Coming Soon - A Modern Family

One of the great things about publishing books is finding great new talent and in Socrates Adams, I’m convinced we’ve found it. We are publishing A MODERN FAMILY by Socrates in July. His novel looks at how a celebrity TV pundit from a number one ranking show about cars, speed and swarfega, deals with fame and how he lives his life according to the rules of celebrity, or what he deems those rule are whilst his family disintegrates around him. It is very funny, acerbic, poignant and illustrative of what is happening in our celebrity fuelled society. Socrates has also written, along with fellow authors, Joe Stretch and Chris Killen, a film called WIZARD’S WAY, which has just won The LOCO’s, THE LONDON COMEDY AWARD, for best new film. Socrates also stars in it too. They had the premier at the end of January at The BFI in London. It goes on general release in APRIL.

And so, back to A MODERN FAMILY. A very important aspect of publishing any book is getting the jacket cover spot on. The jacket has to ask a dramatic question and convey to the reader what the book is about. THE BOOKSELLER’S ASSOCIATION did a survey a few years back which stated that a book cover has a fifth of a second, 0.2 of a second, to catch the eye of the casual book browser. So, it has to do its job in such a short space of time and stand out amongst all the other hundreds of books on display, it has to be striking. We spend a lot of time with our designers, authors and editors getting what we think are the best possible jacket treatments for our books and we hope we’ve done it again with A MODERN FAMILY. We also like to think our books pass the ‘Strokeability test.’  Our books are never shiny, always matt, and feel good to hold. A book is for life, not just for a Kindle.  Once the browser has one of our books in their hands and strokes it, we hope they’ll read the blurb on the back, then turn to page one and……BUY IT.

Socrates is making a film for the launch, which you’ll be able to see nearer publication. It will be funny because Socrates has been called, ‘ A 21st Century Alan Partridge but with a beard.’ And well, he is just a funny man. With a beard.

The designer of the jacket, Stuart Brill, used to design for PENGUIN and so he has a legacy of brilliant designs behind him and here for A MODERN FAMILY, he’s come up trumps again with a jacket that I hope you will like.

And you can see the jacket here:

A MODERN FAMILY by Socrates Adams published by Bluemoose Books on July 25 th 2013.

...also in the Guardian

You know what it's like, you get very little newspaper publicity for what feels like an eternity, then two articles come along almost at the same time.

Late last year we had something in the Yorkshire Post, basically a round up of what we got up to in 2012.  It was a great article and we were very pleased to be featured.  That article explained our attempts to muscle in on the "50 Shades of Grey" action by announcing our plans for a biography of Christian Grey.  This was picked up by the national press and before you know it we were in The Guardian and the story was re-tweeted several times with international interest.  

Publicity like this is really important to a small indie like us.  We haven't got big budgets to promote our books and authors, in fact, let me re-phrase that, we haven't even got small budgets to promote our books, so free publicity like newspaper articles and our loyal readers talking about us on Twitter and Facebook is vital.  Thank you to everyone who follows us and talks about us - you are our marketing department!

Here's The Guardian article if you're interested:

The Fifty Shades of Grey biography that wasn't

 

Bluemoose goes international!

We thought we'd let you know the exciting news about some of our books travelling to foreign fields over the coming months.  

Our first book in translation will come out this month as Anna Chilver's FALLING TRHOUGH CLOUDS is published by Russian publisher Centrepolygraphic.  

Later this Autumn KING CROW by Michael Stewart will be published in Russia by Azbooka-Atticus and in Bulgaria by Artline.  

GABRIEL'S ANGEL by Mark A Radcliffe follows swiftly behind with a Spring 2013 publication date in Russia also by Azbooka-Atticus

We have ordered several phrase books and are applying for a passport for the Moose

Not the Booker Prize Review

After a nervous wait of a few weeks, we're really pleased with the review for Pig Iron by Benjamin Myers for The Guardian's Not the Booker Prize. We've added it as it appears on The Guardian Website, written by Sam Jordison.  Read the original here: http://gu.com/p/3afkm 

Not the Booker prize 2012: Pig Iron by Ben Myers

A compulsive tale of a big-hearted north country man contending with many blows, both literal and metaphoric

Since the Not The Booker prize is all about openness, I think you should know right away that I like Ben Myers. Is this a conflict of interest? Arguably. But if it is a conflict, it's one that is played out across the books pages every day. The only difference here is that I'm being honest about it.

