From the gun pile

Greetings one and all! I’m sure most of you are just frothing at the bit for some news and you’re going to get it. We got this blog and decided to use it for a change so here we go.

First off, and this one is one that everyone has been waiting for. Dead Guns Magazine… WTF is going on? Well, partly (partly? lol -M.) you can place blame at my feet. I’ve been working the formatting for some months and basically, it boils down to: I flaming hated the layout and the script got damaged at one point due to my own negligence and then, back to square one. I’ve decided to go basic and this one is slated – drumroll please M?- January 15th, 2016. Regardless of my hopes for this one being a mighty eight by ten, I’ve been relegated to using the standard six by nine instead. Yeah it sucks waiting for this long but this is where we’re at and look for it to hit Amazon and Lulu on January 15th. Also, we revised the cover, so here it is, the final:

Lulu…
What gives there?
Well, we decided to expand our publishing outlets. Amazon is nice but we gotta spread our wings and fly or go down in flames. 2015 goes down in our books as a low point due to life in general but 2016 is looking to shape up and here’s why.
First, and this is for the contributors of the hardboiled anthology series or anyone else interested for that matter. We’re publishing, for a very limited time, hardback editions for the first three Hardboiled anthologies via Lulu. Are we making any dough off it? No, we’re not. (Wait... what? -M.) It’s our way of saying thank you guys for considering DGP for your story submissions (that's cool -M.). These editions will be edited once more and formatted accordingly. I know I plan on acquiring these limited editions for my own library and we hope you will also. Once these are gone, they are gone forever into the ether. So I add here for your review of the dust jacket for the first edition of Hardboiled: Crime and Detective. This edition will only be available from January 15th through April 15th….hmmm, don’t forget your taxes either guys. Crime Scene will then be available from April 15th through August 15th and then Dames and Sin from August 15th through December 15th…then, it’ll be over for these limited hardcover editions but the paperbacks will still be available.

The next anthology, the forth in the annual series for Hardboiled, will be focusing on UK based authors. We’re considering sub titles at the moment such as British Steel, Brit Brawl or something like that but regardless, you lads over across the pond just keep looking to our subs page for detail once August of 2016 rolls around. And no, there will not be any hardcover editions made for this anthology, just paperbacks…hint, hint hint.
Starting February, we will be looking for submissions for the Presents line. We had some brain storming sessions and came to the conclusion that our financial bucket is pretty low and the best we can offer is $100 for stories between 25,000 to 45,000 and also throw in five contributor’s copies. I know a hundred bucks ain’t shit, but it’s what our finances can do since we’re small potatoes in the grand theme of things. Once we can get the Presents line established and get a bankroll going, we will eventually be offering more for your stories. Look for the submissions page for details as the time draws nigh.
And finally, we’re still needing your stories for the e-zine. We got a great line up though January and we’re really proud of what you guys have sent in.
Also, a final thought and note, we’re looking at subs for the Derringer awards gig once more. We’ll keep you all posted on who makes the cut. We’re to begin discussions this week.
Until the next blog posting, cheers fellow crime lords.
John Thompson