Media
Catch up with what’s happening on our social media feeds, and find out about the latest authors to publish with The Book Guild… there’s also company news, the latest author events and a round-up of our latest reviews and media coverage.
Video introductions
Media Coverage
AUGUST 2019
Military History Monthly Doreen Warriner’s War (Henry Warriner) Soul & Spirit Magazine Between the Immensities (Doreen Davy) Express & Star An Extra Shot (Stephen Anthony Brotherton) John Cowton The Art of Listening (Paul A. Mendelson) Fully Booked The Rooks Die Screaming (Clive Tuckett) Eastern Daily Press Magazine First, and before all things (Kate Wilby) Broadway World Tough Choices (Daniel Sokol) Good Times Magazine In the Company of Strangers (Awais Khan) BBC Sussex & Surrey Walking Through Different Worlds (Philip Goldenberg) Talk Radio Europe Please Miss, We’re Boys (Susan Elkin) West Leeds Dispatch Baby Daze (Sarah Davis) That’s Books Out of the Noise (Michael Fisher) Damp Pebbles Blog Tour Appetite for Risk (Jack Leavers)
JULY 2019
Daily Mail The Adventures of Pepper the Ginger Dog (Jessica Knowles) BBC Radio Bristol, Express & Star, Market Drayton Advertiser, Newport Advertiser, Shropshire Star Come Sleep With Me (Stephanie Hill) Yorkshire Reporter Arthursdale Boy, Nidderdale Girl (Frank Pedley) Eastern Daily Press, East Anglian Daily Times First, and before all things (Kate Wilby) York Press, Offaly Independent, Midland Tribune Serenity Song (Finn Dervan) Radio Winchcombe Pickle & Lily (Annie Stewart) Dartford Messenger, Faversham News, Gravesend Messenger, Herne Bay Gazette, Kent Messenger, Kentish Express, Whitstable Gazette A Hedgehog Story: Hedgehog Magic (David Hills) The Comet The World and His Wife (Stephen Wyatt) Travel Africa Magazine Pass the Pickled Porcupine (Graham Chalmers) Hertfordshire Life The Fairy Who Wouldn’t Give Up (Amanda Eamer) Kent Online, Kent Messenger Group The Man Who Never Sleeps (Tom Bell with David Walker) OM Yoga & Lifestyle Magazine Yoga in the Gospels? (A. Nicholas Cowan) The Educator UK Please Miss, We’re Boys (Susan Elkin) Leek Life Magazine Out of the Noise (Michael Fisher) Yours Retro Passport to Fame: The Diana Dors Story (Huw Prall) BBC Radio Shropshire, Shropshire Star, Stourbridge News, Worcester News, Droitwich Advertiser, Redditch Advertiser, Halesowen News, Ledbury Reporter, Dudley News, Tewkesbury Advertiser, Kidderminster Shuttle, Ludlow Advertiser, Bromsgrove Advertiser, Cotswold Journal, Evesham Journal, Hereford Times, Malvern Gazette, The Shuttle An Extra Shot (Stephen Anthony Brotherton)
JUNE 2019
Cambridge Independent Penitence (Jude Williams) Yorkshire Post The Oath (Michael L. Lewis) Romford Recorder Medicine, Justice and the Bubblegum Factory (Graham Standen) Fife Free Press, Redditch Star The Man Who Never Sleeps (Tom Bell with David Walker) BBC Radio Bristol Come Sleep With Me (Stephanie Hill) Church Times Archbishop Benson’s Humming Top (Adrian Leak) Ampleforth Society Serenity Song(Finn Dervan) Manx Life, Manx Independent Prohibited Portrait (R W Kay) RH Uncovered The Rules of Engagement (K. A. Lalani) Promoting Crime Fiction Force of Nature (David Collenette) That’s Books Between the Immensities, A Candle for the Atlantic, The Paper Chase, One in Four are Birds, Stoker
MAY 2019
Lichfield Mercury The Promise (Sally Jenkins) Dogs Monthly Hey Dog! Let’s Talk! (Wendy Keefer) Historical Novel Society Stoker (Dick Warburton) House of 1000 Books The Fourth Victim (John Mead) Your Cat What’s THAT Doing There? A Garfy Book (David Willers and Cate Caruth) Express & Star, Female First Magazine, Shropshire Star, Wolverhampton Chronicle, BBC Radio Somerset, Talk Radio Europe Come Sleep With Me (Stephanie Hill) Church of England Newspaper Archbishop Benson’s Humming Top (Adrian Leak) Isle of Wight County Press, On the Wight, Isle of Wight Observer Isle of Wight’s Missing Chapter (James Rayner) Sidmouth Herald Forced Landing (Jim Rider) Trip Fiction, Female First Magazine The Bookshop of Panama (Suzanne Hope) Dluxe Magazine, 69-Degrees Magazine A Monster’s Tale (Kelso Simon)
APRIL 2019
Attitude Magazine Spangles, Glam, Gaywaves & Tubes (Gary James) Mystery People Moorland Blue (Charlie Gibb) The Football League Paper Cherry Picking: Life Between the Sticks (Steve Cherry with Jonathan Nicholas) Chloe Chats Baby Daze (Sarah Davis) Complete Kit Car The Blunt End of the Grid (Dave Roberts) The Brick Castle, Super Hero Junky Legend of the Lost (Ian P. Buckingham) That’s Books The Seven Pillars of Nonsense, Gabriel’s Journey, Africa from East to West, Finally Woken
MARCH 2019
i–D Magazine Spangles, Glam, Gaywaves & Tubes (Gary James) BBC News Online, Cat World, Ely Resident What’s THAT Doing There? A Garfy Book (David Willers & Cate Caruth Charity Today, Talk Radio Europe The Man Who Never Sleeps (Tom Bell with David Walker) Eastwood Advertiser Group, Plymouth Argyle Football News Cherry Picking: Life Between the Sticks (Steve Cherry with Jonathan Nicholas) BBC Radio Leicester Pigeon Fancying in Leicestershire (John Littlefair) Western Morning News Forced Landing (Jim Rider) Yorkshire Post The Hand of Truth (David Paton) BBC Radio Lancashire This Disunited Kingdom (Leslie J Nicholls) That’s Books Legend of the Lost, The Fourth Victim, Devil’s Bridge
