It's that time when angels fly over Regent Street, shop windows twinkle with lights, girls buy glittery dresses and bookshops take on a mood of anticipation... not just of reindeers on the roof but of long, dark nights curling up with a story.
First off for me is always South Kensington Books... a treasure trove of the unexpected, often mirroring and expanding on exhibitions going on in the V&A. What draws me to them is their ability to allow a single book to monopolise their entire window. Last year, I remember Emily Gravett's TIDY with piles of leaves and gardening gloves and dustpans, and more recently a display showing every single spread of ANIMALPHABET by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Sharon King-Chai.
For Christmas this year, here is this charming window and a view of what was on offer inside the shop.
Just further along in Chelsea, Daunt Books in the Fulham Road had a crowded window where I spotted a copy of my own and Jesse Hodgson's TIGER WALK... but sadly no jungle or single book takeover. Does it help to be next to David Walliams?
Further down the road I met up with the highly energised Yuval Zommer putting a light and fantastic touch to the NOËL window of Nomad Books with his bugs, beasties, birds and butterflies and probably the most enchanting ladybird I will ever see.
At the Conran shop, they don't do book windows but inside amidst the Christmas offerings, I found a heap of wonderful Tiny Owl Books including CINDERELLA of the NILE by Beverley Naidoo illustrated by Marjan Vafaeian.
Just round the corner from Victoria Station, I spotted Mark Hearld's world in the form of foxes, rabbits, robins and owls in the window of Shepherds... not a bookshop I know but a wondrous paper shop... with Mark's amazing fold-out cards like individual minature picture books and of course he illustrated Nicola Davies' A FIRST BOOK OF NATURE - from beachcombing to stargazing and watching squirrels, ducks and worms and much else.
I didn't get to Waterstones or Hatchards in Piccadilly as the tube stations and queues on the Piccadilly line yesterday were horrendous because of Winter Wonderland. But here is the Alligator's Mouth snowy Christmas window in Richmond.
Here you will spy GRANDPA CHRISTMAS by Michael Morpurgo and EMILY BROWN AND FATHER CHRISTMAS by Cressida Cowell, illustrated by Neil Layton who will both be appearing at Nomad Books TODAY 2nd Dec at 3pm.
Also the marvellous TALES FROM THE INNER CITY by Shaun Tan with that haunting cover and the wonderfully surreal illustrations of twenty-five short stories, exploring the relationship between humans and animals and how we are entwined for better or worse. Amazing is all one can say!
And a quick cheat... as its from last year's Picked Pepper window with Jane Ray's painting of Venice from our THE GLASSMAKER'S DAUGHTER.
So some bookish baubles to wish you a happy time through Advent. Please add your own favourite bookshops this Christmas in the comments. And don't forget to light your first Advent candle today.
www.diannehofmeyr.com
Twitter: @dihofmeyr
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latest book: TIGER WALK illustrated by Jesse Hodgson, published by Otter-Barry Books
This is not about the loads of paperwork we do every day but about scaling down. Getting rid of all the piles of paper from the past.
Decluttering has long been a buzzword and a recent book 'Goodbye Things' by Fumio Sasakia suggests all he needs is a bed, a table, his MacAir and a smart phone. Why keep paper? Why have books? You scan everything important to you and read books digitally.
Well yes, but you can only do that if your laptop is decluttered too. At the moment I only have 4GB of space because of my vast quantity of photographs and yes those can be stored in the iCloud, or on external drives and I do every so often, when big warnings flash up. But it still requires time and the will to declutter a laptop.
Last week my husband suggested I look through our store cupboard in the basement. We live in a 67 sq. metre flat so the store cupboard is vital… where else would I keep the ironing board, the vacuum cleaner and my extra stash of chocolate? It also houses boxes and boxes of old manuscripts neatly tied up and labelled with string and all the said research and reviews that go with each book.
I took down the first box and started ripping. It was the only copy I have of a novel I wrote in 1988 written on a typewriter (a word only a bit younger than gramophone) with pencil corrections and white tipex all over the onion skin pages, literally cut and pasted with cello-tape corrections. But undeterred it all went into the bin. Research. Reviews. Clippings. And text. This is not the same me. I’ve moved on.
It was going well. I hauled down the next box and there lay my very first novel together with a letter from my editor dated 25th May 1987 telling me they had printed 2500 copies of A Sudden Summer. What struck me was the date ... almost exactly 30 years ago to the month. A photograph lay across the letter taken of us on the day the novel came out. How young we both look and a bit uncanny that the girl on the cover seems to have the exact hairstyle I had then.
