I’ve gone back to the future. And it’s all the fault of Facebook and Tara Murray Phillips, my cousin over in Amarillo in Texas.
Let me start at the beginning. Way back in 1975, at the height of the Cold War, I wrote my first novel, hammering it out using two fingers on my wee portable typewriter. Naturally, it was a Cold War thriller, set some years in the future. It was called The Olive Branch.
Like many first novels, it didn’t go anywhere. Well, not until 2008, more than three decades later. That was when I came across the manuscript in an old box-file. To be honest, from what I could remember I didn’t think it was any good, but I felt compelled to preserve it in digital format. So I set about retyping it on my laptop. As I did so, I also felt compelled to add a commentary to explain how I felt now about the writing. My comments were highly critical at first, then less so as the novel progressed and then quite gushing in the last part of the story. I was both elated and sad when I came to the end; elated because I thought the writing was very good, but sad because the manuscript had lain gathering dust during all those years.
I called the finished product The Preservation of “The Olive Branch”. My late wife Alison said it was the best thing I had written. Encouraged by her praise, I submitted the manuscript to my then publishers. The lady at the publishers was ecstatic. “Yes, we’ll be delighted to publish it,” she declared. “But we’ll omit the commentary, if you don’t mind – it just gets in the road. It’s the original novel that we love.” Well, how could I argue with that?
And so The Olive Branch was finally published in 2009. Unfortunately, its publication wasn’t accompanied by much marketing. And social media marketing was still in its infancy at that time. The end-result was that my masterpiece attracted few readers. The whole venture sort of fizzled out shortly afterwards.
By then, I had found a new publisher, who read and enjoyed the manuscript with the added commentary and who readily agreed to publish it. Accompanied by good marketing this time, The Preservation… attracted a fair number of readers, together with some critical acclaim. Sadly, though, it wasn’t long before the new publisher went out of business.
In 2012, I entered the independent publishing arena and began to republish all my work. The Preservation… was republished in this way in 2013. Since then, it has attracted the occasional reader and the odd piece of acclaim. Otherwise, it has languished in the doldrums. At heart, I think it’s a hard but rewarding read, a challenge that few people want to take up.
And then into this saga enters Facebook, reminding me recently that seven years ago my cousin Tara (remember her?) posted the following on my Timeline:
Hi Brendan! I finally started "The Olive Branch" last night. I will read any book that catches and keeps my interest, but my favorite genre is definitely a good thriller. This is a GREAT thriller... a real "nail-biter"! I couldn't put it down and read half of it into the middle of the night. I can't wait until tonight when I will have the chance to read more!
That got me thinking. Maybe there was still some mileage in The Olive Branch. Maybe I should republish it, give it one last whirl before I finally let go of it. I checked back on the comments made by other reviewers at the time. They were similarly praiseworthy. Even those who had reviewed The Preservation… were quick to point out that the original novel was well worth a read.
A day or so later, another reminder from Facebook of a post on my Timeline by Tara seven years ago:
Hi Brendan! I finished "The Olive Branch" last night and I think it's a credit to you that you wrote such a good story when you were so young. Sure there were some brutal parts to it... but such is war. It had a great story line and you have a gift of making the characters so real to the reader. I either hated them or loved them. Even when a character was around for a very short time, I was sad to see them go, or glad they went. A reader only feels that way when they feel like they can relate to a story or character. If you can't tell ...I'm a fan!
That was the clincher. It was time to go back to the future. In the space of only a few days, The Olive Branch was republished in both paperback and Kindle formats.
That’s what the cover of the paperback looks like at the top of this post. And here’s what the interior looks like. The same typeface and the same yellowed pages as the original 40+ year-old manuscript. A real collector’s item!
Let me start at the beginning. Way back in 1975, at the height of the Cold War, I wrote my first novel, hammering it out using two fingers on my wee portable typewriter. Naturally, it was a Cold War thriller, set some years in the future. It was called The Olive Branch.
