r i a F r o h t u Indie A FREE
Pop-up Bookshop • Au thor Readings • Human Library Children’s Story Time • Afternoon Teas Admission
Sunday 16th November 2pm – 5pm at the Chorleywood Lit Fest, British Legion Hall, WD3 5LN
Matador
®
Serious Self-Publishing
Seeking reliable and realistic advice about your self-publishing project from approachable and experienced professionals? Whether it be writers’ services companies like The Writers’ Workshop,Words Worth Reading or Bubblecow, high street and online retailers like Lovewriting.co.uk, literary agents, even other publishers – not to mention the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook for the last nine years... time and again Matador is recommended to authors wishing to selfpublish a book or ebook for pleasure or profit. We produce books for authors to their specifications at a realistic price, as print on demand, or as a short or longer print run book. As well as a high quality of production, we also insist upon a high quality of content, and place great emphasis on the marketing and distribution of self-published books to retailers. “We've always liked Matador because they have the best values in their industry. Apart from anything else, they actually try to sell books. It sounds crazy, but most of their rivals don’t. They print ’em, but don’t care about selling ’em. Matador do.” The Writers’ Workshop
But publishing a book is the easy part... getting it into the shops is harder. We offer a full sales representation and distribution service through our distributor and dedicated sales team.We also offer a full ebook creation and distribution option to our authors, distributing ebooks worldwide and selling direct from our website, giving authors up to 85% of their ebook cover price. Ask for a free copy of our guide to self-publishing, or download a copy from our website. Or call Jennifer or Lauren if you want to speak to a human being!
www.troubador.co.uk/matador “A new breed of self-publishing companies offer authors a kind of halfway house between conventional self-publishing and the commercial kind. Of these, the company that has gone the furthest is Matador...” Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook Guide to Getting Published Chosen self-publishing partner of Lovewriting.co.uk. Recommended by writers’ services like The Writers’ Workshop,The Writers’ Advice Centre for Children, Oxford Literary Consultancy, Fiction Feedback, Bubblecow,Words Worth Reading, and PR agencies like Midas PR, Literally PR, Cameron Publicity, Booked PR and Startup PR. Troubador Publishing Ltd, 9 Priory Business Park, Kibworth, Leics LE8 0RX Tel: 0116 279 2299 Email: matador@troubador.co.uk
1
r i a F r o h t u A e i d In at the
Chorleywood Lit Fest Welcome to the first ever Indie Author Fair at the Chorleywood Lit Fest. What? You’ve never read a book by an indie-published author? Well, here’s your chance to start. What are you looking for? Fiction or non-fiction? Poetic, thrilling, supernatural, romantic, literary, criminal, racy, historical, sci-fi or a mixture of the above? Catalogue designed by www.jdsmith-design.com
We’ve got it. Fairytales and fantasy, picture books and rhymes, mystery, mischief and mayhem? Help yourself. Indie Author publishing is the place to discover all that is innovative, daring and creative. In our children’s and young adult section, we’ll have story time sessions for children from 3–5, 6–9 and 9–12. And our adult authors will be beguiling you with readings from their books. Maybe you’re just curious about indie publishing—why, what, when and how? Come and meet the Alliance of Independent Authors and the Triskele Books author collective. Whatever you’re looking for, you’ve come to the right place.
THE
BOOKMUSE READERS’ JOURNAL
bookmuse
READERS’
TM
JOURNAL
You know the sort. He’s always got his nose in a book. She forgets the time because of a story. Their shelves are creaking but they can’t walk past a bookshop. Natural habitat? The library. Paperback, ebook, cereal packet, doesn’t matter – if it’s got words, they will read. You know who I’m talking about. Readers. For a reader, there is no greater gift than a book. We present The Bookmuse Readers’ Journal, a precious little tome specially designed for booklovers. It’s got everything: quotes on reading, note pages for your to-be-read pile, entertaining genre spoofs, a framework for reviewing, Bookmuse reviews and recommendations, snippets of author interviews and all things bookish. Give it to the reader in your life.
bookmuse
TM
D I S C O V E R I N G G R E AT B O O K S . . . www.bookmuse.co.uk
3
Foreword I am delighted to have been invited to provide the foreword to the Indie Author Fair Catalogue. One of the central missions of The PA is to promote literacy and reading for pleasure. Research regularly shows that a literate population leads to a more competitive economy and greater social mobility. There simply cannot be enough creativity and writing in a country and so anything which encourages and nurtures it should have the full support of all – not just those in the book and publishing worlds. Some commentators would like to position independent or self-publishing as being in competition with the publishing sector. However, I would see the two approaches as being complementary. The British market is vibrant and diverse enough to sustain both approaches and, in any case, it is not as if these are firmly entrenched silos. Authors may decide between self or supported publishing on a book-by-book basis. As we have seen regularly in recent years, works which begin life in the independent sector can be transformed into worldwide blockbusters with the support of a publishing company. The self-published charts are a strong indicator of emerging talent and – for those who want to make the choice – can serve as a great shop-window to passing publishers. Booksellers also stand to benefit from independent authors who, rooted in their community, can be a powerful draw at a local bookshop – and I don’t know many book lovers who are able to leave a shop without buying at least one more title than they went in to get. The Independent Author Fair is a great way of promoting writing and reading in Britain and I wish all those participating a successful and invigorating time.