FEBUARY 2019
Kent Live, Kent & Sussex Courier Group, Rye Observer Group, BBC Radio Kent Spangles, Glam, Gaywaves & Tubes (Gary James) Parents News Hey Dog! Let’s Talk! (Wendy Keefer) Classical Music Magazine Notes for Singers (Chris Knowles) BBC Radio Bristol Medicine, Justice & the Bubblegum Factory (Graham Standen) East Anglian Daily Times, Ipswich Star Roses of Marrakech (Rachel Clare) BBC Radio Devon Licence to Kill: Britain’s Surrender to Violence (David Fraser) Writing Magazine Tales from an Old Hack (Barbara Fisher) BBC Radio Suffolk What’s THAT Doing There? A Garfy Book (David Willers & Cate Caruth) Backpass Magazine Cherry Picking: Life Between the Sticks (Steve Cherry with Jonathan Nicholas) Motor Sport Magazine, Talk Radio Europe The Blunt End of the Grid (Dave Roberts) British Fantasy Society Sorak Returns (Hedley Harrison)
JANUARY 2019
Daily Mail, Scottish Mail on Sunday, Pi Magazine Tough Choices (Daniel Sokol) Portsmouth News Stoker (Dick Warburton) Conservative Woman Licence to Kill: Britain’s Surrender to Violence (David Fraser) Outdoors Radar Expedition from the Backdoor (Yvette Primrose) Hertfordshire Life Dreamcats (Christopher Best) Kelly Allen Writer (Blog) Legend of the Lost (Ian P. Buckingham) Essex County Standard, Colchester Gazette Mussolini’s Chest (Graham Donnelly) Cambridge News Notes for Singers (Chris Knowles) Jewish Telegraph A Meeting in Seville (Paul A. Mendelson) Japan Reviewer 5 Simple Steps to Saving Planet Earth (Jo Withers) Ruth in Revolt (Blog) Baby Daze (Sarah Davis) BBC Radio Humberside The Blunt End of the Grid (Dave Roberts) Talk Radio Europe Hey Dog! Let’s Talk! (Wendy Keefer) Vet Record The Veterinary Detectives: A Vet in Peru (Roger Windsor) The Tablet Archbishop Benson’s Humming Top (Adrian Leak) Track Stats Magazine Sydney Wooderson: A Very British Hero (Rob Hadgraft)
DECEMBER 2018
Church Times Archbishop Benson’s Humming Top (Adrian Leak) All Together Now A Journey with Brendan (Dr May Ng) Hertfordshire Life Legend of the Lost (Ian P. Buckingham) South Liverpool Link, West Liverpool Link Between the Immensities (Doreen Davy) Breakaway Reviewers Stoker (Dick Warburton) Talk Radio Europe Squad Average (Mark Inman) BBC Radio Suffolk, Let’s Talk Devil’s Bridge (Laurie Seago-Taylor) BBC Radio Jersey The Paper Chase (Ron Welling) Breakaway Reviewers, Georgie Minter-Brown’s Christmas Gift Guide The Fourth Victim (John Mead)
NOVEMBER 2018
South Bristol Voice Letters to the Editor (Mo McDonald) Your Wedding A Meeting in Seville (Paul A. Mendelson) Bedford Times & Citizen, Talk Radio Europe, Athletics Weekly, Blackheath Club Sydney Wooderson: A Very British Hero (Rob Hadgraft) Merseyside Metro, Ormskirk Champion, Skelmersdale Champion, Southport Champion Between the Immensities (Doreen Davy) Burton Mail, Swad Style Squad Average (Mark Inman) Wharfedale Observer, Pulsar Poetry Magazine Baby Daze (Sarah Davis) BBC Radio Jersey, Jersey Evening Post The Paper Chase (Ron Welling) Uxbridge Gazette, Birmingham Press Club Tales from an Old Hack (Barbara Fisher) Berkhamsted Life, Barrow Voice Legend of the Lost (Ian P. Buckingham) Talk Radio Europe Tough Choices (Daniel Sokol) Romford Recorder The Fourth Victim (John Mead) Breakaway Reviewers, Female First A Monster’s Tale (Kelso Simon) The Railway & Canal Historical Society Sir Sam Fay (John Neville Greaves) British Fantasy Society 5 Simple Steps to Saving Planet Earth (Jo Withers) BBC Radio Gloucester, Female First Wise Me Up to Cold Calling (Shea Heer)
OCTOBER 2018
Bootle Champion, Crosby & Litherland Champion Between the Immensities (Doreen Davy) The Jewish Chronicle A Meeting in Seville (Paul A. Mendelson) Diss Express Devil’s Bridge (Laurie Seago-Taylor)Countryside La Vie Gabriel’s Journey (Mary Collis) Uxbridge Gazette Tales from an Old Hack (Barbara Fisher) The Jewish Telegraph Bitter Sweet (Stefan Popper) That’s Books Rinsed, The Cats of Butterwick Sands, Rift Wars, Sir Sam Fay, Baby Daze, Far Far the Mountain Peak, To Tame the Sentry Being, Poetic Justice, Border Monkeys, Untangling the Webs, The Egg & The Family, Times & Places, Fire and Honey, The Hanging Women, Keeping Chronicles, Those Splendid Memories, Café Britannica, Podric Moon, 10 Days of Freedom
SEPTEMBER 2018
Daily Mail Licence to Kill: Britain’s Surrender to Violence (David Fraser) Barking & Dagenham Post A Must Unladylike Occupation (Lisa Wright) Sunday Life, Belfast Telegraph, Grimsby Telegraph, Grimsby Evening Telegraph The Egg & The Family (Steve Green) Londonist, Gravesend Reporter Field of Dust (Angela Jean Young) Irish News Sir Basil Brooke (Dr Sam Logan) Daily Express, Scottish Daily Express, Yorkshire Post, Great Outdoors Expedition from the Backdoor (Yvette Primrose) Ormskirk Advertiser, The Champion, Liverpool Echo A Journey with Brendan (Dr May Ng) Family Tree Magazine Keeping Chronicles (Rosemary Sassoon) Tring Buzz Legend of the Lost (Ian P. Buckingham) Lymington Times The Woman with the Red Hair (Clive Tuckett) Barnsley Chronicle, Lancaster Guardian Roses of Marrakech (Rachel Clare) The Jewish Telegraph A Meeting in Seville (Paul A. Mendelson) Screentrade Magazine Filming If…. (David Wood) Church Times, Back Track Sir Sam Fay (John Neville Greaves) BBC Radio Lancashire Between the Immensities (Doreen Davy)
