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Conor Kostick playing for real

In the United States the two most popular online fantasy games have more than 500,000 and 400,000 players respectively playing them.

In the Far East, four million people subscribe to one online game alone. These huge virtual communities are touching the economy of the real world, as players barter powerful weapons, magic items, properties and even characters on internet auction sites.

Players purchase a CD to begin with and set up a direct debit facility for payments as they play the game. Irish writer Conor Kostick wondered what might happen if interest continues to grow in online gaming. His book Epic is the result.

"I always had it in my mind to write a children’s book," he said.
"I wrote Epic in the summer of 1998. We live in a world where people are playing on-line games so I imagined what would it be like if everybody had to; if that was your actual spending money; and political position in society was measured by your success in the game."

Kostick was a designer for the world's first live fantasy role-playing game, based in Peckforton Castle, Cheshire. He lives in Dublin where he teaches medieval history at Trinity College and is a former chairman of the Irish Writers' Union.

He was first published in 1996 with a well-received book on the working class movement in the 1916-1923 Irish war of independence.

Publication brought an invitation to conduct tourist walking tours of Dublin to see the sites of rebel activity in that period.

That produced another book: The Easter Rising, a guide to Dublin in 1916, co-written with walk colleague Lorcan Collins.

"What we found was that tourists wanted to read a book on the 1916 Easter Rising that was clear and short; and could be read while they had a few days in Dublin. And that turned out to be a huge hit. And was exactly what people wanted. It’s in its third edition now and sales are half way through that already," he said.

The beginning of the Gulf War in 2003 produced another book, though this one, Irish Writers against War, co-edited with Katherine Moore, was an anthology of pieces contributed by Irish writers opposed to the Iraq war.

"I wanted not only to raise some funds for the anti-war movement, I wanted to make a moral statement that Ireland’s writers were opposed to this war. It was amazing. I wrote to about 50 well-known writers and all but one, who shall remain unnamed, was against the war," he said.

None of the writers, including the editors, received any payment for their involvement in the book.

However, Epic, his children’s book is not political at all, and is entirely of his imagination, he said.

"Online gaming turns into a nightmare because the world is declining. If everybody is messing around with virtual activity the real economy starts to suffer," he said.

A sequel was commissioned and published as Saga.

Topically, given the Gulf War, and arising from his college studies, he is also working on a history of children at the time of the First Crusade.

"I am going to stay in children’s writing for the foreseeable future. There is quite a thriving children’s literature industry in Ireland that has an international impact," he said.

As a former disputes officer with the Irish Writers’ Union (IWU) Kostick feels well placed to act as his own agent, and is doing so for the moment.

"If you know what you are doing you do not need an agent," he said. "The IWU has very good guides for what you should look for in a contract and if you are a confident person you can approach and talk to the publisher. Where an agent would be useful, is if you don’t already have a publisher. If you can get an agent who will actively promote your work, then fair enough, do so."

Kostick is signed with Dublin-based O’Brien Press for Epic and its sequel Saga.. "O’Brien is capable of handling it internationally. They make an effort to go to the international book fairs. Although they don’t publish internationally they do sell the rights. It’s still very favourable for me if that happens. O’Brien would get a little bit through selling the rights; but no more than an agent would get; so it’s all the same," said Kostick.

Indeed, the author signed a $50,000 book deal with Penguin in the USA for Epic and Saga.

He said:“ “I wouldn’t have gotten this deal with an agent. O’Brien Press did extremely well for me. I am very happy with them,” he said.

Rights in other territories are being negotiated.

While not directly involved in marketing; the author makes himself to travel and be interviewed and to talk about his work.

For others, and on the craft of writing, his advice is to sit down and write.

"Nobody is a writer by instinct. There is a myth about it, that to be a writer is to be a special creature and that it’s in your blood. But it’s not in your blood; it’s acquired. The great writers worked really hard at it and wrote a lot.You’ve go to knuckle down and do it, basically, and it will come; if that’s what you want. It is very satisfying to have a book come out and it’s good for your self-esteem; but it’s not the be all and end all of it. If writing is what you want to do, you have to find the time to do it and spend several hours a week writing," he said.

© Brendan Nolan 2006

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