Vanity publishing revisited

A wgile back I wrote that, in the end it all comes down to vanity publishing. Mea culpa. You can dress it how you like.
My point was that blogging, social media (whatever that is really), private web sites, publishing your pictures on Flikr or videos on YouTube is all no different from the old days. Back then it cost more - printing, binding, distributing - being your own publisher. And your 'readers' had to pay for the privilege of being, almost certainly, underwhelmed by your literacy, erudition or even talent.
You can have, as I do, your own web pages for little cost and frankly not that much effort. It grows like topsy, gets seen by your friends (hopefully alienating few - and occasionally embarrassing you with your own vacuity or sentimentality. My own dear wife recently chided me for appearing a little too wet lipped over one celebrity. That's the kind of take down order you comply with friends! And, when developers pitch to put up wind turbines, the site can suddenly have some real value.
B ujt these days they come commercially dressed as Blogspot, Wordpress, or graphically as YouTUBE A decade ago I fought hard to quash the use of socialy networking for one phenomena - I said you did that in a pub or club! But still we now have social networking and social media like Facebook, Twitter and others. Even semi-serious stuff like Linked-In and portals with a purpose, like Friends Reunited, Where Are You Now still come down to people like me in our millions writing stuff in the vague hope that somebody will care.
The reality is that in this brave new world of the internet its the traditional media still counts, that still generates an audience. Of course early adopters always had the best chance to stand out from the crowd - since at the time the crowd was pretty thin (not counting all that porn). Guido Fawkes is one good example; Stephen Fry another - but it was his existing traditional media-based fame that drew the crowds.
The best advice anyone could offer in the early 90s to would-be web entrepreneurs was by all means build your site, make it look good and perform well BUT make darn sure you get the conventional media to write about it or your site can hang in cyberspace like a weak embarrassment. Last-Minute.com relied on heavy main media advertising. They all did.
And frankly you will work hard to find anyone truly made famous solely by their internet presence. E-fame may well come but we are a long way from the moment when it will bge enough mjerely to launch yourself on a web-site, hook it up to Facebook, Twitter et al and sit back and wait. You will indeed wait a long time.
Its a bit like TV back in the early days. Forget the Coronation which was a kick start; think daily broadcasting. Until the traditional media started carrying the schedules and reviewing the programmes it was all going a bit slow. Even now, ask yourself how often you choose a programme solely on what you see on the TV screen itself? Odds on the idea springs from some other, probably traditional media trigger. Instant hard disk programming is a help but you have to be in the room to hit the magic button.
So if you will accept for now that all this explosion of material follows an honourable ancient tradition then what is Vanity Publishing and how did it start?
I turned first to Wikipedia. Now Wikipedia is an archetypal form of the Vanity art since it is that most prestigious of publications - dictionary and encyclopaedia  And yet the content is provided by us, the public. Of course Wikipedia does not acknowledge its contributors directly unless they are moderators so the vanity bit slightly obscure. But to be frank why else would you bother? The purpose is to show what you know.
How it defines Vanity Publishing is this:
Self-publishing is the publication of any book or other media by the author of the work, without the involvement of an established third-party publisher. The author is responsible and in control of (the) entire process including design (cover/interior), formats, price, distribution, marketing & PR. The author can do it all themselves or outsource all or part of the process to companies that offer these services such as Lulu, Universe, CreateSpace and a multitude of others.
In 2008, for the first time in history, more books were self-published than those published traditionally. In 2009, 76% of all books released were self-published, while publishing houses reduced the number of books they produced.[1]
That last says it all - once the internet and the web had taken off the opportunities were enormous. But Wiki is still concentrating on The Book. And it  suggests that it is NOT Vanity Publishing if the writer contracts with a publisher to share the gains. Sorry guys but without the vanity there would be no publishing; even with a partner. Nobody slaves their lives over their first novel to pop it in a drawer and forget about it. Unless of course they really, really know it is no good.
The OED is more direct:
publishing on behalf of and at the expense of an author who pays for the production and often for the marketing of his book.
Plenty of companies offer the service and it does nopt start off very expensive - even a top publisher will do the job for less than £800. Mind you, they might have typset it, given you a designed cover, registered the book and got an ISB number and few more thi9ngs that matter but in reality it weill be up to you to get bit 'seen'. AQnd that will mean getting the tarditiuonal media to notice it. A web site review will help, on Amazon say, but if someone is going to pay a few pounds for your work they will wsant a decent reason to do so.
But this article is Vanity Publishing, pure and simple. My blogs, any blog is the same. Even if you get to be Guido Fawkes fame is the spur, vanity the cause. But that doesn't make it worthless or even pointless (although it can feel like it if nobody seems to be reading).
Firstly I was a professional (yeah, really!) and so this blogging keeps my mind at work and my hand in. I admit to only doing desk research these days. I have not the cheek to phone anyone without the justification of a publication behind me.
Secondly by storing it on my blog I can refer back to what I have written before, using old ideas, recycling older material or better still bringing stuff up to date. In the process I update my personal computer, my brain, and hopefully improving my modernity of thought in this changing world.
A work of fiction is perhaps not the same but I have started novels and got past chapter one before realising that, in all probability I am not quite up to that mark. No novel is entirely out of the mind. Existing knowledge, shored up by reference and research into less understood aspects of the plot improves the work. For that the brain benefits.
Of course there is a subtle difference between vanity publishing and vanity media as I shall call it. If you come across an example of vanity publishing you will inevitably wonder how many rejections are represented in the author's publishing costs. And from the few I have part read I am guessing quite a lot.
Having written that paragraph I am forced to pause. How many have actually stumbled upon my internet scribblings, read a bit and moved on never to return. Oh dear. Vanity... all is vanity.

