News 5 June 2023

Great book event 

I was very pleased with my book event at The Met in Bury. We used the Stanley Bar, which is quite attractive. I sold a load of books and was able to give people more information about the cycle and the process of writing. People’s interest was so encouraging.    

A few friends helped out.

I hired catering from Automatic, the restaurant attached to The Met. They did us proud.  

The online event held the week before also produced some thought-provoking questions. Well, that always was partly the intention so this was a welcome outcome.

You can watch the online event here.   

I have a few books left over and these are on offer, while stocks last.  Pick up the order form here.    

 

Writing news          

You can now buy Spooking form my online Ko-Fi shop. You pay what you like. Find out more here: https://ko-fi.com/s/6be5c18bd6

Let’s Get Writing is a manual for people who run Creative Writing sessions.  This is also available from Ko-Fi. See the trailer here: https://youtu.be/A-dt3SpefH4  

On Talking About My Generation I’ve added a review of The Book of Will at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton:  

https://talkingaboutmygeneration.co.uk/review-the-book-of-will-at-the-octagon-theatre-bolton/  

 

On My Blog

I’m afraid I’ve been a little remiss this month. There is nothing new on the blog. Slapped wrist. However, I have at least one other author interview coming up soon.  Watch this space.
                                                                 

 

The Young Person’s Library

Here I have been busy and have again added three new books.

Torn Apart The Partition of India by Swapna Haddow

This is for fluent readers though the issues are quite challenging and may also suit teens.

Ning and the Night Spirts by Adriena Fong

 

A glorious picture book that deals with xenophobia and otherness.

Always There For You by Miriam Halahmy

 

A story for teens about internet safety. A warning for the young teen. I have a connection to both the author and the publisher and was pleased to see this book in our local library.   

 

Recommended read

This month I’m recommending Still Alice by Lisa Genova.   

 

Alice has early onset Alzheimer’s.

We watch her life deteriorate.  It starts with her not recognising a name on a to do list.  Then she forgets to go to a conference.  One day whilst out running she cannot figure out where she is. We follow her downward spiral. It’s terrifying. Do we recognise the symptoms? Unusually we are seeing the point of view of the sufferer rather than that of the carers.    

Lisa Genova has completed an impressive amount of research here.  In some ways this makes the text if anything reassuring about Alzheimer’s.

I confess to not having seen the film but I’ve come across good reviews of it.  

I really was totally absorbed in the book. Lisa Genova’s thorough examination of what an Alzehimer sufferer may go though is very convincing.      

Giveaway

Note: these are usually mobi-files to be downloaded to a Kindle.  Occasionally there are PDFs. This month I’m offering a Kindle file and a PDF of Babel, the second story in the Peace Child series.  

Kaleem has found his father and soon finds the love of his life, Rozia Laurence, but he is still not comfortable with his role as Peace Child. He also has to face some of the less palatable truths about his home planet: it is blighted by the existence of the Z Zone, a place where poorer people live outside of society, and by switch-off, compulsory euthanasia for a healthy but aging population, including his mentor, Razjosh.
He has his work cut out for him and is helped by the love of his life, Rozia. However, her life is also put into danger.
Meanwhile, the mystery of the Babel Tower persists. Is the prophecy something mystical or just something convenient for everyone to hang ideas onto?
The Peace Child trilogy is a young adult coming of age story set in a dystopian future where good old fashioned magic and modern artificial intelligence make even more complex the social issues that Kaleem faces as he reaches out to those others call aliens. Each story within the trilogy has its own arc but a bigger story forms as you read all three. A fourth is on its way. See below.

Find out more. Grab your copy and lots of other freebies:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/06zvsocut9aodjq/AADiKnA--ZoZitFnm_qq4Vkoa?dl=0

Note, you may have to copy and paste the link.   

And please, please, please leave a review, perhaps on Amazon, Good Reads and / or Story Graph, when you’ve finished.    

Note: Normally my books and the books supplied by the imprints I manage sell for anything from £0.99 to £10.99.  Most on Kindle are about £2.99 and the average price for paperback is £7.00. Writers have to make a living. But I’m offering these free samples so that you can try before you buy.

 

The Schellberg Project

The posts may be helpful for teachers who are familiar with the Schellberg stories or who are teaching about the Holocaust.  They may also be interesting for other readers of historical fiction.

Sometimes I also write about what might be useful to other writers.

Check it out here:

In What is this cycle, actually? I discuss how the books work together as a cycle.   

 

 

Some notes about my newsletters and blogs

They do overlap a little but here is a summary of what they all do.

 

Bridge House Authors For all those published by Bridge House, CaféLit, Chapeltown or The Red Telephone or interested in being published by us. General news about the imprints. News for writers. Links to book performance. Sign up here.

 

The Bridgetown  Café Bookshop where you can buy my book and books published by Bridge House Publishing, CafeLit, Chapeltown Books and The Red Telephone.  Visit us here.     

 

Chapeltown Books News about our books. Sign up here.