1. Pig Iron
2. by Benjamin Myers
3. 
4. Buy it from the Guardian bookshop

Search the Guardian bookshop

1. Tell us what you think:Star-rate and review this book

As I'm sure you already realise, friends review friends all the time. And if they didn't, literary journalism would have a few problems. Reviewers often become chummy with the people they write about. It's human nature. I became a reviewer because I like books; it follows that I'll probably also like a few of the writers of those books. Should I then refuse to read their books because of that affection? Well, we can have it out in the comments, but first, a bit more explanation:

I first came into contact with Ben years ago, because I liked his sweary prose, as this article (containing the wonderful question "Has anyone ever seen an e-book?") witnesses. I read Ben before I knew him. But since then, we've regularly corresponded, met once, and frequently laughed at slowed down versions of Metallica songs on Facebook. Does this alter the way I'm going to review Pig Iron? Possibly. The thing that gives me pause is wondering whether I'd have been able to write a review for Pig Iron like the one I wrote for Paint This Town Red. I think it would have been difficult. Perhaps I'd have managed it. Perhaps …

Happily, I didn't have to explore that dilemma this time around. I liked the book. And I don't think knowing Ben has influenced my opinion. Not too much, anyway. Maybe I warmed to it more quickly than I might have otherwise. Possibly, also, I felt extra pangs of sympathy because John-John Wisdom, the unfortunate main narrator, is a weird short northerner who's fond of Jack Russell terriers and therefore reminded me of Ben himself. But it was the writing that mattered. The writing.

One more quick personal note before I finally stop talking about myself. I spent part of my early childhood in County Durham, not so far from John-John's home in Pig Iron, and Myers' prose, rich in "mebbes" and "marrers", "nees" and "nowts", "haways" and "shite", tickled my memory. Importantly, it seemed real. John-John and his co-narrator (whom I can't name, since to do so would give away one of the book's successful surprises) speak in a stylised and sometimes strange way: "And that was when I got the weakness on me and I did faint." But it never seems forced or inauthentic.

Better still, I barely registered the unusual voice, after a while. It became part of the texture of John-John's world. Every now and again I was conscious of an appealing bit of yakka: "I've shat bigger jobbies than that lad." Also, a few lovely rhythms: "He began to treat me differently. I was a mother now. A mother who had endured one miscarriage and two births. I was a body that fetched the water and gathered the wood and kept the fires going and cleaned the clothes and the van and scolded the kids and kissed them better and worried about her husband when he disappeared for nights and days." Most of the time, though, I was too immersed in the story to notice what was happening on the surface.

It's hard not to make this story sound like a cross between Snatch andFight Club. John-John is the son of the bare-knuckle King of the Gypsies, Mac Wisdom, whose life we hear about in retrospect from the second narrator, and whose influence weighs heavy on the protagonist as he attempts to rebuild his life after a long stretch in jail. But there's no Brad Pitt here. No Hollywood. John-John's world is ugly. The fighting isn't about pleasure. Or even escape. It's just savage men knocking bells out of each other: blood, guts and pain described in visceral detail:

Mackem's neck tasted warm and bitter and metallic… I loosened for a second then went at him again, nearly dislocating me bloody jaw. There was a crunching sound and me teeth nearly met in the middle and I must have hit some veins or summat because the blood started pouring out of his neck. Human flesh doesn't tear easily. It's noisy stuff.

Things aren't much prettier for John-John when he isn't scrapping. He's forced to live in a pokey, ugly flat on a dangerous estate, where he knows next to no one, and is hounded by a gang of "charvers" whose charm is well-demonstrated in their leader's announcement that "I'll put you in the fucking ovens where you and your lot belong."

Even so, there are moments of relief. John-John is consistently amusing, a master of the sardonic aside ("'I bet you like hearing the old tales, lad'. Like a punch in the cock, I'm muttering.") He's also big-hearted and warm. Some of the book's best passages come in the descriptions of the quiet fun John-John has tootling around the countryside ("the green cathedral") in an ice-cream van, falling in love with a very unsuitable local girl and fussing over his pet dog Coughdrop. John-John is a winning presence. And of course, that makes his catalogue of misfortunes and persecution all the more upsetting; his attempts to right those many wrongs all the more gripping.

