I presented my book at the Elefantro Bookfair in Bucharest. Of course, Covid restrictions were in place so I was asked by my publisher Curtea Veche to make a short film in English to introduce myself and my book. The pronouncing of Ghiodanul Cel Greu took some practice! But, it was so much fun feeling connected at such a wonderful book and author event!
I was very honoured to be invited as one of the local authors to take part in the Storytown book festival
We spent the day with local children and their families, talking about their favourite books! What an amazing way to spend the day … deep in talk about literature with some very clever young minds.
A few future authors were definitely in the room that day! This is what author events and book festivals are all about – igniting something in young readers and writers.
Foreign rights have been a way for my children’s books to carry my stories around the world, at a time when borders are closed, restrictions are in force and businesses have been affected to the point of closure. I feel incredibly lucky that the book and publishing community has somehow managed to carry on, under difficult circumstances but nevertheless, carry on!
So, I want to give the biggest shout out to all of those foreign rights managers who have taken a chance on a little known author, in a very small corner of the UK.
The Heavy Bag: Danish – Straarup og Co, Swedish – Isa Bok Forlag, Romanian – Curtea Veche, Turkish – Gergedan Yayinlari, French – L’editions Prunelle, Netherlands/Belgium – Van Driel Publishing.
The Slow Superhero: UK – Ventorros Press, Russia – NIGMA, Netherlands/Belgium – Van Driel Publishing.
I was invited to the Bath Kid lit Festival – Launch party and it was an amazing night! After a year of so many restrictions and cancellations, it was so lovely to attend an ‘in-person’ author event.
Cressida Cowell joined us and spoke about her quest to get books into every child’s hands and she gave a wonderful insight into striving to become the best author you can be!
On the 11th of September, I attended the Chiswick Book Festival with my literary agent AnnaKarin Klerfalk
Such a wonderful book event with some very inspiring author events. Book festivals are the heart of the book industry and have recently been affected due to the pandemic but, when put on safely and with respect, they are definitely worth attending for both authors and the public.
Here is to the Chiswick Book Festival 2022!
I want to share with you the most amazing short film that has been produced by film-maker Cara Mia Petersen
One early morning in September, I ventured out with Cara and my 5-year-old daughter, taking a yellow Heavy Bag up to a misty forest, letting Cara then create her magic!
She depicted the theme of The Heavy Bag so beautifully! It transcends languages and communities.
Thank you Cara
My first American interview was with Soulbase Mag a beautiful magazine that ” is a connector between continents through stories, nature, food and the other themes we explore. We connect passionate people from around the world because we believe we are all an inspiration”.
Soulbase magazine is run by the hugely talented Annika Bielig Bussmann who is originally from Germany now resides in Portland, Oregon, where she curates and publishes her magazine, highlighting female talents from around the world.
The Telegraph featured myself as an author and my book – The Heavy Bag. The article spoke about the children affected by grief due to Covid and how The Heavy Bag is being used in Primary schools across the UK and Europe. I was very honoured to be featured in such a huge national paper and very grateful for the coverage to bring this emotional support book to the attention of all those who need it.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/parenting/wrote-book-help-children-cope-grief-went-global/
You may think as an author you have got social media activity down! You keep your tabs constantly open as you Tweet, Reel, Poke, Message, Gram and Tok throughout the day
You’re also pretty happy with your sellability due to the number of bookstores you’ve got your book into? You’ve been a super pro and signed up to Gardners and now you’re on the local high-street!
Actually, your superpower could be how you present yourself? You’re enthusiastic, you’re present, you’re confident and you’re relevant ….. All curated of course, BUT this is a mass-market that is flooded!
Pull your cape in for just a minute and have a think of how you could open NEW doors as an author …. Far away doors, mysterious doors, doors you thought were mere Trompe-l’œils …(the clue is in the last example)
Your Superpower as an author begins the moment you start translating your book!
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When I wrote The Heavy Bag a German friend of mine offered to translate it for me. I had no idea what this would start and I certainly didn’t have an international plan for the book … We were in the middle of a worldwide lockdown, borders were closed and travel was forbidden. I just thought …
“Well that would be nice to see my words in another language”
Naive and nonchalant!
However, I soon realised that translating your book gives you that next level endorsement, suddenly you are taken a bit more serious as an indie author.
It’s like having feet on the ground, in a different country – showcasing your book … reaching places you yourself couldn’t!
The book speaks for you even if you can’t in that language.
It also suddenly makes YOU attractive to foreign rights publishing departments, they have something to base off their own “what ifs” Could they translate it into their language? And they have their very own professional translators to do just that!
You could potentially go from being an indie writer; bearing the costs and responsibilities of all that this encompasses – to being signed to a publisher and them doing a lot of the work!
And the great thing if you are an indie writer/self-publisher – YOU own the rights to your book… You could keep on selling it to different countries; the only limit is how many languages there are!
You could see your book selling in stores around the world, all because you thought outside of the box.
Of course, this all helps for your next book and there will be a next book!
Being a published author worldwide looks very good on your next manuscript submission!
I am not exaggerating when I say that I’m constantly messaged on my Instagram from other authors wanting to self publish a book. How do you do it?
My answer to them is, don’t focus too much on how to actually self publish because that’s already out there for everyone to find out… Write your book, print your book, sign up to Nielsen’s books and Gardners so you can offer it to stores and try to sell it alongside on Amazon. Writing, printing and selling the book is only the beginning and actually a tiny part of being an author!
The real work and success comes the other side, marketing it and you!
Finding your niche whilst staying contemporary is my first big piece of advice. The niche will be a way to engage with specific communities and make YOUR book stand out. For example, my children’s book The Heavy Bag focuses on grief. Some may think that this restricts me… it doesn’t! It has meant that I have linked up and collaborated with charities such as UNICEF, schools, grief groups, festivals and therapists and let me tell you… the grief community are a group of wonderful human beings… they have shouted about my book from the UK, across Europe and over the ocean to the US. But, to get into stores you need to be contemporary because that is what they want! ‘Saleability‘ End of.
So, research what makes a book contemporary and bullet point these points in your request to them. And yes, it’s that easy! Email stores and ask them to stock your book. And don’t be restricted to the UK because stores across Europe have English sections! I contacted around 20 stores a day in the beginning.
Talking of Europe… my second big piece of advice to you is to get your book translated!
For two reasons. The first is obvious, you can promote it in a different country and language but the second reason is more of a strategic plan…! This could get your indie book in with publishing houses because a lot of publishers have a foreign rights department so if you can first get your book translated by a friend into a different language then your next step is to approach publishing houses foreign rights’ departments and offer them the English version for THEM to translate it into another language. It only takes one foreign publisher to take up this idea and then suddenly others are interested.
I have now sold The Heavy Bag to SEVEN foreign publishing houses because I own the rights to everything… The perks of being a self-publisher.
My final piece of advice is to market YOU… link EVERYTHING back to you. Your writing is wonderful, your book is amazing but the bottom line is stores, readers, publishers and potential agents want YOU, you are the face and brains of the book and you will be behind all the other books you have planned. So, you get up every single day and say to yourself “What do I need to do today?” Contact 5 people a day, whether this is people to collaborate with, agents for your future books, stores to stock your current book or media to feature you. It’s hard, it’s monotonous, it’s tiring and even deflating some days but it WILL pay off!
So, once you’ve done the easy part of writing the book, the hard work begins. Good luck!