Paperbooks

Blog from Gary Davison

I was down London yesterday for a meeting with the Paperbooks gang. It was a great meeting and it was nice to see everyone and the new offices, and the hustle and bustle of the place, deals going on all over and not a second to spare. We nipped across the road and discussed my new book, out on the 29th June 2009, and promotional ideas etc, before finishing the meeting as we always do - in the bar. It’s a fantastic buzz being a part of Paperbooks, they’re so young and fresh and innovated with their ideas, and it gives me a lift every time I go down.

But that aside, after the successful chat and a pint in The Dirty Dick, I was well and truly shafted. Stiffed. Up the Khyber. Up the Swaney. Legs well and truly buckled.

It wasn’t the fact I had to pay fourteen quid for parking at Newcastle train station. It wasn’t the fact I booked the tickets late and got nobbled for two hundred large. It wasn’t even the fact I nipped on an earlier train home and was relieve of another fifty-nine quid (a favour that one, he could have charged me £125 - I would have struggled not to loose it at that point, I reckon). No, what got me, and not just once, but twice, was I got caught short getting off the train at Kingscross and had to pay 30p for a slash. 30p for a slash! I looked around for the sign that said, To fully off load £1.00 - no matter weight or velocity.

More fool me, after the swift pint, I got caught again. A Geordie in the capital. I might as well have pulled them down when I left the house and be done with it.

Gary

'Exclusively Independent' in shops!

  It doesn't feel like that long ago, that I was announcing this the first time around! But yes, it's been eight weeks, and now the new selection of Independent talent are in shops- and libraries!

You can visit Dulwich Bookshop, Eastside, Bookseller Crow on the Hill, Housmans, Bolingbroke and Peckham Review to see the 'Exclusively Independent' selection on display.

Hammersmith and Fulham Libraries will also be showcasing the project this month, and keep an eye out for what additional shops and libraries will be taking part next month.

The titles taking part are Salt & Honey (Legend Press), Fat Tuesday (Paperbooks), Tru (Flame Books), Rumblestrip (Myriad Editions), 1948 A Soldiers Tale (One World Publications), Earth Inc. (Picnic Publishing), White Man Falling (Alma), The Art of Being Dead (Bluemoose), What's Wrong with Eating People? (One World Publications) and A Week at Waterloo (Reportage Press).

Dont forget you can catch up on all the latest project information on our brand new website www.exclusivelyindependent.com

Lauren

Fat Tuesday - Gary Davison

Gary Davison, author of the fantastic 'Fat Tuesday' with a festive offering for the day:

You didn’t know? Today is Fat Tuesday. Street parties around the world. Pancakes in Newcastle and the Champions League on TV. Sydney will be manic, along with New Orleans. And in the fiction world, my book should rocket up the charts, and rightly so. My Fat Tuesday party is the mother of all festivals, with a sprinkling of the 1990s rave scene. Well worth a gander if you haven’t already. Do I have no shame? I think this post answers that in full.

Gary

Order your copy now - £7.99 

'Exclusively Independent' Event!

Hammersmith Library

Wednesday, 18th March 2009

7:30pm

We are hosting our very first 'Exclusively Independent' event. An evening where authors from the first, and second cycle will be reading from their books, and discussing their experiences in the Publishing Industry. Representatives from each Publishing company will also be there, so if you wanted any advice, or simply an evening of top quality books, then come along! 

The featured authors are:

Michael Marr

Peter Cave

Stephen Clayton

Shanta Everington

Megan Taylor

Michael Bollen

Tickets are free, although you do need a ticket to enter. These are available from the Hammersmith Library 020 8753 3812

So come along, and pick up your signed copy...see you there!

Lauren

Book the day now - 30 min interview with Paul Burman

Paul Burman, author of the brilliant THE SNOWING AND GREENING OF THOMAS PASSMORE, is to be interviewed on Big Talk Radio on, and make sure you circle this date on your calendars, mark it into your fancy email reminders etc, on 7th April at 12 noon.

