On 3 Oct, 22:41, middleli...@googlemail.com wrote:

>
> >I don't understand why you say I'm trying to sound like him.  I'm trying
> >to sound like no one but myself.  I suspected my original post might
> >draw fire from the usual mob, but I felt that middlelight's comments
> >were quite frankly ridiculous and needed challenging.
>
> No, what was ridiculous was your TV show analogy.  Of course a TV
> programme requires input from a lot of people with different skills,
> but ultimately a book is about the quality of the writing.  Choosing
> the paper and the picture to go on the cover is hardly critical.  You
> were comparing apples and oranges.  But any opportunity to stick up
> for Barker, eh?
>

This is the problem when discussing things with ignorant amateurs.
They don't understand the editorial process far less the design
issues. As for refusing to acknowledge that production quality is of
major importance to purchasers of limited edition books, well, it's
clear that to people like Middleton, a chair produced by (for example)
Andy Warhol's Factory is simply a thing made of sticks and nails.

One of the reasons why RO has been kind enough to honour my
contribution to the books we worked on together is that certain
passages and / or endings were either written, co-written or suggested
by me. To what extent is none of your business nor anybody else's, but
I don't mind qualifying that by saying that this was a reciprocal
arrangement: RO assisted me with my own articles and short stories to
the same degree.

It's called team-work. I believe that Arthur Conan Doyle and Betram
Fletcher Robinson created a reasonably popular book by a not
dissimilar process. RO and I also worked jointly on the production
issues. He supplied the artwork, I designed the layout. We both
contributed to all key aspects of the books. Perhaps that's why we are
both so defensive about them.

I have recently edited a book for a US university and contributed an
article to a website magazine viewed by millions of people. I gave
free reign to those commissioning the work to revise, amend or alter
where necessary. They may make changes, they may not, but my name will
appear on the finished article. That's how these things work in the
real world.

Bearing in mind that you haven't even seen the books in question -
books which feature numerous vignettes and embedded graphics - you are
hardly in a position to comment, let alone criticise.