Caught up as I was, I did wonder sometimes if Myers pushed things too far. Towards the end, especially, things went a bit nuts. Imagine Hunger Games with an uglier cast, genuine violence and less chance of redemption – but also fewer loud bangs to distract you from the essential daftness. Now and again, I had doubts, but was always carried through by John-John's force of personality and righteous anger at his and Coughdrop's oppressors. What's more, just when I thought things were about to go right over the top, Myers swerved away gracefully. The ending came in a sudden flash of gold and beauty. To say more would be to give it away; suffice to say, you'll like it when you get there and it's a journey worth making. This is another quality entrant on our shortlist.

NOD by Adrian Barnes

NOD by Adrian Barnes, our new book, arrives into the Bluemoose warehouse today and we're all very excited!

Ben Myers, author of PIG IRON says about NOD, 'Think WARRIORS, the film, scripted by JG Ballard with excerpts from Ray Bradbury.' KING CROW author Michael Stewart says the first chapter of NOD is one of the best openings of any book he's ever read. He went on to say he loved every single page of it. 

I know they are both Bluemoose authors, but we haven't paid them anything and they have their own minds; that's why they came to an Indy in the first place. Just think if Mr Amis hadn't pursued the dollar, he'd have won the Booker by now! Heaven forfend. 

We're flying Adrian Barnes over from Vancouver for the launch and a series of events and signings at Independent booksellers and Waterstones. Adrian will also be giving lectures at a couple of Universities too. More of that nearer the time. 

Now its time to send off review copies to the great and supposed good of what was FLEET STREET. The broadsheets in the Metropolis. Scott pack, ex chief fiction buyer at Waterstones and now publisher and blogger at meandmybigmouth, said of one of our previous titles, THE ART OF BEING DEAD, that it wouldn't get any reviews in the literary press because 'The lit editors don't look further than the ends of their noses.'  THE ART OF BEING DEAD is now a set text on the MA course in Contemporary literature at Leeds Metropolitan University.

Now that there are three books from small independents on The Man Booker shortlist, perhaps they won't bin all books from publishers whose colophon they don't recognise. Hopefully they've learned their lesson and realise that all the exciting literary fiction these days is coming from small Independents.

Tired of McEwan, Barnes, Faulks et al. and all those sixty-something males that get all the review coverage? Yep, me too. The Indies are coming "darn sarf" to rattle the cages of the literary establishment and in NOD by Adrian Barnes I really believe we have a title that will stir things up a tad.

Moose at Large

It's really important for us as a small independent publisher to get out and about as often as possible and spread the word.  We like to meet as many readers and budding writers as we can.  We do this for several reasons. Obviously, we want to make people aware of Bluemoose books and the brilliant titles we have to offer, we may also be lucky enough to find our next author, but equally we want to let people know about what we are trying to achieve with Bluemoose Books, our experience as an independent publisher and the state of the publishing industry as a whole.

We were recently invited by the Lincoln Pheonix Writers to talk about the Bluemoose "way" and had a great evening meeting enthusiastic readers and writers and sharing our experiences with them.  Thanks to everyone there for the warm welcome!

On 22nd September, Kevin is attending another event at Macclesfield Library.  This is Cheshire East Libraries' annual celebration of books and reading.  There is a full programme including talks by writers and other publishers.  Kevin will be talking about his experience as a publisher but also exploring the issues regarding new technologies versus traditional methods of publishing.  

For more information see here: Latest Library News  or follow @CEClibraries #MaccBooks

The event starts at 12.30pm on Saturday 22nd September.  Kevin will be talking from 3.30 - 4pm.  

For more information and tickets, contact Macclesfield Library on 01625 374000

Not the Booker Prize Nomination

Can we possibly do it two years in a row?

