Gabriel's Angel Launch

Gabriel's Angel by Mark Radcliffe is published tomorrow, July the 24th and the Family Moose will be going on a road trip to Brighton where the launch will be held. Those lovely people at Amazon have already been selling it and there are two great reviews. It is also going onto Waterstone's core stock, which means every Wats in the country will have at least a couple of copies, a first for a Bluemoose title. We have been led to believe that there will be a review in The Sunday Times but I'll believe that once I see it in print. Then it's on the road. 6 Wats in Leeds, Bradford, Nottingham, Chichester, Brighton and Portsmouth. See local stores fpr press , as they say. Mark will be appearing on BBC Radio Leeds on Saturday 31st July at 9.45 talking about his book and on Monday 2nd August on BBC Radio Manchester in the afternoon at 4.15. He's doing readings at Hove Library, his hometown on Tuesday 27th July at 6pm , Hebden Bridge Library on Monday 2nd August at 8pm and Rochdale Library on Wednesday 4th August at 2pm. If you are anywhere near these venues, please do pop in and have a chat.
We are all very excited and proud to be publishing Gabriel's Angel. It's a great book. You must by a copy.

Moose on Radio 2

Last night was a first for Bluemoose Books and author Mark Radcliffe as his new book, GABRIEL'S ANGEL got a two minute slot on the Maconie and Radcliffe Show on BBC Radio 2, Monday 14th June 2010. For an indie publisher and first time author to get any coverage on a radio is great, but to break through onto the national radio airwaves means we're getting the message that we're publishing great books that engage and inspire the reader to a bigger audience. Stuff like this happens all the time for the supposed big metropolitan publishing houses, but for indies like Bluemoose its a brilliant platform. And we thank those who had enough vision to see what a great book it is.
Mark will be appearing on more radio after the publication of GABRIEL'S ANGEL on July 24th 2010. Will update you as and when.

MOOSE WAVES

Mark Radcliffe, author of GABRIEL'S ANGEL will be live on air this afternoon on the Sarah Gorell show, at 2.10pm BBC Radio Sussex. Mark will be talking about his new novel which is published on 24th July 2010. Mark lives in Hove and will be doing a National book tour when the book is published. He will be signing and reading from GABRIEL'S ANGEL at the following Waterstones.
Saturday 31st July LEEDS
Tuesday 3rd August BRADFORD
Thursday 5th August NOTTINGHAM
Saturday 14th August CHICHESTER
Saturday 21st August BRIGHTON
Saturday 28th August PORTSMOUTH

The award winning author Christopher Brookmyre has said some wonderful things about Mark's book.

'I thoroughly enjoyed reading Gabriel's Angel. I thought it was seductively melancholy without being miserable, its philosophical deceit leavened with a delicately measured humour and its characters - both in this world and the next - as engagingly flawed as they were tenderly wrought.'

Here's the quote for the jacket.

' You might think you'd rather die than go through therapy, but what if death was no escape? Gabriel's Angel is the perfect antidote to the glib platitudes of emotional quick-fix culture: tender, astute and very funny.' Christopher Brookmyre


Enough said. Until tomorrow.

The Moose is back

The Moose is back. Will report later on what has been happening at Moose Towers. Very exciting times at Bluemoose Books.

Alan Silitoe

Alan Silitoe died yesterday. The loneliness of the long distance runner is, in my opinion, one of the best short stories ever written. If you have never read it, go out and buy it today. He was one of our greatest writers and the Amis's and Rushdies, who today are lauded as literary giants will not be read in 100 years time. Silitoe will.

Christopher Brookmyre

FALLING THROUGH CLOUDS has finally got an entry in the 'London,' Press...The Observer has mentioned Anna's book as a regional bestseller, which is great news.....I was on BBC Radio Leeds yesterday reviewing the national news with Lisa Holdsworth who is a writer for TV.
We have just had a great review from Christopher Brookmyre for GABRIEL'S ANGEL 9780955336782 by Mark A Radcliffe. Holt Jackson's, one of the country's biggest Library Suppliers, is making GABRIEL'S ANGELS their Book Of The Month for July, which is fantastic news.

