f you are traditionally published the publisher will do all the marketing for you.

 

 And small publishers and self-publishers can't or won't; do anything. It's just not true, .A friend  was published by n imprint of Random house. she asked if they would make a book trailer; thy di and took all of the budget they had for marketing that book. Ironically she is perfectly capable of making her own book trailer and probably would make a far better one that the one h publisher supplied.

I run a small press and every single book we produce goes through a set marketing routine, post publication an also a premarket routine plus we do remedial work on our entire back list. We publish quite a few of my own works and I see this almost as self-publishing. Along with h other self-publishers I like having the freedom of being able to choose which marketing actions I can do when.

 Our premarket routines

Register with Nielsen  This means the ISBN can be recognised  by any book seller and they will know how to obtain a copy of the book   

Put in our online bookshop  

Inform  writer – this involves supplying four different copies of the cover, a link to our online bookshop and providing a PDF and Kindle files, so that so that the writer can send out review copies.

Cover reveal BH FB page        

Buy book fair copies – I go to a few book fairs and I take copies to sell

Our   post production routines

revisit bookshop – link to other bookshops such as Waterstones, Barnes and Noble and Booktopia.

Categories- review the categories listed on Amazon. I have purchased some great software for this Publisher Rocket. It is a one-time purchase yet regular updates are provided. This also helps with key words.

British library *     By law all books produced in th Have to be registered with the British Library  

Deposit libraries- these are the five legal deposit libraries old - we wait until they ask. Great iff they do as i t means n our book has been noticed,. But it's also expensive. We have to supply five copies and we're  not sure we ever get our money back on those. It does help the books to be more visible.   

Publisher web site: I write a blog post on our publisher blog about how each book was put together.        

Publication notification – this is a separate list of all the places where   we can list that the book has been published.

Newsletter    I write a monthly newsletter and I list all of the books we have published that month.      

Dreamteam- I send an invite to all of the people who have volunteered to review.

Email catalogue   - we email news of book out once a week. Sometimes there are offers on some of them

Author on my blog  I invite the author to  appear on this blog

Awards  - we look to see which awards might be appropriate for each book                                                                                                                                                                  

https://bit.ly/HannahsBookshelfNews  *this is a radio programme about books on a station that is local to me.

We have featured on this programme twice.

Add to lists- thhisi includes my one list for Blue sky and serval others t s I keep for ongoing routines.  

TikTok*I make a videore for Tik Tok, featuring the cover the blurb, a table of contents. The first couple of pages and the 'About the author' page.

Remedialroutines

This list is adapted each month according to what seems to have worked.

1.      Edit your web site. How appealing is the home page? Make sure there is a call to action for this book.  

2.      Amazon ad

3.      Have you got an email list yet? Work on this a little today. Is it easy for people to join?

4.      Email catalogue

5.      Email catalogue

6.      Book bundle

7.      https://sandrasbookclub.blogspot.com/2020/08/submit-your-book.html

8.      Have you got an email list yet? Work on this a little today. Is it easy for people to join?

9.      Have you got an email list yet? Work on this a little today. Is it easy for people to join?

10.   Consider book ad:  Facebook    boost7 x £5.00 per y. people who like my page and similar0 this one worked oked -= so why no repeat it?

11.  Have you got an email list yet? Work on this ?  little today. Is it easy for people to join

12.  Edit your web site. How appealing is the home page? Make sure there is a call to action for this book.  

13.  Create a book club guide for this book and make it available via your web site, blog or Facebook page.   

14.  Edit your web site.  Is the about the author page up to date?  Mention this book

15.  Have you got an email list yet? Work on this a little today. Is it easy for people to join?

16.  Have you got an email list yet? Work on this a little today. Is it easy for people to join? Link this book to other similar ones and promote them in one place on your blog, Facebook page or web site.  

17.  Consider a book ad:   Amazon, countdown deal   

18.  Consider a book ad:  Facebook    7 days  £6.00 per day.

19.  a Consider book ad:  Facebook    boost7 x £5.00 per y. people who like my page and similar

20.  Link this book to other similar ones and promote them in one place on your blog, Facebook page or web site.        

21.  Link this book to other similar ones and promote them in one place on your blog, Facebook page or web site.    

22.  Consider a book ad:  Facebook    7 days £6.0  day people who like page plus people likemy page and similar

23.  Put a link to your book on Twitter. Make sure to provide#.  Avoid “buy my book” but leave that as a possibility.   

24.  Edit your web site. How appealing is the home page? Make sure there is a call to action for this book.  

25.  Consider a book ad:  Facebook   

26.  Edit your web site? Do you offer talks? Make sure this is included on your site.  Mention this book.   

27.  Consider a book ad:  Facebook    page

28.  Edit your web site. How appealing is the home page? Make sure there is a call to action for this book

he Trial of Romeo Oscar by Alan Ayckbourn

 

The Trial of Romeo Oscar by Alan Ayckbourn

This play examines our relationship with robots and artificial intelligence and also poses questions about the function of the arts.

 At the beginning of the play we have to suspend our disbelief as the auditorium is plunged into darkness and we are dragged to an underground venue several storeys below the surface. And we are warned we cannot use mobile devices down there. What a pity the audience participation couldn't have been extended and couldn't we have been the jury?Maybe then the outcome may have been very different or maybe the play should just have ended on 'Jury what is your verdict- guilty or not guilty?

