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You are here: Home / Archives for publicity

Mr Underbed Declared Winner In The Battle of the Monsters

December 14, 2017 By achuka Leave a Comment

 

Waterstones

The so-called Battle of the Monsters has proved a canny and lucrative winner for independent publisher Andersen Press and past laureate Chris Riddell.

Andersen Press has seen unprecedented reaction to their marketing campaign, with over 4,500 copies of the book leaving their warehouse before Christmas, the number of orders of the book 9,582% higher in November 2017 than the previous month.

Support across the trade has been incredible, with book shops up-and-down the country tweeting support and ordering in copies to capatalise on the media interest.

Andersen Press created special Mr Underbed posters which over 500 shops received.

Speaking about the campaign Chris Riddell has said; “I have been so heartened by the wonderful support that my picture book Mr Underbed has received after I pointed out similarities with the John Lewis Christmas ad. I think this has sent a powerful message to John Lewis who I hope will work more directly with picture book authors in the future. This Christmas, why not visit a bookshop and buy a picture book as a gift for someone you love? Sharing a book is a gift that keeps on giving.”

Filed Under: Blog, Books Tagged With: campaign, plagiarism, publicity

Penguin RandomHouse Media Showcase

March 25, 2015 By achuka Leave a Comment

allthebrightplaces

There was a welcome focus on authors at the first joint media presentation by the new children’s books conglomerate, Penguin/RandomHouse, held yesterday in Foyles’ special events place on the 6th floor.
The slick presentation, intercut with video clips, was presented by various members of the team from ‘pre-school’, through ‘primary’ to ‘teen’, with a range of invited authors coming forward to deliver short, well-judged presentations on their forthcoming titles.
The theme, introduced by the always-impressive Francesca Dow*, was heroes. “Our heroes never die,” she said, speaking of the characters we grow up with from our reading of books, and suggesting that the core business of children’s publishing is the creation of new heroes for today’s children to grow up with.
The handle for the pre-school presentation was “Little Heroes With Big Stories To Tell”. There was a momentary atmosphere of embarrassment in the room when someone from the floor pointed out that Ed Vere’s picture book character Max is a kitten and not (as had been incorrectly described) a mouse, but it was B. J. Novak who was the star of this section of the event, telling us about the inspiration behind his pictureless picture book.
The star author-presence of the ‘primary’ age group was Jacqueline Wilson who talked about her forthcoming novel, Katy, a reworking of Susan Coolidge’s What Katy Did. The book is due in August. As soon as ACHUKA receives a review copy we will undertake a joint reading of both the American novel (which we haven’t previously read) and Jacqueline Wilson’s new book which sounds as if it will be a strong, moving and authentic read.
Amanda Punter, telling us about the ‘teen’ publishing programme introduced two American authors, Jennifer Niven, who has written adult and non-fiction titles previously but whose debut YA novel All The Bright Places is out now – she is also a prolific and recommended tumblr blogger – and David Levithan (subject of an ACHUKA Q&A feature some long time ago), who both came on stage for a short three-way chat with editor Ben Horslen. Both authors seemed relaxed and easy in the public eye. Jennifer Niven told us she has three cats and that she arranges her writing desk according to whether she is joined by all three, or just two or even one – which led to banter about habit a three-cat writing day, or a two-cat writing day etc. David Levithan made the whole room laugh when he told us that when he had been a young adult he was reading Anne Tyler and Alice Hoffman so had, in effect, been a middle-aged married woman, rather than a teenager, and that it is only now, in mid-life that he is reading so-called teenage fiction. Leviathan’s new book is Hold Me Closer, a sequel to Will Grayson, Will Grayson co-written with John Green.
holdmecloser
The group is obviously highly excited to be publishing Sophie Kinsella’s first YA title Finding Audrey, due in the summer, and the author was there to round off the media event.

findingaudrey

 

Francesca Dow’s TOP 5 Tips on How To Get Into Publishing

Filed Under: Blog, Books Tagged With: forthcoming, media, publicity, showcase

This Month From Hot Key Books

February 2, 2015 By achuka Leave a Comment

Livs Mead (Sales & PR at Hot Key) is an infectious enthusiast and a seriously good presenter!

Filed Under: Blog, Books Tagged With: coming, new, publicity, sales

The Children’s Bookshow – Not Just Found, But Out There In Translation

November 22, 2014 By achuka Leave a Comment

bookshow

Yesterday I was at an event headed

NOT JUST FOUND, BUT OUT THERE IN TRANSLATION! How translated literature can be funded and made visible in the market place

held as part of the Children’s Bookshow.

Two sessions with practitioners who make translation mainstream.

