Norman the Insurance Salesman hits the bookshelves
A Yorkshire man is facing uphill odds as he releases his first book into the wild.
While the more common areas of literature such as romance and thrillers are well catered for, absurd and dark humour such as that in this anthology of short stories is difficult to sell despite being well-loved by the British public.
Mike Raven, 42, lives in the East Riding and has always aspired to be an author. When more traditional publishing routes turned him down, he turned to self publishing as a solution, using Kindle Direct Publishing to get his book out into the world.
"It's been a hard push," Mike admits, "I'm up against it. Literary agents don't want short stories, and they don't want dark humour. It feels like it's looked down upon. But when you look at how beloved shows like Monty Python, Blackadder, and the Mighty Boosh are to the public, there's clearly a demand for it."
Refusing to admit defeat, Mike has been resolutely pushing his social media channels to bring visibility to his book, demonstrating how the book can be used (amongst other things) to prop up a bed and as a makeshift eyemask, as well as individually contacting over 400 libraries across the world asking him to consider stocking his book.
So what is the book about? The short stories focus on a eclectic array of characters who get themselves into a variety of scrapes - Norman the Insurance Salesman, and his nemesis (Bob the Evil Milkman), Tim the Pineapple, and Fluffy the Cat to name but a few. Often mature in nature, the stories only consistent element is that they are all intended to bring a smile to a face.
People interested can find out more at Mike's website at thog.uk or search for "Norman the Insurance Salesman and Other Stories" on Amazon.