"You might think you'd rather die than go through group therapy, but what if death was no escape? Gabriel's Angel is the perfect antidote to the glib platitudes of emotional quick-fix culture: tender, astute and very funny." - Christopher Brookmyre

It's The London Bookfair this week, and our foreign rights team will be there to sell our titles. Fingers crossed that the Icelandic Cloud of Ash hasn't kept away the people with the chequebooks.

Moose on the airwaves

The Moose will be airing his views in BBC Radio Leeds this Friday at 10.40am. The subject is ghostwriting and celebrity authors....Should be fun. Random House last week wrote off £2Million, rumour has it that it was allied to the flop of The Peter Kay book, Saturday Night Peter. Tim Hely-Hutchinson, CEO of Hachettte, the largest publisher in the UK has said that non fiction celebrity titles will be cut by 25%....The Sleb gravy train is over....for now..until the next time.
It is The London Book fair next week and our foireign rights team will be selling the list, amongst them FALLING THROUGH CLOUDS. We've already sold the rights to a Russian Publisher and we have, apparently interest from another eight Europena publishers. Exciting times.
We've also had a fantastic review from Christopher Brookmyre, who read the Ms of GABRIEL'S ANGEL over his Easter holidays, and many thanks to him for his time and generosity. This is what he said.

" I thought it was seductively melancholy without being miserable, its philosophical conceit leavened with a delicately measured humour and its characters - both in this world and the next - as engagingly flawed as they were tenderly wrought. "

And then he gave us this top two line nugget.

" You might think you'd rather die than go through therapy, but what if death was no escape? Gabriel'sAngel is the perfect antidote to the glib platitudes of emotional quick-fix culture: tender, astute and very funny" Christopher Brookmyre.

I love that man.

Falling through clouds hits the Metropolis

The Moose has stormed through the ramparts, and is working its way to the heart of London....ish. We are finally getting a mention in this Sundays' Observer Newspaper. In their New Review section, they contact bookshops around the country to find out what the nation is reading. This morning they phoned The Bookcase in Hebden Bridge and asked Felicity what their bestselling book of the week was, and yes, it is a Bluemoose title, FALLING THROUGH CLOUDS by Anna Chilvers. Great stories that are beautifully written do sell. I think people are sick and tired of reading books about writers writing about writing and how they overcome writer's block. Dull, dull, dull, dull, dull.

Off to buy a giant Easter egg.

From Russia with love.

There has been a spate of emails and Press Releases relating to our deal with a Russian Publisher, most of them had a Bond or Beatles theme, yes , you guessed it, From Russia With Love, Back to the USSR and others. All good news of course.
We are now four months away from the launch of the next Bluemoose title, GABRIEL'S ANGEL by Mark A Radcliffe. The jacket has been finalised, the Advanced Information sheet prepared and now its time to get out and sell what is a great story to the libraries and booksellers. It now has an official ISBN, so you can type it into your tinternet 9780955336782 and there it will be. A jacket image will be arriving within the next week or two, but I would prefer it f you bought it from a terrestrial bookseller or our own website. More money to publish more new books.
I am applying for the position of Professor of Happiness. Its a proper job and you don't have to tell any jokes. Smiles all round.

Moose and Bears

A Russian Publisher has bought the rights to FALLING THROUGH CLOUDS by Anna Chilvers. they will publish within the next 18 months. This is great news for Anna and for Bluemoose. I hope this is the first of many foreign rights sales, but this puts Bluemoose on the international publishing map, and for Anna an opportunity to sell her great story to as many people as possible. As Buzz Lightyear said, 'To the world and beyond.'

To London and don't spare the Sherpas

Off to Londinium to see the Queen. Whoever is running the trains on the East Coast these days is having a laugh. It would be cheaper, though less fruitful in the afterlife, to hire a Nepalese Sherpa to carry me down to the Metropolis on a Palanquin. And I have to get up before the earliest bird even considers donning a napkin to breakfast on worms. That said, I will try and pop into some bookshops and see what they're pretending to read darn sarf. Toodlepip.

