Final time to see me this year.

 If you are in the SE2 London area of Abbey Wood this Saturday come along and find out all about autism. There will be lots of gifts, including my books, all geared for autistic families. As usual at events, all my books are discounted and you won't find them at that price anywhere else. Hope to see people there. It will be my final fair this year.

It's getting very Christmassy now

 

If you couldn't come last Saturday to the library to see me, then you have the opportunity of seeing me at the above Christmas market. Lots of craft and art things for sale. Usually from hand made cards to pottery and my books. I have found extra little books I had printed for a few of my teen and magical realism adult stories and plan to bring those too for sale. So come along and see what I have to offer.

Hope to see you there.

(See you there Councillor Best).

 

This will be my second and last Christmas Fair this year. Do come along if you are near the Sydenham area on Saturday. Thankfully, there will be no more storms outside as it is forecast to be cold and dry. There will be handmade jewellery, handmade cards, as well as my books. If you buy one of my books you will get a free magnet. Each child who visits Santa will receive a gift. 

Come and say hello to us all.

Hope to see you there.

 

If you are in the Sydenham SE26 London area on 7 December, please come along and say hello. I will be there with all my books which will be selling at my in-person discount. I know there will also be different crafts such as home-made jewellery and diamond art pictures, home-made greeting cards, other author books and paintings. Last year there was even a singing choir but don't know if they are appearing this year. Who knows.

Hope to see you there. 

(Will you be there Councillor Best?)

Title and branding - A cautionary tale

I was going to post about shopping as an Aspie but something cropped up yesterday that made me feel I should warn others about. It is about titles and branding for book series. As some of you know, I have branded my new fiction series about children with Asperger's Syndrome a certain name. I did do lots of research on names back in May when I was thinking about it all. One name I really liked but had been used by someone else, so I message them on Facebook to ask if they owned the rights to it. I never heard back...until yesterday. Because I hadn't heard all this time, of course, I went ahead and used the name. The message I got yesterday was that the name was the name of the company founded by the woman who runs it and she had the rights to it, and the only other person who could use it with authorisation was a specialist publisher I know about. Anyone else couldn't use it, and if they did, they could end up being sued by the company. This gave me great worry and anxiety with my own Asperger's. I thought, oh no, I am going to get in to great trouble here and panicked. I had to come up with alternative names for my brand.

I came up with a couple of titles this morning, but when I Googled both, they were already taken by magazines and companies, so they were a no go as well. I got a few suggestions from others on a FB post I put up last night, but most of them are too similar to the first one I had. One suggestion, by my designer, Rachel Lawston, was to drop the idea of a brand. And this is what I now plan to do. Someone else I know said that if I do drop the brand idea, then my books would reach a wider audience. So, it is a good idea. I want my books to find as many readers as possible. I have deleted the brand name on the blurb for Billy, and will ask Rachel to delete it from the cover, too. For those books I already have ordered, I am going to blank out the name. The same with the postcards I have which were made from the cover. I might relaunch it again in the new year, we shall see.

So, the motto here is: if you are thinking of giving a series a brand name, like I did, do a thorough research. If it looks like it has been taken, even by a magazine, forget the idea. You will be thankful in the future. I did want to give all my books a brand but it might seem it is best not to. You will see from this post that I haven't actually put the title of the brand I had, that is because I have emailed the company concerned to say that I won't use the term anywhere again.

Me, Asperger's and Library Events

Last Saturday I took part in the local community library's grand sale. I was hoping to sell a book or two of mine. I set up a table in the library, next to an older woman who was selling her hand-made jewellery. I got chatting to her about selling. Then came along a younger woman who started talking to me about her writing and asked me to have a read of what she had written. I agreed. Seeing her with the main librarian I know, I realised she had been the lady that had already been mentioned to me. In a break, I read what she had written, and said she had good ideas (she writes fantasy for teens) and needed to write more for me to have a good read of it. I have since decided I do like what she has written, it will be fun to help her write it and want to be her coach. It being a warm day, I later decided to join the jewellery lady outside, which is by a park. We got chatting again outside, and I also chatted to the lady opposite me who was selling home-made natural salts.

So, how did this affect my Asperger's? Well, I think it helped me. I got talking to others whom I hadn't met before, because we were all selling things and trying to get customers. It helped me get out of the house and meet people. Inside the library wasn't too bad, although when children came in it did get a bit noisy but outside where it's more open and bigger was better.

I did sell books - the main librarian returned from a break at her house, and bought a copy of each of my paperback for the library.