Alice Roberts revisited - I can wish!

I made a bit of a mess of this first time around so here goes again. On October 12 2012 I saw someone I greatly admire and frankly rather fancy turn from the years of pixels to persona. My fears that I might be disappointed were unfounded – the truth is that the charm, polish, and, IMO, beauty on TV are not an act; with Alice May Roberts it seems the joy of what you see is what you get. Phew!

Having got that out of the way (or my system) how did she do with her exposition of the effect of Ice Ages on the lives of the megafauna, early man and us – homo sapiens? Very well indeed and for a very important reason.

When Birmingham University created the chair of “engaging the public with science” and awarded it to then Dr Alice Roberts, anatomist, anthropologist of Bristol Uni and the BBC they got a bit of stick. And a few (misogynists?) even challenged her right to the post. Codswallop. Never has there been a time when engaging the public with science was more crucial. One only has to see, hear, even feel the activities of the fundamental Christian and Islamists et al to see how critical it is to improve public understanding of our world, our place and our origins. Dawkins can rant but something more subtle is essential. And here she is; Credible, communicative and charming. Who else then would Birmingham choose? I'd say she was a coup.

There is a fine line between a worthy but dull lecture and an enjoyable evening out. This was part of a Royal Geographical Society series and Alice delivered a solidly enjoyable, entertaining and informative discourse on the role of the ice ages in the development of man. That fine line was trodden with consummate skill and charm by Alice Roberts at Kings Lynn (how lucky they are to get her too.)

This was not only marked out by the accessibility of her content and delivery but her enthusiastic commitment to being correct and having evidence. Time and again she showed us what had been found, told us what was believed and then toured the doubts that nagged at her and would lead to further investigation. Along the way we entertainingly learned that gaining the knowledge and the insights is not a comfortable business. The BBC does not provide central heating on the Russian steppe or 5-star hotels on the ice shelf. An honestly nervy Alice explained how she learned to handle a rifle where there were Polar Bears (although I cannot imagine her using it even in anger) but picked a cliff edge pitch for her tent to put her colleagues between her and the bear access point. We heard too how she shared a frankly disgusting tepee affair with 11 snoring geezers! Our sense of envy died a little on the word eleven!

But we learned too how climate works, how we are even now within an ice age, or possibly just leaving one, or even in the midst of a much shorter Heinrich event. Whichever, the point was that not responding to our own worsening of the climate change situation was not really an option. And talk of “refugia” – last safe places for creatures overwhelmed by climate change - was given a scary climax with the fate of the Neanderthals. These probable cousins but certain companions as the ice descended from the north appear to have ended up clinging to Europe on the Rock of Gibraltar; I've been ther so know how they felt. Whether they just died out or modern man took a hand is not certain. Either way they are no more.

No more too are the mammoths – for which Alice has a fondness that should worry her own naughty terrier. But many miles north of Gibraltar the last few were similarly struggling on an Arctic island. Indeed the very last hung on until about 7,000 years before the modern era. Just missed them then.

And we got a preview of the CGI for her new programmes on BBC – arriving next year and then it was questions. And if anyone had any doubt of her commitment to veracity it came soon enough as the questions took her outside her own comfort zone: “I am very sorry but I haven't a clue” she said. To the truly sharing mind the acceptance of Homeric frailty is a proof of competence. Loved it Alice, but then I'm biased.