Books Etc

The new Books Etc website has been polished and tweaked and is now up and running. www.Booksetc.co.uk FALLING THROUGH CLOUDS by Anna Chilvers is one of the promotional books of the month. We have just had the second improved image for GABRIEL'S ANGEL from our designers in Canada, the font needs adjusting and a few amendments here and there but it looks good, very good. I emailed Christopher Brookmyre a few weeks back to see if, in his busy schedule, he would read Mark's novel and hopefully give us a quote. Well, the good man that he is, despite being in the middle of writing his next novel, has said he will do that over the Easter break. I'm sure he'll like it as it's a fantastic story, beautifully written. Mark has such great insight into the minds of his characters, you feel as if you're part of the action. Brilliant. He could give a few Prize winning novelsists a run for their prose, in fact he'd beat them hands down. Off to sunny Manchester to see what the booksellers are up to. Then tomorrow its off to the metropolis to see what the linen suits are up to.

Great Stories

Apologies for being away over the past two weeks. I have been travelling the four corners of this green and pleasant land and although I know there is the technology to blog from wherever, I don't. I have to be in front of my PC at home. A luddite I know. The Moose goes from strength to strength. Since I last ranted, together with Anna Chilvers and Stephen Clayton we spoke at The Huddersfield Literature Festival, Sheffield Central Library, which was well attended and the audience threw some great questions at our authors. I also attended a prison to read from my book and answer questions, and it was very interesting if a little unnerving.
Our next publication GABRIEL'S ANGEL by Mark A Radcliffe will be out on July 24th 2010. The first draft has returned form the typesetters and looks like a proper book. We have received the jacket image from our designers in Canada, and it looks fantastic, very excited to have an image that really does grab the readers eye and reflect what the book is about. Thinking of a strapline for this book and have come up with, WHY HAS GOD REBRANDED SIN? Before you die you have to undergo psychotherapy just beneath heaven led by two angels. It is one of the funniest books I have written in ages. Made me laugh and cry in all the right places and Mark is such a gifted writer.
He teaches nursing at Brighton University and writes for The Nursing Times.

In the bookselling world it was great to read that Foyles are selling books at full price, haven't rid the shopfloor of knowledgeable booksellers and have increased their stock range and guess what? This has increased sales substantially . Rocket science I know. The chair of The Orange Prize had a dig at publishers about what they seem to be presenting to the reader. Books that start bleakley and then get progressively darker. She wanted 'stories.' Well, get yourself a Bluemoose Book. Stories that engage and inspire the reader.

Homecoming

Anna Chilvers gave a reading last night at Hebden Bridge library. It is always daunting to read in your home town, you never know whether the assembled throng are there to applaud or assault. It was the former and they asked some great questions. I ranted on a bit about the high street bookshop monopoly and how the 'Lit Eds' from the broadsheets never seem to want to review new writers from independent publishers. To the internet and beyond.
Anna will be reading at Sheffield central library on Wednesday evening at 6pm, at The Huddersfield Literature Festival with Stephen Clayton on Thrusday at 4pm, they are the warm up act for Alexie Sayle, but I think it's a printing error and should be the other way round. We are now proofing GABRIEL'S ANGEL by Mark Radcliffe and it gladdens the heart to realise you're publishing a really great story. It is making me laugh out loud, always a good sign and for all the right reasons.

Moose on tour

Back from Scotland and Glasgow is just not the same without the great Borders bookstore that was there. Anna Chilvers, author of Falling through clouds will be speaking at Hebden Bridge library on Friday 5th March at 7.30pm....What do they say about 'prophets not being welcome in their own towns,' well I'm sure it won't happen to Anna. Book sales continue to be very strong and now we will have to do a reprint. Anna and Stephen Clayton, author of The art of being dead, will boith be at the Peacock lounge on Thursday 11th March at 4pm as part of The Huddersfield Literature Festival. All are welcome. On Wednesday 10th March at Sheffield Central Library, Anna will be talking about her book between 6-7.30pm. Thursday 13th May at 12-1pm Anna will be at The Lincoln Literary Festival and then a week later she will be one of four authors, including Gervaise Phinn as part of the Stockport readers day at Stockport College. The day starts at 9am and goes right through to 1pm.
I am at Wakefield Prison on Monday 15th March reading and talking to their reading and writing groups.
The first typsetted proof of GABRIEL'S ANGEL has returned from Carnegie, so we're all busy going through it with a fine toothcomb. We should have jacket images of the book by Monday 15th march from the designers in Canada, and we've also got a very famous writer who has said he will read Mark's book GA and hopefully review it. Fingers crossed, but as it is such a great read, I'm sure he'll find it a great read.