Richard Mollet
Chief Executive of The Publishers Association
4
Adult Fiction & Non-Fiction Local authors indicated with an *
Orna Ross
Orna Ross writes novels, poems and the Go Creative! books, a series of nonfiction titles that teach the application of creative principles and processes to life. Publishing her own work, an experience which she describes as “radically empowering,” led her to form The Alliance of Independent Authors in 2012, work for which she was named “One of the 100 Most Influential People in Publishing” by The Bookseller magazine. Her most recent book is a novel, Blue Mercy.
Debbie Young
Author, journalist, book reviewer and blogger, Debbie Young, is Commissioning Editor for ALLi’s Self-Publishing Advice blog. She is coauthor of ALLi’s Opening Up To Indie Authors Guide.
Debbie has written a self-help book for authors (Sell Your Books!), short fiction (Quick Change is her new flash fiction collection) and a memoir (Coming to Terms with Type 1 Diabetes). Debbie also offers book promotion advice via her Off The Shelf Book Promotions consultancy, which has just launched its unique Book Promotion Prescription service, offering authors an affordable health-check on all aspects of their book promotion and a prioritised action plan to promote their books.
Kirsten Arcadio Kirsten Arcadio has written three novels, each with a different speculative theme. She’s also a part-time poet, digital communications nerd and the frazzled head of an Anglo-Italian family. Her Borderliners Trilogy is a series of speculative novels, each with a different focus. Beginning in a neglected English village with Borderliners—a dark supernatural thriller—the series moves on to adventure Split Symmetry, a tale of divided loyalties and fractured reality told against the backdrop of a catastrophic earthquake atop the highest peak in central Italy. It’s rounded off by WorldCult, the finale, a fast-moving thriller which follows the protagonist, Elena Lewis, through the streets of Rome to counter an apocalyptic prediction made more than five hundred years ago.
5
Kevin Booth Kevin Booth has published Celia’s Room, his first novel of contemporary fiction. Writing as K. Eastkott, he is also the author of fantasy novellas Through the Whirlpool and Twilight Crosser. He currently divides his time between Barcelona and London. Celia’s Room: Sex, drugs and deception in the Barcelona night. Told through their own eyes, sensitive Joaquim—whose passion for painting will propel him into the artist’s life— and cynical Eduardo—addicted to a nightlife that thwarts his ambition to write—discover a sensual and dreamlike city, personified by the enigmatic Celia.
Crappily Every After: Sometimes love has a way of hunting you down no matter how hard you try to hide from it. Is it too late? Or can Lucy learn to trust just one last time? Ivy Eff: Ivy Efferson is having a bad week; in fact the world as she knows it appears to be imploding in front of her eyes. With the intention of going it alone as a single Mum, Ivy looks into the possibility of IVF. Why should she leave her chance of motherhood in the hands of another man? After all, if things can go wrong with Will after eight years, this may be her only chance.
Jane Carling * Through the Whirlpool and Twilight Crosser: A champion must be found to save the ocean of Shah. Eerie and destructive forces are at work. Connected by a bizarre rift between dimensions, a young nomad from alien seas and an unconventional girl from our world must cooperate to defeat the spreading death. Yet rescuing those they love will mean braving the terror of the whirlpool passage. More information at www.poblesecbooks.com
Louise Burness (See also children’s books) Louise Burness was born in 1971 and raised in the Scottish town of Arbroath. She has lived in Edinburgh and Fife, travelled around Australia and South East Asia and spent eight years in West London. She now lives in Scotland and writes full-time. Louise has written two chick-lit novels, Crappily Ever After and Ivy Eff, and children’s books Under the Sun and Rock upon a Time.
Jane Carling is primarily a romantic fiction writer, and published her first book, Pandora’s Box, in 2013. This is a fast paced tale of love and loss set on a beautiful Greek Island. Jane calls her style “Millsop”—a combination of Mills and Boon and Victoria Hislop. Her next book, Ruby’s New Coat, opens in 1944, when the heroine is rescued after a V2 bomb hits Duke Street and a romance begins in the basements of Selfridges. Jane has also written a collection of short stories. Before becoming a writer, Jane worked in recruitment and ran her own business for
6
over thirty years. She is married and lives in Buckinghamshire with her daughter and three grandchildren. Visit www.janecarling.co.uk for more information and to follow her blog.
quest for someone special. It’s a glamorous and sexy story with a medical strand that reflects the author’s experience as a doctor.
Chele Cooke
Jane Davis lives in Surrey with her Formula 1 obsessed, star-gazing, beer-brewing partner, surrounded by growing piles of paperbacks, CDs and general chaos. Her first novel Halftruths and White Lies won the Daily Mail First Novel Award and was described by Joanne Harris as ‘A story of secrets, lies, grief and ultimately redemption, charmingly handled by this very promising new writer.’ The Bookseller featured her in their ‘One to Watch’ section.