AUGUST 2018
Radio 5 Live Licence to Kill: Britain’s Surrender to Violence (David Fraser)The Visitor, Writing MagazineRoses of Marrakech (Rachel Clare) The Jewish Chronicle The Indomitable Chiesa di Santa Maria (Daniel Peltz) The Times Double Exposure (Michael Simmons) BBC Radio London The Boy in a Turban (Joseph Hucknall) North Norfolk Living The Football Manager Murders (Chris Tookey) Vale Life Soundman: A Journey Through Rock ‘n’ Roll Sound (John Wilford) School Librarian Magazine The Wand Tree: Book of Magic (S.G. Harvey) Times Literary Supplement Filming If…. (David Wood) Leicester Mercury Border Monkeys (Tharun Chelley) Kent Messenger Keeping Chronicles (Rosemary Sassoon) The Jewish Telegraph David Poole: A Life Blighted by Apartheid (Richard Glasstone)
JULY 2018
Margate Mercury The Myra Twins & The Ark of the Coven (Annie Brocklehurst) Lancaster Guardian, Scope Roses of Marrakech (Rachel Clare) Knutsford Guardian, Redditch & Alcester Advertiser Untangling the Webs (Joy Pearson) Bishop’s Stortford Observer The Steampunk Murder (Ian McFadyen) Shropshire Star Sir Sam Fay: Railway Manager Elite (John Neville Greaves) BBC Radio Merseyside, Talk Radio Europe Pre:Fab! (Colin Hanton with Colin Hall) Rutland Times Ozzy & Izzy the Ospreys (Paul Gaunt) East Kent Primary Times A Hedgehog Story: Hedgehog Queen (David Hills) Time & Leisure Magazine, The Magic Circle Filming If…. (David Wood) Scottish Field Random Treasure (Roger Stewart) Talk Radio Europe, Thame Gazette, The Oxford Times Soundman: A Journey Through Rock ‘n’ Roll Sound (John Wilford) The Mail The Boy in a Turban (Joseph Hucknall) The International Educator A Guide to Establishing & Maintaining Quality International Schools (Michael J.Thompson) The Bookseller Tough Choices (Daniel Sokol) Games You Loved (Blog) Legend of the Lost (Ian P Buckingham) Female First Magazine Border Monkeys, To Tame the Sentry Being, The Steampunk Murder, Roses of Marrakech, Three Funerals and a Wedding
JUNE 2018
Sunday Mirror, Irish Sunday Mirror Pre:Fab! (Colin Hanton with Colin Hall) South Wales Guardian Gabriel’s Journey (Mary Collis) Dandelion Arts Magazine, The Honest Mum Baby Daze (Sarah Davis) Dereham News, North Norfolk News, Fakenham Times, Eastern Daily Press The Football Manager Murders (Chris Tookey) North London Collegiate School Magazine Where Peacocks Scream, The Choice (Valerie Mendes) The Irish Times, Sylvia Kent Reviews The Indomitable Chiesa di Santa Maria (Daniel Peltz) Dandelion Arts Magazine The Seven Pillars of Nonsense (Michael Roselaar) Burton Mail Squad Average (Mark Inman) Law Society Gazette Double Exposure (Michael Simmons) School Librarian Magazine The Wand Tree: Book of Magic (S. G. Harvey) The Scotsman, Marie Lavender Reviews Lochdarnock (Ri Adam) The Brick Castle 5 Simple Steps to Saving Planet Earth (Jo Withers) The Bookseller Tales from an Old Hack (Barbara Fisher) Promoting Crime Fiction The Cypher Bureau (Eilidh McGinness) Human Givens Magazine Every Blade of Grass (Richard Schaeffer) Total Film Magazine Filming If…. (David Wood) Hertfordshire Life Magazine Seeking Atticus (Norm D’Plume) Blog Tour The Hanging Women (John Mead) That’s Books Untangling the Webs (Joy Pearson) Books Monthly The Girl in the Abbey, Seeking Atticus, Hedgehog Queen, Modern Magic, A Journey Through South-East England Female First Magazine A Journey Through South-East England, Chance to Break
MAY 2018
History of War Merchant Seafaring Through WW1 (Peter Lyon) The Brick Castle The Nokka (K. K. Nikolaou) Theatre Record Magazine, Instut Lumiere Maggie Smith: A View from the Stalls (Caroline Fevrier) Musical Theatre Review Passport to Fame: The Diana Dors Story (Huw Prall) Of History and Kings A Corner of My Heart (Mark Seaman) Tony Riches Writing Desk, Mary Anne Yarde Virgin to Victoria (Trisha Hughes) Ross-Shire Journal, North Star The Cypher Bureau (Eilidh McGinness) Grantham Journal, Fenland Citizen The Girl in the Abbey (Jessica Collett) Yorkshire Evening Post Baby Daze (Sarah Davis) Hinckley Times, South Wales Post, BBC Radio Leicester Gabriel’s Journey (Mary Collis) Sittingbourne News Extra Hedgehog Queen (David Hills) The Cat Magazine The Cats of Butterwick Sands, Dreamcats Brilliant Books by Helen Wendy Cooper Samson the Super Dog, The Cats of Butterwick Sands Female First Magazine The Girl in the Abbey, Rude Rousing Revenge, Untangling the Webs, Seeking Atticus, Virgin to Victoria, 5 Simple Steps to Saving Planet Earth Books Monthly Times and Places, Baby Daze, Five Rites, The Myra Twins & The Ark of the Coven
Media
Catch up with what’s happening on our social media feeds, and find out about the latest authors to publish with The Book Guild… there’s also company news, the latest author events and a round-up of our latest reviews and media coverage.