BOOK OF THE MONTH

FALLING THROUGH CLOUDS is the 'Must read book of the month,' on the New Books etc website which is launched on Monday.You can go to www.Booksetc.co.uk.

One of the problems of having a book on the internet, is driving your potential readers through the zillions of titles that are on there. However, as Anna's book is in one of the major promotions, MUST READ BOOK OF THE MONTH, the discerning browser will come across her book, the great jacket and superb recommendation from award winning author Lesley Glaister, and then, purchase said title. Hopefully. Yesterday afternoon I met the 23 Reader Development Officers from the North West of England at The Hornby library, in Liverpool Central Library. It was an opportunity to tell them what we're trying to do here at Bluemoose, publish great writing that engages and inspires the reader.
As you may have read here in the not too distant, I have a problem with Martin Amis and the acres of print the supposed literati in the Metropolis give him. Well, in the letters pages of The Grauniad today is a riposte from Anna Ford. Music to my ears. She has a right go at his persistent whingeing at the press and tasks him to take at look at himself. Apparently he lacks 'empathy,' 'is a narcissist,' and is altogether a numpty of mammoth proportions. Ha ha, ha. And these days he can't write either. Marty, me old chuffer, get thee to Uruguay, spend your wifes millions and don't write another thing. Please.

GABRIEL'S ANGEL

The final edit has been donme to the next Bluemoose title, GABRIEL'S ANGEL by Mark A Radcliffe....We haven't gone all American on you by adding an intial between his first and second name, but there's a certain Radio 2 DJ with the same name. The book will now go off to be typesetted and then returned looking like a real book. We will then get it back and have a further chance to re-read it, check it for typos , send it off again and then have one last chance to proof it before it goes to the printers. Our designers in Canada, now have the brief and we look forward to getting some images back in the next two weeks. It will be published on July 24th 2010 and is an absolutely stunning book. Great story, beautifully written by an writer who has the capacity to make you laugh and cry in equal measure and for all the right reasons.
Gabriel's Angel is a comic love story set just beneath heaven.

Gabriel Bell was a web journalist with a low sperm count. He was 44, grumpy, sarcastic and irritated by the accumulating disappointments in life. Described by his girlfriend Ellie as ' a man who used to clap like a bloody seal when he saw a beautiful sunrise,' Now the only thing that would make him clap more is more sperm. He keeps checking but to no avail, so IVF it is. So it was bad enough when he lost his job but getting run over and waking up to find himself in a therapy group run by Angels just below heaven, really pisses him off.

It's unique and I know that every reader with a soul will be touched by this book. Grand statement, but a one of the best books I've read in the past ten years. I liked it so much I sold my life insurance!

Falling through clouds

Moose Mania abounds....Well, a bit. Anna Chilvers, author of Falling through clouds did a reading at Blackburn Central library on Wednesday evening. It was well attended and we managed to get the Moose message across. Great books that engage and inspire the reader. We have a few weeks off before we start on the road again. Sales are great, reprinting soon. Anna's book has been chosen as The Must Read Book of the month for the new BOOKS ETC Website which will be up and running next week......You can go to www.Booksetc.co.uk and there you'll see the book in all its glory....Week three of all the newspapers going overboard about our man with new teeth, Mr Amis......Madness......I'm now in therapy.....
I am doing two visits to Wakefield Prison in March to talk about my book ANTHILLS AND STARS and then I'm to be interviewed for the prison magazine...Then it is back on the world tour for Falling through clouds....And I haven't even told you about the new addition to Moose Towrs...Eric, the labrador puppy.....

