Soundtrack

And here’s something a little different. Those who know me well will know how music is important to me. They’ll also know that, before this writing career I’ve managed to get myself, the Big Plan was to be a musician. I wanted to be a rock n roller, it’s true. And I can still be seen, every now and again, doing a spot of singing and guitaring when I’m home. Anyway, it turned out that I was better at making stuff up than I was at singing so here we are.

And when I think about it, there’s definitely been a soundtrack to my life. Songs and pieces of music I associate with certain people and places and ways of feeling and moments. And there have definitely been soundtracks to when my books have come out. And, as a bit of fun, here there are (redux). I hope you find something you like in there. (There’s actually an interview I did with 3 :AM about this a few years ago – my top 5.)

So, starting from the most recent, and with just one song representing each book (do check out their other stuff – it’s all all kinds of wonderful) here is the music I think of when I think of them coming out…

Beautiful Trees

It’s the marvel that is Emmy The Great

 

Beautiful Words was categorically Polly Scattergood.

I still maintain that this is one of the most beautifully sad songs there is. And Nitrogen Pink is, I think, my favourite ever.

 

Freaks! 

Loads. (And this could so easily have been Bad Romance by Lissie.) But this was on a lot and it’s a firm favourite from when I was young.

 

 

Not So Perfect – this was on an awful, awful lot. It’s Emmy again.

 

 

 

And this reminds me of touring I Met a Roman Last Night…

 

 

So there you have the top (first?) 5 that come to mind. Anyone else feel like that? Anyone got any suggestions? Memories? Share and suggest in the comments…

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News

I am delighted to be able to tell you all that my story, Carmine’s Fruit, won the Artificium short story competition. You’ll be able to read it very soon. And it’s something that makes me very happy – not only that someone’s liked my story, but also because it’s only the third (I think) competition I’ve entered. I usually don’t because all the editing work I do means that, invariably, I’ll have edited something that has been earmarked for one competition or other. So yes, I’m very, very pleased about that.

Tomorrow I start my three days working with younger writers at Ecclesall Library in Sheffield which I can’t wait for.

In the meantime, and until I get chance to go through all the photos from the event, here’s me reading at Off The Shelf festival (from Not So Perfect). You can see Marina Lewycka to my right, and, next to her, Virginia Macgregor, and then the very lovely Trisha Cooper.

 

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Just a quick one today because I am busy and there are many things that need to be done before I install myself in Ecclesall Library for a few days to work with some young writers there. Very pleased to hear that the event sold out a couple of weeks ago. I’m looking forward to it very much.

So, a re-cap:

The Poised Pen flash fiction competition I’m judging closes on the 31st. Get your entries in!

Beautiful Trees has had its first review.

And here’s the wonderful display that the brilliant Alexis at Sheffield Central Children’s Library magicked to celebrate the work that we did there over the summer. Here I am, in a new scarf, being impressed.

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And So It Begins. The First Review is Here

So, the first review of A Book of Beautiful Trees is in.

I’ve said it many times before, I know, but there’s something unique about having a brand new book out. There’s the obvious excitement and pride. That’s normal. And there’s a real joy in knowing that people will read it. But – and I don’t think this will ever change – there’s also an enormous fear – fear that it’s no good, fear that no one will like it, fear that you’ll be found out as a complete imposter who should be banned from ever writing anything for public consumption ever again. And I know it’s not just me who feels that and I’d argue that that very human fear is what makes good authors; I’m not saying that I’m one, but I do know that it makes me try that extra bit harder. High standards are important.

Me, working on Beautiful Trees in the spring. Sowing seeds...
Me, working on Beautiful Trees in the spring. Sowing seeds…

So when you’re able to see that people really, honestly, enjoyed your book, it’s one hell of a relief. Especially when that book’s a kind of weird picture book for grown ups. And that’s when you allow that joy and pride back in, if only for a few moments.

Last Saturday I was on a panel at the Off The Shelf Festival of Words in Sheffield (more on that very soon) and I read from Beautiful Trees in public for the very first time and the response was incredible. People liked it. And bought it for themselves and for presents, and I couldn’t be more thankful for that. As I said, more on that soon.

And a little while ago – just as I was leaving to head to the city centre to do errands I saw that the first review of it’s actually up here on the internet. It’s from Dan Powell, someone whose own work I love (I was delighted to give him a quote for his excellent collection a little while ago) and who’s a great person –  and he liked it too. You can read the full review here. Here’s a snippet:

“I leaped from tree to word and back again. And now I can’t wait to explore the final instalment. In the mean-time I will continue to follow the advice of my previous review and keep these books on the coffee table, in the glove-box, or on a shelf in the kitchen, so that I or someone else can return to it in a spare moment and climb once more through the twisting limbs of its narrative and verdant foliage of the illustrations.”

