the silent relaunch of 'going to the last'.

I describe myself as a ‘workaday writer of fiction’, even though I now concentrate on expressing my hopes and concerns for the great sport of horse-racing. Prior to my conversion I did indeed write fiction, initially focusing (as all writing advice begins with ‘write about what you know’) on horse racing related short stories, as it seemed a neglected market. In fact I was naïve and pompous enough to believe I was ‘inventing’ a whole new genre.
In my naivety and ignorance of the world of publishing I was surprised to discover that literary agents and publishers had no interest in horse racing as fiction, especially in short story form, and seemed positively scared of the concept of a ‘new genre’. Of course if your name was Jenny Pitman, John Francome, Richard Pitman or, regrettably, A.P.McCoy, and the book can be marketed and sold on name alone, the almost impossible quest for the previously unpublished writer is easier to accomplish. But as an unknown of the same limited writing ability it can be a quest as impossible to achieve as getting to the moon in a camper van without the aid of Grommet.
So these short stories became somewhat redundant. Now don’t get the false impression that these stories were read and rejected as inadequate. They were not read at all, by neither literary agent nor publisher. There is no market, apparently, no public appetite, for short fiction based on the world of horse racing. Especially as there is no filth, violence or corruption in any of my work.
So in ignorance and a fair degree of desperation and exasperation I self-published the stories as e-books and sat back and waited for the royalties to flood into my bank account. Alas no. My ignorance went as far as making two other rookie mistakes. I self-published as e-books another seven, non-racing related, novels and as I could not afford to market and advertise any of the books, except one advisement in the Racing Post for ‘Going To The Last’, no one ever knew these books even existed. You see, and I offer this as advice to anyone who similarly wishing to see their written work published, it costs very little in real terms to achieve self-publishing but it takes a city investment banker’s income to be able to afford to market and advertise your books. And this is important advice because you do not publish in isolation; the world of Amazon and the other e-book sellers is truly global and you, and I, are only one of millions of others who are also chasing the buyer’s dollar, pound, yen or sou.
The other mistake I made, and this I believe to be my biggest error of judgement, was that I did not employ the services of a professional to edit out the silly mistakes all, and I mean even the best of writers, make due to the ‘lazy eye’ and over-familiarity with his or her work. I have now righted this crass error and have re-published (relaunch is over-egging the pudding as I still cannot afford marketing and advertising) ‘Going To The Last’, and remain rather proud of the contents.
As the most recent of the stories was written over ten years ago the overall feeling of the book, I suspect, is one of ‘days gone, never to be seen again’. I have a fascination for the history of our sport and many of the stories are set in the past and near past. I am also a protector of the integrity of the sport and some of the stories are about the journeyman jockey and the sacrifices and dangers he must endure to earn an income to support his family.
‘Yesterday’s Magic’ I am particularly proud of and is one of my favourite pieces of writing. It is a story that goes against my boast that there is no ‘corruption’ in any of my fiction and was triggered by the theories associated with the horse of Guy Harwood’s that in the act of winning at Royal Ascot veered violently across the course as if avoiding the hounds of hell.
‘I’m Afraid He is. I’m Afraid He Is’ is an invention of mine based on several true stories involving Arkle, Flyingbolt and Tom Dreaper. Both a ‘Grey Day’ and ‘Emily’s Smile of Wonder’ concern Desert Orchid, the former a story based on fact, the latter a dose of sentimentality that I do not apologise for. ‘Pitchcroft Blues’ is a record of an evening’s racing I enjoyed many moons ago with a friend at Worcester. The human characters are changed but the results of the races will be found in the form book of the day.
As with any collection of short stories, the reader will prefer some to others and, again as with any collection, some of the stories are more readable, and just better, than others. But that can only be the judgement of the reader. The stories fit many genres of fiction, thriller (although in truth only a parody of the racing thriller) romance, historical and even the paranormal. But mainly they are simply stories about horses, jockeys and the people whose lives are made more interesting and comfortable because of their association with the greatest of all sports.
The collection can be easily found on the virtual shelves of all respectable e-book sellers and can be purchased at the near giveaway price of £1.99. If I sell a thousand copies I will no doubt earn the princely sum of a tenner. With e-book priced at bargain basement prices you have to ship millions to make thousands. But I will be read, and for the writer that is the greatest gift of all.
Anyone who buys the collection can make their comments known to me through this website. (horseracingmatters.com) Any abuse should be kept within the parameters of good taste.