Debut author Daniel James has launched a crowdfunding campaign to get his first novel into print.
The writer and journalist from Cullercoats, North Tyneside, is raising funds for his debut novel through pre-order sales directly from his publisher Dead Ink Books website. Every copy sold will go towards the crowdfunding target and will help make the book a reality. If the campaign is successful, the novel will be launched in book shops in November this year.
The Unauthorised Biography of Ezra Maas is a compelling and suspenseful postmodern mystery about a journalist searching for the truth about a reclusive artist through six decades of unreality and fabricated history. Join Daniel James as he follows Ezra Maas down the rabbit hole into a literary labyrinth of fractured identities and sinister doubles where nothing is what it seems in this unique novel told through a combination of hard-boiled prose, biography, letters, emails and phone transcripts.
Daniel, 36, said: “It’s been my dream to become a published author since I was a little boy and I’m asking for the North East to get behind me.
“Dead Ink Books is a small, independent publisher who need to supplement their budget for my novel with money raised through crowdfunding and pre-order sales.
“The novel won’t happen if people don’t pre-order it this month, so if it sounds like the kind of book you’d love to get lost in, please pre-order your copy today. Every order counts and I really appreciate everyone’s support.”
You can read an exclusive 500-word extract from Daniel’s novel at the Dead Ink Books website here.
He added: “What happened to Ezra Maas is one of the biggest mysteries of contemporary art – in some circles he is regarded as one of the most influential 20th Century artists – but no one has been able to write a book about his life or work until now due to legal issues with his estate and the intense secrecy of his friends and cult-like followers.
“Maas first became famous in the 1960s alongside the likes of Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns and Joseph Beuys, but his rejection of celebrity and refusal to be photographed or interviewed meant very little was known about who he really was or where he came from. In many ways, he was the original Banksy, but with a touch of Howard Hughes, JD Salinger, and Thomas Pynchon, and this makes him a very intriguing and compelling character.
“In today’s era of post-truth and fake news, it seemed the perfect timing to uncover the true story of such a mysterious and reclusive figure, but it wasn’t easy – what began life as a biography gradually turned into a surreal detective story before finally becoming something altogether darker, more complex, and genuinely unsettling. By the end, I found myself unsure of what was real and what was fiction, not just in Maas’s life, but in my own.”
Pre-order The Unauthorised Biography of Ezra Maas now in hardback, paperback, and e-book formats, with limited edition, signed and numbered copies, and original artwork also available. Every copy pre-ordered during August will help make Daniel’s novel a reality. Dead Ink Books is based in Liverpool and funded by Arts Council England.
To pre-order a copy of the book now go to: www.deadinkbooks.com/crowdfund