Jane Davis
Chele Cooke is an English-born writer based in London. Chele started out writing fan fiction, but soon moved onto her own fiction, releasing her first novel, Dead and Buryd, in 2013. The sequel Fight or Flight, followed less than a year later. Chele’s Out of Orbit series follows Georgianna, a medic on a colonised planet, as the sparks of rebellion flicker into the flames of all out war.
Carol Cooper*
Jane has published four further novels, These Fragile Things, I Stopped Time, A Funeral for an Owl and An Unchoreographed Life. Compulsion Reads describes her as ‘a phenomenal writer whose ability to create well-rounded characters that are easy to relate to feels effortless.’ When Jane is not writing, you will find her half way up a mountain, camera in hand.
S.W. Fairbrother S.W. Fairbrother is an avid reader whose love of stories and daydreaming couldn’t Carol Cooper is a doctor and writer. A former Chorleywood resident, she now lives and practises in London. Her racy novel One Night at the Jacaranda comes after a string of nonfiction books. She is also known as The Sun newspaper’s doctor. One Night at the Jacaranda follows the fate of a disparate group of single Londoners in their
7
help but spill over into writing. She lives behind a computer screen in London, but is occasionally dragged out into the real world by her son and husband.
non-fiction account of the hard-won changes within society for the women of Spain, told through the eyes and experiences of the women themselves.
Her debut novel The Secret Dead, a paranormal mystery, was published on 11 April 2014 and has been described as ‘deep and complex and twisty and excellent’, ‘fresh and original’ and even ‘phenomenal.’
Mark Farrell
The sequel to The Secret Dead will be released in winter 2014.
Joan Fallon*
Joan Fallon worked as a teacher in Marlow and Maidenhead and as a training and development consultant at Missenden Abbey before moving to Spain, where she began to write. Her novels are aimed mainly at the women’s literary fiction market and almost invariably centre on a strong female character, exploring the emotions and relationships of the protagonist. Being a History graduate, Joan enjoys setting her novels in a historical context, researching either English or Spanish history. Joan’s books include Spanish Lavender, a love story set in the Spanish Civil War, and The House on the Beach, the story of two women trying to take control of their lives in the years after the Spanish Civil War—a time when women had little independence. Her novel The Shining City is set in 10th Century Spain in a city that now lies in ruins, while Santiago Tales is a 21st century version of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, set on the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain. Joan has also written Daughters of Spain, a
Mark Farrell started writing novels in 2000. Inspired by his family connection to historical fiction, he wrote several books that went nowhere until he sent his work to the literary consultancy The Writers’ Workshop. After several submissions he started a fresh project, The Shoemaker’s Apprentice, which was taken on by Sarah Molloy of AM Heath Literary Agents in 2010. After 3 years of redrafting and disappointment with publishers (during which time he started another book, The Pawnbroker’s Niece, which has yet to be completed) he was dropped by the agency when Sarah Molloy retired. At this point, rather than submit to more agents, he decided to open the independent books promotion website Ascribe Novel Solutions (http://ascribeme.com/). A sequel is planned for The Shoemaker’s Apprentice, and The Pawnbroker’s Niece will be completed in due course, but at present he is focusing all his energy on running Ascribe and boosting awareness of the site.
Lorna Fergusson Lorna Fergusson runs Fictionfire Literary Consultancy. In 2013 she republished her novel The Chase, which had previously been published by Bloomsbury. The book’s central characters move to France to escape the pain of a traumatic event—an event which is ripping their marriage apart—only to learn that the past stalks us all, and there are some
8
three children that followed were boys; so I was a loner, escaping into a dream world of children’s adventure storybooks.
memories you can never escape … Historian and novelist Alison Weir describes The Chase as ‘a haunting book, skilfully written and tantalisingly unravelled … set in the beautiful Dordogne, where past and present fuse in a page-turning mystery’ and Living France magazine says it is ‘steeped in the atmosphere, history and excitement of France … very definitely the sort of book that is difficult to put down.’
Radical political changes in Malaya affected my family, and I later lived three years in the more restrictive culture of India with my mother and younger siblings. Back home, a short-lived love affair with a boy from another caste was met with opposition from both families. At the same time, Malaysia was in turmoil with race riots. My dad offered an escape, borrowing money and sending his daughter to England.”
Geoff Gudgion*
Lorna loves living in Oxford, but she also dreams of owning a Cornish seaside cottage where she can write and gaze and think and write some more.
Lily Forbes Lily Forbes’ memoir Growing Up Under the Mango Tree is based in Malaysia and India during the late nineteen-forties, fifties and sixties. “My earliest memory is of being on a train where I encountered an Englishman, marking the start of a thread that winds throughout the story, until I eventually settle in the country of my childhood dreams. The middle child of nine siblings in a poor rural district near Kuala Lumpur, I was six years behind my next older sibling, and the
Geoffrey Gudgion left school at 17 to join the Royal Navy, and was later sponsored by the RN to read Geography at Cambridge University. He made his first attempts at writing fiction during long deployments in warships. In a subsequent business career, he consistently failed to reconcile writing with being the CEO of a technology company. Gudgion writes contemporary thrillers with a historical and supernatural twist. His first book Saxon’s Bane was published in September 2013 to widespread critical acclaim, achieving average Amazon scores of 4.4 from 34 reviews. It was described as ‘Wicker Man by way of John Fowles’ and ‘A supremely wellwritten novel… Saxon’s Bane is the book to thrust into the hands of any know-it-all who claims that genre fiction cannot be literary.’ His second book, Catherine Bonnevaux, was completed this summer, and is now with his literary agents, Sheil Land Associates.
