Justine Solomons, Author at Byte The Book

Media Futures is offering Byte the Bookers a 20% discount on early booking tickets for its Publish! New adventures in innovation a day of discussion and demonstration that showcases cutting edge prototypes in a changing book publishing industry. Publish! offers you a chance to take part in a significant debate, interact with the creators of some the latest experiments in the field, and meet potential collaborators.

Speakers include: Diana Stepner, Head of Future Technologies, Pearson; Fionnuala Duggan, Managing Director for International, CourseSmart; James Huggins, Chief Executive, Me Books; Bill Thompson, Head of Partnership Development, BBC Archives; George Walkley, Head of Digital, Hachette UK; and Clare Reddington, REACT Hub and director of iShed and The Pervasive Media Studio.

Early booking ends when tickets are sold out, or by Wednesday 18 September, and go up from £75 to £100 (individual) and £125 to £175 (corporate).

Use this discount code by Sunday 15 September: PublishDisc20

For further information and to book, please visit: http://www.mediafutures.org.uk/2013/

Buy this book here.

Review by Tracey Sinclair.

The title of this book is, as the author cheerfully and rather cheekily admits, something of a misnomer, since there’s little actual evidence that William Shakespeare was ever a regular in the Southwark pub, The George Inn, which is the subject of this study. Don’t let that put you off, though – this is an entertaining romp through London history, filtered through the life of one particular pub.

Brown examines the changing fortunes of the George Inn, tucked away near London Bridge, and how they reflect the city around it. It’s a fascinating and well-researched book, written in a chatty, accessible style: Brown more usually writes about beer, so is merrily irreverent throughout, whether comparing old buildings to the Sugababes (it makes sense in the context, honest) or debunking historical myths, and his enthusiasm for his subject shines through.

Those disappointed by the lack of the Shakespearean connection can be consoled by the fact the book isn’t short on literary references: from examining how the area was transformed by the growing popularity of theatre (including, of course, plays by the Bard himself) to tracing references to London inns in literature from the days of Chaucer, to revealing how a probably fake Dickensian connection did much to save one of London’s oldest pubs, there’s plenty to get your teeth into. Thoroughly recommended.

Tracey Sinclair's second novel in the Cassandra Bick Chronicles series, Wolf Night, was self-published earlier this year and can be purchased here.

Our sponsor for this month's event is the Publishers Licensing Society. If you want to earn extra revenue from your licenses, they can help. Here's some more information:

As is regularly reported, day-to-day business for most publishers is challenging. What with navigating digital and the opportunities of ‘new’ media, competition from e-books and the inevitable Amazon, publishers are moving with the curve, or finding ways to differentiate themselves from the competition in order to stay ahead.

However, thinking smartly around supporting revenue streams, particularly around licensing content, can be an effective way to support the publishing business model.

The rise of digital, and the widespread lack of understanding of digital copyright, means that individuals often think of the digital world as free-to-view, and therefore free-to-copy. This, in addition to historical photocopying and scanning extracts of titles, means that content can now be disseminated even quicker, often without complying with copyright and without any recompense to publishers.

Managing this high volume but low-level copying can understandably be tricky. Partly, the challenge is educational, in terms of ensuring that individuals are aware that making copies of content – be it online or in print – is contravening copyright; and partly because the level of administration needed to manage individual requests to make copies of publication extracts can actually be much more time-consuming than the monetary value brought in, which needs to be a practical consideration.

With the two fold challenge of upholding copyright and also seeking a fair return on copying of content, an increasingly popular approach is collective licensing.

Collective licensing is a method for licensing the low-level photocopying, scanning and online copying of extracts of publications. In the UK, it is managed by the Publishers Licensing Society (PLS), a not-for-profit organisation set up by the publishing industry, to represent publishers in the world of rights management.

Last year, PLS distributed £33.5m to publishers from collective licensing (2012-13), and the organisation is constantly developing in consultation with the publishing industry to develop a range of rights management solutions to aid the publishing further.

“Collective licensing reduces the administrative burden on publishers, and is convenient for users wanting to copy from a wide range of publications by dealing with multiple requests with a simple mandate,” says Sarah Faulder, CEO at the Publishers Licensing Society.

