4 minute read
getting creative at little door books
Getting creative at
As small indie publishers struggle to stay in business during this diffi cult time, one Argyll publisher is putting its creative skills to good use in a bid to keep its authors and books in the public eye.
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Having started 2020 like so many other publishers, with excitement and anticipation, Little Door Books had to face the challenge of bookshops closing their doors and book sales dropping due to the outbreak of Covid-19.
LDB director and author, Alan Windram picks up the story: ‘This was going to be a big year for us book wise. We were publishing two sequels to successful picture books. One was the second title in the Billy Hippo series, written by award-winning author Vivian French, and the other was the sequel to my own award-winning robot picture book, One Button Benny.
‘We also had another three picture books planned for release this year, two of which were by exciting début authors, Esther Kent and Corrina Campbell, with the third by amazing Scottish illustrator Eilidh Muldoon, who some of you might know as the creator of so many fabulous Scottish colouring books.
‘We had just launched our fi rst title How Billy Hippo Learned His Colours by Vivian French and Hannah Foley, when the lockdown struck.
‘We were very lucky to have been able to launch the book and get some sales before everything stopped.
‘We then went into overThis was going to be a big year for us book wise. We were publishing two sequels to successful picture books.
drive and started to think of creative ways to continue to keep our books in the public eye. We contacted all our authors and illustrators who very kindly recorded videos of themselves reading their picture books and we set up our very own YouTube channel.
‘It has been great to see how families, schools and libraries have been using the videos and also lots of activity sheets and colouring sheets that we have made available as free content on our website.
‘We were very fortunate to have been awarded some Creative Scotland funding last year and that has helped to cover the shortfall that has resulted from all my school, library and book festival events being cancelled, the fees for which, along with our slowly growing book sales, allow us to publish more books by a variety of fantastic authors.’
In April, Little Door Books published the beautiful book Molly’s Circus, by newcomer Esther Kent. It is a wonderful picture book about a child imagining a circus in her garden – very apt for the lockdown life at the moment. Author Esther has been very busy on social media and has taken part in many online Instagram, Facebook and Twitter sessions, readings and activities. She has two videos on Little Door Books’ YouTube channel – one a book reading and the other is a fascinating insight into how she created the book. Well worth a look.
Little Door Books was scheduled to release two new books in May and June, Alan’s new sequel, One Button Benny and the Gigantic Catastrophe, and Eilidh Muldoon’s Snooze. Both have been postponed until August and will be available online and in bookshops once they reopen.
Alan added: ‘Instead of visiting schools, libraries and book festivals all over Scotland and Northern England, I am busy making videos of me dancing around dressed up as Old MacDonald (the main character in one of my books) – much to the amusement of my neighbours – baking lots of cakes and trying to provide online resources for all the youngsters and parents stuck at home.
‘So if you are looking for something to keep your little ones busy and interested you could always visit our website, download some free audiobooks and activity sheets, and subscribe to our Little Door Books YouTube channel to watch some great authors reading their stories and music videos.
‘And we would be delighted if you were able to support authors, illustrators and indie publishers at this time by buying one – or five! – of our fabulous picture books.
You can visit our website at: www.littledoorbooks.co.uk Follow us on Twitter: @ littledoorbooks Search for Little Door Books on YouTube
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