9
Helena Halme Helena Halme grew up in Finland and moved to the UK at the age of 22 via Stockholm and Helsinki. In Britain she worked as a journalist and translator for the BBC and now lives in North London. She loves Nordic drama and thinks in another life she might have been a blonde Birgitte Nyborg from Borgen.
Libertines, a disparate troupe of writers who have been touring the country to sell-out crowds since 2011 with their mix of fin de siècle Paris and Beat and Punk New York. He writes about self-publishing for The Guardian Boko Blog and his novel The Company of Fellows was voted “favourite Oxford novel” by Blackwells readers, but he is happiest behind a microphone and in front of a crowd. Dan will be showcasing work by the Retrosensualists, a movement of selfpublishing authors dedicated to pushing the boundaries of form and genre whose work combines an edgy urban sensibility with a lyrical magic realism. http://thenewlibertines. wordpress.com/manifesto/
Mari Howard Helena is the author of The Englishman, a Nordic love story between Peter, a British naval officer and Kaisa, a beautiful Finnish student. At the height of the Cold War, the two lovers meet under the sparkling chandeliers of the British Embassy in Helsinki, but while Peter chases Russian submarines, Kaisa is stuck in Finland, a country friendly with the Soviet Union. Will their love go the distance? Helena’s other works include Coffee and Vodka, and The Red King of Helsinki. In her latest novel Oh, England! we reencounter Kaisa from The Englishman.
Dan Holloway Dan Holloway is a novelist, poet, journalist and spoken word artist. He is a winner of Literary Death Match and the MC of The New
Mari Howard never set out to be a writer. As a child she created long, soap-opera-style tales, drawing them rather than writing them down. Despite winning a prize for a short story at school, her passions remained art and biology. Mari began writing by editing a medieval mystery play performed at university, and then short pieces for a student magazine. After her children were born she researched books on the experiences of childbirth and raising twins, worked in pregnancy counselling and began writing short fiction. She received encouragement from Humphrey Carpenter (biographer and children’s writer) for her first novel A Painter’s Eye, though she did not ultimately publish it. Her novels Baby, Baby and The Labyrinth Year both feature family and cultural struggles that draw on her knowledge of sociology. In an
10
affectionate style, they pose serious questions (with touches of humour) and avoid offering easy answers.
David James
and a keen interest in local, Irish and family history, she self-publishes under her own imprint—Titanic Press—and has five local history books, two novels and one play to her name.
David James is a writer, publisher, book reviewer and public speaker, as well as a teacher of English at all levels from Elementary to Advanced. After many years of teaching at universities in the UK, USA, North Africa and the Gulf, David returned to London to concentrate on writing for academia as well as fiction. David has for many years been a Speaker at the Winchester Writers Conference and at local writers’ circles. In 2012 at the Dickens Bicentenary in Rochester he gave talks on Dickens and read from his own novel,Charles Dickens and the Night Visitors.
Her latest publication The Chalfonts and Gerrards Cross at War currently sits at the no 3 spot in the Top Ten Best Seller’s list at her online book distributor, whilst her 2012 novel: A Wistful Eye—the Tragedy of a Titanic Shipwright is at no 7. An award-winning theatre company in the South of England commissioned her to adapt her most recent novel: Running with Crows—The Life and Death of a Black and Tan as a 3-Act play to be performed next spring.
Susie Kay*
This year saw his inauguration of The Quagga Prize for Literary Fiction. For more details of the author and the Prize, please visit www. quaggabooks.net He has already published six novels and a collection of short stories and is at present working on a textbook for Sixth Form students. His most recent novel The Scholar’s Tale waspublished in March 2014.
DJ Kelly * Chalfonts-based DJ Kelly took early retirement four years ago from an eventful career which had taken her to live, work and play in twenty countries across four continents. With a background in research and investigation
Susie Kay is passionate about the benefits of professionalism for all sectors of the economy. As a keynote speaker, writer, mentor and consultant she offers her practical approach and expertise in personal productivity and effectiveness to audiences and clients to help them flourish in the workplace. Realising that your friends and colleagues don’t all operate the same way that you do can be an eye-opener. Susie’s first book,
11
How to Spot a Dinosaur—or How to Survive and Thrive in the Workplace, is an effective and practical guide to understanding and managing your business and personal relationships. Her second book Professionalism: the ABC for Success offers an insight into the ways that professionals approach their world, and offers some very practical advice intended to help you demonstrate your own professionalism 24/7.
John Lynch
Squaring Circles. When her mother’s grave is disturbed, Pandora turns detective and finds herself drawn into a world of intrigue, centring round a plot to exploit a healing circle. photo credit Richard K.Wolff.