 

The Creative Café Project News about the project and CaféLit – for the consumer rather than for the producer.  Sign up 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.  

 

Red Telephone Books News about our books and our authors. 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.

 

 

News 1 February 2023

 

A different sort of book event

Many book events start at about 6.30 in the evening and go on until 8.00. Last night I was on one that started at 6.00 and went on until 10.00. And it all went very well.

It was hosted by James Ward, one of the writers in the Evergreen anthology.  It was held in the Abel Heywood, a delightful establishment in an historic building in the heart of Manchester’s Northern Quarter.  We had one of those deals where we got the event space free as people were buying drinks and food. I spoke to the barman and he confirmed that this had worked well for them.

Fifty-three people attended, the majority of them being under the age of thirty. They were generous in buying books. This was so very pleasing as a lot of them were students who juggle study and part-time jobs in order to survive.   

We had six people read, myself included, and James of course.  My goodness, there are some very good young writers out there.     

As we finished I heard whispers that they would like to do this again.  I hope they will. I managed to talk to them about the Bridge House imprints and I’m hoping to see some submissions from them soon.        

 

 

Current writing

I’m now getting very absorbed in my new Peace Chid book. The story is really taking off though it will be some time before I’m finished.

You can read a review of an excellent play I saw at Salford’s Lowry theatre.  https://talkingaboutmygeneration.co.uk/review-the-ocean-at-the-end-of-the-lane-at-the-lowry/

I can really recommend this play. It is on tour, so you may be able to find a performance near you.   

If you are interested in my YA SF, the The Tower, part of the Peace Child series, there is a new way you can buy this at https://ko-fi.com/s/707f5554ac

I’m also making sets of cards for people to use: Perfect Plotting and How to Pray. The latter is not nearly as religious as you might think – though it can be if you wish it to. The unit cost at the moment is high but if they work I can get that cost down by producing multiple copies.  

 

On My Blog

I have featured several other authors on my blog this month. Dawn Bush and Sharon Zajdman  tell us about their writing lives. Evergreen authors Chris Simpson and Jan Moran Neil tell us how they came to write their story for the collection.

I address that question dreaded by all writers:  Where do you get your ideas from?    

 

The Young Person’s Library

I’ve added just one book this month:   

Cats by Emily Gravett The illustrations of cats in this book are delightful. This picture book will help the pre-school child with their counting and colours. There is a lot of fun in the pictures. If the youngster is ready to learn to read they will find some help from this book.   

 

Current reading recommendation

This month I’m recommending The Olive Tree: A Personal Journey Through Mediterranean Olive Groves by Carol Drinkwater      

This is an account of Carol Drinkwater’s journey to find out more about the olive tree, including its history.

I have to admire Drinkwater. Not only is she still in touch with her acting career, she is a prolific writer and an olive farmer as well. And she makes many journeys alone as a woman, including visiting Algeria, which is very difficult to negotiate.

This account gives you pause for thought. The olive tree can make deserts fertile but because of the way it is farmed, in order to produce the plumpest olives, it can drain water resources in areas where water tends to be scarce anyway. Drinkwater hates using pesticides but there is little else to do against a fly that can get in and destroy a whole crop. One solution is the introduction of another fly that preys on the first one but that isn’t interested in the crop.  Fine, but that means introducing a new being into the ecological environment and may cause an imbalance.                

The text is engaging and reads more like a novel than a documentary. My inner critic that never shuts up spotted the odd awkward phrase here and there and bizarrely opening speech marks are absent in random places. You are forewarned so you can ignore that irritation. The text remains enjoyable.

Feisty Carol Drinkwater brings us an honest, fascinating and critical account in The Olive Tree.  

 

Giveaway

Note: these are usually mobi-files to be downloaded to a Kindle.  Occasionally there are PDFs. This month I’m offering a Kindle file and a PDF of Girl in a Smart Uniform. Mobi-files have stopped working on some Kindle devices, so we’re gradually changing over to the newer type of file. This is one of the new files.

"Girl in a Smart Uniform" is the third book in the Schellberg Cycle, a collection of novels inspired by a bundle of photocopied letters that arrived at a small cottage in Wales in 1979. The letters give us first-hand insights into what life was like growing up in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s.

It is the most fictional of the stories to date, though some characters, familiar to those who have read the first two books, appear again here. Clara Lehrs, Karl Schubert and Dr Kühn really existed. We have a few, a very few, verifiable facts about them. The rest we have had to find out by repeating some of their experiences and by using the careful writer's imagination.

Gisela adores her brother Bear, her gorgeous BDM uniform, and her little half-brother Jens. She does her best to be a good German citizen, and is keen to help restore Germany to its former glory. She becomes a competent and respected BDM leader. But life begins to turn sour. Her oldest brother Kurt can be violent, she soon realises that she is different from other girls, she feels uncomfortable around her mother’s new lover, and there is something not quite right about Jens. It becomes more and more difficult to be the perfect German young woman.

