An amazing thing happened to me a few weeks ago. Continue reading “Illustrated YA? What do you think? Chris Riddell Makes Beauty Sleep More Beautiful”
Tag: Usborne
Beauty Sleep – Let the Launching Begin
The last two weeks I have been all over the place celebrating book week and preparing for the launch of Beauty Sleep. I can’t get over how lucky I am that this is part of my job – thanks to all the lovely schools and book shops that have welcomed me so far. We’ve laughed and cried and I met Hercule Potatoe Two more weeks to go – in which I return to my old school for the first time in 34 years. Nervous. Moi? It’s keeping me from my beauty sleep…
Credit Karen Abrams
Credit Marie Basting
Beauty Sleep is available in all it’s shiny glory from all good book shops! Foyles Charing Cross and Forbidden Planet have signed copies!
More of Me is One Year Old
By Kathryn Evans
I feel like I should have a little birthday tea. One year ago today, my first book was born. After more than 15 years of trying, I became an actual, real life published author. My debut YA novel More of Me was released by Usborne to U.K. readers.
The birth was celebrated by many of my amazing friends. The tribute below was lead by Candy Gourlay and Amanda Lillywhite, who encouraged enormous numbers of people to do this to their faces and post it all over facebook and twitter.
I was so moved by this, it’s amazing, don’t you think? And then very many of them turned out for my launch parties – the first hosted by Daunt Books, the second, by Waterstones. You can see loads of pictures here but this is one of my favourites, because it sums up all the support, kindness and squidging I’ve had along the way:
I think it’s traditional to talk about the highs and lows of having a first bookbaby- and at some point I will be doing a post on that for SCBWI’s Words and Pictures – I’ll link to it when it comes out. But not here. Here, in the spirit of new motherhood, I’m going to celebrate my book’s first birthday by inviting a few pregnant friends over…I think I may be taking this metaphor a bit too far…Basically, I’m going to celebrate my book’s birthday with the
Joy of New Books!
During this last year, I teamed up with four other SCBWI debut authors, my fellow Lost and Founders, and they all have new books out this year. I’ve read one of them, Olivia Levez, The Circus, and loved it. Sue Wallman’s See How They Lie, Patrice Lawrence’s Indigo Donut and Eugene Lambert’s Into The No Zone, I couldn’t quite get my hands on yet but I will! I will! I’m so happy for them, they give me hope! I’m still writing my book 2 ( slacker).
I also want to mention Peter Bunzl’s Cogheart – this book was Usborne’s lead debut in 2016 and made a huge and deserved splash. It’s middle grade with a strong story, wonderful characters and a gorgeous steampunk feel to it. If you haven’t read it, do – I can’t wait for the follow up, MoonLocket, out in May..need to get working on my dress ups for that event…
Fellow Slushpiler Teri Terry has a new series launching in May this year, Contagion – I’ve not read it yet but she is consistently good, I loved Book of Lies released this year and I can’t wait for this creepy looking series!
I am also desperate to read Candy Gourlay’s new book but I don’t know when that’s going to happen – come on Candy, you have readers waiting!! ( I keep nagging int he hope she’ll give me a sneaky peak…sigh…)
I’ve just realised I could go on forever with this list…especially as I want to give a heads up to some brilliant SCBWI authors who have recently been signed to an agent or publishing house and I know are going to produce amazing books: Em Lynas, Sheila Averbach and Lucy Van Smit get on with it gang, I await new treats!
There are so many more, it’s going to be another exciting year for books and hoorah for that. Now it’s nearly time for cake, but first I must say:
Thank you:
- Heaps if you were involved in More of Me winning, being nominated for, or long listed or shortlisted for an award. I am beyond grateful. And a bit stunned to be honest.
- A ton if you read and reviewed More of Me, or just read and loved it or read and didn’t like it but didn’t slay me in a review – or if you did slay me in a review you did it for the betterment of book kind.
- A gazillion times if you were involved in anyway in spreading More of Me’s wings worldwide, I love seeing all the foreign editions and hearing from readers all over the world.
- Mahoosively if you’re a school or library that’s invited me to talk to your children.
- Endlessly for encouraging, handholding and being generally fabulous.
And now….CAKE!
Book tour! First stop with the Lost and Founders
The Lost and Found tour kicked off in the ENORMOUS Birmingham Waterstones – that’s it below, the tall building being faced down by the famous Birmingham Bull of The Bull Ring.
It was busy, first they moved our room to a bigger space, then they had to bring in more chairs – Thanks Midlands , you rock ( and thanks Cousin Clare whose photo’s I have stolen)!
Michelle Toy was a brilliant chair but then, she knows her books being a brilliant book blogger on Tales of Yesterday
We had so much fun!
All credit to our awesome audience who asked some fantastic questions – a real mix of readers and writers. I think it went pretty well! Author Juliet Clare Bell said:
I genuinely thought that was one of the best authors-talking-at-an-event I’ve ever been to. Just great.
Come and see us at our next stop!
And don’t forget our giveaway – we’re collecting followers at a rate of knots – the next word will be revealed VERY SOON!
