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Self-Publishing

Virtual Book Club: Christine Webber introduces Watching from the Wings

Today I’m delighted to welcome Christine Webber back to Virtual Book Club, my author interview series in which authors have the opportunity to pitch their book to your book club. Christine was a guest on my blog in July 2021, when she was talking about her novel, So Many Ways of Loving, which was subsequently…
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The Selfies Shortlist: Spotlight on The Ring Breaker by Jean Gill

An epic medieval saga of the last Vikings

Shortlisted for the Selfies Book Awards 2023 and the 2022 Chaucer Award. In the twilight of the old gods, when the last Vikings rule the seas, two cursed orphans meet on an Orkney beach… As thrilled as I am to be shortlisted for a third time for The Selfies Book Awards, I am all too…
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Virtual Book Club: GD Harper introduces The Maids of Biddenden

The Maids of Biddenden is shortlisted for The Selfies Book Awards 2023

Today I’m delighted to welcome GD Harper to Virtual Book Club, my author interview series in which authors have the opportunity to pitch their book to your book club. GD Harper became a full-time author in 2016. His three previous novels are Love’s Long Road, A Friend in Deed and Silent Money. He was a…
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Celebrating Ten Years as an Indie Author

Adventures in Self-publishing

Christmas Day 2022 will be a special anniversary for me, marking ten years since I took back control of my writing career and became an indie author. Why did it take me so long? Good question. But bear with me. My first novel was published in 2009 when self-publishing was still in its infancy. Correction…
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Channeling my inner Olivia Colman: Smash all the Windows wins The Selfies 2019

Winning an award produces a whole raft of emotions and, as Olivia Colman proved so charmingly at this year’s Oscars, it is impossible to predict how you’re going to react. I learned that I’d won the Daily Mail First Novel Award when I was at home on my own, beginning to get really quite nervous…
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Virtual Book Club: Anita Belli introduces Once Upon a Blue Moon

I’m delighted to welcome Anita Belli to Virtual Book Club, my interview series that gives authors the opportunity to pitch their novels to your book club. This month I’m showcasing my fellow nominees for The Selfies Award 2019 – a chance to check out the competition!   Anita describes herself as a ‘compulsive writer’ and creative tutor, who…
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Virtual Book Club: Mel Gough introduces He is Mine

A Selfies Award Special

I’m delighted to welcome Mel Gough to Virtual Book Club, my interview series that gives authors the opportunity to pitch their novels to your book club. This is also my first interview with another author whose novel has been shortlisted for The Selfies Award 2019 – a chance to get to know the competition!   Mel…
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Help: my eBook business model is broken

When the line between lending and piracy becomes blurred

A few weeks ago, I was watching a topical panel show. When the question of plastic pollution came up, one of the panelists replied, ‘No, you’re not laying the blame at my door. I bought plastic on the understanding that it would be recycled. It’s not my fault if someone went and dumped it in…
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Smash all the Windows: the typesetting

The Making of a Book

We’re nearing the finish line. Now we turn to the book’s interior. What is it going to look like? And how will that add to (or detract from) the way that the reader experiences the book? From Wiki: Typesetting is the composition of text by means of arranging physical types or the digital equivalents. Stored…
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Smash all the Windows: the structural edit

The Making of a Book

In this week’s blog, I focus on the structural edit. It includes a contribution from my structural editor, Dan Holloway, the person Stephen Fry might have had in mind when he said, “We are not nouns, we are verbs.” “I am not a thing – an actor, a writer – I am a person who…
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