Of course, that makes me very, very happy.

So thank you, all. Not just to those who came along on Saturday, and not just to Dan – but to everyone who’s spent their hard earned money on my words and especially to those who’ve gone out of their way to say nice things about them.

More soon…

You can pre-order Beautiful Trees from all good book retailers.

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Let’s Get Digital, Digital

It’s a great pleasure to welcome Samantha Tonge to the blog. I’ll be honest, it’s absolutely beyond me why she’s not been here before (but maybe that’s had a lot to do with her ridiculously prolific publishing schedule or the fact that I have been pretty busy myself). But she is here and that’s all that matters. And she has a new book out – My Big Fat Christmas Wedding.

I’ve known Samantha for years – we were members of the same online writing group once upon a time, so I’ll have known her since before my first book came about – so getting on for ten years then. And I remember, when I was touring that book, her coming along with her lovely family at an event I did at a library. Samantha’s definitely one of the nice ones. And on top of that, she’s a great (bestselling!) writer. So here she is, to talk about the world of digital publishing. Sit back and enjoy. I did…

My Big Fat Christmas Wedding cover

Down and Dirty with Digital Publishing.

 

In September 2013 I signed a digital-first, 3-book contract with CarinaUK, an imprint of Harlequin – now under the HarperCollins umbrella (it’s complicated!) And yet I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Over the years I had dreamt of a traditional deal, where my books would also be available in paperback and in all the shops. So two years on, I thought I’d share my experience with you (which might, of course, be different to another digital-first author’s).

Firstly, I’ve had to get to grips with promoting myself and my work pretty speedily – I am fortunate in that I love Facebook and Twitter. It’s harder if you don’t. I did initially dabble with Pinterest and tumblr as well, but my advice is to concentrate on the social platforms you really enjoy. Recently I’ve discovered Instagram and have made sales and connected with new readers that way as well – plus the photo-shopping facilities make for far more pleasant promo pictures! I probably spend as much time networking and promoting, as I do writing. To me, it is equally as important.

How do I manage that? I am lucky – I write full-time and my children are older now. However, I am in awe of some writing friends who have jobs and a young family… I imagine they are highly organised and work later hours. My website and social media accounts were already set up and growing before I finally got that deal, which saved a lot of work in the first instance. I schedule tweets using HootSuite and in the evenings am often on the sofa, in front of the television, using the Photogrid and Photolab apps on my phone to put together fun promo posters to share online the next day.

It’s a full-time job – a vocation – no doubt about that. My books are not in shops (or weren’t until recently – more on that later) so to achieve visibility I have to advertise them online, for example in me bannersuitable Facebook reader groups. I use the appropriate hashtags on Twitter to reach my audience, such as #chicklit #Kindle #bookboost. I spend time cultivating relationships with readers, reviewers and bloggers. Over the last two years I’ve learnt a lot – and connected with many generous people, having organised a total of five blog tours. Above all, I’ve grasped the fact that you can’t be apologetic about promotion. It’s part of the job and about getting your products in front of customers’ eyes, end of. The key is to mix it up with content that is not just promotional. As a romance author, cake, cats and cocktails seem to work!

Some might say, if you are doing all that self-promotion, what is the difference between digital-first and self-publishing? Well, certainly at Carina, I have access to the editorial and digital-pricing expertise of Harlequin and HarperCollins and my work is launched from their huge platform. And whilst I might do a lot of the front-of-house promotion myself, there is a strategy behind the scenes. Carina is excellent at getting its books into Amazon promotions. My debut, Doubting Abbey, is currently in the Amazon autumn sale, for example, so is once again bringing in income. Plus the editors are keen to build brands and always looking to your future.

That’s the other thing about digital-first… five blog tours, five books in two years… The turnaround is very fast and that has plusses and cons. It’s exciting. You create a brand and backlist very quickly which is great for you the author and your pocket. And what a whirlwind to hand in your manuscript and two months later sometimes, see it on the virtual shelves, having been revised, edited and given a gorgeous cover. But it is incredibly hard work. You need to be able to meet deadlines in a way you never have before.

Admittedly, I’ve been fortunate in that my books have achieved decent sales. Romance is very well suited to the digital form and market – it doesn’t necessarily suit every genre. Before signing with a digital-first publisher I would study their backlist and see how well your particular area has performed. Cheap prices rule in the ebook romance world, which can lead to a much wider audience, higher volume of sales and bigger profit. My summer novel, Game of Scones, at 89p reached #5 in the overall Kindle AmazonUK chart and stayed in the top #20 for several weeks. And with the digital-first imprints the royalty rates are excellent – 40% with Carina. Bookouture is another successful digital-first imprint with a great royalty rate and a good number of its books in the Kindle top #100.