More of Me Goes Global!
By Kathryn Evans
There are things you don’t even think about when you’re longing for that first publisher to take an interest in your writing. One of those is foreign rights sales – and they come as such a lovely surprise when they happen. Continue reading “More of Me Goes Global!”
A Week in the Life of an Author
The craziest of train journeys; a wonderful day with librarians and a short lived but highly productive afternoon at the SCBWI writer’s retreat… Continue reading “A Week in the Life of an Author”
What’s it like? After Your book Launch.
It’s been three weeks since More of Me was launched and I am well aware my attention to this blog has been SCANT. I am ashamed but I also have no idea where to start in sharing what it’s been like. It’s been crazy. So I’m taking a little writerly advice and am “showing not telling” everything that has basically run through my brain in the last few days. Don’t worry, edited highlights only…
As launch week draws to a close, this happens:
I’ll just have a little look on Amazon- sales rank 189? What does that mean? Am I doing OK? Is anyone (apart from my fab friends and family buying the book?) How do I know? Oooh! New review…Better check Goodreads…
Oh.
1 star?
Really?
Okay…I can live with that, there are all these other stars – these other lovely stars.
And look at this! My book on a table in Foyles!
But there’s still that 1 star and no explanation. Really? Ok, let it go, let it go, it’s fine.
Oh that’s nice, look at that blog post for the Scottish Book Trust, I forgot I did that – and look how many people are tweeting. That’s great. It’s all great.
I wonder how many books we’ve sold?Can I ask that? Is that a thing? Oh, it’s too early to tell. OK.
And then, this surfaces in my brain…
OH GOD, I HAVE TO FINISH THE NEW BOOK
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OH GOD, I HAVE TO FINISH THE NEW BOOK
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And there was this:
COCKTAILS at the #Yaspeakeasy event in London’s Drink, Shop, Do. What a great night! Nicci Cloke, Holly Bourne, Eve Ainsworth and ME!! Reading our books, drinking our own book cocktails and making up ridiculous stories about dinosaurs ( Nicci Cloke and I were on a team and quite frankly, our dino snakes and ladders improvisation was genius – we should have won, we so were robbed…) My fab editor Sarah Stewart even came along, so I genuinely could pretend having so much fun was work…
More of Me book and cocktail!
Booktails!
My first public reading of More of Me!
Me, Eve Ainsworth and Holly Bourne
Plus – I came home with a haul of signed books – most of which I’ve already read and already love (you may have seen me blubbing over the first in Holly Bourne’s “Am I Normal yet” books in this review) but LOOK – I also got Eve Ainsworth’s new book and it isn’t even out yet ! ( I started reading it on the train and it is FAB)
Today, I am back at my desk checking invoices for the farm, fixing the network printers in the office and this is running through my brain again:
OH GOD, I HAVE TO FINISH THE NEW BOOK
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OH GOD, I HAVE TO FINISH THE NEW BOOK
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But on the whole, life’s being pretty kind to this author. I even managed to cope with this review:
A very original and interesting idea that is sadly very very badly exploited. The whole plot makes no sense, in the end none of the interesting issues are “solved”, but just magically wished away by a plot device. Characters are bland and generic, and the one very interesting idea of having copies of you laying around is criminally under explored.
Well, you can’t please everyone can you?
OH GOD, I HAVE TO FINISH THE NEW BOOK
What’s it like? 2 Days To Launch Day
I have tried to write a sensible “week before launch day” post. Honestly I have tried . The thing is,
I AM TOO EXCITED TO EVEN SIT STILL
On Monday very many of my friends and family will be joining myself and Usborne to celebrate the launch of More of Me in London. That is genuinely enough excitement for anyone. Then I’m doing it all again in Chichester on Thursday. I am as giddy as a school girl who’s eaten too many fruit pastilles and just been introduced to Beyonce.
That is my current base line level of excitement.
Add to that a continuous trickle of breath takingly good reviews, ( THANK YOU SO MUCH), winning a silver medal at last weekend’s fencing competition, being sent gorgeous flowers by my Aussie Aunt and Uncle and jewellery from my baby sister, signing contracts with my German publisher and other behind the scenes publishy stuff and well, you can see why I am actually bouncing off the walls.
So I’ve given up. Nothing sensible is coming out of this head for at least a week. Thank you, all of you, your support means the world. I shall try and be slightly less annoying when it’s all over.
PS: What’s it like? IT’S AWESOME, keep writing – it is SO WORTH IT.
A Writer to Delight in – Holly Bourne
I picked up the Manifesto on How To Be Interesting, and then Am I Normal Yet because I wanted to read a few more Usborne YA books and get to know the neighbours.
One more reason to love my publisher.
Holly Bourne is my kind of writer – honest and playful and prepared to dig deep. Right now, she’s my new favourite. There are actual tears in this review.
What’s it like?….Phase Two of the Editing Process
Regular readers will gather, from the huge gap in posts, that Phase 2 of Editing More of Me has been somewhat more stressful than Phase 1. There are a number of reasons for this: Continue reading “What’s it like?….Phase Two of the Editing Process”
Kathryn Evans 