The event consisted of two panel discussion. The first panel, chaired by Daniel Hahn, consisted of

Sasha Dugdale, editor of Modern Poetry in Translation
David Fickling, publisher at David Fickling Books
Sam Hutchinson publisher at bsmallpublishing
Julian Evans, writer, translator and biographer (Norman Lewis)

Hahn began by promising “an unstructured conversation”  about publicity and marketing.

The panel had quite a lot to say on the subject and there was only time for a couple of questions from the floor. After David Fickling had confessed to a certain sense of guilt in the largely one-way direction of ‘publishing to the world’ I had wanted to ask about the dynamics of marketing a proposal to publish a work in translation. Who is most active in this regard? Is it the author’s agent, the author’s foreign publisher’s rights department, the translator, a reading scout? It’s something I have no idea about. Are international book fairs the main movers and shakers in this regard, or are books in translation likely to originate in other ways?

A question directed at the second panel covered similar territory. A translator asked the Arts Council representative to imagine a scenario: if she the translator were to find a book in a language that was under-represented (an Arabic book from North Africa, for example) but was unable to persuade any publisher to take it on, would it be worth applying for Arts Council support. The response was that such support would normally only be given to a recognised publisher in whom the Arts Council would have confidence in seeing the project delivered. But the questioner was told would be worth a try, to see if normal rules of engagement could be bent.
I’d be more interested in discovering how translated books that get published in English with NO Arts Council support come into existence.

Sam of bsmallpublishing had a very practical mercantile approach. For him it was a straightforward case of ensuring a publishing project made money. He had some interesting observations about Twitter. Because MFL (modern foreign language) teaching has become mandatory in primary schools and because bsmall has many dual language titles on their list, teachers are often referencing them in their tweets at 11 o’clock at night. Does he respond there and then when he’s supposed to be at home relaxing or wait until the morning when he’s back at work but when the teachers will also be in their classrooms and far less likely to be on Twitter.

The second panel chaired by Boyd Tonkin, consisted of

Tereza Porybna from the Czech Cultural Institute;
Nicola Smyth, Relationship Manager Literature,  at Arts Council England;
Graham Henderson, founder of Poet in the City
Ghassan Fergiani, owner of Queens Park Books and West End Lane Books
Andrew Fusek Peters, poet

I found Graham Henderson of Poet In The City a very switched on member of this panel, with interesting things to say about the new synergy between traditional print publishing and the digital, online world. In his view it’s not about a cut-throat battle between real books and ebooks. It’s much more a question of how, especially in a world where review space in the print media is declining, online activities and interaction (Twitter, Facebook, websites) can be used to alert the audience to good literature and events.

Just when the panel seemed to be meandering, Fusek Peters jumped to Boyd Tonkin’s aid and read a few translated poems aloud, including one from the Czech which he had translated with his mother and read first in the original language and then in English.

Earlier I had been to the Edward Steichen exhibition at the Photographers Gallery, taking advantage of free admission between 10:00 -and 12:00. Marvellous as it was (and I shall certainly try and return for a second visit before it closes in January) I have to say I was transfixed by the fashion/art sliding slideshow on the top floor of work by Viviane Sassen. In some ways the Steichen showed the limitations of a traditionally print-framed exhibition. The photos are no more surprising and have no more impact on the wall than they do when reproduced in a book. This is not usually the case with painting. There is nearly always an element of surprise in seeing a painting ‘in the canvas’ so to speak, when previously you have only experienced it as a print in a book or as a digital reproduction on a screen. Where galleries can excel in exhibiting photography is in a sense of size and dimension – displaying imagery on a grand scale, which is exactly what the Sassen show does. The slideshow lasts for a full 45 minutes. I stayed until I was sure I’d seen every image in the loop.

Filed Under: Blog, Books Tagged With: diversity, marketing, poetry, publicity, translation

James Daunt explains Allen’s and Howells’ departure from Waterstones

May 16, 2014 By achuka Leave a Comment

Daunt told The Bookseller: “We have become a much simpler business and also a business that is running itself as efficiently as it possibly can. Unfortunately that also means a business which is more streamlined. They [Howells and Allen] were both exceptionally good at their jobs but they were employed in an era when Waterstones was different but we have substantially changed.”He added: “We used to have to defend ourselves to a large degree – we do not do that anymore. I think we have an excellent relationship with the trade press and also the wider press now – things were a lot more complicated a few years ago.”

via Allen and Howells exit ‘changed’ Waterstones | The Bookseller.

M.d. James Daunt said their departures were the result of a company decision, because the chain had “substantially changed” since the duo were first employed. From now on, the company’s publicity needs will be handled by company members in a less centralised form, he indicated.