Amazing luck for me - a full display over St Jean de Luz by Le Patrouille de France - effectively the French Red Arrows using NATO Alpha Jet trainers - terrific

Air show St Jean by Le Patrouille de France

Waiting for the rain to stop - again; June 10

As I write this we should be about 400 k north of sarlat on the banks of the Loire east of Orleans. We are not because it rained all night and most of today. We do not, if we can avoid it, do wet starts. The awning came down late Friday because it was dry and the forecast was not. Saturday saw us enjoying a fine day in Sarlat street market and a good, if not brilliant lunch in one of the myriad restaurants tucked into the narrow lanes of the town. Foi gras figured again but I think my main course was the most unusual I have had here - this time anyway. I shall call it surf and earth since it was Noix de St Jaques braised with superb Ceps in a bullion of many ingredients including basil and rosemary and parsley. Utterly delicious.
Anyway we are, as I said, still here. It is Sunday so we shall miss out on our easy ride use of the HGV rest day. And Monday in France is a bit of pig on the roads, although by paying up for the autoroute we can still avoid the majority of poids lourds.
But maybe this is a good moment to look back on this trip - all these three and four month joints are now described as trips. Since they are not holidays and hardly journeys (too many destinations?) trip seems to encompas the process. No one in the UK will be surprised that rains features heavily this time. We had a sunny crosssing and the Picos Europas were burning but after a week it all went umbrellas. Out of Asturia and into Galicia and confident that the climate records showed some bright sunny days amidst the inevitable Galician showers. Wrong. There were days when we saw no sun, no moon; it may well have been No-vember. It rained on Foz and it settled under the van. We slewed off over trackways of ground sheet pads in four wheel drive - backwards!
Unto the Costa Compostella as it grandly calls itself. This is the west coast of Galicia and it is a superb calmed down version of Norway. Rias instead of fiords but the same amazing interplay of sea and land. Lovely - especially when you can see it. To be fair the climate was maritime so the clouds were often blown away and the sun did shine. The site was disastriously tight for pitches and manouvreing space but somehow we got off.
Now it needs to be noted at this point that we had beenn dealt a rough hand. Our decision was that chucking cushions the length of the Bailey each night of 90 days to set up our rather narrow single beds was not ideal. So we had opted for twin singles - full size basically. And a decent kitcehn. And a virtually fukll-size fridge. And a superb L-shaped dining area. And that meant 8.3 metres and twin axles. So we fitted a motor mover to solve the issue. And it broke down after the first use! I am beginning th get some idea of how to manouvre in reverse but it is a slow learning curve - in fact it is the curve that is the problem of course.
So a tight site in Ribiera meant a sleepless night before we edged off. Then in Cabrera we had loads of space on a rough site and lousy weather. Then came Haro in La Rioja and the weather was great, the site an easy open parkland affair - and I managed to clip a tree. Not serious but....
Big decision to scrap the expensive long crossing and cruise through France. Better site and better weather all the way to today.
More on this later....

Here we are in Chipping Sarlat... guys are swimming... gals are sailing June 3 - 4

Yep, we are back in Chipping Sarlat - or Sarlat le Caneda as it is properly known. But it earns my sobriquet for being in Dordogneshire, the Cotswolds of France and itself being the superb equivalent of Chipping Camden. We love both places and for almost identical reasons.
Sarlat is bigger by a fair amount - very nearly a real city. It has what is called a cathedral but I am not quite convinced the French definition is similar to our own. Big church it certainly is and was home to an Abbot - Eveque in French. But for us Sarlat has some very specific beauties to proclaim.
First it is built of the local stone, an almost orange sandstone that ages to a grey-apricot. Indeed if both old and damp it gains a deep almost black brown. When I say built I mean virtually every inch of it - wherever you turn there is this apricot glow.
Second, the local architecture was and remains beautiful. It is not clever or intricate but the stonework is pure and simple, the windows deep set and crisp, the doorways of every shape and form and size, the roofs... ah the roofs. If not of amazing lauze stones they are of rich terracotta. They curve and cascade and are pierced by small mansard windows, themselves little gems.
Third, all this is crowded in. The lanes are narrow - and cool in summer. They meet at strange angles, sometimes with tiny squares, sometimes with larger ones. Many are cobbled. Most are impossible for traffic - those that are are have been largely pedestrianised.
Fourth, this is a smart town that is proud of itself. The buildings are almost entirely well-kept. The shops - too many touristy of course- are also smart and imaginative. The pavements cafes are huge in number, great in style and not too horrible in price.
Fifth, it is actually a walled town with a fair amount of wall intact. But importantly this means the central largely medieval area has its own character and, like Norwich, this is a bustling,busy and cosmopoitan affair. It also has kept out the bigger chains.
Sixth, for all that La Rue de la Republique, the 19th century main throughfare is full of top class shops both international and mostly local.
Seventh, it has a very fine covered Salle de Marche but also sports two market days each week - a medium sized affair on Wednesday and a massive, indeed one of the largest in France, on Saturdays. And if that were not enough once a month there is a Sunday Brocante Fair.
And if there is a finally it is this - it is friendly. France does not actually get my vote as friendly nation - Spain, Portugal and Italy top them in that order. But Sarlat seems to be an exception. Maybe their success in attracting vast numbers of tourists and their cash helps cheer them.
Downsides there are. Too many tourists. Too many of them Brits, too many of them in motor coach herds (no TGV yet). The traffic can be tiresome although parking if you do not mind paying is pretty easy.
We came here first 21 years ago and briefly. Last year we stayed nearby for two weeks. This year we are virtually in town for two weeks. We shall be back next year. I just wonder if we could afford the little place at the end of La Rue Brouile, the one with the tiny roof garden and the odd little corner window....