Much of the script is already written for Ayckbourn, lifted verbatim from William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

 It is still Ayckbourn There's much to make you titter: the robot Romeo Oscar keeps singing nursery rhymes and also gives instructions about how to make up a bottle of formula for a baby. He has looked after Juliet since just after her birth as her parents took their own lives. Engineer Devaney Ddyer uses some colourful language which delights the assistant arbiter. Arbiter Jeffries remembers snatches of classical music but cannot name them. He blames his age.

 Ironically in world now devoid of the classics it is the droids who keep them alive; both Romeo Oscar and the assistant arbiter have access to them in their memories. Droid  Hermione Quinque learns the whole of the part of Juliet.

 The classics have been abandoned because they're considered too territorial because of a great war that tore humanity part. This war has a strong resemblance to some of the present conflicts

 It was goodd to be in the Victoria Wood theatre. We have a connection with her. We now live in Buryand I walk past her statue several times   a week. And we were at Birmingham University at the same time as she was. The school reports from Bury Grammar School are remarkably similar to the ones we had at West Bromwich Grammar School.

 We went for the matinee lunch deal – the ticket included a soup and sandwich lunch before the show. However this was not the best pre theatre dining I have ever experienced. The waitress can only be described as surly. She could hardly be bothered to recognise our presence when we arrived and then did not serve the guests in order of arrival. The food was adequate but no more.

Allison Symes - Seeing The Other Side

 

1. Can you tell us how you became a flash fiction writer?  What have you enjoyed most about putting this collection together?

I hadn’t realised flash fiction was a “thing” when I started writing seriously for publication. I’d been writing short stories for a while and having some of them published on CafeLit when they issued their famous 100 words challenge.

My first thought was you have to be kidding me, you can’t tell a proper story with a proper beginning, middle and end in that tight a word count. My second thought was CafeLit wouldn’t have ssued that challenge if it really was impossible.

I went with my second thought and three flash fiction collections with Chapeltown Books later (and many flash pieces published elsewhere too), I am glad I went that way! 

 

I’ll always be grateful to CafeLit for introducing me to a wonderful format to read and write in. It is my great hope flash fiction could tempt in the more reluctant reader given it isn’t asking folk to commit to too much in one go. And once you get them reading flash, maybe they’ll read more and then longer works etc.

As for putting Seeing The Other Side Together, I loved how the stories flow seamlessly into each other. I especially liked my linked flash fiction where the same character and/or setting turns up in more than one flash story. It was good to experiment with that. I love the mixture of funny, thoughtful and darker pieces. It’s a good reflection of my writing style.

 

2. Do you have a personal favorite in this collection?

This is always a tough question. I am very fond of Time For A Change where a super intelligent dragon comes across an unusual type of human. The story is also a kind of tribute to a well known person too.

I read this story at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick in 2025 when I knew the book would be coming out. They hold an Open Prose Mic Night and I try to take part in it most years. I read the story to test how it would go down well with the audience. They loved it and I received some smashing comments about it afterwards too. So I think I’ll pick this one.

 

3. Can you tell us something about the cover?

I’ve always loved the square nature of the Chapeltown flash collections. They make the books stand out. The framed front cover is fabulous and I deeply appreciate having some input with the choice of the picture which goes into that square frame. Not every author gets the chance to have that input.

Over the years with the three books I now have out with Chapeltown, I’ve received many lovely comments about the square books and the frame on the front. It is excellent branding. It is also fun picking a suitable picture to go with the nature of the book.

 

 4. What advice would you give to writers who want to write flash fiction?

Get your story down first and worry about the word count later. As the saying goes, you can’t edit a blank page. Focus on the character. The shorter the word count the less room you have for manoeuvre so focus on them - one character, one important moment in time for them. Everything has to serve the story and its “star”.

Once you’ve got the story down, rest it for a while and then come back for editing. With the break away, you can then spot more easily things you could express better, for example. During that break you can draft another story of course. This is what I do.

 

5. Do you have a favourite writer yourself?

I have many favourite writers but I think I will have to pick the late, much missed Sir Terry Pratchett for introducing me to humorous fantasy. His Discworld series is excellent and makes fantasy fiction relatable too, I think.

 

6. What other genre do you write in?  What’s next?  Do you have another project planned?

I write standard length short stories too. I also write non-fiction articles for online magazines, Chandler’s Ford Today, where I have a weekly column, and Writers’ Narrative, which comes out monthly. I have another flash collection to work on and I also have ideas for non-fiction books. Now for the time to get them done!

 

7. Do you have any book events planned?

I’m pleased to say I have had two for Seeing The Other Side so far. One was at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick, where delegates are allowed to have launches for their books in the year of first publication as long as they’re at the school. That was a huge success. I sold out my copies of Seeing The Other Side there.

 I’ve also had a good event at Salisbury URC. They run a monthly bookstall to raise funds and, as I have connections there, they invited me to join in with that. They’ve also invited me back to take part in their Christmas Fayre which I will do in November. I hope there will be more events too.

 

 

Many thanks, Gill, for inviting me on to your blog. 

find your copy here 

 

 

 

Celebration event.

 

Celebration event.

 

It's that time of year again. We're planning our annual celebration event at the Theodor Bullfrog hopu, Chring Cross, London Here's the  invite. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/annual-celebration-event-tickets-1999936523980?aff=oddtdtcreator&_gl=1*c4xwzm*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTMyMzc0MDY0NC4xNzg5MTE0OTcw*_ga_TQVES5V6SH*czE3ODkxMTQ5NjkkbzEkZzEkdDE3ODkxMTQ5NjkkajYwJGwwJGgw&keep_tld=true

See details of last year's event: https://apublishersperspective.blogspot.com/2025/12/our-celebraiton-event-6-december-2025.html