An article featuring author, Neill Bartlett and his success in publishing his first novel, away from his homeland.

ARTICLE Coming to America - An Australian's Adventure in Publishing

Written by Neill Bartlett

Thursday, 12 February 2009

Australian author Neill Bartlett finds publishing fulfilment in America with his book Sisters of Mercy. I had often heard many authors say that it took them ten years or more to write their first novel and in my case that was close, nine in fact. I had also heard many Australian authors tell me that you have to submit your novel to an Australian publisher and if things went well, they would eventually release the novel overseas, namely the holy grail America. For me this was not so. Maybe I went for the holy grail first, maybe I just wanted to bypass all the negativity I experienced in the past from Australian publishers with my series of children's books, which I self-published and sold around 20,000 copies on my own or maybe my move to America in 2001 naturally led me to send my manuscript to an American publisher first. Whatever the case, publishers in America will take submissions from overseas authors. I sent my novel to one publisher and they accepted it. I was now to become a published author in the United States, a long way from where my research first began. As I walked across the baron outback landscape that surrounded the Western Australian gold mining town of Kalgoorlie, dusty red dirt blowing across my boots, I made a mental note to myself you can write this book and you will. Many nights of research followed that soon turned into two years. From the colorful outback Hay Street in Kalgoorlie, it's brothels with their tin facades and colorful carnival lights to the harsh inner streets of Kings Cross in Sydney and inner suburban brothels of Melbourne made for a palette of information, often written on a variety of scrap paper and restaurant napkins. I never had a doubt on my first novel's subject matter, I just wasn't sure how it's story would unfold, so my collection of notes and dialogue became invaluable. Much of my own experiences and emotions from my childhood adoption that later played a major role in my adulthood when I met my birth family, would naturally lay the foundation of my novel. But prostitution? How would I weave the subject of the 'world's oldest profession' and the emotions of one's adoption and why? I had always expected stigmas to exist in our modern society regarding prostitution such as it did many years ago. I also felt that with many unwed mothers nowadays deciding to keep their babies and adoption becoming less common, that different stigmas still remained. As a child of the 70's, I was always taught that it was ok to be adopted, for I was 'chosen'. Naturally the young minds of school children took a different view with the constant "oh, you're adopted" declaring an emotional segregation from their implied perfect beginnings. Even the emotional decision of meeting my birth family provided the excitement of discovering where I came from to the feelings of betrayal toward a family who raised me, whose first fears were that they would loose me forever. Through the combination of my own emotional journey and the many faces I spoke to on the streets, I came to realize one thing nothing is impossible or unbelievable. I met many women that were 'working the game' with backgrounds as diverse as the landscapes I roamed to talk with them. In Sisters Of Mercy, through the four main characters I ask; could a suburban housewife secretly leave her home, children and husband everyday and work as a prostitute? Could a young stripper, on a journey across the outback, fall on hard times and end up working the rooms? Could a seasoned street worker ever put her current employment behind her and find happiness? Or could a Hollywood starlet, on a journey back to her homeland, find herself associated with this caliber of women? The answer is simply yes! The greatest compliment I have received so far, since the book has been released, is when a reader has said they feel like they are sitting in a darkened movie theatre watching the book take place on a movie screen inside their head. Funny, but that is exactly how Sisters Of Mercy was written. I have just completed the screenplay and this will now be shipped around Hollywood for the elusive movie deal and the journey continues.   'Sisters Of Mercy' is published by Publish America, Baltimore, USA ISBN: 1-60672-390-1 225 Pages Web Page: http://www.myspace.com/sistersofmercyfilm   "It's not very often in my busy Media world that I get to read a book and usually I read a chapter and put it down until I have the time to read more. Sisters of Mercy compelled me to read the book cover to cover straight through and when I got to 'The End' it was 4 o'clock in the morning. Thanks Neill. What a joy to read and the story of sisters interwoven is remarkable. Neill was a Rock Photographer back in the 80's at the same time I was the voice over announcer of Australia's greatest Pop Music television show called Countdown. We walked the same streets and now from Melbourne, Australia we now both live in America. We have become friends and I can see from the depth of his first novel that Neill Bartlett will be a major writer. I am looking forward to the movie and the next novel from Neill. Hello World here comes Neill Bartlett." Gavin Wood, Australian Media personality

