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.