How to Create an Author Talk by Sally Jenkins
Personal contact is one of the best ways of selling books. Hearing an author speak about the inspiration behind a book, its journey to publication or something of its content often sparks reader curiosity. Community groups such as WIs, U3As, and Probus are always on the look-out for new speakers – and they pay a fee as well as offering the opportunity for book sales.
Public speaking rarely comes naturally but we can all learn to construct an interesting talk and to deliver it confidently (even if we are petrified inside!). The average length of talk requested by a group is 45 minutes. This sounds like a long time but becomes manageable if the speech is constructed using blocks of 8 – 10 minutes.
Use the following pointers to put together an interesting talk:
1. Have a brilliant beginning. It’s worth getting the opening right because this will either make the audience sit up and take notice or decide to doze until the tea break. Try using a startling statistic, an arresting quote, an unusual visual aid or create an intriguing ‘what if’ scenario. Or ask the audience a rhetorical question such as, “Have you ever been in love?” or “What is your favourite murder weapon?” Whichever way the speech starts, ensure it is linked either directly to the book or to its genre or to your publishing journey.
2. Make eye contact with the audience when delivering the brilliant beginning. If you open the talk by reading from notes, everyone will switch off.
3. Signpost the talk. After grabbing the audience’s attention with the brilliant beginning, drop in some signposts of how the talk will progress. For example, “My book includes biographies of all six of Henry VIII’s wives but tonight I’m going to talk only about Anne Boleyn and Catherine Parr. Then I’ll tell you about the impact they had on the King’s life at court.” Or, “I’m going to tell you how a week in Greece generated the ideas for my novel and then I’ll give you my top ten writing tips to get all of you writing too.” Signposting benefits the audience because they know the purpose of the talk and it helps you, the speaker, create the speech in a logical, easy to follow sequence.
4. Have a Magnificent Middle. The average attention span for an audience listening to an averagely interesting speech is only five to ten minutes. A better than average speaker might grab the audience for twenty minutes. The way to hold audience attention for 45 minutes is to create several ‘soft breaks’ within the speech. This means switching topics every 10 minutes or so. I have built my author talk, ‘How to Make Money Out of Murder’ from four chunks:
– How to write a thriller
– Where writers get their ideas
– Working with a publisher
Switching topic like this creates a new burst of energy from the speaker and a chance to re-grab the attention of the audience.
5. Variety is the best way to keep an audience engaged so try to vary the pace and pitch of your voice, drop-in rhetorical questions and use the odd visual aid.
6. Have an Exciting Ending. The ending of a speech should be equally as memorable as its brilliant beginning. Try ‘bookending’ the speech i.e. take the presentation round in a full circle and refer back to something from the beginning, such as a reiteration of the startling statistic. Or end with a memorable quotation, for example, a talk about a writer’s life littered with rejections could end with the quote from Thomas Edison, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
It’s likely that there will be a short question and answer session after your talk. Most of the questions will be straightforward but I have been asked things like, “How much do you earn?” and “What total book sales are you aiming for?”
If there’s an awkward silence when the organiser asks, “Any questions?”, have something up your sleeve. For example, you could say, “One of the questions I’m often asked is how long does it take to write a book?” Then answer your own question.
To break yourself into public speaking gently, offer yourself as a free speaker to local groups with which you have a link, or to your local library. Learn from that experience before spreading your wings more widely.
Good Luck and enjoy talking to potential readers!
Sally Jenkins is a writer and speaker. Her psychological thriller The Promise was published by The Book Guild in 2018. She is also the author of Public Speaking for Absolute Beginners which contains further information on constructing and delivering a talk and on obtaining and managing speaking engagements. Follow Sally on Twitter @sallyjenkinsuk
Being Yourself or Using a Pen Name
At the 7th Self-Publishing Conference (which took place earlier in April this year) I had a surprising number of conversations with writers on the pros and cons of using a pen name – which struck me as a great blog topic.
A pen name, a nom de plume – call it what you will – it’s a little bit marmite for me. Unless there is a really compelling reason why a pen name should be used, then I am a fan of sticking with your own. However, talking to so many indie writers this weekend, taking a pen name appears to be something that many seem to consider when they are looking at starting their writing career.
Pen names are used for many reasons and even in mainstream publishing they’re not uncommon – mainly by authors, household names, writing in different genres or publishing with different publishers.
In indie publishing the decision on whether to use a pen name is less commercial and can result from writing on very autobiographical topics and wishing to retain some privacy or because the topic is perceived as more masculine or feminine, so the writer implies a new gender with the pen name. Or it could simply be because the author assumes that their given name is not interesting enough… and should be jazzed up somehow!
For me, the most compelling reason to use a pen name would be to protect your author brand… maybe you are an established name in one genre and you are now writing in a completely different area – your readers are unlikely to cross over and you are protecting your hard-won author brand in the original genre by taking on a new writing persona. I suppose that an extreme example of this is J.K. Rowling with her Robert Galbraith pen name, which serves to set her crime books aside from the phenomenon of ‘Harry Potter’.
In terms of privacy, some authors who are writing more autobiographical books may think that changing their name can help mask their identity – especially if they are touching on sensitive topics that they don’t want a wider circle to know. I feel that by publishing a book and putting work in the public domain, your story and privacy can be easily unmasked. In the digital world, with information only a click away, this is not a guarantee of anonymity.
From a marketing POV, giving yourself a pen name can bring all kinds of complications you don’t necessarily foresee at the start of your writing career – from deciding how to present yourself on social media (what name? Linked to your real name? Kept separate?) to writing your biographical details for blurbs and events. Similarly, books written under different names won’t always be linked by author on metadata systems and digital platforms, which feed off the author name – so readers who have enjoyed your writing and naturally want to read more of your work won’t make that link.