Joanne Phillips Joanne Phillips lives in rural Shropshire with her husband and young daughter. She’s the author of romantic comedies Can’t Live Without and The Family Trap, and the Flora Lively series of contemporary mysteries. Can’t Live Without was an Amazon top 20 bestseller in 2012 and her books regularly appear on category bestseller lists. John Lynch is an international salesman. He has lived and done business on every continent except Antarctica and knows Lagos, Jeddah and Abu Dhabi as well as the Shropshire countryside where he now lives. As R J Lynch he writes the James Blakiston Series of historical crime/romance novels set in northeast England in the 1760s, and as John Lynch he writes contemporary fiction.
Carolyn Mathews Carolyn Mathews has a background in English Language materials, both writing and teaching. She has an interest in the spiritual and an awareness of how ridiculous this can seem to others. Transforming Pandora. Attempting to come to terms with her husband’s death, Pandora is visited by a mysterious spirit who sets her on a new path. He offers her the chance of enlightenment, but will she choose love or light—or can she have both?
Before becoming a writer, Joanne had jobs as diverse as hairdresser, air hostess and librarian, but now divides her time between writing and finding creative ways to avoid housework. She’s a fan of super-dark chocolate, iced coffee and Masterchef. Joanne can be found at www.joannephillips. co.uk and she blogs about writing and publishing at www.writersjourney.co.uk
Marisha Pink Marisha Pink is a rat race escapee turned fiction author and entrepreneur. Born and
12
His novellas The Platinum Raven, The Host in the Attic, Apricot Eyes and Hallucination in Hong Kong are published as separate ebooks, and as a single paperback The Platinum Raven and other novellas.
raised in London, she had an unhealthy obsession with books from a young age and always dreamed of one day writing stories with the magic and power to take readers on a journey. After five years of working in advertising and marketing, she decided in September 2012 that it was finally time to take the leap. Backpack in hand, she left everything behind to travel around Southeast Asia and complete the first draft of her debut novel, Finding Arun. One successful crowdfunding campaign later, Finding Arun was self-published in paperback and as an ebook in 2013 to rave reviews. Marisha has been featured on BBC London 94.9FM, as well as in the Indian media, and on several popular blogs and podcasts. She hosts the fortnightly video and podcast series Escape Artists and has just released her second book Last Piece of Me, a prequel to Finding Arun. For more information about Marisha and her books, please visit marishapink.com
Rohan Quine
Rohan’s novel The Imagination Thief is published in paperback, and as an ebook that links to film and audio and photographic content in conjunction with the text.
His work is literary fiction with a touch of magical realism and a dusting of horror, celebrating the darkest and brightest possibilities of human imagination, personality and language. They aim to push imagination and language towards their extremes, to explore and illuminate the beauty, horror and mirth of this predicament called life, into which we seem to have been dropped without sufficient consultation. Rohan’s at @RohanQuine and www.rohanquine. com. Further tales are in the pipeline.
Lindsay Stanberry-Flynn
Lindsay Stanberry-Flynn is a novelist and short story writer. Her novel Unravelling, published in 2010, has won three awards, and her second novel The Piano Player’s Son was published by Cinnamon Press in 2013, after it won their novel writing award. Her short stories and flash fiction have also been successful in competitions and have appeared in various anthologies. Lindsay’s writing has been compared with writers such as Anne Tyler and Anita Shreve. She has an MA in creative writing from Bath Spa University and is a creative writing tutor. She founded the Worcestershire Literary Festival flash fiction competition and has been on its judging panel for the last three years. She is working on her third novel Phoenix. www.lindsaystanberryflynn.co.uk
13
Ellie Stevenson
Jane Turley Jane Turley lives in Bedfordshire. She is a wife, mother and very bad cook. She has written for the BBC and for the literary ezine The View From Here. Jane also writes the long-standing humour blog The Witty Ways of a Wayward Wife.
Ellie Stevenson has written two novels, Ship of Haunts: the other Titanic story and Shadows of the Lost Child, both partly historical with a dash of the supernatural and some ghosts. As well as exploring life on Titanic, Ship of Haunts examines the world of the child migrant. The book is set in 1912, 2012, and the harsh world of the Australian outback in the 1940s. Shadows of the Lost Child, her most recent work, explores poverty and loss in a fictional city—partly drawing on historic York—and shows us what happens when time zones intersect.
Her novel The Changing Room is the story of the chaotic life of Sandy Lovett, mother, carer and sex-chat expert. A comedy-drama for all those whose glass is half-full—preferably with gin and a big fat cherry! A Modern Life is a collection of thirteen contemporary stories for time-pressed readers. Murder, mayhem, slapstick and silliness—there’s something for everyone in these sweet and salty short stories. You can find her at www.janeturley.net, @turleytalks, www.facebook.com/ JaneTurleywriter
She has also written a short story collection, Watching Charlotte Brontë Die. Yet again the work features death, destruction, ghosts and mystery (with a touch of humour). Ellie’s interests include photography, wine and the paranormal—she finds the last two go well together. Her writing is fuelled by inspiration, determination and plenty of coffee.