Pig Iron by Benjamin Myers has been shortlisted for the 2012 Not the Booker Prize run by The Guardian.  We had outstanding success with this prize last year when our book, King Crow by Michael Stewart, won the prestigious mug/trophy.  Here is the full list of shortlisted books:

The Notable Brain Of Maximilian Ponder by JW Ironmonger
Paint The Town Red by AJ Kirby
Life! Death! Prizes! by Stephen May
Tales From The Mall by Ewan Morrison
Pig Iron by Ben Myers
The Revelations by Alex Preston
The Casablanca Case by Simon Swift

One of the books is reviewed each week and at the end of the process voting is opened to Guardian readers who have previously left a review of the book they are voting for.  We're not yet sure when voting will start, but will keep you up to date.  The winner is announced on 15th October.

Pig Iron is due to be reviewed some time during the week commencing 17th September.  Watch this space for more information.

Read more here at The Guardian's Not the Booker Prize page

Big thanks must go to all our readers and supporters of Bluemoose Books who took the trouble and time to vote Pig Iron onto the shortlist.  It would be amazing to win this prize again, a great feat for a small publisher like us, but let's be honest, it is a fabulous book, even if we say so ourselves!!

Pig Iron by Benjamin Myers

Pig Iron by Benjamin Myers was published at the end of May and has had a great response from critics and readers alike.  For an outline of the story see our previous post below.  Here's a flavour of some of the write ups the book has received.  For a full list of press cuttings go to our page Publicity about our Books

"Myers's poetic vernacular brims with that quality most sadly lost in the Thatcher years – humanity." 
Cathi Unsworth in The Guardian

"This is yet another singular portrait of an outsider from Myers. And delivered through authentic characterisation, a monstrously compelling plot, and frequent humour – a rare combination of such successfully crafted elements – Pig Iron deserves to find itself on many a reading list, if not the National Curriculum."
Declan Tan for 3:am Magazine

"Benjamin Myers’s influences are clear — David Peace’s northern brutalism is evident and there are suggestions of Salinger and Golding but Pig Iron’s savage vision is his alone.  Pig Iron is an utterly compelling book because the twin desolations of blighted sink estate culture and the emotional alienation of the main character are evoked unrelentingly and the grim conclusion is almost inevitable." 
Steve Ely for Morning Star

PIG IRON by Benjamin Myers

Bluemoose editors are in the final throes of finishing the edit for PIG IRON by Benjamin Myers, which we'll be publishing on May 31st 2012.

PIG IRON is a beautifully written book by a very gifted writer.

THE STORY.

John-John wants to escape his past. But the legacy of brutality left by his bare knuckle boxer father, self-styled King of the Gypsies, Mac Wisdom, looms large over his life. John-John's new job as an ice cream van man, should offer freedom, but instead pulls him into the dark underbelly of life in a northern town where his family name is mud.

As John-John attempts tp trade prejudice, parole officers and local gangs for 'the green cathedral- - the rural landscape that provides solace for him - the story of Mac's rise and spectacularly bloody fall unravels.

PIG IRON is the story of a traveller who hasn't travelled; a young man fighting for his very survival.

Moose Abroad

A massive publishing house from the USA got in contact yesterday and asked if they could read two of our books, with a view, I hope, of publishing in the States. The two books in question are KING CROW by Michael Stewart and GABRIEL'S ANGEL by Mark Radcliffe. Now, it's alright to get excited , but I've been here before, and sometimes it doesn't work out as planned. However, it really is pleasing to see that stories have a resonance and can be truly international. It is one of our basic traits as humans to tell and listen to stories, wherever we are. It helps. When you realise you've just spent your last 17 trillion dollars and the credit card company have come round to seize the laptop, keys to the car and the house, its time to grab a book and head for the cave you bought on a timeshare four years ago. Books matter. They can't save lives and feed people , but they do matter, simply as a way of easing out the creases of our daily lives.

Viva Dan

Its hard hat time. Wherever you are this week, Dan Brown will get you at some point. The publishing world think he's their saviour and in terms of sales he certainly is. Anybody that can sell 81 Million copies of their last book is worth their weight in gold. Forget the Fryisms about it'being stool water,' that's mere commercial jealousy. The fact is simple. He's bringing new readers into bookshops, supermarkets wherever, and they're buying books. That's good news. What the publisher does with the vast profits is another issue. If they invest in new writers and don't simply go out and buy another sleb biography, we're all quids in. If they simply reinvest in Dan Brown like novels then that is hardly visionary. If bookshops are full for whatever reason, apart from a riot, then we have to celebrate, especialy in these straightened times. I will buy a copy and read it and if it's a good story I will let you know. Remember he doesn't pretend to be a literary giant. He won't be gladhanding at Fey on Whey. He's telling a story and hopefully he's got a good editor.