Social media is an interesting case too, as Facebook won’t let you have a ‘profile’ in your pen name, and without a profile, you are unable to set up an author page. You need separation across your other social media accounts, blogs and marketing channels that, with a pen name, can double the time you spend on marketing activity if posting for yourself and your pen name separately on different social media accounts.
If you are serious about media coverage, then the press is primarily interested in people and stories. Getting coverage is easier when you can approach them as yourself. Similarly, if you are using a nom de plume because you want to stay anonymous, you’ll likely get no editorial coverage of your book and no media push to help drive sales, because you’ve limited the story that can be told about you. Straight book review coverage for debut authors is highly competitive and marketing now is a blend of reviews, editorial – such as interviews and features, radio and digital marketing to get the message out – so avoid doing anything that impedes this marketing mix.
If you are using a pen name to present yourself with a different gender, because you believe that will help you appeal to different readerships, this can get tricky when you want to do events, signings and with media coverage (when the first thing you’ll be asked for is an author photo!). So be aware that this will happen and know how you want to deal with it when it does!
So, for me, pen names can work well for authors – but it’s worth giving very careful consideration to either the need or the practicality of using one before deciding on that course.
[Article by Jane Rowland, Operations Director]
Creating Your Book Index
Our Editorial Coordinator Hayley recently visited the Society of Indexers. Here’s what she found out about that most complex of beasts: the index, which they define as an ‘ordered arrangement of entries … designed to enable users to locate information in a document or specific documents in a collection’.
Your book may be complete with a fantastic cover and great looking interior. But, for non-fiction books, the index is the real nitty gritty that ties all of the book’s content together. So, where to start? It’s a question we often get asked. We point authors in the direction of The Society of Indexers. Since 1957, this professional body has been promoting improved standards and techniques in all forms of indexing. National Indexing Day itself was launched on the 30th March 2017 to celebrate the society’s 60th birthday. This year’s National Indexing Day was a very well-organised event (well, what do you expect from a group whose purpose it is to organise things?). It was eye-opening to learn just how an index really works, meet the indexers themselves and find out about all sorts of indexing conventions that many readers and authors would never have thought of!
Indexers aren’t robots
Contrary to popular belief, computers haven’t made indexing redundant – a good and effective index is written, not generated from a computer search through the document. A full-text search through the book will retrieve simply too much information for the reader to sift through. Think of it like a Google search – there will be too many instances for the reader to easily find the information that they are looking for and they will simply give up. Even when reading on an e-reader with a search function, an index is necessary for the ease of the reader to find the information that they’re looking for.
Use a professional
Similar to the editing process, authors are often too close to their work to be able to create an effective index. It’s always worth seeking out the services of a professional indexer, as they will be able to analyse the text and pick out the most important aspects for the reader.
There are different kinds of index
With indexes, it’s a not a one size fits all approach. There are specialist indexers for cookbooks, medical, law and historical books. Best to find an indexer that knows your potential audience best!
Not so fast…
An index should always be made at the final stage of the production process, when the page numbering has been finalised. You could spend hours carefully creating an index as part of your manuscript in Microsoft Word, only to find later on that the page numbering has changed when the book is typeset in its final layout. There’s also the possibility of a thorough proof read moving around great swathes of text, so the index should really be created at as late a stage as possible.
Layout matters
There are also style decisions to consider when creating an index. How do you want to deal with indefinite articles? How detailed do you want your headings to be? Would you like to alphabetise the entries: word-by word or letter-by-letter? Do you want a separate index for a prominent topic in your book, like an index of names? It’s essential for there to be a consistent style throughout the index, or it will look messy and unprofessional to any potential readers; it may even put them off the book altogether!
Some golden rules…
There are important indexing conventions that can make the difference for an effective index.
• A heading should ideally have six entries before branching into subheadings. Any more is likely to be overwhelming for the reader to check each of these individual entries.
• A subheading shouldn’t have only one entry, as this means that it likely isn’t necessary for the book, and should instead be combined with the main heading.
Quite a handful, right?
For any non-fiction book, an index is a necessity. It’s a map for the reader to be able to navigate the information in your book. Spare a thought for those indexers too, the people whose meticulous attention for detail and painstaking work helps the reader find exactly what it is they are looking for.
Indexing might come last, but it certainly shouldn’t be least.
For further information and to find an indexer for your project, visit the Society of Indexers!
Selling Books to Readers
We are halfway through our first season selling books direct from the Festival Bookshop, our little vintage Citroen H-Van that we’ve converted into a mobile bookstore. We’ve been at events ranging from Saturday markets, to country fairs and music festivals and being out and about selling books to readers in this way has been eye-opening.
The Festival Bookshop is run by staff from the Troubador Publishing team (Matador and Book Guild), so we’ve had everyone from the bookkeeper to the Directors, and staff from digital, distribution, marketing, production and customer services doing a stint. Being a bookseller at an event is a fantastic way to hone customer service skills and to see how readers interact with the books we’ve helped to publish.
Megan (Digital), Fern (Production) and Philippa (Marketing) at the Foxton Locks Festival!
But books are competing for attention on so many levels these days and this really becomes apparent when you become a bookseller for the day, rather than a publisher. Only recently, the Publishers’ Association released a report showing that people are reading less and watching box sets more; with so much competition for our leisure time, something has to give, and it seems that novels are becoming a casualty, with sales down 9% last year in the UK (though non-fiction sales increased).
With this in mind, here are some of the things we’ve noted from direct selling from our Festival Bookshop so far this summer:
Fiction is rarely an impulse buy – most people who browse the Festival Bookshop at events tend to buy non-fiction or children’s titles. But for the fiction reader browsing our shelves, it really is the case that the cover sells the book. We see the same titles pulled off the shelves time and again to be browsed, but the books next to them are ignored. Cover effects like gold foil and gloss varnish on matt laminate make a big difference when catching attention. But so do tag lines and a strong blurb. When faced with a shelf of books, how do you select one to look at? Time and again, beautiful covers, tag lines and strong blurbs draw people in and clinch that sale.