What’s more, eventually, your books might end up in shops. Doubting Abbey, is currently in The Works and last year’s Christmas book. Mistletoe Mansion, will be there later this month. What a thrill!

So, in hindsight, I am incredibly grateful that my then-agent helped me keep an open mind and grasped the digital-first opportunity firmly with both hands – even though it wasn’t what I had originally aimed for. It has helped me create a brand and given me a reasonable income (touch wood) and the excellent editors I have worked with have taught me more than I ever imagined possible. My writing has, in my opinion, grown, and it took a slightly different direction with Game of Scones and my latest release, the standalone sequel My Big Fat Christmas Wedding. This, I believe, is partly the result of so many rounds of revisions in such a short space of time with different books. Above all else, at Carina, I would say the editors (and covers – very important when most customers will only see a thumbnail of your book -) are superb.

As a final plus, although I did have an agent, you don’t need one to submit your work to most of these imprints.

If you decide to go ahead, best of luck. There are negatives – publishing dates can be unexpectedly changed and a fast-turnaround can bring its own stresses. Not every author’s experience is the same as mine. But if I was back in September 2013, I wouldn’t be able to sign that contract quick enough.
About the author…

Samantha Tonge lives in Cheshire with her lovely family and a cat that thinks it’s a dog. When not writing, she spends her days cycling and willing cakes to rise. She has sold over 80 short stories to women’s magazines. Her bestselling debut novel, Doubting Abbey, was shortlisted for the Festival of Romantic Fiction best Ebook award in 2014. Her summer 2015 novel Game of Scones hit #5 in the UK Kindle chart.

About the Book…

Things don’t always run smoothly in the game of love…

As her Christmas wedding approaches, a trip back to snowy England for her ex’s engagement party makes her wonder if those are wedding bells she’s hearing in her mind, or warning bells. She longs for the excitement of her old London life – the glamour, the regular pedicures. Can she really give that all up to be…a fishwife?
There’s nothing for it but to throw herself into bringing a little Christmas magic to the struggling village in the form of a Christmas fair. Somewhere in amidst the sparkly bauble cakes and stolen scones, she’s sure she’ll come to the right decision about where she belongs…hopefully in time for the wedding…

Perfect for fans of Lindsey Kelk and Debbie Johnson. Don’t miss the Christmas Wedding of the year!

Links

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamTongeWriter

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamanthaTongeAuthor

Website: http://samanthatonge.co.uk/

AmazonUK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Big-Fat-Christmas-Wedding-ebook/dp/B00XAFSXFG/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1444041016&sr=1-1&keywords=my+big+fat+christmas+wedding

AmazonUS: http://www.amazon.com/My-Big-Fat-Christmas-Wedding-ebook/dp/B00XAFSXFG/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

 

 

Me at the BBC

I was lucky enough to be asked to run a series of writing workshops at the BBC recently. I went to their studios in Birmingham a few weeks ago and to Media City in Manchester the week before last and I had a really wonderful time. The workshops went really well, and were really well received, and some really cool work was produced – and I got to meet some pretty fantastic people. And, of course, I got to feel honoured and important to be working there so even my ego was happy.

And I got to meet a Dalek. And be next to an actual TARDIS. And I’m still not sure what the best bit was.

 

Huge thanks to all who came, and to those who’ve been in touch since, and to everyone who organised and looked after me – it was ace and I’m looking forward to what’s next already.

 

And here are some pictures..

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Saturday

Just a reminder that this Saturday I’ll be doing this with Marina Lewycka and Virgina Macgregor (we start at 3pm). I’d love to see you there.

It’s All A Fiction – Readers’ Afternoon

  • £7.00 /£5.00 (Cons)
  •  Disabled access
17
OCT
SATURDAY
Starts at 1:30PM
Ends at 4:30PM
Quaker Meeting House
10 St James Street
S1 2EW 

An afternoon of reading heaven for fiction lovers with the chance to meet six super authors as well as other people who love books and reading as much as you do. Authors taking part are Natasha Pulley with her historical fantasy debut The Watchmaker of Filgree Street, Simon Toyne with his original and compelling thriller Solomon Creed, Stevan Alcock with his unforgettable coming of age debut set in Leeds during the Yorkshire Ripper murders Blood Relatives, Virginia Macgregor with her beautiful engaging debut which looks at the treatment of the elderly What Milo Saw and Sheffield based writer Nik Perring with his unusual and captivating book Beautiful Trees.

