Welcome back to Conked!

After an extended hiatus, Conked has returned to provide you with serialised novels from me, Rand Leeb-du Toit.

My aim is to launch my first novel, Writ Large, in early November 2022. Expect weekly chapter releases of this exciting book, the first in a series of books following the adventures of the head of a writing syndicate.

What, you may well ask, is a writing syndicate? Stay tuned and in the lead up to the launch of Writ Large, I’ll give you a whirlwind tour of syndicates, which have been around for centuries. Writing syndicates could well provide a shift in the publishing balance of power, which for far too long has led to the writer being subservient to the publishing machine.

You will be pleased to know that my intention is for Conked to remain a free platform for the foreseeable future. My aim is to get my books into the hands of passionate readers and writers and spark debate and discussion.

While I have been away working on my health and my writing, I have stayed in tune with developments on Substack. I want to acknowledge the efforts of Chief Writing Officer, Hamish Mckenzie and his team together with probes into the future of publishing for novelists by Elle Griffin and the other novelists and writers on Substack. I could have chosen any number of paths to publish my first novel, but it is testament to the pioneering and tireless work of these people that I chose to release it first on Substack.

Writ Large Teaser:

“The day after the New York Times ran a feature article on me titled, The Syndicate: The Midas Touch Writers’ Factory, I was invited to lunch with a billionaire…”