Chamber Proof Editorial and Proofreading Services Proofreading and copy-editing services for novels, short stories, non-fiction, CVs, website text, articles, academic papers/essays/dissertations/PhDs, translations… in fact everything literary, from haikus to Tolstoy Work will be checked for spelling, typographic errors, grammar, layout, format, consistency and phrasing, with suggestions offered for word choice, clarity and expression “Triskele Books’ proofreader of choice” - JJ Marsh, the Triskele Trail Prices from £3.00/1000 words any enquiries/informal discussions welcome Contact Perry Iles at chamberproof@yahoo.co.uk 07565 912750
14
T risk ele BOOKS Triskele Books is an author collective. We’re a group of five writers from three countries who edit, proof, consult, advise, co-promote and market our books on a shared platform. Each of us works as an independent entity but we all benefit from mutual support. From time to time we also take on associates who fit the Triskele ethos. At the Chorleywood Lit Fest last year we ran the Fringe event The Rise of the Author Collective,where we launched three of our titles. We return this year with five new books as one of the sponsors of the Indie Author Fair. Read more about us at www.triskelebooks.co.uk Gillian Hamer
JJ Marsh
Liza Perrat
JD Smith
Catriona Troth
together with current associate members JW Hicks and Barbara Scott Emmett
2014 EDI TION
The Triskele Trail is the story of a writers’ collective whose members made some mistakes and some smart decisions; who discovered opportunities, found friends and dodged predators in the independent publishing jungle — not a how-to book, but a how-we-did-it book.
The
Triskele TrAil A Pathway to Independent Publ ishing
15
This autumn Triskele Books celebrates five new releases Crimson Shore by Gillian Hamer A half-naked woman dead in a ditch. A disappearing pathologist. A teenager run off the road. For a peaceful island, Anglesey is experiencing abnormal levels of crime. What’s the connection? Crimson Shore is the first novel in The Gold Detectives series set along the North Wales coast.
Rats by JW Hicks In one world she is Bitch Singer—fighting a dictator, guerrilla style. In another, she is Dorrie Hart, housewife and mother—carer to a speech-impaired child. Which world is real, which life is true? And why does she wake each morning crying for a lost lover—a lover she is determined to find?
16
Cold Pressed by JJ Marsh Santorini. Turquoise seas, ancient ruins and beautiful sunsets. And a woman thrown from a cliff. The violent death shocks fellow passengers of the Empress Louise, a grand cruise liner packed with British tourists. Murder is aboard. And someone has DI Beatrice Stubbs in his sights. From the Cyclades to the Dodecanese, Beatrice pursues a killer and unearths a secret. Revenge is a dish best served cold.
Delirium:The Rimbaud Delusion by Barbara Scott Emmett “How many times had I dreamt of coming across the yellowing manuscript of La Chasse Spirituelle? Inside an old book on a stall in Paris, perhaps. Or in the attic of some befriended ancient...” The intoxicating hunt for a lost poem by Rimbaud.
The Fate of an Emperor (Overlord II) by JD Smith My name is Zabdas: a brother, protector, soldier and sacrifice. I am a defender of Syria. I shall tell you the story of my beloved Zenobia: fearless woman, determined wife, Warrior Queen of Palmyra … Crushed between two warring empires, Zenobia and Zabdas are ordered on another mission, deep into enemy ranks, to deliver terms to the King of the Persians, and pray they will not be flayed alive. But all is not what is seems. More than one person is intent on betrayal ...
17
Children’s and Young Adult Local authors indicated with an *
Ghost
s
ts e r c e
S
Worlds
Wood
Story time sessions every hour:
s re
tu n e v d
A
2.30–3.15 Stories for 3-5 year olds from Louise Burness and Karen Inglis 3.15–4pm Stories for 6-8 year olds from Keith Chatfield and Karen Inglis
Aliens
4.15–5pm Mystery Stories for 9-12 year olds from Isabel Burt and Amanda Hatter
Admission free, just bring your imagination
ins
nta u o M
And hu n ways t dreds of o esca pe ...
18
Isabel Burt Isabel Burt spent her teenage years enjoying many adventures in Southern France, where she was deposited each summer to visit her father. Winters were spent incarcerated in a dire school that was nothing remotely like the fun ones she had read about. From this she developed a life-long love of the natural world, and escape! After a brush with Speech Therapy, Isabel escaped to Europe before returning to the midlands for the biggest adventure of all—a husband, three beautiful children, and a collection of naughty animals. Isabel tried to grow up, becoming a piano teacher and studying English Literature, a passion inherited from her mother. Isabel has been writing poetry from the age of six, but this is her first novel. She blogs at isabelburt.com.
way for them all to be happy. A modern twist on traditional Fairy Tale and Nursery rhyme favourites, with colourful illustrations that children will love. Parents can play along and try to spot the song. Something for all the family to enjoy. Under The Sun: A contemporary and culturally aware look at family life and dynamics such as disability, traditional dress and modern parenting types. Under the Sun is aimed at children aged two to six, with simple wording and bright retrostyle illustrations that young people will love.