What struck me too was the editor's jaunty tone in her letter. 'May this be the first of many books for you. For you’ve got it, babe!'
She’s to blame. If it weren’t for Dr Annari van der Merwe I wouldn’t still be writing books thirty years on. Thank you Annari for your patience. What an intricate and wonderful labyrinth you caused me to follow with your ball of string.
Well you’ve guessed it. Could I tear up this manuscript even more covered in tipex and tape? Not when scrawled across the first page, she had also written… Keep this under lock and key. One day you will be able to sell it to the University of Texas in Austin for a grand sum. Not so! But still I slipped the crinkly onion skin paper back into the box and locked the door to the storeroom and all the book memories for yet another day.
In two days time, thirty years on, and I’m not sure how many books later, I have a very different one coming out – a picture book, My Daddy is a Silly Monkey, for very young readers. It’s come full circle. The same publisher, Tafelberg, who trusted me with my first novel has bought the South African Rights. It’s a book about the chaotic yet wonderful relationship between a busy father and a daughter that I saw emerge between my own son and his daughter at time when he was juggling his complicated life. Carol Thompson’s illustrations explode with energy and humour and thanks to Janetta Otter-barry and her team, the book will come into the world this week on 4th May 2017 just 3 weeks short of my thirty year entrance into the world of writing.
No doubt in years to come, I will sit in the same storeroom looking at yet another box of papers … my hands willing but my spirit weak.
Clutter… the English psychoanalyst and design teacher Jane Graves wrote in ‘The Secret Life of Objects’ is always about memory, so therefore about emotion and sentiment. Tidying, then, is intimate work.
If this is only my paperwork attempt, what about the objects? Get rid of multiples... says Fumio Sasakio. Four pairs of scissors is too many. You only need one that works and you will always know where it is. Hmmm... if only.
When my first book came out in the UK in 2010, other than a card
from my publisher Walker Books, I did not do anything to celebrate it,
publicise it or promote it. Only my Mum knew and she was proud. Even though it
was my 14th or 15th book internationally, in the UK it
was my first and it had fizzled out like a firecracker on a wet Diwali night.
While I placed four picture book
titles in India in 2012, life went on in the UK in a pattern of day job and
rejections. The Indian books started coming out in 2014 and it coincided with
my moving from a full-time job to a part-time situation. Now I had time to go
into schools and I had found my sea legs so to speak.
In 2015 – after five years of
waiting, I had a second book accepted with Walker Books and a picture book with
Otter-Barry Books. And to top that, my Indian picture book Farmer Falgu series
too was going to be distributed in the UK by Red Robin Books and suddenly I realised
four books were all going to come out in the last quarter of 2016.
I decided it was unusual and cruel
for a writer to have four books coming out in the same quarter. At the same
time it was opportunity. (The Law of Lemons and Lemonade).
I didn’t want to throw
the opportunity into oblivion as I had done before in 2010. Here is what I did
to maximise the air cover I got while the smell of new books was still
lingering on my doorstep. So I decided to hire a freelance
publicist.
But before I go further, here is the disclaimer - I’m not saying this is for everyone - because it does cost hard-earned money (money I
earned at the day job or the advance I got for these books whichever was on top of the pile at the
ATM). But at that time, I wanted a boost to my brand and I wanted to do justice for these two "diverse" books to be noticed. Would I have done this (or been able to) if I didn’t have a
day job? Perhaps not.
So for those who are curious, here is how I handled hiring a personal publicist even though I was not a celebrity author.
Step 1: Write a publicity plan
I
looked up the guidelines in the SCBWI publicity grant guidelines and I modelled
one on it. I didn’t get the grant. But I had done the research At least I knew
what I wanted to do.
Step 2: Find a Publicist
I looked for freelance publicists
who could be commissioned to work directly with me for my books. I found five
who specialised in children’s books out of which two responded. One said No and
the other agreed. I met with her and we planned a campaign
for the two books that had a definite date and also because it fit within her
budget.
Step 3: Surprise the Publisher
Firstly we informed our publishers
that I was going to take care of my publicity by ploughing back the advance. It
did make them sit back and watch what I was up to. I also wanted to make sure
we were not stepping on toes and both the official publicist and the freelance
publicist knew who was doing what.
Step 4: Send word to the world
Then my freelance publicist sent out
review copies, blog posts requests, bookshop and festival requests. And we had
to wait. Ah the waiting game, I knew how to play it. I’m a writer. I knew how
to chew bed sheets, go on walks, cry into the pillow and press the refresh
button on my inbox a million times a day while I waited.