The GOOGLE Con

The boys at GOOGLE are at it again. It's all to do with them wanting to get their hands on every book that has ever been written, and the new ones too. And then they put them online for everyone to download for free. The call it free advertising. I call intellectual land grab. The intellectual copyright belongs to the person who created the work. Period. The wholesale acquisition of books has nothing to do with the promotion of literature and everything to do with the Googlemoths attempt to control the tinterweb. Pay per click makes Google billions of dollars per year. They market themselves as some kind of philanthropic virtual free public library. Far from it. They want control. They want creative control too. The Google boys may wander round in T's and Sneakers, but underneath they are chasing the dollar like any other Wall Street Banker. And we know what bankers are.

The linen suit brigade

Anna Chilvers, author of Falling through clouds, has been invited to The Lincoln Literary Festival in May. Thursday 13th of May has been pencilled in. I may have to buy a linen suit and wander round with a Moleskin and pen waiting for the muse to descend. It will not happen, the muse may descend but I will never, ever buy a linen suit. I was told a great anecdote about two of our 'favourite' authors, lets call them Jules and Seb, who used to be the best of friends but 'allegedly' fell out because one thought he spoke better 'French,' than the other. You couldn't make up stuff like that, could you?

Provincial, but better than most

Anna and myself were at the first event to publicize The Huddersfield Literature Festival on Wednesday night. Anna read from her novel, FALLING THROUGH CLOUDS and I ranted on about the plight of the independent publisher. Great night had by all and cheaper than therapy, for me that is. I have just sent off Anna's book to all the Lit Eds in London , again. The first hurdle we have to get over is the one labelled 'PROVINCIAL'. Yes, I know it sounds like the opening line from a Jane Austen novel, but one of the worst things you can be called in publishing is 'Provincial.' So, what we are doing at Bluemoose is publishing top stories, beautifully written that engage and inspire the reader. None of this, 'Writers writing about writing,' styley stuff. Dull, dull, dull. The British public don't buy it. Mr Amis's book will sell, but it won't sell enough to earn the massive advance he was given and all the other poor old sods who have books out at the same Publishing House will suffer at the hands of the marketing department who will be going full out to make Marty's book a bestseller. It won't be. But you can bet in another ten years ,if the orthodontally challenged writer of restricted growth publishes another book, the fawning will commence.
Invest in new writers. It's the future don't you know.

AMAGOOGLE

Amazon have capitulated over the pricing of Macmillan ebook titles. They will accept Macmillan's pricing structure of their ebooks. We must never forget that any company wishing to sell a book, in whatever fashion, must always ask permission from the intellectual copyright holder, or those holding the rights, before they unilaterally sell 'the work.' The work belongs to the creator, the author. It does not belong to any company. Google and Amazon are massive organisations, but they create nothing. They are delivery systems. The artists should always be in charge of their own work. If it ever changes, we're in trouble. But don't think that this will be the end of it. Amazon used the word 'monopoly' in their statement. And American courts don't like that word. But if the creator of a book can't have a monopoly over what they have produced, who Can?

Authornazia

I am retiring underground for a couple of weeks. I cannot stand it anymore. Kingsley Junior, our man with the new dentures and largest forehead in literature, is everywhere. He has a new book out and the lit eds are laying down their garlands of approval with hectares of Martinprint. He wrote a good book once but that was 26 years ago. Please take all writing implements away from him. Now. Put him out of his misery. Authornazia is the only decent way to end the interminable agony of waiting for Martin's Mojo to return.

Moose Miles

The last 36 hours have been truly hectic. On Wednesday evening both Anna and I were at Blackwells Sheffield Hallam, where she was signing books and talking about her novel. Lesley Glaister, the award winning author was there and was effucive in her praise. The next day, Anna was appearing on the morning show on BBC Radio Coventry/warwickshire at 10am. Due to a no show, I achieved a lifetime's ambition. I was asked to choose a favourite record, a first song that inspired me. Well, it was Tears of a clown by Smokey Robinson. I was 6. In my opinion the percet three minute pop song. Soul at its best. But the real point was for Anna to do her interview about her book, her signings at Waterstones in Nuneaton on Saturday 30th Jan at 12.30 and then at Nuneaton library at 2.30. We left Coventry and flew up the M1 to do an event at Brighouse library at 2pm. Many miles, lots of chatter and lots of people buying books. We will altready have to do a reprint after only 3 weeks after publication. FAlling through clouds is exceeding all expectations.