Parents have to be careful how they spend their money – and it isn’t necessarily going on books. We see children repeatedly told by parents they “don’t want a book”. On more than one occasion they have been told they can have a sweet treat instead. A common question we get asked by parents is, “Which of your children’s books has the fewest words in? I don’t have time to read long books to my children…” So the shorter books sell better this way at events.
Grandparents love to buy books for their grandchildren. Dads buy more books for their young children than mums do when at weekend events and family days out (though not, I suspect, necessarily day-to-day).
Young girls look at the books more frequently than boys – but all interested youngsters want to touch the books. They don’t look at the back or inside (that’s what the grown-ups do) but make instant decisions about the topics that they like based on the front cover (still very much pirates, princesses, dinosaurs and cats).
The most avid customers have been young adult readers, who approach the task of picking their next read very seriously. For these readers, the flip over to the back cover to read the blurb and then reading the entire first chapter is a crucial part of making a decision – and not one to rush.
For adults, specialist non-fiction is popular. Most people are drawn to books on topics they are already interested in such as history, sports, and specialist coffee table books. The ones that do the best have covers that clearly place a book firmly in a certain genre. No being too clever with your cover definitely comes into play here! The so-called grey pound is a noticeable factor in direct book sales, with many sales going to the over 60s – and few to those in their 20s. Gift purchases are big too – anything with a bit of humour does well, especially – we noted – at the Christmas markets!
Everyone loves a bargain. The sale table – which is end of line titles or slightly shop-soiled books – are popular but are picked up solely based on price. However, if someone is really drawn to a particular book on the Festival Bookshop shelves then price is not a factor – especially in non-fiction and gift books. The most expensive book we stock is £50.00, the cheapest is £1.00, so a wide range of price points for all pockets!
Interestingly, people still love to buy online. “Can I get this on Amazon?” is a frequent question… and we’ve even had people standing next to the bookshop while purchasing the book from Amazon using their phone, even if the book is priced cheaper on the van…
However, we have learned that every event is different. We plan the stocking for events individually based on the actual show, what has sold well at similar events, adding in some local author and subject-specific titles and putting forward the titles that are perennial bestsellers with other outlets, such as Amazon and via the trade – and this helps to keep the stocking fresh and to give other books a try out.
Books are not always the go-to purchase when people are having a day out when endless, cheap distractions and burger vans are everywhere, but this is not just an issue for publishers selling direct. The high street can also be a difficult place for bookshops, with many reporting that they have days when they do more sales through their instore coffee shop than they do on actual books – and well-established indie bookshops close their doors all the time due to lack of revenue. Travelling Through (London), Camden Locks Books and Wenlock Books (Shropshire) are three that have shut permanently in June this year – demonstrating again that books still have a hard time grabbing attention.
But for us, getting out and about with the Festival Bookshop offers us another route to sell our authors’ lovely books… we have more events lined up over the year and it has certainly been interesting to see what our bestsellers are so far, and how varied each event can be.
Find out more about our Festival Bookshop here!
Be Social Media Savvy
Social media has rapidly become one of the most effective ways of reaching a large number of people in seconds. For authors, this is great! Social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram offer you the chance to join a huge – and growing – online community of readers and writers, to network with people you otherwise wouldn’t reach, to find and share information and, of course, to promote your book.
For many authors, social media is their primary means of marketing their book. They can reach readers to share news, views and information about their new title. They can interact and connect directly with readers and other authors to help build their writer network and readership. They can build their author brand online without having to dedicate the time to building an author website. And best of all? For the most part, it costs absolutely nothing.
Here are our top tips to help you make the most of your online platforms:
Make sure you are discoverable
It sounds obvious, but it’s something that authors often overlook. If you have social media pages, you want people to be able to find them so keep this in mind when you are creating your accounts. You want to be discoverable so don’t pick an obscure username that no one will ever guess or remember. Try to stick to your name or pen name (think @Author_Surname, rather than @4uth0r4739205). Make sure that you include a biography on your pages so new readers can find out more about you and your work. Include a link to your website if you have one, or a link to buy your book if not. You will also need to select images that represent you as the author and your book so make the most of these spaces; high-quality images will help you to create professional-looking accounts.
Be creative
Studies show that social media posts that include an image will reach a larger percentage of your audience. Not only will being creative help you to get more engagement, but it will also make your timeline look more interesting and exciting. Post photos of your book, events and media coverage to help this news reach more people. Also, share behind-the-scenes photos. Are you working on your second book? Have you just received some marketing materials? Perhaps your books have just come in from print? Take a quick photo and share it with your followers. A visual post is more likely to stop people in their tracks
Share news and views
Tempting though it may be, you don’t want every social media post you share to be about your book. Your followers don’t want you to be a ‘pushy salesman’. Social media is all about the conversation; you need to be interactive, informative and engaging. Have you seen an interesting news article? Share it with your thoughts – you might attract like-minded followers as a result. Has someone else’s tweet caught your eye? Retweet with your own comment and add your voice to the conversation. There are lots of different ways that you can get involved, but the main thing to remember is that the more you engage with other users, the more likely you will be to attract followers.
Get trendy with #hashtags
We’re all familiar with the term ‘hashtag’, but what does it actually mean? In social media vocabulary, a hashtag is a word or phrase preceded by ‘#’ which identifies a keyword or topic of interest and facilitates a search for this term. For authors, hashtags can be a great way of getting their posts in front of other users, especially on Twitter and Instagram.
Keep an eye on the trending topics when you log in to your Twitter account – there might be some that are useful to you. By tapping into these trends and hashtagging key terms, you make your post (and as a result, your account) more discoverable to a wider group of people. Eventually, you’ll see which hashtags work for you and which don’t. But don’t go overboard. Studies show that tweets using more than 2-3 hashtags see a fall in engagement.
Offer exclusive content!