We know that BDM girls set fire to the house in Schellberg Street but got the children out first. This story seeks to explain what motivated the girls to do that, and what happened to them afterwards.

I read Girl in a Smart Uniform, I really enjoyed it! Well written, informative and very subtle about the Holocaust.

Bottom of Form

Top of Form

Girl in a Smart Uniform was a read that flowed easily but there are moments full of tension. The letters between the girls is a perfect way of expressing the history and feelings and emotions and problems of teenagers they experience of growing up in Germany during the war

Bottom of Form

  

 

Find out more. Grab your copy and lots of other freebies:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/06zvsocut9aodjq/AADiKnA--ZoZitFnm_qq4Vkoa?dl=0

Note, you may have to copy and paste the link.   

And please, please, please leave a review, perhaps on Amazon, Good Reads and / or Story Graph, when you’ve finished.    

Note: Normally my books and the books supplied by the imprints I manage sell for anything from £0.99 to £10.99.  Most on Kindle are about £2.99 and the average price for paperback is £7.00. Writers have to make a living. But I’m offering these free samples so that you can try before you buy.

 

The Schellberg Project

The posts may be helpful for teachers who are familiar with the Schellberg stories or who are teaching about the Holocaust.  They may also be interesting for other readers of historical fiction.

Sometimes I also write about what might be useful to other writers.

 

I’ve added two posts this month. I’m still looking at the question of refugees in Would Jesus, Mary and Joseph have had to go to Rwanda? – posted the day after Epiphany. 

 

And also news of my latest Schellberg book which is just creeping out into existence: Face to Face with the Führer More news will be coming out about that in the next few weeks.

   

  

Some notes about my newsletters and blogs

They do overlap a little but here is a summary of what they all do.

 

Bridge House Authors For all those published by Bridge House, CaféLit, Chapeltown or The Red Telephone or interested in being published by us. General news about the imprints. News for writers. Links to book performance. Sign up here.

 

The Bridgetown  Café Bookshop where you can buy my book and books published by Bridge House Publishing, CafeLit, Chapeltown Books and The Red Telephone.  Visit us here.     

 

Chapeltown Books News about our books. Sign up here.

 

The Creative Café Project News about the project and CaféLit – for the consumer rather than for the producer.  Sign up 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.  

 

Red Telephone Books News about our books and our authors. 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.

 

How I choose books - and what that might mean for my own marketing

 

Or if you want to sell your books to me.

I buy lots of books. I have 117 pages of unread books on my Kindle. These include classics, literary texts, holiday reads, books by people I know, non-fiction mainly to do with areas I’m researching, books on creativity, books like the ones I’m trying to write, and books on the craft of writing. I’ve probably missed out come categories. Some texts are in French, German or Spanish.

Here I analysed how I’ve come to buy these books and I put these influencers in order.  Then I look at what that might imply for the way I should market my own books.

Reading what I know

If I come across a book by an author I’ve read before, and if I’ve enjoyed their work, I’ll generally buy – or borrow from the library – their new book once I’m aware of it. Here’s an interesting example:

I bought a really tatty copy of Light a Penny Candle by Maeve Binchy from a second-hand bookshop. I enjoyed it so much that I went to read all of her books, sometimes buying them as hardbacks as soon as they came out.

I’ll also often buy books written by people I know, sometimes even if they’re not quite the sort of thing I’d normally enjoy reading.  It’s called friendship.

 

Book events

I really enjoy these events though I do only tend to go to the ones where the sort of book I’m likely to like is being presented. Listening to the author read, finding out the story behind the book and seeing it there is its 3D reality normally persuades me to buy it.

 

Lists in my mailbox

I’m on a couple of email lists and bookshops like Amazon and The Hive and publishers such as Simon Shuster or Penguin Random often email me as well. I sometimes find something I like the look of there. The Hive is particularly good at knowing what I would like.

 

Social media

I’m actually glad that people post about their book releases on Twitter and Facebook. I’m not obliged to buy the ones that don’t interest me. I’m glad to be alerted to the ones that might interest me.

 

 

Book reviews in magazines

I often pick up reading ideas in magazine I read. These include, Mslexia, Writing Magazine, The Tome Higher Education Supplement and the Sunday Times.

 

Bookshops

I can’t resist them.  Many a time I’ve gone shopping for clothes and come back with a book.  

So, now you know what to do if you want me to buy your book.  And if I want to find people like me as readers of my work I must:

·         Tell all my friends and acquaintances about my work. This is actually the hardest to do but it is the most effective marketing tool:  WORD OF MOUTH.

·         Arrange a snazzy book event. Okay, it might be a loss leader but I may pick up some of those readers who will buy my work again and again.

·         Build up my email list and use it effectively.

·         Put my work on social media.

·         Get reviews in quality publications. This is tricky. However, both Mslexia and  Writing Magazine offer feature type ads that you pay for.  The prices are reasonable  

·         Approach local bookshops about stocking my book

In that order.

There you have it! Happy reading and marketing!    

Image by InstagramFOTOGRAFIN from Pixabay