Son Of Kingsley

They were at it again yesterday, the lit eds that is. Mr Amis, the dimuntive author with the expensive teeth and very, very rich wife, has a new book out. Let the fawning begin. The Grauniad are holding an event where the son of Kingsley will hold forth and talk about his book Times Arrow. He has a new book out and yet is talking about his old books. Why is this newsworthy? Why are our supposed critical literary press giving page after page to an elderly writer who hasn't had anything interesting to say for a decade and a half? Surely there are new writers who are talented enough to warrant an interview. His dad was famous, he slept with some women, he smokes a lot and had a fall out with his agent to get a bigger advance and had his teeth done. Anyone who makes up the word 'edificide,' about the murder of a building concerning September 11th needs leaving in a darkened corner with something damp to mop his ever increasingly wrinkled brow.

School of hard sentences

Off to the Leeds this morning where Anna Chilvers will be signing copies of her novel, FALLING THROUGH CLOUDS at 1pm in Waterstones. The great reviews and ringing endorsements keep flooding in for this 'erotically charged literary thriller.' Anna's book has just been chosen as the Exclusively Independent book of the month for March. EI promotes new writers throughout indie bookshops and libraries in the UK. Next week, Anna will be at Blackwells, Sheffield Hallam on Wednesday at 6.15pm and Waterstones Nuneaton on Saturday the 30th.
I met Mark Hodkinson yesterday, he is the owner and publisher at Pomona and they used to be based in Hebden Bridge. He's publishing some great new stories from Barry Hines and Alan Sillitoe. When the scribes from the Metropolis whinge on about Amis and Barnes and Rushdie, let us not forget they can't hold a candle to these two writers who transformed literature in this country. The three Amigos will be forgotten because they come from the school that doesn't tell stories, merely the corduroy and linen suited litfest school of hard sentences.

World Tour Update

There was a fantastic turnout yesterday at Littleborough library, where Anna Chilvers talked about her debut novel, FALLING THROUGH CLOUDS. She told the story of Gawain and the Green Knight, and then read a passage from her book. Anna received some great comments about her book and there were some incisive questions about independent publishing and bookselling. There was more good news last night when I found out that Anna's book had been selected to be Book Of The Month for Exclusively independent, an organisation which promotes new writers throughout independent bookshops and libraries in the UK. The word is beginning to spread. Anna will be signing books at Leeds Waterstones on Saturday from 1pm onwards. Next week she will be back in her hometown of Nuneaton pressing the flesh, doing radio interviews and signing books at Waterstone's on the 30th.

Hubbologists

The book signing at Waterstones Bradford on Saturday has been rearranged for the beginning of February. I will let you know the date later on this week. There may have been a change at the top of Wats, but the old problems are still there. The book was ordered and arrived digitally. It arrived in a 'tote' and on the Wats Bradford computer system the book was in the store. However, when said tote was opened the cupboard was bare. The system didn't work. Every digital bell and whistle said the book had arrived. But because they have no goods in staff anymore, they were all made redundant, goods in has to rely totally on what the computer says and the computer lied. The Hub didn't work and there were red faces all round. But all is not lost. FALLING THROUGH CLOUDS will become the best selling new title at Wats Bradford this year. I have been promised and that was from a human being. You know the ones, they breathe and speak. IT Directors take note. Totes and systems are not working.

Waterstone's Bradford

There was a fantastic review of FALLING THROUGH CLOUDS yesterday in The Yorkshire Post. www.yorkshirepost.co.uk and today Anna and myself travel to Waterstones in Bradford to do her first book signing. Very excited. I have done many signings with the great and the good. Film royalty, Joan Collins, now she did have a rider and the Duchess of York, she just had motorbike outriders and they can be hit and miss affairs. What is most important is that it is an opportunity to get the bookshop and the local press right behind an author and the book. Despite all the recent bad press about Wats, they have always got behind Bluemoose titles and I thank them for that. Ian Oldfield at Bradford has given Anna's book a tremendous review. He says it is an' erotically charged literary thriller.' That will do me, thank you very much Off to iron the Bluemoose shirt for the residents of Bradford. It's expected don't you know.