Everybody loves a freebie! Think about offering your readers an incentive to follow you. This can be anything from an exclusive chapter from your next book, a seasonal short story, some never-before-seen illustrations from your kid’s book… You could run competitions or giveaways to win a copy of your book. Make the prize more desirable with added extras – signed by the author, a bookmark, and the chance to appear in your next book… This kind of exclusive content is a great reason for people to follow your pages.
Don’t spread yourself too thin…
Not all social media platforms will be a good fit for every author, or indeed every book. Be strategic and think carefully about whether your planned idea will work for the social media site you want to post it to. For example, a recipe book with beautiful photographs will work brilliantly on Instagram where you can tap into both the ‘Bookstagram’ and cooking communities, but it’s more difficult to be creative with a straight adult fiction novel – you can only post your book cover so many times! Perhaps you would be better focusing your efforts on Facebook, where you can encourage a discussion or feedback, or Twitter where graphics and computer-generated content is more accepted.
Concentrate on the social media platforms that work for you. If you’re a Twitter guru, but Facebook is your worst nightmare, play to your strengths. If you know for a fact your readers won’t be on Instagram, is it worth creating an account? Ultimately you’ll find out which social media pages work for you and which you enjoy using most.
Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day – Author Spotlight
To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, we’re putting Irish literary author, Dermod Judge in the author spotlight.
Dermod Judge is an Irish author, currently living in South Africa. He has had a varied career and has worked in many industries from designer, typographer and copywriter, to actor, filmmaker, film and stage director and international lecturer on storytelling and filmmaking. Now, having some time on his hands, he has turned to writing novels.
His first novel, Clash, is a fast-paced sports thriller about an eccentric Irish millionaire who takes the dangerous sport of hurling and transforms it into a ruthless gladiatorial contest, spearheaded by a team called The Danann. This was published in late 2017. The sport featured within the novel is one of the fastest ball games in the world – Irish hurling, which has been played for centuries with a supple ash stick and a hard, leather ball.
His next book, Two Jam Jars for the Manor, came out in the same year. It’s set in Dublin in the 1950s and follows Johnny who has a passion for filmmaking as he tries to make it big in the world. Dermod Judge has been involved in story telling in theatre and film for a large proportion of his professional life, and has written over ten full length feature film scripts as well as twelve professionally produced stage and radio plays. He has won a variety of local and international awards for his video making and this inspired the idea for this story.
Dermod has just released his third novel, also set in Ireland in the 1950s. Bopping in Ballymalloy is a romantic drama, following Curly and Mary who are both running away – Curly from failure as a dancer in New York and Mary from the utter boredom of Ballymalloy in West Ireland. Mary is seduced by his flashy car, his collection of great swing music – and his style on and off the dance floor. To atone for the inevitable shame she suffers, he has to give her the only thing she wants – entry into the unforgiving world he thought he’d left forever…
Dermod says, “My three books were originally conceived as screenplays, during which process, the stories and the characters were carefully created and the action plotted with care. They also feature activities which impacted on my life at various stages. During the seemingly never-ending pre-Google world, I honed my research skills so my books have an added dimension which appeals to the target market – the avid reader.”
Dermod’s books are available to buy from our bookshop.
Book Guild’s Cracking Christmas Reads – Book Extract
To celebrate the festive season, we’ve put together a 9-day programme of some of Book Guild’s ‘Cracking Christmas Reads’. Podric Moon is a computer games champion and inventor of Ultimate Alternative Reality. Podric and his friends roam the world of computer games experiencing adventures both in the 21st century and days of yore…
Extract:
“It was the trip of a lifetime. His dad having organised him a ride in a Typhoon, Podric Moon sat in the instructor’s seat. The aeroplane pulling four and a half G banked hard over the coast and levelled out low over the grey North Sea below. Not only was he flying in the type of fast jet his father flew – a T3, but in his dad’s actual plane and on his actual seat! It was blowing his mind.
The pilot of ZA119, Squadron Leader Ian Shawcross was both younger and junior to Podric’s father, Wing Commander Sean Moon, but the two men had been complicit in getting Podric his ride. It was his prize for the boy’s latest victory in computer games. At a recent competition in London, Podric, nearly seventeen, had won the title of ‘Best under twenty-one player’ in Europe. In fact, he had played and beaten several of the top adult contestants in the world. Both Sean Moon and Shawcross were avid computer games aficionados and their interest in virtual reality formed a special bond between them and Sean’s son. The flight, which was a regular training sortie, had been all too simple to organise and now as they climbed, bursting out through the clouds into brilliant sunshine, Podric knew this was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. One day he’d be in the front seat flying with his dad in this same jet.
“Want to feel the controls, Podric? They just about match the new Fastjet! game console.” Podric could barely speak, he was so excited. Shawcross’s voice was calm, controlled and very RAF. “I know you know what to do. You have control, Moon.”
Podric Moon is available to buy from our bookshop.
Book Guild’s Cracking Christmas Reads – Author Spotlight
To celebrate the festive season, we’ve put together a 9-day programme of some of Book Guild’s ‘Cracking Christmas Reads’. We asked Ian P. Buckingham, author of Legend of the Lost to chat to us about the writing and publishing process:
What’s your favourite thing about writing children’s fiction?
Ooh, lots of things. Just one? Well at the top of the list has to be knowing that the work will help young imaginations expand and grow, hopefully inspiring another generation of storytellers as authors like Blyton, Lewis, Tolkien and Rowling etc have inspired me.
What has the response been like so far for Legend of the Lost?
I’m very pleased to say that it’s attracted the reactions I’d hoped for when the children and I first committed the ideas to paper and planned the trilogy.
Comments like “compelling from start to end”,“beautifully written” and “couldn’t put it down”are great to see in the reviews on Amazon, Book Guild bookshop and feedback on social media and in person.
It really is pleasing that adults are enjoying reading the book and am especially delighted to hear of parents reading the book to and with their children as I really wanted it to be a collaborative experience. In my view there’s nothing quite like parents and children exploring a magical adventure together.
When did you realise that you wanted to become a published author?
I’ve been published in more high-brow, adult genres before, but I’ve since discovered that apparently when I was a little boy myself, I said that I would write books for children (so I’m now reminded).
