my real job) heads to the stockroom to find the titles, packages them up and addresses them. If I am around then I will help with bigger orders, packaging them, wrapping in bubble wrap and so on. When a new title comes in, then Debs will send us *all* the held orders for it, and we then print labels off and sort out all the customer orders, review copies, author copies, free copies, and shop orders ... this often takes a whole weekend or longer to sort out. Sam is incredible at maintaining all the order details, invoices and delivery notes, sorting out courier pickups and deliveries ... all the stuff that keeps our titles coming from us to you basically. Did I mention that she's amazing!

We then hike them all down the post office once they're done - and this can take several evenings/weekends, and the Post Office trips can be by foot (if just a few) or by car (if there's loads) and can also take several visits to sort it all out from UK orders to America, Australia, Europe and everywhere in between.

So the upshot is that it can easily take a couple of weeks from when you place the order, to when it actually gets to the Post Office ... which is why we say to allow 28 days before querying ... Indeed, the Post Office will also take a few days to get the order to you, but that part of it is pretty much out of our hands!

Of course if the book isn't published yet, then we can't send it, and I try and keep the website up to date, and post updates here on the News Blog as the expected/predicted dates slip and slide due to everything from Printer schedules, to layout being far more complex than expected, and everyone's available time to work on Telos things changing due to the real world intruding.

So there you have it ... a brief day in the life of a Telos order ...

Posted by David @ 4:41 pm

TELOS WINS BRITISH FANTASY AWARD

As many of you know (because I mentioned it in a news item earlier in the year), this year is Telos' tenth anniversary, so it was with pleasure that we discovered that we had been nominated, and then shortlisted for, the 2010 British Fantasy Awards.

We had never won this award, despite having been nominated and shortlisted before, and so at the ceremony, I was obviously hopeful, but with a selection of amazing independent presses in the shortlist, it was not obvious at all who might have won.

The Award is sponsored by the very wonderful PS Publishing (check out their incredible range of books at www.pspublishing.co.uk) and so PS Owners Pete and Nicky Crowther took to the stage to announce the Award. They went through all the candidates, generously praising each for their achievements and the quality of what they did ... and then the announcement.

When I heard 'Telos Publishing' ... it didn't sink in. I heard it. I couldn't quite believe it ... and then I welled up with tears. Oh goodness me! So I got from my seat and up onto the stage ... accepted the Award, nearly knocking it to the floor in my blurry clumsiness ... and then I tried to say some words. Those who know me will know that I am rarely lost for words, but I was ... and confronted by all my friends in the BFS in a packed room, I kind of lost it. In a mass of emotion and blubbering, I managed to thank the most important people ... and then headed back to my seat as I couldn't say any more. A proper 'Paltrow' moment.

What I hope I said, was that Telos does not exist in a vacuum and there are many people to thank for keeping it going for ten years. Foremost my business partner Stephen James Walker. Between us we make all the decisions - easy and difficult - and hopefully do our best to get the books that people want to buy out there. Then there's Rosemary Howe, who helped set Telos up, and who supported us all the way through. Cudos to my partner Sam, who keeps me sane, wrangles the orders, and who I love so, so much. There's Debbie Bennett who handles all the online orders for us; and our Webmasters who keep us looking good online: first Roger Anderson, and latterly Anthony Forth. There's Arnold T Blumberg who keeps our books looking fab inside. All our authors of course, and cover artists ... the printers and everyone behind the scenes who make sure that our babies are sent out into the world looking as great as they can.

And of course, to you the readers, and especially if you are in the BFS and voted for us. It means so much to win the award, as it's voted on by friends and peers and writers and people who I love and admire so much.

So thank you to everyone for giving Telos this accolade. It means a lot, especially in our tenth anniversary.

The full list of Award Winners can be found here: the-winners-of-the-british-fantasy-awards-2010

And for more information and to join the British Fantasy Society, then visit here: http://www.britishfantasysociety.org/index.php/membership

Telos Publishing can be visited online here: www.telos.co.uk
And we're on Facebook here: Telos on Facebook

Posted by David @ 9:41 pm

FIRST REVIEW OF END OF TEN

From Ryan Frost:

The book was waiting on the doormat when I got in from work, and I've just spent the last five hours or so reading it from cover-to-cover.