Holistic Knee Capping

The Moose and Anna Chilvers, who will be reading and taking questions about her book, FALLING THROUGH CLOUDS, are at The Saltaire Bookshop tonight at 6.15. Chains have been placed on the moosemobile tyres, a thermos filled with wholesome soup and of course the obligatory spade. All tools which are essential for the up and coming author these days. There is a two page interview in The Yorkshire Post tomorrow and Anna appears at her first Waterstone's on Saturday 16th in Bradford at 1pm. Sales have been fantastic so far and the reviews have been very good indeed. Of course there will be one that isn't but we will consign that to the bin and the author of such uninformed drivel will be subjected to some Holistic Knee capping. I am a master in that dark art, so be warned.

Book of the month

The Moose has the blogging rights at www.incwriters.com for the month of January as a part of their Save Our Presses campaign. Two of our authors, Stephen Clayton and Anna Chilvers have already given us their words of wisdom and I have ranted on apace about the shennanigans and practices in the bookselling high street. Publishers 'buy' space for their books. This is achieved with bigger discounts and one off payments. Nothing illegal in that, but when a store publices their book of the month , I think the public should know that a large sum of money has passed between publisher and bookseller for that book to have a prominent position within the store. It is a financial decision not a literary one.

Wholesale Mugging

Getting the book to market is one of the hardest things to do for an independent. There is no point in publishing a book if your readers don't see it on the shelves. This is where the wholesalers come in. They do a great job in distributing titles to every indie bookshop in the country. However, this comes at some significant cost. Discount. A lot. Now, one of them has decided not to stock our titles unless we give them an extra 5% discount. On a £7.99 pbk, that's an extra 20pence off the bottom line. No discussions. Give it us, or we don't stock it and we will only order it on special order. The noose gets tighter and tighter. I could always kill them. Rather radical. Perhaps holistic knee capping will suffice. I may even try and talk to them, but these days speaking to anybody in a big organisation is proving more and more difficult. Our website is the answer. www.Bluemoosebooks.com Go directly there and do not stop at Amazon. If you do, your soul will blacken and my children will starve.

Moose Tour Starts tomorrow

Great launch party last night for Anna Chilver's debut novel, FALLING THROUGH CLOUDS. Despite a few cancellations from people heading from the metropolis and other such snow bound places, the Trades Club was full and everyone was well watered and fed. Great buzz and excitement. Fellow Bluemoose authors were in attendance, Stephen Clayton and soon to be published writer Michael Stewart. Many books were sold and signed by Anna and now the world tour starts off in Halifax on Tuesday and all points North, South, East and West. I will place the link to the Yorkshire Post Podcast next Saturday of Anna reading from her novel,
The Moosemobile is MOT'd today for it's long and arduous adventures. To the Moose Cave and away!

Five, Four, Three, Two, One...It's PUBLISHED

Anna Chilvers' debut novel 'Falling through clouds,' is published today and the reading public are in for a fine old treat. Award winning author Lesley Glaister loves it, and Waterstones are promoting it as an' erotically charged literary thriller.' Even the weather can't dampen our spirits. Once the tsunami of reviews reaches those blinkered old lit eds in London, perhaps they will be able to see a little farther than their Amis's and review a great book by a very gifted writer. Toodlepip, off to make some vol-au-vents!

The Moose and beyond

Yesterday Anna Chilvers was interviewed by Nick Ahad, Literary Editor from the Yorkshire Post. It will appear in The Culture Section of the newspaper on Saturday 16th January. Anna also appeared in The Halifax Courier and Hebden Bridge Times talking about her debut novel FALLING THROUGH CLOUDS. Today she will be appearing on The BBC RADIO Leeds Janothan I'Anson programme at 10.15am , again talking about her novel. It's all about building momentum, to get the word out about what a great read it is. Word of mouth is everything, and so far we have had nothing but excellent reviews.
The launch of the book is tomorrow. There is nothing The Moose can do about the weather, so we just hope that everyone who said they are coming, do, and enjoy what will be a wonderful event.