Like many first novels, it didn’t go anywhere. Well, not until 2008, more than three decades later. That was when I came across the manuscript in an old box-file. To be honest, from what I could remember I didn’t think it was any good, but I felt compelled to preserve it in digital format. So I set about retyping it on my laptop. As I did so, I also felt compelled to add a commentary to explain how I felt now about the writing. My comments were highly critical at first, then less so as the novel progressed and then quite gushing in the last part of the story. I was both elated and sad when I came to the end; elated because I thought the writing was very good, but sad because the manuscript had lain gathering dust during all those years.
I called the finished product The Preservation of “The Olive Branch”. My late wife Alison said it was the best thing I had written. Encouraged by her praise, I submitted the manuscript to my then publishers. The lady at the publishers was ecstatic. “Yes, we’ll be delighted to publish it,” she declared. “But we’ll omit the commentary, if you don’t mind – it just gets in the road. It’s the original novel that we love.” Well, how could I argue with that?
And so The Olive Branch was finally published in 2009. Unfortunately, its publication wasn’t accompanied by much marketing. And social media marketing was still in its infancy at that time. The end-result was that my masterpiece attracted few readers. The whole venture sort of fizzled out shortly afterwards.
By then, I had found a new publisher, who read and enjoyed the manuscript with the added commentary and who readily agreed to publish it. Accompanied by good marketing this time, The Preservation… attracted a fair number of readers, together with some critical acclaim. Sadly, though, it wasn’t long before the new publisher went out of business.
In 2012, I entered the independent publishing arena and began to republish all my work. The Preservation… was republished in this way in 2013. Since then, it has attracted the occasional reader and the odd piece of acclaim. Otherwise, it has languished in the doldrums. At heart, I think it’s a hard but rewarding read, a challenge that few people want to take up.
And then into this saga enters Facebook, reminding me recently that seven years ago my cousin Tara (remember her?) posted the following on my Timeline:
Hi Brendan! I finally started "The Olive Branch" last night. I will read any book that catches and keeps my interest, but my favorite genre is definitely a good thriller. This is a GREAT thriller... a real "nail-biter"! I couldn't put it down and read half of it into the middle of the night. I can't wait until tonight when I will have the chance to read more!
That got me thinking. Maybe there was still some mileage in The Olive Branch. Maybe I should republish it, give it one last whirl before I finally let go of it. I checked back on the comments made by other reviewers at the time. They were similarly praiseworthy. Even those who had reviewed The Preservation… were quick to point out that the original novel was well worth a read.
A day or so later, another reminder from Facebook of a post on my Timeline by Tara seven years ago:
Hi Brendan! I finished "The Olive Branch" last night and I think it's a credit to you that you wrote such a good story when you were so young. Sure there were some brutal parts to it... but such is war. It had a great story line and you have a gift of making the characters so real to the reader. I either hated them or loved them. Even when a character was around for a very short time, I was sad to see them go, or glad they went. A reader only feels that way when they feel like they can relate to a story or character. If you can't tell ...I'm a fan!
That was the clincher. It was time to go back to the future. In the space of only a few days, The Olive Branch was republished in both paperback and Kindle formats.
That’s what the cover of the paperback looks like at the top of this post. And here’s what the interior looks like. The same typeface and the same yellowed pages as the original 40+ year-old manuscript. A real collector’s item!
And here are the links to the book on Amazon UK and US. The Kindle version is FREE to download for the next few days.
Paperback UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Olive-Branch-Brendan-Gisby/dp/1724202367
Paperback US – https://www.amazon.com/Olive-Branch-Brendan-Gisby/dp/1724202367
Kindle UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Olive-Branch-Brendan-Gisby-ebook/dp/B07FVZJRN9
Kindle US – https://www.amazon.com/Olive-Branch-Brendan-Gisby-ebook/dp/B07FVZJRN9
So will The Olive Branch go out with a bang or a whimper? That, dear reader, is now up to you.
Paperback UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Olive-Branch-Brendan-Gisby/dp/1724202367
Paperback US – https://www.amazon.com/Olive-Branch-Brendan-Gisby/dp/1724202367
Kindle UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Olive-Branch-Brendan-Gisby-ebook/dp/B07FVZJRN9
Kindle US – https://www.amazon.com/Olive-Branch-Brendan-Gisby-ebook/dp/B07FVZJRN9
So will The Olive Branch go out with a bang or a whimper? That, dear reader, is now up to you.