ARTICLE Coming to America - An Australian's Adventure in Publising

Written by Neill Bartlett

Thursday, 12 February 2009

Australian author Neill Bartlett finds publishing fulfilment in America with his book Sisters of Mercy. I had often heard many authors say that it took them ten years or more to write their first novel and in my case that was close, nine in fact. I had also heard many Australian authors tell me that you have to submit your novel to an Australian publisher and if things went well, they would eventually release the novel overseas, namely the holy grail America. For me this was not so. Maybe I went for the holy grail first, maybe I just wanted to bypass all the negativity I experienced in the past from Australian publishers with my series of children's books, which I self-published and sold around 20,000 copies on my own or maybe my move to America in 2001 naturally led me to send my manuscript to an American publisher first. Whatever the case, publishers in America will take submissions from overseas authors. I sent my novel to one publisher and they accepted it. I was now to become a published author in the United States, a long way from where my research first began. As I walked across the baron outback landscape that surrounded the Western Australian gold mining town of Kalgoorlie, dusty red dirt blowing across my boots, I made a mental note to myself you can write this book and you will. Many nights of research followed that soon turned into two years. From the colorful outback Hay Street in Kalgoorlie, it's brothels with their tin facades and colorful carnival lights to the harsh inner streets of Kings Cross in Sydney and inner suburban brothels of Melbourne made for a palette of information, often written on a variety of scrap paper and restaurant napkins. I never had a doubt on my first novel's subject matter, I just wasn't sure how it's story would unfold, so my collection of notes and dialogue became invaluable. Much of my own experiences and emotions from my childhood adoption that later played a major role in my adulthood when I met my birth family, would naturally lay the foundation of my novel. But prostitution? How would I weave the subject of the 'world's oldest profession' and the emotions of one's adoption and why? I had always expected stigmas to exist in our modern society regarding prostitution such as it did many years ago. I also felt that with many unwed mothers nowadays deciding to keep their babies and adoption becoming less common, that different stigmas still remained. As a child of the 70's, I was always taught that it was ok to be adopted, for I was 'chosen'. Naturally the young minds of school children took a different view with the constant "oh, you're adopted" declaring an emotional segregation from their implied perfect beginnings. Even the emotional decision of meeting my birth family provided the excitement of discovering where I came from to the feelings of betrayal toward a family who raised me, whose first fears were that they would loose me forever. Through the combination of my own emotional journey and the many faces I spoke to on the streets, I came to realize one thing nothing is impossible or unbelievable. I met many women that were 'working the game' with backgrounds as diverse as the landscapes I roamed to talk with them. In Sisters Of Mercy, through the four main characters I ask; could a suburban housewife secretly leave her home, children and husband everyday and work as a prostitute? Could a young stripper, on a journey across the outback, fall on hard times and end up working the rooms? Could a seasoned street worker ever put her current employment behind her and find happiness? Or could a Hollywood starlet, on a journey back to her homeland, find herself associated with this caliber of women? The answer is simply yes! The greatest compliment I have received so far, since the book has been released, is when a reader has said they feel like they are sitting in a darkened movie theatre watching the book take place on a movie screen inside their head. Funny, but that is exactly how Sisters Of Mercy was written. I have just completed the screenplay and this will now be shipped around Hollywood for the elusive movie deal and the journey continues.   'Sisters Of Mercy' is published by Publish America, Baltimore, USA ISBN: 1-60672-390-1 225 Pages Web Page: http://www.myspace.com/sistersofmercyfilm   "It's not very often in my busy Media world that I get to read a book and usually I read a chapter and put it down until I have the time to read more. Sisters of Mercy compelled me to read the book cover to cover straight through and when I got to 'The End' it was 4 o'clock in the morning. Thanks Neill. What a joy to read and the story of sisters interwoven is remarkable. Neill was a Rock Photographer back in the 80's at the same time I was the voice over announcer of Australia's greatest Pop Music television show called Countdown. We walked the same streets and now from Melbourne, Australia we now both live in America. We have become friends and I can see from the depth of his first novel that Neill Bartlett will be a major writer. I am looking forward to the movie and the next novel from Neill. Hello World here comes Neill Bartlett." Gavin Wood, Australian Media personality