Jill Chaney * Toxics: Fourteen year old Felicity Penfold is swept unwillingly into a mystical world where plants and beasts are equal, and all is heard. There she meets an Orion boy, Reuben, whom she must help in order to return home. His quest? To save his beloved Old World from the threat of the Toxics and their venomous leader, Arrass. With Reuben enticing her further into the folds of the Old World, his story becomes her story. But has she arrived in time?
Louise Burness (For Louise’s biography, see her listing in the Adult Fiction section) Rock Upon A Time: Steer clear of the woods today, there’s no Teddy Bears’ picnic going on! The Fairy Tale Town characters are arguing about what kind of music is best to play at their gig tonight. Luckily, help is at hand to sort out their differences and find a
Jill Chaney had an unconventional childhood and a ‘sparse’ education. She lived in Egypt, the West Indies and Canada, and trained as a gardener at the Waterperry Horticultural School before moving to Hertfordshire. In 1972 she and a friend opened the original Chorleywood Bookshop, and she wrote her first book while housebound with glandular fever. Fifteen more books for children and young adults followed. Just as Judy Blume pushed the boundaries of fiction for teenagers in the US, so Jill did in the UK. Now in her eighties,
19
Jill relishes the possibilities that a revolution in publishing has brought for her to reach a new audience. Her most recent published book The Story of the East Crowley Washerama is a tale of conflict between young vandals and a group of elderly war refugees.
Keith Chatfield * adventure for ages 9–12). Callum Fox’s summer holiday in Cornwall isn’t working out quite as he’d expected. However, his time in Mousehole starts to get a whole lot more interesting when he meets Jim, the ghost of a World War II evacuee.
Karen Inglis Keith’s writing career began in 1969 with Hatty Town, an animated series for Thames Children’s TV, closely followed by Issi Noho. In all, Keith wrote and narrated over 100 programmes for Thames. As well as Hatty Town and Issi Noho books, Keith has written an adventure novel Tregarrick and a fantasy novel Bird Mountain. Tregarrick (‘Ten to thirteens will relish the suspense of a neat plot. A well-paced punchy read.’ – the Guardian) Bird Mountain (‘An enthralling read for all 8 to 12 year olds.’ – The Times.) Keith’s other work includes three community musical plays and stories for the one time BBC Listen with Mother series.
Amanda Hatter * Callum Fox and the Mousehole Ghost is Amanda’s debut novel, though she has previously published a couple of short stories. Fay Weldon said of her writing: ‘Thoughtful, moving and simply written, seizes an idea and carries it through. It puts a shape upon ordinary human experience and makes it unordinary, which is what the best writing does.’ Callum Fox and the Mousehole Ghost (Action
Karen Inglis lives in Barnes, southwest London. By day she is a professional copywriter, but she far prefers making up stories for children! Karen started writing for children in 1993 soon after her two sons were born. Once she went back to work her stories remained in the ‘virtual drawer’ until 2011, when she pulled them out again and decided to get them into the wider world. She’s very glad that she did because at the last count over 7,000 children had enjoyed her books! Karen regularly takes her books into schools. You can find out more about Karen and her books at kareninglisauthor.com Karen’s books include: The Secret Lake – a time travel mystery for ages 8–11, Eeek! The Runaway Alien—a fast-paced read for ages 7–10 which was singled out by Julia Eccleshare on LoveReading4Kids as a great book for boys and reluctant readers, Henry Haynes and the Great Escape—a fun graphic novel for ages 6–8, Ferdinand Fox’s Big Sleep—a 32page rhyming picture book for ages 3–5.
20
Alliance of Independent Authors
ALLi
The Alliance of Independent Authors
The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) is a global non-profit professional association for author-publishers offering advice, support, education, contacts and community. ALLi also encourages ethics and excellence in self-publishing and author services. Membership of ALLi brings many benefits including easy access to expert advice on all aspects of self-publishing from leading practitioners, discounts on useful author services and the opportunity to be part of an upbeat, supportive and influential community. There are four categories of membership: Author Members are those who have self-published a book. Those who are full-time selfpublishers can join as a Professional Member (upon satisfying professional criteria). Creative writing or publishing students and those preparing a book for publication may join as Associate Members. Finally, author-service companies who meet ALLi’s Code of Standards can join as Partner Members. ALLi’s annual membership fee is kept as low as possible to make joining affordable and accessible to all. There is also an affiliate programme whereby members can earn a 30% financial return for bringing new members to the organisation.
