It’s always nice when a major media outlet reviews your novel. It’s even nicer when you and your novel survive the experience. I’m grateful.
Archive for the ‘Albatross’ Category
Toronto Star Reviews Albatross
Wednesday, August 7th, 2019Albatross still climbing the rankings…
Thursday, July 11th, 2019I’ve been monitoring Bookmanager these last few weeks to see how Albatross is faring in the “future releases, Canadian author, fiction” category. It’s been climbing the charts and recently took another bump up the list where it now sits as the fourth most-anticipated novel soon to be released by a Canadian author. I’m just using my blog as a place to record the novel’s journey for posterity’s sake. Just about four and half weeks to go before Albatross hits bookstores.
Librarians across Canada support Albatross
Thursday, July 11th, 2019
Loanstars is a program that promotes the ten most anticipated books each month, as chosen by librarians across Canada. What an honour to discover that Albatross is on the Loanstars August list. I’m grateful for public libraries and the librarians who bring them to life. They do so much to promote reading and writers in Canada. I would have said that before this honour and I’ll continue to speak in dozens of public libraries every year. They are important and always seems to be under threat. Let’s step up and support our public library system.
Positive early signs for Albatross
Tuesday, June 18th, 2019
I’ve always found Bookmanager to be an easy way to follow how well my books are doing in the weeks leading up to, and the months following, publication. It provides the sales data for the CBC Books Bestsellers List and many other bestsellers lists. But it also tracks preorders and ranks the most anticipated books in the run up to their publication. You can also engage various filters to pinpoint exactly what you’re looking for. So the ranking above is for “future releases” by “Canadian authors” in the “Fiction” category. It’s certainly gratifying to see that with still two months to go before its publication day, Albatross currently seems to be the eighth most anticipated Canadian work of fiction. I’ll take it! I’m thrilled to be in such fine company alongside Margaret Atwood, Louise Penny, Rawi Hage, Ian Hamilton, Miriam Toews, Lori Lansens, and the late, great Richard Wagamese. August 13th is the official publishing date. It won’t be long now.
Here’s the full cover art for Albatross
Monday, May 13th, 2019
I’m not suggesting you’ll be able to read the cover copy, but you can at least see how the book will look when it arrives in stores in August. I’m very happy with it, but book cover design is such a subjective world. We just wanted it to be arresting so that readers notice it on the shelves. My deep thanks to the designer, Five Seventeen (yes, that’s his name) for the “look,” and Bhavna Chauhan, my editor for coordinating the whole design process. My twin brother Tim took the quickly-aging author photo on the back flap.
The legendary Alan Bradley blurbs Albatross
Thursday, May 9th, 2019
Unless you’ve been living in the untouched wilds of Borneo for the last decade, you’ve almost certainly heard of Alan Bradley and his internationally bestselling Flavia de Luce series. He took the book world by storm in 2009 when the first in the Flavia series, The Sweetness at the bottom of the Pie, was published and hit almost every bestseller list you can name, including that of the New York Times. Alan Bradley is a very big deal. So I’m thrilled that he has read Albatross and very generously offered an endorsement that will join similarly lovely words from Linwood Barclay and Amy Jones on the back cover of my new novel when it finally arrives in August. Clearly, I am blessed.
Here’s what Alan said about Albatross:
“Book lovers rejoice and buy this book! In Albatross, Terry Fallis has found the antidote for what ails our sorry world. May millions of you benefit!”
Alan Bradley, internationally bestselling author of the Flavia de Luce series.
The wonderful Amy Jones blurbs Albatross
Wednesday, May 8th, 2019
Nationally bestselling novelist Amy Jones, who was a finalist for the Leacock Medal for her debut novel, We’re All in This Together, has kindly provided an endorsement for Albatross that will appear on the back cover of the book when it’s published this August. Amy is a wonderful writer and I loved her first novel. Her second, Every Little Piece of Me, will be published by McClelland & Stewart in June. I look forward to reading it.
In the meantime, here’s what Amy said about Albatross:
“It’s hard not to get excited about a new Terry Fallis novel, and it is equally hard not to fall in love with Adam Coryell, the big-hearted, sarcastic, fountain-pen-obsessed hero of Albatross, a young golf prodigy who just wants to write short stories. In his inimitable style, Fallis has crafted a tender, funny, and compulsively readable novel about what it means to stay true to your dreams, and to yourself. Do yourself a favour and pick up this book–you won’t put it down again until the final page has been turned.”