See further details here and make sure you've got a copy of Paul's remarkable debut novel - a 30 minute interview and many hours of reading enjoyment all rolled into one!

Tom

'superbly funny' - Three Jumpers by Michael Marr

The fantastic Three Jumpers has been reviewed on popular review site thebookbag.co.uk. Below is a taster:

"I loved this book – such a great idea and so fresh in its style and delivery. Bardolph is a real cynic and expert manipulator with the intellect to predict and edge his way around the motivations of others. His struggles (other than being an impoverished writer) are mostly internal, which makes it hard not to be on his side. For some reason I found it hard to find any sympathy for Trevor at all, which is probably the point.

It has a contemporary edginess which is hard to narrow down to any other writer. Fans of Tom Sharpe will love it because it's as side-splittingly funny as Sharpe but without the class fixation. Fans of Ben Elton will love it because its situational elements are as well observed as Elton's but without the political abandonment issues. And fans of Fry will love it because it's as sharp and intellectually well conceived as the best of Fry, but without the unavoidable Fryness. Having said all that, it's also nothing like any of those authors at all.

The laughs come thick and fast, and on a number of different levels. It mixes a great story with superbly funny writing, observational comedy and straight out gut-laugh gags. The novel is also full literary references providing intertextual humour. If you can spot all the literary references within the novel there is even a prize on offer from the publisher. "

To read the review in full click here!

Order your copy now - £7.99 

Lucy

'Fat Tuesday' is 'Book of the Day'

  Have a look at www.exclusivelyindependent.com and you can see how Gary Davison's 'Fat Tuesday' is today's Book of the Day.

The website was launched this week, all new information on the project. It also features one of the selected ten titles for 'Exclusively Independent' as the Book of the Day.

This highlights the publicity and feedback gained for the book, as well as our own thoughts on its inclusion.

So feel free to have a look, and leave us a comment on what you think!

Lauren

Exclusively Independent website launch!

 In collaboration with The View From Here, a print and on-line literary magazine, we have launched www.exclusivelyindependent.com. The website will be purely dedicated to the project which is funded by the Arts Council.

The website consists of daily blogs keeping you up to date with any events that may be occuring, where the selection is stocked, how the project is progressing, as well as any recent publicity for each title.

This will be a great medium where we can display each title in all it's glory. Read thoughts from each of The Panel, the Publishers, and hopefully the Authors too.

To kick start the launch, we will post 'Book of the Day' where each day will be dedicated to titles from the selection. So this will include, Author Info, Images, all publicity to date, as well as quotes from the Publishing company, and those involved.

So check the website out, and see how it progresses over the next few weeks!

Lauren

Exclusively Independent feature Salt & Honey and Fat Tuesday

               

Exclusively Independent is in action yet again, this time to be displayed in Independent bookshops and Hammersmith and Fulham Libraries!

This month's submission pack came from a great variety of Publishers. Some submitting for a second time, and others new to the project. The panel met and discussed the pack, and the final selection have been decided.

From Legend Press we have Candi Miller's Salt & Honey, and from Paperbooks we have Gary Davison's Fat Tuesday. Talk about variety, these two titles provide you with a glimpse into Southern Africa's culture on one hand, and on the other, a worldwind of drugs and scandal!

The books will be distributed within the next week, so keep an eye out and pick up a copy at your local bookshop or H&F Library

Lauren

Mark Hayhurst

  Mark was born in Yorkshire – realising its only widespread representation so far was four old men in a tin bath and a farm that a plane crashed into, he knew that a flipside was needed. His debut novel Friday at the Nobody Inn began as a comedy sketch, lengthened into a script and then finalised as a novel. Hayhurst is the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist for the band, P.L.U.K., formerly known as Planet Lounge. P.L.U.K has toured with Shed Seven, Kaiser Chiefs, and Corinne Bailey Rae.

You can become a fan of Mark's debut novel 'Friday at the Nobody Inn' now on Facebook by clicking this link http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mark-Hayhurst-Friday-At-The-Nobody-Inn/18057738213.

Lucy