I will probably take part in their Xmas fayre in December, if they still have one.

Me, Asperger's and Library Events

Last Saturday I took part in the local community library's grand sale. I was hoping to sell a book or two of mine. I set up a table in the library, next to an older woman who was selling her hand-made jewellery. I got chatting to her about selling. Then came along a younger woman who started talking to me about her writing and asked me to have a read of what she had written. I agreed. Seeing her with the main librarian I know, I realised she had been the lady that had already been mentioned to me. In a break, I read what she had written, and said she had good ideas (she writes fantasy for teens) and needed to write more for me to have a good read of it. I have since decided I do like what she has written, it will be fun to help her write it and want to be her coach. It being a warm day, I later decided to join the jewellery lady outside, which is by a park. We got chatting again outside, and I also chatted to the lady opposite me who was selling home-made natural salts.

So, how did this affect my Asperger's? Well, I think it helped me. I got talking to others whom I hadn't met before, because we were all selling things and trying to get customers. It helped me get out of the house and meet people. Inside the library wasn't too bad, although when children came in it did get a bit noisy but outside where it's more open and bigger was better.

I did sell books - the main librarian returned from a break at her house, and bought a copy of each of my paperback for the library.

I will probably take part in their Xmas fayre in December, if they still have one.

Me, Asperger's and Library Events

Last Saturday I took part in the local community library's grand sale. I was hoping to sell a book or two of mine. I set up a table in the library, next to an older woman who was selling her hand-made jewellery. I got chatting to her about selling. Then came along a younger woman who started talking to me about her writing and asked me to have a read of what she had written. I agreed. Seeing her with the main librarian I know, I realised she had been the lady that had already been mentioned to me. In a break, I read what she had written, and said she had good ideas (she writes fantasy for teens) and needed to write more for me to have a good read of it. I have since decided I do like what she has written, it will be fun to help her write it and want to be her coach. It being a warm day, I later decided to join the jewellery lady outside, which is by a park. We got chatting again outside, and I also chatted to the lady opposite me who was selling home-made natural salts.

So, how did this affect my Asperger's? Well, I think it helped me. I got talking to others whom I hadn't met before, because we were all selling things and trying to get customers. It helped me get out of the house and meet people. Inside the library wasn't too bad, although when children came in it did get a bit noisy but outside where it's more open and bigger was better.

I did sell books - the main librarian returned from a break at her house, and bought a copy of each of my paperback for the library.

I will probably take part in their Xmas fayre in December, if they still have one.

Name your favourite book of 2014

At the last RNA meeting in Holborn last Saturday we were asked to bring our fave book of last year. Here are mine:

1. How to write and sell short stories by Della Galton. I got this as a Xmas present in 2013. I started reading it but then got other non-fiction stuff to read. Then I went to a Women's Weekly Fiction Workshop last October where Della was the main speaker and I was inspired. I read the rest of the book, and it made me decide, that yes, I do want to become a womag fiction writer.

2. Having read the above, I wanted more knowledge about writing for womag's. So I bought and read How to write short stories and How to write ghost stories by Kath McGurl. I now want to write ghost stories too for womag's.

3. As an indie author who wanted to be more business-like this year, I read 'Write Livelihood - How to create a business plan for authors ' by Ryan Petty. This is the book that I have been working the last few posts on about creating your plan.

4. I also read the first ebook in the 3-for-1 set 'Indie Author Power Pack' which is called 'Write. Publish. Repeat' by Johnny B Truant, Dave... and I can't remember the name of the third author. Buy it, cos it includes the second version of 'Let's Get Digital' by David Gaughran, and the second version of 'How to market your book' by Joanna Penn. All a v good.

5. Business books for authors by Joanna Penn. Straight forward talking for authors.

So, what have you read last year and what was your favourite book/ebook? Let me know.

How to write letters and tips talk - how it went

Last Saturday I gave a talk at Sydenham Community Library on how to write letters and tips to magazines and get paid for them. As I have had numerous successes with these myself, I thought I'd teach others to do the same and pass on my knowledge. After getting there later than I planned due to a delayed mini-cab arriving 25 minutes later, I still had time to settle down before people arrived. It was raining, so I didn't expect many to come. I was right. I only had 2 people arrive, both of whom had come to my last talk. I gave the talk. Throughout the talk, I answered questions and we chatted about writing. One of the men said that it gave him a wake-up call as he didn't realise that people wrote to magazines and got paid for them. He was going to try a filler himself. We chatted about writing and ebooks after that for a while.