Filed Under: Blog, Books Tagged With: departures, James Daunt, PR, publicity, staffing, Waterstones

Hall-Craggs leaves RHCP

May 13, 2014 By achuka Leave a Comment

Sad to see that Clare Hall-Craggs is an early casualty of the Random House/Penguin merger/

Clare Hall-Craggs is leaving her job as publicity director of Random House Children’s Publishers following the merger with Penguin’s children’s division.
 
Hall-Craggs departs today (13th May) after 15 years at Random House, where she led a team of seven publicists. During her time at the company she has worked with authors including Jacqueline Wilson, Terry Pratchett, Shirley Hughes, Simon Mayo and Beth Reekles.
 

Apparently last month staff at Random House Children’s Publishers were told that up to 18 roles were at risk of redundancy.

via Hall-Craggs leaves RHCP | The Bookseller.

Filed Under: Blog, Books Tagged With: Penguin, publicity, Random House, redundancy, staffing

More from man-of-the-moment, Matt Haig – how to make books more popular

June 2, 2013 By achuka Leave a Comment

More from man-of-the-moment, Matt Haig, in his final BookTrust blog post, in which he runs though some different ways in which books could be made more popular. I’ve only quoted his final exhortation, so follow the link to get the full post…

Matt Haig

– Remember that books aren’t going anywhere. E-books won’t replace books, they will become them (electronic paper is on its way). Your Kindle will look old-fashioned in ten years but a book won’t. Stop worrying. Words and stories and narrative and novels are here to stay. Books are maps. They will remain the best way we have of exploring our imaginations and finding thoughts and emotions buried like treasure inside us. Never, for one moment, dismiss or mock or belittle or doubt the world-shaking human power of a book.

via How to make books more popular | Booktrust.

Filed Under: Blog, Books Tagged With: books, ebooks, Kindle, promotion, publicity, publishing, reading

Karen Woodward: How To Create A Press Kit

April 25, 2013 By achuka Leave a Comment

presskit

When I posted the other day about how Mike Reeves-McMillan got honest book reviews he mentioned having put together a press kit.

Having a press kit seems like a great idea since it means you’ll have all the important information about both yourself and your books in one place for anyone interested to browse through.

Also, having a press kit makes it easy for the author when she/he needs to send information about the book to someone months–or years–after the launch. There’s no wondering which directory the information is in, no panicked searches (or perhaps that’s just me!). You know where all the information is and it’s easy for anyone to access.

So, what, exactly, should go into a press kit?

via Karen Woodward: How To Create A Press Kit.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: press kit, promotion, publicity

Sarah McIntyre – what do authors need from our publishers?

April 22, 2013 By achuka Leave a Comment

Very comprehensive blog post from Sarah McIntyre… Highly recommended

booktrust_babette_chris_zpsb5a297ef

We KNOW our publishers can’t do everything, that readers look to authors themselves to be inspired to buy their books, that publishers have limited budgets, and that it makes business sense not to devote quite as much of their time to a book that’s selling millions of copies versus a book that sells hundreds.

At the same time, we’re expected to be writers, artists, bloggers, e-mailers, stage performers and educators. (I itemised the jobs from my blog post, The McIntyre Way™, and added two more jobs: accountant and housewife. Possibly lobbyists, too.) I estimated that I can easily spend 70% of my time doing publicity work when, really, I’d rather spend 70% of my time writing and drawing. So what CAN our publishers do to help us so we actually have time to write and illustrate?

via Sarah McIntyre – booktrust at london book fair: what do authors need from our publishers?.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: authors, campaign, illustration, illustrators, promotion, publicity, publishers, publishing, self-publishing, selling, slush-pile, social media, Twitter

What Does Post-Digital Book Discovery Look Like? | Publishing Perspectives

April 18, 2013 By achuka Leave a Comment

HarperCollins is looking “beyond digital, post-digital” to explore ways its authors can be discovered by consumers. Speaking to Publishing Perspectives yesterday, as the London Book Fair wrapped up, David Roth-Ey, Executive Publisher, Fourth Estate and William Collins, said:

“We’re looking at curating experiences around our books and imprints to build word of mouth. The problem with digital is discoverability. In the past, although you have publicity departments who do a good job, you would rely on bookshops to do much of this, to provide that discoverability.

“But that’s changing now and we need to pick up the slack. We need to find ways of creating excitement and getting our books talked about. So we’re going to be launching a Fourth Estate salon in Shoreditch, London’s equivalent of the East Village, and we’re going to do similar things with William Collins non-fiction.

via What Does Post-Digital Book Discovery Look Like? | Publishing Perspectives.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Collins, digital, ebooks, publicity

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