High street mugging

I have to send all the bibliographical information about Falling through clouds to the wholesalers. Gardners and Bertrams are now the two biggest players. They also, between them own the three major library suppliers in the UK. Big potatoes. In a previous existence, I sent a very angry email with the odd expletive by default to an executive at one of the wholesalers. The email should have gone to my wife. I was upset, I thought they were demanding a rapacious level of discount. I had to phone the chap concerned and apologies for the content of the email. Discounts are now a huge issue to such an extent that one publishers, Marion Boyars have decided to cease trading next year because of the level of discounts on the high street and internet. They can't turn a profit and when you see what the major booksellers are demanding I can see why. Authors advances in some cases have fallen by 80%. The business model of huge advances to authors is now in question, apart from the slebs who are being given football like payoffs for their pearls of wisdom. We're all going to hell in a handcart. See you there.

Anthills and Stars

There was a great review in The Telegraph and Argus yesterday. Here it is.

Anthills and Stars by Kevin Duffy.

Set in 1968, the year of political revolutions after the Summer of Love, an unmarried hippy couple, Solomon and Cas, arrive with Leo, their son of 18 months, in this Calderdale backwater to set up house in Prospect Street.
Their next-door neighbour, Ethel Hebblethwaite, is a cross between Nora Batty and Hyacinth Bucket; the difference being she is a righteous Roman Catholic – not a hypocrite, as the novel reveals, but ardent.
Their arrival causes uproar. But after Solomon deflowers Ethel’s 19-year-old grand-daughter Margaret, the local war against the flower children gathers hysterical momentum, culminating in a petition to Bishop Bone to exorcise the flared-jean spawn of Satan before the entire town is corrupted.
Stir into the mix a couple of insane zealots, a comic policeman and a Roman Catholic priest, Father O’Dowd, troubled about his sexuality, and you have all the ingredients of an English Father Ted seen through the eyes of Joe Orton or Peter Tinniswood, with perhaps just a dash of David Nobbs.

Go buy a copy or The Moose gets it.

The Rooker

As I've said previously here before. For small independent publishers like Bluemoose, it is essential to get coverage in the local press. To this end, today in the Halifax Courier and Next week in The Yorkshire Post, there will be a two page feature on Bluemoose books and what we have achieved in the past two and a half years. Of course the nationals won't give a hoot, but with the Bluemoose family of writers , what is essential, is building a regional fan base first and then you see your books eventually get onto the national stage. This is how Tindall Street in Birmingham have done it over the past ten years and it has been incredibly successful. The London Houses speak disparagingly about the regions, however, it is the regional presses that are producing some fantastic books by great writers. I might start the Rooker, a regional Booker, but then everyone will think it is a second class prize. So I won't. The books stand out in their own right and eventually everyone in the UK will realise what we're doing, the tills will be popping and we can publish more new writers. Sweet.

Esoteric Bookselling

Spies have been coming out of the woodwork recently and I think I have discovered a way of finding out who is, and who isn't selling state secrets to the enemy. Anybody who wears a tie and went to Public School and studied The History of Art at Oxbridge is a spy. Can I now collect my £100 spy finding fee?

Off to see how the Waterstones staff are baring up. Not a week goes by without some new earth shattering technique is used to deceive the book buyer. Recently they were using the esoteric arts of that well known avatar, Dan Brown. White witches and sales dust are sprinkled from jets positioned at each entrance in a well known store in the North. The results have been phenomenal and each sales assistant is now required to have the sign of the beast tattooed on the nape of the neck.