While that man was finding out about what else the library did, I chatted to the other man, his friend. I also found out when the library's Xmas fayre was going to be and booked myself to have a stall for that. I will be selling my books, badges and organic products there.

So, although the weather was bad and I only had 2 people turn up, I deem the talk a success because I got them thinking about having a go themselves at writing a letter to a magazine, and I taught them something they didn't know.

This talk I am planning to sell on my new marketing website soon to be launched. If you wish to be one of the first people to know when the website goes live and when these guides are available to buy, why not sign up for my newsletter at

http://forms.aweber.com/form/25/1466306025.htm

TKMaxx and unwanted clothes and accessories

Hello there. Do you have any unwanted clothes, accessories or books in your house? I know I do. TKMaxx have partnered with Cancer Research UK again to raise money for research into child cancer. They want any unwanted clothes, shoes, accessories, books and/or DVDs and CDs. All you need to do is to put them in a plastic bag, and take them along to your nearest branch of TKMaxx. In the store you should find a huge cardboard box with the poster for the campaign. Just put the bag in there. I have already donated a pair of  joggers and a petticoat, I already have in mind more clothes and some books to give to them as well. It is a well worthy cause to donate any unwanted clothes and that, and I prefer doing it this way than in those bags you get through the letter box, which are mostly scams.

For more info check out www.tkmaxx.com, and look for give up clothes for good. Has all the info there and real life stories to inspire you to do more. Give it a go.

Summer Book Crush - Get a book boyfriend this summer for only .99 cents

Hot sun, hot sand, cool drinks, dark tans. Ahhhh. But your summer won’t be complete until you land a new BOOK BOYFRIEND, right? Lucky for you, we’ve got you covered!

SUMMER BOOK CRUSH offers 50+ titles in many genres. This means 50+ chances to (fictitiously) fall in love. And the best part? Each of these gems is only 99¢, but for a limited time only. The SUMMER BOOK CRUSH event starts on June 26th and ends (yes, even the best things in life end at some point) on June 28th. So don't wait up! Mingle with our BOOK BOYFRIENDS and invite all your friends to participate too. There are plenty of BOOK BOYS to share!

Find your summer’s fling between the pages of a book. And don't stop on one - after all we have many BOOK BOYFRIENDS for you to mingle with.

 * HAPPY READING * HAPPY SUMMER *

SCBWI Retreat - What I did; being brave

I forgot to say in the last post that on the Saturday afternoon I had a one-to-one with Lucy Christopher. I told her that I'd now added a new angle of the main character, Billy, being autistic. We talked about it all for 20 mins, and I had an encouraging chat with her about it. So encouraging, that the following morning, when I found myself sitting next to Rebecca Frazer of Orchard Books in the bar, I approached her about Billy. I asked her outright if she took submissions for 7+. She said yes, they concentrate on series fiction. Then I talked to her about the book and what I'd planned. She was v interested in it. I was heartened about it, and decided that weekend I wouldn't self-epublish first but query it with publishers again. We did writing in the morning. I drew family trees and shop layouts for the village Singleton. It helped me flesh out the series more.

In the afternoon we had a talk by Lucy Christoper and how she writes her books. Then more writing. By that time, my head was going a bit fuzzy so I decided to do some highlighting of Life instead of writing. Much easier on the brain.

We had dinner in the evening, which was gorgeous as ever. I think I had vegetables with cous cous, but added new potatoes and veg with it. I had fruit salad for dessert, and was the only one.  I have to say that the food they provided was delicious, and very helpful to me and my dairy intolerance. So much so, that during the afternoon when I asked if they had dairy free biccies, they took out some nice Freefrom ginger cookies, and later on some choc chip ones.

That night, we had a pj party. A few of the others did change into their nightwear. In a circle, (I was on the outer circle so I could sneak away), we had to read out something that we'd written that weekend. I read out a dark magic piece where the trees and the weather got rather windy when the character went through them to go to work.

Monday morning, and last day there. I worked on Billy, starting to get it ready to email to Rebecca. Then Rebecca gave a talk about Orchard Books. She told us what they did, what they were looking for, and what interested me was someone asked if they were interested in taking on authors with packaged series ideas themselves, and she said yes. After that, I told Rebecca my pitch for Billy, which I had just worked out, and she told me to send it to her when I'd finished it. So that is what I've been doing this week, and plan to email the synopsis, 3 chapters and outline for series next week.

All in all, I had a very heartening and successful retreat. Although I know others didn't.