Opening Up to Indie Authors London Book Fair 2014 saw ALLi launch their Open Up to Indie Authors campaign, calling upon book stores, libraries, literary events and reviewers to be more inclusive of authorpublishers, recognising that more writers are turning to self-publishing and doing it very well indeed, producing great books and gathering significant readerships. The guide also calls upon authors to view the bookshop from the other side of the till; see the literary festival from the frantic desk of the event manager; and perceive librarians as more than just the people who stamp your ticket. ALLi’s founder, Orna Ross, says, “Our campaign urges the book and literary industries to incorporate more self-published books into their programmes. We know there are challenges in doing this and our book and campaign aims to address them. ALLi is delighted to join forces with Chorleywood Festival and the Triskele collective at this exemplary event which serves to highlight the needs of selfpublishing authors.” You can sign ALLI’s Open Up To Indies petition at www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/open-upto-indie-authors And you can buy the guide, Opening Up To Indie Authors (or download it for free if you are a member) here: www. selfpublishingadvice.org/shop/
21
SELF-PUBLISHING? GET PROFESSIONAL! with SilverWood Books…
Expertly produced print and ebooks – designed, formatted and finished to the highest publishing industry standards. We can support and mentor you through editing, proofreading, book production and beyond. To discuss your project, email helen@silverwoodbooks.co.uk or call 0117 910 5829
www.silverwoodbooks.co.uk
22
Make Friends with your Independent Bookshop by Catriona Troth Bookstores around the world are facing extraordinary pressures. Here in the UK the end of the Net Book Agreement allowed them to be undercut by chains and supermarkets even before Amazon came on the scene. The move to ebooks is squeezing them even further, while in many places they are facing massive rises in rents and rates. After four years of net closures, this year the number of independent bookstores in the UK fell below a thousand for the first time [The Bookseller]. Those that remain have had to recognise that books are rarely their most profitable item. More and more of their selling space is perforce given over to cards, gifts and other knickknacks on which they can make a profit. Inevitably, this means less space for books. On the other hand, independent bookstores often put tremendous time and effort into author events and local literary festivals, promoting and supporting books and authors with genuine passion. Those books on display are those the staff really believe in—not just ones publishers pay them to promote. The support given to the Indie Author Fair by Chorleywood Bookshop is a perfect example of Opening Up To Indies, but it didn’t happen overnight.
Triskele Books’ relationship with Chorleywood Bookshop began almost three years ago, when Catriona Troth approached the owners, Sheryl Shurville and Morag Watkins, for an interview about indie bookshops. Over the next couple of years, Trisklele members bought books from them, attended and wrote about events they ran. A year ago, we approached them with an idea for a self-publishing event, The Rise of the Author Collective, at the Chorleywood Literary Festival. The success of that, together with the relationship we had built up over those three years, meant that they were happy to throw themselves behind the idea of allowing forty indie authors to bring their books to the Festival. So whether you are a reader or a writer, remember to make friends with your independent bookshop. Be a customer. If they organise events, attend them. Follow them on Twitter and like them on Facebook. Write about them on your blog or pitch an article about them to your local paper. Get to know them and let them get to know you. It will pay off. And it may just mean that, this time next year, you’ll still have a bookshop on your high street.
Chesham Writers and Scribblers are a small group of enthusiastic and aspiring new writers /authors who live in and around the Chesham area. As well as providing our stewards, their collection of scribblings, Metroland Miscellany, will be on sale at the Fair. For more information, see www.writersandscribblers.wordpress.com.
23
Proud to sponsor the Indie Author Fair
‘A book is a gift you can open again and again’ Your local independent bookshop for all books, gifts, and cards. 24 hour FREE ordering service for books not in stock. Chorleywood Bookshop runs the Chorleywood Literary Festival, The Chorleywood Children’s Literary Festival and author events throughout the year. Sign up to our email list on the website to hear all about them. 4 New Parade Chorleywood WD3 5NJ 01923 283566 www.chorleywoodbookshop.co.uk
24
PROGRAMME November 10th – 16th 2014
Charles Spencer
Monday 10th
7.30pm
Memorial Hall
Louise Doughty
Tuesday 11th
7.30pm
Russell School
Tracy Borman
Wednesday 12th 7.30pm
Russell School
Literary Lunch with Jodi Picoult
Thursday 13th
12.15 for 1pm
Sheila Hancock
Friday 14th
7.45pm
Literary walk
Saturday 15th
11am
Hilary Bradt
Saturday 15th
12 noon
Memorial Hall
Wendy Cope
Saturday 15th
3.00pm
Memorial Hall
James Heneage & Jason Goodwin
Saturday 15th
5.00pm
Memorial Hall
Henry Marsh
Saturday 15th
7.30pm
Memorial Hall
Irving Finkel
Sunday 16th
12 noon
Memorial Hall
Creative Writing
Sunday 16th
10am - 1pm British Legion Hall
FRINGE - Indie Author Fair
Sunday 16th
2pm - 5pm British Legion Hall
Professor Tanya Byron
Sunday 16th
2.30pm
Memorial Hall
Penny Junor
Sunday 16th
5.00pm
Memorial Hall
Chenies Manor Memorial Hall
Farringdon Station
For more details and to buy your tickets visit www.cwlitfest.org or phone the Chorleywood Bookshop on 01923 283566
Designed to meet the unique needs of independent publishers, IngramSpark is a smarter, more cost effective way to reach more readers. Publish: Upload files and start publishing your book and/or e-book within minutes Print: Beautiful bookstore-quality books printed right when you need them, shipped directly to you or your customers Distribute: Make your book or e-book available to our worldwide network of more than 39,000 booksellers, online retailers, and libraries
INGRAMSPARK CONNECTS YOU TO THE LARGEST DISTRIBUTOR OF PHYSICAL & DIGITAL CONTENT IN THE WORLD.
Follow IngramSpark: ingramspark.com