What a month it’s
been since I last wrote. I was very saddened by the terror attack in Manchester
and then another on in London. We do know some people affected. I therefore
decided to postpone our celebration event in Manchester. We had just reached
the point where we needed to do a lot of last minute publicity and that seemed highly
inappropriate. But it will happen. Watch this space.
By sharp contrast,
I’ve just enjoyed a week away with my choir in Cyprus. I did absolutely no writing
and had no mobile device with me apart from my phone. I wouldn’t risk my
computer or my tablet in the hold. I did take a note book but didn’t touch it. I’ve
kind of made up for it since I got back.
It did me some
good – and my voice has come back.
Singing in a choir
is such a good activity for a writer. Instead of working in isolation and
trying to do something different you’re working co-operatively and trying to
blend with others. Plus you make lots of friends. Recommended.
Fabulous course for children’s writer interested in writing for TV
Children’s TV Anything
but child’s play, led by Dan Berlinka and Elly Brewer, with guest appearance
by Sue Nott, will take place at the Arvon Centre at Craven Arms. The course is
suitable for those who are already working on a script and for beginners. Each tutor
will give constructive feedback in 30 minute slots.
Arvon
courses are a joy and this one sounds especially tempting. Find out more here.
Patreon
I’m selling some
of my work via Patreon. You can find
details here. As the name
suggests, you would in effect become a patron. I think I’m offering real value
for money, with something for both readers and writers. And you can take both
if you happen to be both. Check it out
if you’re interested.
Dreamteam
My dream team of
reviewers and beta–readers and for my publishing and self-publishing projects, editors,
proof-readers, illustrators and designers is beginning to take shape.
This is a personal recommendation. Initially I would use my Dream Team a lot myself
but gradually I would add in people that friends and friends of friends had
recommended.
What happens?
You sign up to a mail list and every time a request comes in
we mail it out to you or the enquirer contacts you directly via my web site. The
conversation then carries on between you and the person making the request. You
may also have a page set up on my blog and you may update that once a
year.
Interested? You may sign up for more than one category.
Beta readers sign up here.
Reviewers sign up here.
Editors sign up here.
Illustrators sign up here.
Designers sign up here.
Proof-readers sing
up here.
DO REMEMBER THAT
AT ANY TIME YOU’RE APPROACHED AND YOU’RE BUSY IT’S PERFECTLY FINE TO SAY NO.
Bridge House
Bridge
House’s anthology Baubles continues to
sell. You can read a few extracts here. Salford
Stories is out there also. Both could do with a few more reviews. If
you’ve read them, do write a review for them. Please review on Amazon. You can
also leave reviews on Good Reads or your own blog. You may know of other places. I can also
offer review copies for free (PDF or e-mobi). If you’d like a review copy, then
reply to this email.
So, the submissions are now in our new anthology for 2107, Gliterary Tales. Debz Hobbs
Wyatt and I are currently reading
them.
We’re also getting plenty
of interest in our single-author collections. These are for authors we’ve
published before and they may include stories we’ve already published, ones
they’ve had published elsewhere and new ones. The description for this is now
on the web site. We’ve already had some enquiries and we’re currently working on
a couple of anthologies. You may
recycle stories we’ve already included in another anthology, and you may reedit
these if you wish. You may also add in new stories. We’re aiming at a total
word count of between 30,000 and 80,000 words.
If you’re interested in this, contact me here.
We think we’re there
now with our extra anthology, Citizens of
Nowhere, with the theme of the global citizen. We’re commissioned just over
half of the work from known authors and there has been room for a few open
submissions.
CafeLit
Remember, we’re
always open to submissions. Find out how here. I’ve
been encouraging my students to submit. I’m beginning to see some of their work
appearing. Very shortly I’ll be putting together the Best of CafeLit 6.
The Best of
CaféLit 5 is still available. There are some lovely stories in this. I’m very
pleased that I have a story in this collection. Order your copy here.
Again we need more
reviews for this. Have you read them? Could you write us a review? And again,
I’m offering free copies as PDFs or e-mobi files.
Chapeltown
We’re still looking for collections of Flash Fiction. CafeLit
writers might particularly consider this as your stories so often fit this
brief anyway. See our submissions page here. We have now
signed up five writers already and I’ll be putting out one of my collections as
well soon. Take a look here.
Neil Cambell’s Fog
Lane is out now. Again, reviewers very welcome. Here is the link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fog-Lane-Neil-Campbell/dp/1910542083/
This call for
submissions will be closing soon so hurry if you want to submit.
Chapeltown is also
excited to be publishing Colin Wyatt’s
Who will be my friend? – a delightful
picture book about friendship and accepting others. Yes, Colin is Debz’s dad.
He is a Disney licensed illustrator and his latest publication is The Jet Set. We feel very
honoured to be publishing him.