Step 5: Start the in-house campaign
While the publicist was focussed on
the outside world, I was focussed on what I could do in the meantime. Here are
some things I did while I waited.
·Spruce up my website – I
reformatted my entire website to look new, fresh and welcoming for all the new
people who might look me up when they receive our publicity requests
·Create posters – this is
where Canva.com came in. I spent an unhealthy number of days on Canva designing
posters to print, blog graphics and post cards and stuff. Canva actually sent me an email saying, “You’re here a lot, do
you want to go pro?”
·Write blog posts for my own
website – I started writing about the books ahead of the launch to create
anticipation.
·Find friends who would host
my blog – in addition to whom the publicist was contacting – I reached out to
friends who were happy to host me on their blogs.
·Create classroom content and
extras for school visits – I have a small site under my banner for kids stuff –
it has puzzles and activities and intro to my illustrators and such. I updated
a lot of this content for the new books.
·Request the illustrator to do
a blog post – Frané Lessac (illustrator of Pattan's Pumpkin) was amazing. She agreed to be interviewed for my site and hosted my content on her blog too.
·Request the illustrator for
resources - Frané Lessac was kind enough to make me colouring sheets and craft
activities etc.
Step 5: Plan the book launch
I did hit a block when I came to
this. My freelance publicist wasn’t going to arrange the launch and I had to
cold-call a number of South London bookshops. Most of them turned me down and a
few looked me up and then turned me down.
I turned to the amazing Nicky Potter
who did publicity for Otter-Barry Books for help and she introduced me to the
North London bookshop Pickled Pepper Books. They are amazing, aren’t they?
Of course I wasted more time on the
Internet planning the launch. I invited everyone I knew, create events in
Facebook and ordered matching cupcakes. A wise author once said, “A launch without cake is no launch at all.”
Step 6: Write insane number of blog posts
The publicist had arranged for me to
blog on different sites. I had to find an angle that was different and unique
to their blog about the same two books. I wrote over 25 blog posts in a matter
of five weeks, not including the ones I had promised friends to write on their
blog too. At one point I was so worried I was going to run out of things to
say. Luckily my early life as a chatterbox came in handy.
Step 7: Make a Trailer
I loved wasting time on the computer
while watching reruns of Big Bang Theory. So I decided to try my hand at making
a trailer. My one day course with SOA on how to make videos using iMovie by
Shoo Rayner, came in handy. Interestingly, I learnt a few things along the way.
·Get permission from everyone
before you release the trailer into the world. Of course my publisher Janetta
Otter-Barry was impressed and so was her team. My illustrator Frane Lessac loved
it and she was happy to consent.
·Use original photos, text and
permitted content. Luckily I had my own photos and where required those in
public domain I could use and attribute.
Step 8: Prepare for diversions
As the first book’s publicity was
proceeding, the freelance publicist had landed a full-time job. Now she was no
longer available to promote my second book. But before I could panic, she
managed to secure the services of another publicist and made sure the work
continued uninterrupted. Things are always fluid and coping with them as they
come was one of the things I do at my day-job and that was useful in dealing
with this.
Step 9: Keep a Calendar
I had so many balls up in the air
that I had to create a calendar of events and blog posts and keep them updated.
By now bookshop visits were coming in and they were spread across a range of
3-4 months. My calendar resembled a jigsaw puzzle in colour. I hoped I could
find the edges if everything fell apart.
Step 10: Be grateful for kindness of friends
Few days before the launch, a school
librarian reached out to me and asked if I could do two libraries and her
school in her borough as a pre-launch promotion. I was so grateful for the support.
Except fate interfered and sent the flu virus to land on me and the day before
the launch I was on the road armed with my books and a stack of tissues.
And so, the freelance publicists who worked on the campaign had
opened many doors I hadn’t been able to approach. I got into some really
wonderful festivals and bookshops, got noticed by some organisations who would
not have heard of me otherwise, got some print reviews in teachers’ magazines
and trade publicity magazines.
It gave me the boost I needed and putting in all the work on my
own, hours in front of a computer not writing, sweating the details of fonts and
images on websites proved very productive.
Whether you are traditionally
published and want a leg up for your new book or you are self-published and
want to build a brand, it might be a worthwhile option to look into. It is hard
work and it involves spending money and I did a lot of DIY work myself – like
posting letters, printing posters, writing blog posts, sprucing my website etc.
