Howard Jackson

Q At the moment Treat me Nice is not available outside the UK. It also costs more to purchase on Amazon than it does to purchase in my local bookshop. Is this likely to continue?

A This will be addressed. It will not be possible to sell a first edition hard copy of Treat Me Nice outside the UK. This is to do with contracts that have been signed. When the second edition is published copies will be made available outside the UK. Meanwhile, a Kindle edition of Treat Me Nice will soon be made available. We expect that to be on Amazon in a fortnight at the latest. This will be priced reasonably at £1.99 and will be available worldwide. It will ensure it is available to some people outside the UK.

Q But what about hard copy versions? I like my hard copy especially the lists which I like to flick back and forth so I can look for my favourite songs and recordings.

A Well, that can still be done on Kindle. But I am also a book man myself which is why hard copies of the book will be available outside the UK when we move to a second edition. The date for a second edition is difficult to determine because it is virtually impossible to plot sales and so far sales have been based on little or no publicity. The publicity will increase in the next few weeks. The second edition will have a wider distribution.

Q The book is priced at £9.99 in my bookshops but if I buy it on Amazon the price increases because of postage.

A To be fair to Amazon customers we have reduced the price on Amazon. The purchaser still has to pay for postage but the book itself is cheaper than in the bookshop. The price on Amazon will now be £7.99

Q The book Treat Me Nice has raised for me many interesting questions about Elvis. For example, the relationship between heroism and charisma, the contribution of Chips Moman to the Memphis sessions and so on. Do you have any plans to begin a blog where these issues can be explored further and debated?

A Actually we do. This will be done in 2 stages. To begin with, this website will have a weekly Elvis blog. Rather than simply picking ideas out of the air we have decided to do something different. The blog will be called THE ELVIS PRESLEY CHALLENGE. Although it will still allow topics from the book to be explored the blog will invite website visitors to select a topic or a well known person that they either want to be discussed in connection with Elvis or that they think has no connection and cannot be discussed that way. If I cannot make a connection and admit failure I will pay a forfeit to the fan club or charity of choice of the person who suggests the topic. We already have some interesting topics and people to compare with Elvis. These are Cary Grant, Charlie Chaplin, Marxism , Emily Dickinson, Neo-conservative economics, charisma and heroism (as mentioned earlier), The Wire, Tony Soprano and James Cagney. Sometimes we will also use other contributors and eventually THE ELVIS PRESLEY CHALLENGE will become a blog in its own right.

Q What about non-financial forfeits?

A I refuse to wear a white suit and large sunglasses.

Q What do you think about the website that reviewed your book without
reading it?

A I worry more about the reviews from the people who have read it.
There are 4 due in the next fortnight. These preoccupy me more than
the opinions of people who have not read the book.

Q Well, I have read the book several times and I still find ideas I
did not notice the first time. I am sure they will be fine. Were you
not surprised?

A Yes and No. No because I know people, including me, can be
irrational and impulsive. Yes because what surprised me was the
willingness of an Elvis fan to make the same mistake that the critics
of Elvis make. I do not like to see Elvis fans imitate Albert
Goldman. That is, judge without being curious. We know people judge
Elvis without properly listening to his record catalogue or thinking
about the influence of others. In that sense, the book justifies
itself because this is a key argument within the book. We must not
jump to conclusions based on appearance. We should also be wary of
making conclusions about the narratives that the lives of others, and
our own, are obliged to follow. The pun, I am afraid, cannot be
resisted. You cannot judge a book by the cover. Inevitably, we still
insist that we can. People have done this with Elvis since 1956. I
was, though, surprised that the website editor assumed automatically I
was not sympathetic to Elvis. The book definitely is on his side. I
can only presume that the editor has not read the original
‘Frankenstein’ novel by Mary Shelley. That means he/she has two
books to read.

Q Finally, to lighten this a little. What is your favourite joke
that Elvis made?

A It was in 1976. A girl at the front of the stage kissed him. It
turned out she was only 14 years old. Elvis walked a few steps on,
paused and looked back at the girl.
‘How old are you?’ He asked the girl again.
”Fourteen,’ she said.
‘Well,’ said Elvis. ‘You’ve got to start somewhere.’

This has been a big week for the Elvis book ‘Treat Me Nice’. Odd, how quickly it moves from the pleasant arrival of a pristine book to the torture of practical details. But it is now available on Amazon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Treat-Me-Nice-Frankenstein-Creature/dp/1907540474/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1315397047&sr=8-3) and in the local bookshop with the prospect of it being stocked by a national chain. It will also be given to a critic who writes reviews for the national papers and even to a movie star who is a big Elvis fan. Treat Me Nice has also been publicised on the 2 big Elvis News sites, Elvis News and Elvis Information Network. Both editors are also curious about the book which is pleasing so I have sent them review copies. Proudest moment for me was the local bookshop, Pritchards in Crosby, putting the book in their display window. This was done in such a casual way by the always friendly Rich, as if it was the obvious place to put a book down, that it left me surprised. After profuse thanks and still startled I left the shop without looking back at the window. But if the progress from a remote copy to a marketable item implies a well thought out strategy it is an illusion. Ideas appear randomly in conversations and I respond. The best ideas belong to other people.

Having your book arrive a book is a bit like having a birthday because
you get a lot more attention than normal and, in the same way you buy
people a drink, you have to give the people you know a free copy. But, like birthdays, it is good and I have been surprised and humbled by how others are willing to push the book on my behalf. As I become insecure about the book others become energetic and committed. Their efforts have been generous and are appreciated. I just hope they like the book. Are there still issues to resolve? Certainly, but if somebody had said a week ago I would be seeing my book on display and be talking about big time critics and movie stars I would not have believed them.

It has been a big week. Oh, and I got a new bike as well.

‘Treat Me Nice’, my book on Elvis, his music, and the creature from Frankenstein, is now available on Amazon for £9.99. For a taster, you’ll see towards the top of the homepage a link to an extract from the introduction. Amazon link is here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Treat-Me-Nice-Frankenstein-Creature/dp/1907540474/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1315341815&sr=8-3