Half a Cow Half a Cow Half a Cow is an independent record label from Australia, established in 1990 by Sydney musician and music identity Nic Dalton. In 1987 - 1989 Dalton ran a bookshop (owned by Dalton's parents) in the Sydney suburb of Glebe called Dalton's Books. In late 1989, Dalton and his friend Miles Ferguson, took over the store, renamed it Half A Cow and started stocking more comics, records and tee-shirts than the 'beat' books they had been concentrating on. At the same time, they started Half A Cow Records and started working on the label's first release, "Billiepeebup" (hac01,
A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing by numerous companies. The book was eventually first published in 2013, with an initial print run of 1000 copies, by Galley Beggar Press of Norwich, England. Mr Layte, of Galley Beggar Press recalled that the unusual writing-style led him to take up the novel where others had overlooked it:I thought this was one of the most important books I had ever read. It had the same effect on me as when I first read Samuel Beckett. It was a game-changer as far as what could be done.In 2014, rights for a trade paperback were sold to publishers Faber and Faber.