The book is out now and available at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Who-Will-Be-My-Friend/dp/1910542121/ Reviews welcome. We can provide the PDF.
We’re very pleased with this book and now aim to publish
more picture books.
Creative Café
We’re always
looking for new cafés. If you visit one
of the cafés in the project
and would like to write a review of between 250 and 350 words – nice, too, to
have a couple of pictures – send it to me here.
Do the same if you find a new café.
I’m now sending out welcome letters to each new café that’s
added. This will also offer them the opportunity to join the mailing list.
I’m also now proactively encouraging cafes to stock The Best of CaféLit. Do you know anyone who
might like to stock it? We can offer a 35% discount to retailers. Query gill at
cafelit dot co dot uk.
The Red Telephone
We are currently
open for submissions. Hoorah! We’re looking for the next great YA novel. Check
out the details here. We’re particularly open to speculative fiction
but we’ll also like anything that is well written and well-targeted. I welcome others but send sample chapters and
synopsis first. The full details are on the site.
I am now working
on Richard Bradburn’s Evernrood. We
are still open for submissions but this will only be for a limited time
now.
Our mentoring
programme is now full. I’m now working quite closely with three very different
authors: Charlotte Comley, Dianne Stadhams, and Nina Wadcock. They are all presenting some fascinating material.
I’d also like to
mention now that I’m mentoring two of my former students to help them get their
novels up to publication standard. They won’t start this until they’ve finished
their studies but it is something for them to keep them occupied as they wait
for their results. I’m looking forward, too, to working with them.
Book tours
If you’re a Bridge House / Red Telephone / CaféLit / Chapeltown
author and you want to get serious about book tours, consider our author’s kit.
We provide twenty books you take to the bookshop and the bookshop can put these
through the till. We then invoice the bookshop, with a 35% discount for any
sold and top up your supply to twenty. At the end of the tour you can either
pay for the remaining books at cost + 10% or keep them until you’ve sold them and
then pay the normal price of 75% of RRP. The latter can in any case be set
against royalties. You need to allow at least ten days between events. Contact
me here if you’re
interested in this.
School Visits
I’m proactively promoting my school visits associated with The House on Schellberg Street
project. I’ve now developed a whole workshop for this. It starts off with a
board game, includes some role play and creative writing and ends with a
discussion.
Costs= travel expenses plus £400 for a full day and £200 for
a half day. This includes all materials and some freebies. Two schools near to
each other might consider splitting the day and halving the travel expenses and
fees. This is open to negotiation in any case.
I’m also continuously adding materials for schools to the
site that are different from the ones I use for the workshops. I’ve recently
added in resources and books to do with the topic. See them here:
Query for a school visit here.
I’m also happy to tailor a visit for your agreed donation.
This can be for either a Schellberg Cycle
visit or a creative writing workshop. Any monies raised this way will go
specifically to a project I have for a non-fiction book about a journey that
will follow the footsteps of Clara
Lehrs. I’m hoping to do the whole journey by train, including departing via
my nearest Metrolink station. It’s important to feel the rails beneath my
feet.
I offer as well standard
author visits which include readings from my books, Q & A sessions and
creative writing exercises.
It is now also possible to purchase the kit to work on on
your own. Find details here.
Please remember, with these as well, I’m open to negotiation
if you can’t afford the full price.
Upcoming events
Note also for your diary: the London Bridge House / CafeLit
/ Chapeltown / Red Telephone celebration will be 2 December at the Princess of Wales again. People published
2017 will be invited first and then it will be open to all authors of our
imprints. You are in any case invited to bring one friend at the first call.
Last year we “sold out” – the event is free but ticketed. We shall have:
- general mingling
- cash bar
- an opportunity to buy books at an advantageous rate
- “speed-dating” where you get to speak to as many people as possible in the room i.e. promote yourself to readers, swap tips with other writers
- author readings
- latest news from me
- collection for a local charity
- big book swap (bring one of your other titles and take something else home – hopefully all will be reviewed. If you bring a non-writing friend they can just bring a book they love)
Giveaway
This month I’m
giving away a PDF of Mosaic. Download here.
You will also find in this dropbox:
·
An
extract from Clara’s story
·
Some
seminars for schools about The House on
Schellberg Street
·
Some
fiction writing exercises
·
The
opening chapters from my manual for writing the young adult novel
Note, that normally my books and the books supplied by the imprints I
manage, sell for anything form £0.99 to £10.99, with most on Kindle being about
£2.99 and the average price for paperback being £7.00. We have to allow our
writers to make a living. But we’re offering these free samples so that you can
try before you buy.
Writing opportunities
Remember I keep a
full list of vetted opportunities on my writing
blog. See them here. New
ones are added several times a day. Roughly once a month I go through it and
take out all of the out of date ones. At that point I send it out to a list. If
you would like to be on that list, sign up here.
Happy reading and
writing.
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