My thoughts:

In some of Mr. Walker's previous books of this type, my least favourite part (by a large margin) is usually the diary section that opens the book, which (probably due to its very nature rather than a fault on the part of the writer) can be a little dry, being mostly a list of Who-related news and media quotes from the period in question.

However, for some reason, the equivalent chapters in The End of Ten were much more enjoyable this time. Whether it was the layout, or the writing style, I can't quite put my finger on it. But certainly the 'News in Review' section this time out was a more engaging read than previously. Maybe the news was just more exciting that year, what with the Doctor changeover, and the various media rumours that surrounded the gap year and the regeneration!

The episode guide is usually my favourite part of these guidebooks, and once again End of Ten doesn't disappoint. The reviews are both extensive and fair, as always. Being a keen lurker in the 'Rate the episode' threads on GB, I was a little concerned that there was nothing new to say about these episodes, critically. How wrong I was! Even having read thousands of posts about these episodes, Mr Walker has managed to say something fresh about them, making new points I had never heard nor considered before.

Another thing about Mr Walker's reviews (and this is a carry over from his previous reviews going back as far as the old Handbook series) is that, even when he's not a big fan of a certain episode, he'll always spot a few things that he likes, highlighting both the good and the bad in every episode. Many Who reviews these days seem to be either ardent love or abusive hate - it's so nice to get some middle ground in there for a change. And even when I didn't agree with some of the reviews (I'm a big fan of 'The Waters of Mars', for example), Mr Walker's reviews are always heartfelt, fair, thought-provoking and above all, balanced.

There are some new chapters in here as well - a critique on RTD's pros and cons as showrunner, and the legacy he leaves (a great piece), as well as an analysis of the whole 'gap year' idea itself - did it work? Was it necessary? What were the motives behind it?

And also, as always, the usual facts and stats and ratings analysis.

I really cannot recommend this book highly enough - some of the viewpoints might be slightly controversial, but it's an enjoyable overview of the Specials that expertly manages to blend fact and opinion in one all-encompassing volume - one I'm sure to dip into for reference many times in the future. In partnership with Andrew Pixley's DWM Companion that covered the Specials, these two pubilcations ensure there is really no need for any other guide to the show as it was in 2009 - all bases seem to be well and truly covered!

What with their previous Who-related releases, and with Wiped, Timelink and the next Toybox Update all on the horizon also, Telos is undoubtedly now the ultimate resource for non-fiction Doctor Who books. Long may it continue!

Posted by David @ 7:44 pm

TELOS ZOMBIES TAKE OVER THE WORLD!

Author of Telos' brilliant guide to Zombie films, Zombiemania, Dr Arnold T Blumberg, has hit the headlines all over the world with a course on the subject that he's running at the University of Baltimore. Students taking English 333 will watch 16 classic zombie films and read zombie comics. As an alternative to a final research paper they may write scripts or draw storyboards for their ideal zombie flicks.

Arnold has been somewhat taken aback by all the interest. 'It's huge, beyond any huge that the university or I expected,' he commented. 'The Baltimore Sun article was first on Monday, then it was picked up by the AP. By the next morning, there were 200-some versions online and radio and TV requests came in from the US, UK, Australia, China, Mexico and Belgrade...so far (I think now it's like 300). They're still coming. I'll be on FOX News here in the States on Monday morning!'

Copies of Zombiemania are available from Telos Publishing direct.

http://www.telos.me.uk/category.php?id=2&s=20&p=2#76

Posted by David @ 9:34 am

BOOK ARRIVALS

We have today taken delivery of the paperback edition of END OF TEN, and copies of the two new Graham Masterton novels, THE DJINN and RULES OF DUEL.

We will be mailing these out to everyone who has pre-ordered over the next week or so.

The Hardback edition of END OF TEN should be arriving in another couple of weeks.

WIPED is currently expected sometime in October.

Posted by David @ 4:39 pm