Joining them will be Sheffield based, best-selling novelist Marina Lewycka. Her novels include A Short History of Tractors in UkranianVarious Pets Alive and Dead and We Are All Made of Glue.

The afternoon will also include fun quizzes, competitions and giveaways for everyone who attends.

Thanks to Bloomsbury, Harper Collins, Fourth Estate, Little Brown, Roast Books and Penguin Random House for their kind support.

Event Type
Readers’ Day
Event Genre
Fiction
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Pre-Order Beautiful Trees

A Book of Beautiful Trees is now available for pre-order.

Here’s the blurb as, somehow, it’s not showing up over at Amazon

Combining brevity with an overarching narrative, Nik Perring’s unusual storytelling is touching and captivating. His Beautiful series follow the lives of Lucy, Lily, and Alexander through words, trees and shapes.

In the second edition of the series, Beautiful Trees, the narrative continues to unravel amidst the branches of some of our greatest trees, brought to life by the rich and playful illustrations of Miranda Sofroniou.

Beautiful trees was released in April 2014 and Beautiful Shapes, the third books in the series, is due to be released in 2016

 

 

BeautifulTreesCover

Bollington Books

So, there is so, so much I probably should be sharing at the moment but time is at a premium and it would be an absolute whopper of a post. I honestly don’t think I’ve been busier than this in a long while (and that’s considering I’m usually pretty busy). Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been at Stockport, Macclesfield, Birmingham New Street, Manchester Piccadilly, Crewe, Sheffield, and Rotherham train stations to get to things I’ve been doing, and that’s forgetting editing and teaching and prep for Beautiful Trees and events and suchlike.

So, here are a few photos from the event I ran at Bollington Library a little while ago – the result of an eight week course I ran for junior writers. Over those eight weeks we came up with brilliant story ideas and turned them into really brilliant stories and then, after, we put them into actual books and I couldn’t be happier or prouder with what everyone produced. Here’s the authors who could make it receiving their books. Well done, to everyone involved. It was fun.

 

There were readings…

2015 09 15 Nik's Junior writing group presentation 003

 

And more readings…

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And proud smiles with brilliant books…

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And even a little shared joke.

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And presentations too…

 

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Thank you, Cate, for the pictures.

 

More soon. Promise.

(PS There are still places left for my half term juniors’ workshop at Ecclesall Library – details here.)

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Update and Other People’s Books

Quick update on my Off The Shelf appearance (as mentioned here):

I’m on a panel with Marina Lewycka and Virginia Macgregor and we will start at 3pm (The Quaker Meeting House, Sheffield) on October 17th. (Full details here.)

 

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And other people’s books. Yes. It’s not just about me on here, you know. Well, not all the time.

I’ve been lucky in that, for the past nine years, I’ve run a writing group in my hometown of Bollington (give me a shout if you fancy joining – we’re all very friendly). And I’ve loved it – we’ve had all sorts of writers doing all sorts of writing and we’ve produced some really cool stuff. And now, some of the members have released books on kindle and I couldn’t be happier to recommend them.

First up, with a foreword from none other than Dame Vera Lynn and the proceeds going to The Poppy Appeal, the new to kindle after a successful paperback, is Jenny Martin’s Aftermath – a brilliant collection of poems and short stories marking WW1’s centenary.

Jenny’s brand new collection of poems, Night Light, has also just been released* – and I think (with justifiable bias) that it’s brilliant – do take a look (and at only a couple of quid you could take a punt too).

(* cover by the brilliant Debra.)

And last, but by no means least, here’s a book about a volunteer’s time in Ghana – By God’s Grace. Barbara was there for over a year and this book is packed with stories of her time there – from the hilarious ‘eyebrow incident’ to the exciting and interesting and then the sombre. What’s especially cool is that it doubles up as a guidebook – not only packed with useful tips on visiting Ghana or Africa, but on volunteering abroad too. Well worth a look. And what’s more, all the proceeds will go to the brilliant J.Initiative who are doing good things, and to VSO too.

So there we go. Three great books. Do have a look and support authors who’ve been doing things under their own steam and despite my guidance if you can. I know they’d appreciate it and so would the charities.

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And, while we’re talking of writing group members… I’ve been meaning to share this for a while – a blogging award (been a while since I had one of them!) from J.D. Richardson – another very talented writer. I don’t have the time just now to fulfil all of the criteria (I actually think this past few months have been my busiest ever in writing and even looking at my calendar’s making me long for a sleep) but it’s lovely to see a few good and familiar faces over on her list and I’d definitely suggest checking them out.

And, as to how this blog started… Way back in 2006 to document the time when my first book came out and me touring it (somehow a lot of those early posts seem to have been lost when I changed sites/providers/something) and to spread the good word of good fiction. I still try…

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