T'internet reviews

The Moose is on the t'internet again. I did an interview with those fine souls at The view from magazine, an online lit magazine with excerpts from well known authors, cutting edge short stories. Go download and buy a copy know and contribute to the lit community.You can read what I said at http://www.viewfromheremagazine.com/2009/07/ivy-irish-man-and-bluemoose.html. I've also just done an interview with Vulpes Libris another online lit magazine. With the once former lit broad sheet newspapers bogged down in their club styley review coverage of mates, mates of mates and people who pay large sums of money to advertsie their mates work, it is up to the online community to bring democratic review coverage to the airwaves. Let the revolution commence.

Frankfurters

Its is Frankfurt time already. Well, for the Moose it is. Our foreign rights agent is already talking up the next two Bluemoose titles. Falling Through Clouds by Anna Chilvers and Gabriel's Angel by Mark A Radcliffe. Both authors are busy compiling their literary CV's this weekend plus a synopsis of their story. These will be pored over by foreign publishers in September before the bookfair in Germany and hopefully by the time Frnakfurt arrives, rights will be sold. Simple really. If only.

Official Bolleaux

Worrying signs form the MLA, the government body that makes sure councils provide a good library service in the UK. Now, with the closures in the Wirral and Swindon in abeyance whilst a review is undertaken, the CEO of the MLA, Mr Clare, has organised a conference of Chief Executives from councils to talk about 'The Library experience.' What would they know? They have probably never been inside a library in an unnoffocial capacity. Mr Clare says that he's looking at a more, 'mixed economy,' with libraries. Jaysus H, libraries do not have economies. They are public entities and all this faux pseudo market nonsense does little to project, protect and promote what is an essential public service. In the present economy, Mr Clare, all the numbers you need to know is that there has been an increase of over 35% of people using their public libraries. Forget the jargon, besuited Latted and canape meetings with like minded market driven MBA Wallers. Libraries are essential for communities. Not just for lending books, access to PC's, DVD's and reference works. They are meeting places for all manner of groups and societies. Stop the rot and bolleaux and keep them open. Simple.

I'm a Royal Can I Survive?

I will be announcing the Official Bluemoose Honours list next Sunday as it is my birthday. Queenie had her stab at it yesterday and it was disappointing to see the ex poet laureate accepting a knighthood. Literature and deference are not easy bedfellows, but as Mr Motion said himself, he wrote soome bobbins stuff as 'Hallmark Scribe' to the Royal Family. He was forever tugging the forelock and doffing the cap whilst polishing the official shoe. Sad days indeed.
Given the economic hardship we're all in, perhaps the Saxe Coburg Gothas could do their bit. What about a Royal reality TV Show, I'm a Royal Can I Survive? Get the whole lot of them on an island in a kind of Lord of the flies way, throw them a weeks rations each and see how they do. Last person becomes President and has to live on a state pension.With a global TV audience of billions, advertising revenue in the zillions plus premium telephone calls, the show could raise billions for the treasury. Right, where where is Mr Cowells' number?

Hebden Bridge

Today I'm being interviewed by The Big Issue. Before you ask, no, it's not an interview to see whether I'm competant enough to sell the magazine, but because Bluemoose is based in Hebden Bridge. You see the Hebden Bridge Arts Festival starts at the end of the month, and The Big Issue want to know why there are so many creative people and organisations in this small Pennine town. Well, towards the end of the 1960's lots of Hippies and like minded people left the hippy trail and bought cheap property here in Hebden and started an artisitc community that boasted artists, musicians, and alternative therpists. Anita Brookner calls it, The Greenwich Village of the North.'It is also a beautiful part of the country. Hills, streams, rivers and Ted Hughes started The Arvon foundation up the hill in Heptonstall. Sylivia Plath is buried there too. In the past thirty years, the place has flourished. I wrote a book, ANTHILLS AND STARS. It's 1968 and in Paris the students are rioting but in Broughton, a mill town 20 miles East of Manchester, the Permissive Society has just arrived driving a multi coloured VW camper van. That's the Plug.
Today, Hebden thrives. Poets on every corner and if you're not careful, you can find yourself starring in some street theatre and before you know it, you'll be sporting dreadlocks and throwing eggs at MP's. There are more counsellors here per square foot than anywhere else in Europe. Only California boasts more therapists. We do however, suffer from, PSCD. Post Stress Counsellor Disorder and of course we have a therapy for that too.