We campers are a funny old lot - and that includes us - May 26 and on

Our experience of camping sur la continent is reaching moderate proportions so we may feel entitled to discuss the behavioural patterns of the average camper with mild authority if not a litle humour. In fact I was totting it up and in all we have now spent a total of a shade under 40 weeks in about 30 camp sites in France, Spain and Italy. Not exhaustive if at times ezhausting. I have not counted rented accommodation which would total well over 60 weeks as the exchange with the host environment is very different.
To begin I shall attack the home front. Brits abroad do indeed speak ENG---LISH; that is very loud and slowly. There are some like us who essay a little French (Janet's is rather good actually) but for most of us it would not even have graced our French essays! Franglais and Spanglish is the usual fare; in Itay we tend to fall back on ENG-LISH. This is in contrast to our Dutch and Germand travellers who stick to Dutch and German for the residents and English when they see our registration.. They seem all to speak quite decent, even good English. They seem also to assume this will be true of the French and Spanish but are quickly disillusioned if not dissuaded. But if you greet them as I do on a French site with Bonjour or Buenos Dias in Spain you get a very odd reaction, as if you had somehow committed a great sin and needed to be re-trained immediately. Indeed, some German visitors will not forgive me if I suggest they are positively uncouth when addressed in anything other than English, or a tentative Guten Morgen or whetever.
Arrival on site is also revealing. In general the English are close to unique in accepting the pitch to which they are directed without comment. I admit we do not but with this van? No choice - I choose! The Dutch and Germans will allow themselves to be shown round but will then choose their own spot. The French in France of course will tend to do their own thing and why not. Ditto the Spanish in Spain although we did not see so many of them - they seem to prefer their self-constructed, semi-permanent, not-even-vaguely-mobile mobile units with huge awnings or solid sun shades, terraces, and various garden storage kit. All wired, all drained.
Spanish sites can be a bit tight for space compared to French and especially English sites. Italian are somewhere between but, like Spain are full of permanents. But Spanish sites have, as I said elsewhere, the best loos, indeed entire servicios, of all.
The continentals prefer their motor homes, especially the Dutch but they rarely stay long anywhere but on the Med so they arrive late p.m., set up, gather together, talk endlessly, eat sparingly, sleep early and disappear soon after the morning dew. The Germans are similar but less inclined to group up so the chat is quieter. Sadly neither language is very pretty to listen to and, like us, they laugh too loudly and not often. The French and Spanish do not group at all but they tend to be cheery, laughing a lot especially the Spanish in Spain - don't see enough of them out of their own country to comment. The English of course do tend to congregate but converse? That English reserve seems to forbid more than a hello and a wave. Dogs of course are great ice breakers but the usual limit of exchange is - where you been; where you going; when you going; where you live. That's about it really.
Life long campsite friendships are unlikely on the sort of tour we take as for most of the time our campsites are either other people transit camps (sun-seeking southboud/ sun-drenched northbound) or too far off the beaten track anyway out of season. Usually it is the Dutch who want to exchange email addresses, aklthough I have exchanged recently weith a Brit. And there was the charming couple from Warrington on their first tour who asked and got help and advice but then suddenly left without warning. They were so worried about tripping over their (huge UK like mine) satellite dish that they ringed it with the empty 5 litre water bottles that I assume they had gathered on their trip. By the time we met up at Haro in la Rioja they had seven of the ruddy things round this dish! They must have entirely filled the inside of their motor home when they travelled!
Many of our fellow campers don't seem to go anywhere much. Obj=viously those who only stop the night have no time. But whenever I talk to them it turns out that either they have often stopped one night on this site or it is their first time in this area. How can they just pass through? The whol point of a caravan or a camper is freedom to explore. So why don't they explore? We have begun to notice that the Germans seem always to shop in Lidll - that's about as barren as seeking out a Tesco when in France! We have been in a Lidly over here and it is EXACTKY the same as in the UK. same layout, same stock, same tedious set up and same total lack of chech out staff howvere busy it is. Mind you, we coukld save a bob or two and it would make a change - it is Greman and we hardkly ever use them at home!