I did something a little different this month. I attended a careers event at a local secondary school. About 140 students from year10 and 11 visited. I was showing them which skills and qualifications are needed in the world of books. I was very pleased about the number of students who stopped for a chat .about work in publishing. I was also very pleased about the number of students who stopped for a chat and to admire the books I'd brought along. I was amazed that so many young people were still interested in books. We are led to believe that they are not. I was very pleased as well not to have to take any back home. I was a little disappointed that none of the staff stopped by – apart from the one who had organised it all who was very friendly and efficient and brought us all a cake; , he had a great rapport with both the students and the staff. I learnt some new teen slang as well. One student admired one of my own books. When I confirmed that I had written it, she said that's so 'xxx' and then said.' Do you know what that means? I was obviously showing my age and I shook my head 'It's good,' she said. 'It means we approve.'
On My Blog
I attempt to bust a myth about marketing : https://www.gilljameswriter.com/2026/10/if-you-are-traditionally-published.html
i have written a review abouts a play we saw whilst on holiday:
The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Attwood.
Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you, may go to Bridge House Publishing
Positron seems to offer Charmaine and her husband Stan a way out of their miserable existence. They apply at once and are accepted. They start living a very comfortable life. One downside however, is that they only live in a normal home for six months and spend six months in prison And once in the system, you can't get out.
The job that Charmaine has in prison is disturbing. She has to euthanize certain prisoners.
They do get out. But at a price. As ever Attwood doesn't disappoint. She offers here a possible challenging near future and provides us with rounded believable characters we care about.
The ending is actually upbeat.
Giveaway
This month I'm giving away a copy of The House on Shellberg Street
enate Edler loves to visit her grandmother in the house on Schellberg Street. She often meets up with her friend Hani Gödde who lives nearby. This year, though, it is not to be. Just a few weeks after a night when synagogues are burned and businesses owned by Jews are looted, Renate finds out a terrible secret about her family.
At a time when the world is at war and the horrors of the Holocaust are slowly
becoming apparent, Renate has to leave behind her home and her friends, and
become somebody she never thought she could be.
The house on Schellberg Street needs to stay strong. Will it and those who work
in it be strong enough? Will Renate ever feel at home again? And what of those
left behind?
The epub files have to be read using Amazon software, as Amazon's epub standards are not quite in alignement with industry standards. This doesn't mean you have to have a physical Kindle device – everything can be achieved using Amazon's free Kindle app. This is available for iOS, Android, Mac and PC. You can even read them on the web.
You will need to have an Amazon account, but just an ordinary shopping account. This gives you access to your cloud-based book library. (Even if you don't intend to use it, but just want to open a local epub file, the app will insist that you sign in.)
All versions of the app, plus the online web browser, can be downloaded/installed/accessed from https://www.amazon.co.uk/kindleapps. When installed, sign in using your regular Amazon id and password, which will then register that device to your account.
Most versions include an "Import" button, which lets you select the epub file from the same device and open it. The odd one is the iPhone, which does not support a direct import. To use an iPhone as your ebook reader you need to transfer the file via the cloud-based library. The easiest way to do this is to use "Send to Kindle". Browse to https://www.amazon.com/gp/sendtokindle on the platform where the epub file is stored. Select the file and press "Send". Wait a couple of minutes for the file to do the round trip then open the Kindle app on the phone and go to the "Library" tab. (If this new file isn't listed yet, go to "More" at the bottom and select "Sync now". Amazon sometimes needs a nudge!)
Opening an epub file when you DO own a Kindle
From the deivce where you have downloaded/saved the epub file, use "Send to Kindle" as above to transfer it to your KIndle library. Alternatively you can email the file to your Kindle. To find its email addresss, open your Kindle and go to “Manage Your Content & Devices”. Select the Preferences tab. Scroll down and expand "Personal Document Settings". Look under “Send-to-Kindle E-Mail Settings” to view the address – it ends in @kindle.com. Send the file as an attachment to an otherwise blank email to this address.
Find this book and other free materials at https://mailchi.mp/3fec0e970e01/get-your-free-books
All newsletters and groups.
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The Bridgetown Café Bookshop where you can buy my books and books published by Bridge House Publishing, CafeLit, Chapeltown Books and The Red Telephone. Visit us here.
Gill’s News: News about my writing, The Schellberg Project, School Visits and Events. Book recommendations and giveaways. Find it here.
Pushing Boundaries, Flying Higher News about conferences and workshops to do with the young adult novel. (infrequent postings) Sign up here.
A Publisher’s Perspective Here I and some other editors blog as a publisher. Access this here.
The Creative Café Project Listings and reviews of creative cafés. See them here.
CaféLit Stories Find these here
Gill James Writer All about writing and about my books. View this here.
Gill’s Recommended Reads Find information here about books that have taken me out of my editor’s head and a reminder of the ones I’ve highlighted in this newsletter.
Gill’s Sample Fiction Read some of my fiction here.
The House on Schellberg Street All about my Schellberg project. Read it here.
Writing Teacher All about teaching creative writing. Some creative writing exercises. Access this here. I also invite other writers to provide prompts and work for critique.
Books Books Books Weekly offers on our books and news of new books. Find them here.
The Young Person’s Library The children’s book catalogue. Access it here.
Fair Submissions Find it here.
Opportunities for writers are added several times a day. Roughly once a month I send it out to a list. If you would like to be on that list, sign up here.
Happy reading and writing.