Amy Jones, nationally bestselling author of We’re All in This Together
I’m grateful to Amy for her support.
Albatross will be an audiobook, but…
Monday, May 6th, 2019
I’ve had quite a few emails and social media queries about when the Albatross podcast will start, so I think it’s time to break some news. After producing the podcast editions of my first six novels on my own, underwriting their hosting, and giving them away for free on iTunes and on this blog, I’ve decided to accept a contract from Penguin Random House to produce the Albatross audiobook. So the good news is, Albatross will be available as a downloadable audiobook on August 13, the novel’s publication date. As well, I’ve been contracted to do the reading. So if you’re a regular listener of my podcast novels, it’ll still be my voice ringing in your ears for Albatross. On the downside, the audiobook will not be free. Sorry about that. I’m not sure what the price will be, but it should be comparable to other audiobooks.
So why break with tradition? Why not self-produce the podcast version of Albatross and make it available for free as I did for my first six novels? Well, it is a lot of work to produce the podcast and to at least try to approach the production values of professionally produced audiobooks. As well, having six separate podcast feeds means that I’m paying six separate monthly hosting charges to make the podcast novels available to any listener on the planet with a highspeed internet connection (and I’ll continue to do that for my first six novels). By signing with Penguin Random House Audiobooks, I’ll gain a modest revenue stream that I have not had with my earlier novels. And I can assure you, virtually all Canadian writers are in need of additional revenue streams.
Moreover, the wonderful Ann Jansen, with whom I worked for several years when she led CBC Books and CBC Canada Reads, now runs the audiobook operation at Penguin Random House. I welcome the chance to work with her again. I’ll be heading into a professional recording studio in early June to read Albatross under Ann Jansen’s watchful eye and acute ear.
In the meantime and for the foreseeable future, you can still find the podcast versions of my first six novels on iTunes and here on this blog. I’ll keep you posted on the recording process and thanks for your understanding.
Finally, I remain very grateful for my loyal podcast listeners. It was the positive feedback I unexpectedly received to the podcast of my first novel, The Best Laid Plans, that gave me the resolve to go ahead and self-publish the novel when no publisher seemed interested. That was a decision that changed my life as a writer.
Rock star writer Linwood Barclay blurbs Albatross
Wednesday, May 1st, 2019
If you’re a fan of topnotch thrillers, you’ll know the name Linwood Barclay. He is a New York Times and internationally bestselling thriller writer who is likely as well known around the world as he is in Canada. He’s also a very nice guy. We’ve appeared at a few events together and I’ve always enjoyed the time we’ve spent with one another. Linwood has been kind enough to read the Albatross manuscript and I’m over the moon to share the endorsement (or “blurb” as we say in publishing) he has kindly provided to appear on the back cover of the novel.
“Fallis writes from another time when Wodehouse and Leacock and Twain roamed the earth. May he never become extinct.”
Linwood Barclay, New York Times bestselling author of A Noise Downstairs
It doesn’t get much better than that. I’m thrilled and grateful.
I urge you all to pick up Linwood’s recent novel, A Noise Downstairs, as well as Elevator Pitch when it’s published in September. He is a fantastic writer and a brilliant storyteller.
Cover reveal for Albatross
Sunday, April 28th, 2019As promised, here is the cover design for my seventh novel, Albatross, to be released on August 13th. The goal of any cover is to reach out from bookstore shelves, grab readers by the lapels as they walk past, and force them to take a closer look. I think this cover scores very well on the old “eye-catching” meter. Breaking up the word Albatross using the hyphen is unusual and I hope makes the cover a little more arresting than if the word had been displayed in the usual fashion.
As for symbolism, the cover leans on the “gilded cage” metaphor. My narrator, Adam Coryell, is blessed or cursed, depending on your perspective, with unmatched natural ability at golf. This grants him fame and fortune beyond any sane person’s wildest imagination. Yet he is not happy in his life. Not to put too fine a point on it, Adam’s golf prowess “imprisons” him in a gilded cage. The novel tells the story of how he found himself in the cage, and how he escaped.
I’m very happy with the cover, though I know it will not appeal to everyone. Here’s hoping it does its job and catches bookstore browsers’ eyes starting in mid-August. My thanks to my editor, Bhavna Chauhan, and the design team at McClelland & Stewart (Penguin Random House) for coming up with this. It was not a straightforward design challenge.
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