Moose News

The Moose has contacted the Metereological Authorities and the weather for Saturday the 9th January will be fine and all roads to the launch of FALLING THROUGH CLOUDS by Anna Chilvers at The Trades Club in Hebden Bridge, will be open. Tomorrow, Anna is being interviewed by Nick Ahad, the literary editor of The Yorkshire Post. There will be a two page interview and podcast. Anna is also appearing in The Halifax Courier in The THursday issue and she is taking part in a half marathon at the end of February. The Moose model is to start local, build the momentum, and the wave of enthusiasm will finally get to those who shoul knnow better a few months down the line, but then isn't that how it ever was?

That was the week that was

It's book launch week....Falling through clouds is launched at The Trades Club in Hebden Bridge on Saturday 9th....Anna Chilvers will be doing an interview with The Yorkshire Post today, plus a Podcast where she will be reading from her book. This will be downloadable from their website. www.yorkshirepost.co.uk All the media interviews will be scaled out at the end of the week for maximum exposure.
Bluemoose is also blogging on the Incwriters, Save Our Presses site. Our first blog will be by Stephen Clayton, author of The Art of Being dead. It is witty and erudite, as you would expect. I will be having my say midweek and then Anna Chilvers, Michale Stewart and Mark Radcliffe will be talking about their writing and being published by an Independent Publisher. It's all about getting the word out about what we're trying to do at Bluemoose. Publishing beautiful stories that are wonderfully written. To promote and publish new writing that engages and inspires the reader.

In with the new.

The review pages have been full of,' the best books of the decade,' 'books of 2009,' and what we can expect from the next year. One name was worryingly high on the list for 2010 and already the lit eds are foaming at the mouth. Mr. Amis has his next 'oeuvre' out and the fawning will begin. Martin will create several new words, talk about etymylogical half siblings, go on and on about his teeth, tennis and his father. There, that's his autobiography sorted. Teeth, tennis and father. Heaven forefend. What we should be talking about is all the great new writers, producing magnificent new work, like Anna Chilvers, Mark Radcliffe and Michael Stewart. Out with the old and in with the new, especially when the old have nothing new to say.

World Tour and Book signings

World Tour for Falling through clouds by Anna Chilvers: January 2010

Saturday 9th January 2010 - Launch at The Trades Club Hebden Bridge @ 5.30pm

Tuesday 12th January - Halifax Central Library @7pm

Thursday 14th January - Saltaire Books, Saltaire @6pm

Saturday 16th January - Waterstones Bradford @1pm

Wednesday 20th January - Littleborough Library @2pm

Saturday 21st January - Waterstones Leeds @1pm

Wednesday 27th January - Blacwells Sheffield Hallam University @6.15pm

Thursday 28th January - Brighouse Library @2pm

Saturday 30th January - Waterstones Nuneaton @ 12.30pm

Saturday 30th January - Nuneaton Library @2.30pm


That's all folks.

Year of The Moose

Greetings and felicitations....The Moose has been somewhat indisposed, I will point the finger at computer viruses and cyber hackery....but I'm back in 2010 and we have a very busy start with the launch of FALLING THROUGH CLOUDS at The Trades Club in Hebden Bridge next Saturday 9th January and then the Moose World Tour starts again, taking in several Waterstones for book signings, including Leeds, Bradford and Nuneaton, where Anna Chilvers heralds from. From then on it's libraries and Lit festivals all the way. There will be newspaper coverage coming up in The Yorkshire Post next week along with the local press. Pre pub sales have been fantastic so far and it all bodes well....I have sent review copies to Londinium but don't hold out too much, but to be honest it's such a great read that word of mouth will make it a success....and then we move on to our next publication, GABRIEL'S ANGEL by Mark Radcliffe, another Bluemoose treat. One of our authors, Stephen Clayton has a special birthday on Sunday 3rd January and I wish him well.
So here we go, the year that the Moose goes global....Hahahaha, what fun we'll have. Get to the bookshops and invest in a Bluemoose title, you'll not be disappointed. There, that's the sales plug.
www.Bluemoosebooks.com

Toodlepip readers.