But it was a good learning experience and I can build on the contacts I have
now been introduced to.
It’s not often a picture book text is effortlessly written. Usually one plucks and pulls and dithers beween using this word or that. But when an idea comes so thoroughly from the heart as my last story did… what a pleasure to write.
My Daddy is a Silly Monkey is off to both the London Book Fair and Bologna in hardback under the Otter-Barry Books imprint and has sold foreign rights in Spain, Denmark and South Africa. Forgive the indulgence of a bit of self promotion but new books need to be celebrated!
It’s great to be in Janetta’s stable and to benefit from her innate instinct on what is right for a text for younger children. With a totally hands-on approach, she encouraged Carol Thompson, my amazing illustrator, and me to be very free and collaborative with ideas. I think it shows in both the fresh illustration and the free-wheeling text with a font to match. The energy is all there – not trapped between the covers but extending beyond the cover with it’s image of a girl swinging out on a monkey’s tail.
For the first time ever I based a text loosely on a family member. It’s about a little girl trying to manage her chaotic but highly inventive father. Divorce is never easy and I wanted the story to convey the fun and playfulness when an ill-equipped father tries to cope in a single parent situation. Carol’s illustration is spot on. The love shines through.
As a parent I was forever curtailing what I saw as dangerous – don’t swing on that branch – don’t climb so high – don’t bounce so wildly. But here is a daddy who encourages a little wild behaviour, told from the girl’s point of view with scepticism as well as trust in what he attempts to do.
In the end, it’s essentially a story about love – and that love will survive whatever the chaos. I hope My Daddy is a Silly Monkey will fly high at both Fairs and that daddies the world over will continue to be silly monkeys with their children.
The 'Daddy's Cheeky Monkey' T-shirt that inspired the title.
Following hot on each other heels two of the biggest book fairs dedicated solely to children’s books are about to ignite the World of Reading. Flights are full, books are packed, dummies designed, illustrations couriered, appointments scheduled, comfy shoes packed and for those lucky enough to be invited to a few soirees, a silky shirt or twinkly top or two.
When the Bologna Book Fair opens its doors officially on the 4th April, it will have been established as the leading children’s Book Fair for more than 50 years. On the other hand the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF) in the United Arab Emirates, which begins on 20th April, only started 8 years ago, but with it’s 11 days of discovery, creativity and excitement, is intent on creating a second Bologna in the Middle East.
I’m lucky enough to be going to both – to Bologna under my own steam to ease two new babies into the world – a picture book, The Glassmaker’s Daughter, illustrated by Jane Ray coming out with Frances Lincoln in 2017 and a second picture book, My Daddy’s a Silly Monkey, illustrated by Carol Thompson coming out with the brand new Otter-Barry Books, also in 2017.
At Bologna I will be browsing and soaking up the sheer energy of everything new in publishing for 3 days, (sipping a few glasses of prosecco along the way)
Whereas at Sharjah Children's Reading Festival, IBBY UK have been invited as Guests of Honour by UAE IBBY and have included Alexis Deacon as their guest illustrator and me as their guest writer, Alexis and I will be working at full tilt in schools and on panels with more than a little back-up from Sophie Hallam of IBBY UK and Julia Eccleshare.
So this week sees me suddenly panicking. Pasting up dummies, searching through my more than 19, 950 images (I'm determined to keep it under 20, 000) in iPhoto for high resolution pics, running to the printers for business cards and generally creating more chaos than needed when I wake in the night and uninvited decide I can use my illustrator’s images to make endpapers for a Bologna dummy. What astounding cheek! But perhaps collaboration at it’s fullest.
The best part of being at a Children’s Book Fair is not just the pleasure of meeting like-minded people and feeling the buzz but having the books and illustrations take centre stage. At Bologna this year 3191 illustrators submitted work from 61 countries. Being selected offers an illustrator huge visibility as after the Fair, the exhibition tours to Japan, China and the United States. This year will see solo exhibitions of British illustrators Laura Carlin, for winning the Cover Illustration Award for this year’s Exhibition and Miasie Shearring for winning the Fundación SM International Award for Illustration last year.
At Sharjah, one of seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates and recently named the Islamic Culture Capital, there is also an annual Illustration Award. Appropriately last year’s winner was Wen Dee Tan from Malaysia for Lili: Red Hot Hair.
ROLL ON BOLOGNA AND SHARJAH!
Let the festivities begin! Lead on! IGNITE THE WORLD OF READING!