Whatever the type of book there’s really something special about watching a project catch fire from a spark of an idea to something that will spread around the world lighting up dark corners of the imagination.
Now, with the wonders of social media, authors can receive feedback and connect with readers much easier. It really is lovely to receive photos of the books from all sorts of exotic destinations, often featuring local landmarks or indeed crazy pets, as we have been.
One very lovely lady has been reading the book to the animals at her animal rescue centre in the US. She says it soothes them. Who could have predicted that?
Is there any advice you would give to other writers/how have you found the publishing experience?
First and foremost, believe in yourself and just do it. Write! There is no given technique or approach. Sure, read a lot and be informed by other voices. But find what works for you – whether that is scribbling in notebooks when the creative impulse strikes or having a routine and schedule if you must. Only you know yourself. Go with what feels right. But write.
I remember the story of Joseph Heller who wrote one of the Iconic Books of all time, Catch 22. Famously he jotted scenes on postcard-sized cue cards which he kept in a shoe box. Allegedly he dropped them one day and rather than re-arrange as a linear narrative, he wrote up the story in the random order in which the cards fell. True or not, this illustrates the point. Do what works for you. But write.
For me, the best part of publishing, as a process, is the creative collaboration. For example, I have strong opinions about each project including the visuals. When I received the first draft of the cover for Legend of the Lost, it wasn’t what I imagined at all. I could tell there was a degree of trepidation about the proposal, perhaps because of my background in brand and advertising. But it was actually better than anything I had pictured. Jack did a great job. I love it, and the feedback has been unanimously positive. I made a couple of supplementary suggestions and we agreed the finished product in a few minutes. THAT’s the power of collaboration
What’s next in the writing pipeline for you?
Well, I committed to writing a trilogy and Legend of the Lostis the first part. I’ve written the next two, The Ends of the Earthbeing the second part. Without spilling any spoilers, the adventure continues in Cornwall and Africa. I’ve promised our growing community of readers that I will aim to finalise the sequel next year.
I can’t wait to see what the team does with the visuals and am sure the story will evolve further during the magic of the editing process and as the readership grows.
I’m personally excited to watch this complex family develop as individuals and a group over time as they confront and overcome fresh challenges. Because as any parent knows, growing up is filled with twists and turns of fate. We need to be reminded, from time-to-time, especially during the festive season, that the real secret to finding our magic is not to lose heart, not to shut down in the face of adulting and to keep believing.
Legend of the Lost is available to buy from our bookshop.
Book Guild’s Cracking Christmas Reads – Author’s Top Tips
To celebrate the festive season, we’ve put together a 9-day programme of some of Book Guild’s ‘Cracking Christmas Reads’. We asked Wendy Keefer, author of “Hey Dog! Let’s Talk!” to share her 7 top tips for ‘keeping your child safe from dog bites’:
With dog bites on the rise in the UK, we all worry about protecting our children, not to mention our dogs. Hey Dog! Let’s Talk! can offer a few basic tips to teaching children to keep themselves safer through calm and respectful behaviour around dogs. Here they are in a nutshell:
Stand Still – when first approaching or being confronted by a dog, stand still so you don’t come into the dog’s space.
Hands Down – dogs are attracted to movement. Keeping your hands at your side shows the dog you mean no harm. If you are frightened of having your hands sniffed or touched by the dog, tuck them into your armpits.
Look Away – don’t look directly at the dog. Dogs consider eye-contact to be either an invitation to come closer or a threat of aggression. It is polite dog language to look just to the side or above his head.
Wait – wait for help to come or take the time to assess whether the dog is approaching you in a friendly way.
Ask Permission – if the dog looks friendly and you want to say hi, ask permission of your parent and the dog’s owner.
Give the Dog the Choice – if permission is given, call the dog to you, don’t go to the dog. If he doesn’t want to come, remind yourself he probably just doesn’t feel like it today and say ‘that’s ok’.
Use these Tips with Your Own Dog – even the dogs we know best need to be offered the choice at times. If you always call him to you and he comes, you know he’s happy to be there!
Get these tips and more in the beautifully illustrated book for children – Hey Dog! Let’s Talk! is available to buy from our bookshop.
Book Guild’s Cracking Christmas Reads – Book Extract
To celebrate the festive season, we’ve put together a 9-day programme of some of Book Guild’s ‘Cracking Christmas Reads’. Squad Average is the incredible true story by Mark Inman. From soldier to bodyguard living with PTSD – this is a story of survival…
Extract:
“The flashbacks were to become more frequent, almost a twice-weekly occurrence. The flashbacks would manifest in different scenarios. I could be sat at home watching the television and the news would come on; before watching a report about Iraq or Afghanistan, I would rush for the remote control and change television channel. This itself could trigger a memory which resulted in another flashback, be it then or at another point in time. I started to wait for them to happen, knowing they would at some point rear their ugly heads. I was beginning to live in dread of them occurring. When they did, they would not be pleasant. As well as reliving an incident through my eyes, it would destroy the rest of my day. I would be tearful, angry, sad, desperate, lonely and depressed, all these different emotions rolling into one.”
Mark has launched a campaign to raise awareness and funds for the military charities who save lives and support PTSD sufferers.
Endorsements for Squad Average:
“An outstanding solider, Corporal Inman was one of the best I have had the privilege to command. Right from the outset, he stood out among his peers; not just for his physical ability and accomplished fighting skills, but for his compulsion to do the job he was trained to do. A genuine ‘soldier’s soldier’, Inman thrived on operations. Professional and focused, he had an ingrained sense of courage and commitment. I relied on him to deliver and he invariably did.” – Lt Col J Green, 1 STAFFORDS
“Imagine being back in the school playground. Two captains picking from the best of the bunch. My first pick would be “Inman”. Nobody comes close to his diligence, professionalism, confidence and ability. He brought the aggression to the fight, which gave myself and the team that feeling of invincibility.”– Richard Moon, Close Protection Officer 2005–2008
Squad Average is available to buy from our bookshop.