“Then, licensing revenues are distributed back to publishers, for whom this is becoming an increasingly important secondary revenue stream.

“Collective licensing also enables copyright compliance for licensees, and strengthens and promotes copyright awareness, which is the cornerstone of the publishing industry.”

Interested in finding out more?

E: pls@pls.org.uk
T: 0207 079 5930
www.pls.org.uk

The Publishers Licensing Society (PLS) is a not-for-profit rights management organisation set up by the publishing industry, for the publishing industry.

Buy this book.

Review by Justine Solomons.

You know how some books stay with you for ages? Shift your world perceptions, make you re-assess your own actions and thoughts? Well, Still Alice is one of those books. It’s not a light-fluffy-by-the pool-summer-read but it’s very good and my life feels a little bit richer for having read it.

Alice is a neuroscientist with tenure at Harvard and, at fifty, is diagnosed with Early Onset Dementia. Through the course of this novel we watch Alice, her husband and their three grown-up children deal with the progress of her disease. There’s no comfortable happy ending, and at times it’s a challenging read, but there are moments of sublime beauty for example, when Alice goes swimming in the ocean at night and her husband, rather than berating, her joins her. Throughout the reader bears witness to an extremely bright narrator coping with her decaying brain.

Genova, like Alice, is also a neuroscientist; her writing is fantastic and the bold move to have an increasingly senile narrator as a focus is impressively pulled off. Given the strength of the central character I wasn’t surprised to learn that Genova initially self published this novel (it's since been published by Pocket Books in the UK). Since reading so many self-published novels I've begun to develop the thesis that self-published books expose the strength to go it alone in the feistiness of their central characters. I really did enjoy this book, even more so having learned of Genova’s academic and publishing credentials. I urge you to enrich your lives by reading this book.

Buy this book.

Review by Justine Solomons.

I remember watching the 2011 London Riots and being amazed, but also thinking ‘this is inevitable isn't it?’ Our capitalist society just isn't fair. Things like this are bound to happen when the gap between rich and poor is so big and continually getting bigger. As one of the lucky few, I'm not one who wants to upset the balance; but Courtney has done a brave thing with this book. Her expose of City life, Golden Handcuffs was great and similarly thought-provoking, but this book is even better!

Alisha is 15. She is expelled from school at the start of the book, although her school teacher, Miss Merryfield, continues to play a big part in her life. She has never known her father, left her crack-head mother and now lives with her ‘fam’ (best friend), JJ and JJ's demented nan. But when JJ's nan is taken into care, Alisha and JJ have to stay with his crew, or else be homeless. Alisha eventually does something to anger the crew and loses her ‘cotch’ (place to hang out).

All of this happens with a backdrop of mounting tension in SE5. Something is about to kick off and we, the reader, know it’s going to be the riots and it ain't going to be pretty.

I think it must be really hard to write a book like this especially as a middle class person, afforded all the privileges in life, without being condescending; but Courtney handles the subject matter really well. Alisha's voice and those around her are utterly convincing. I raced through to the end not wanting a comfortable, happy ending but keen to see how the novel would conclude. I am very happy Polly ditched her old publisher and got out from under the pink chick-lit covers.

Say it loud and say it proud, this book is self-published and EXCELLENT! Polly, hats off to you girl you've pulled a blinder with this one!

Due to be released on 12 September 2013, pre-order your copy here.

Review by Zoe Cunningham

The Cruellest Game contains an important admonition. It's one we should all know already, yet countless heroines of crime novels forget. Ladies if your husband works away from home a lot, never trust him. Call that emergency number he left you, cross check it with the company headquarters and never, ever let him manage your finances.

Hilary Bonner's tenth novel continues her previous form in bestsellers No Reason to Die and When The Dead Cry Out. The book opens and continues with beautiful descriptions of Dartmoor and life in the West of England, no doubt reflecting the author's personal experiences (Bonner was born in Bideford on the North Devon coast). Lovely local characters such as the practical vicar's wife and strikingly smart lawyers add some comfort to an otherwise desperate scenario.

The story is fast paced - within ten pages we are confronted with the first death, the suicide (or is it?) of the protagonist Marion's son. The plot is then revealed via the uncovering of various layers of deception by Marion's husband, allegedly away at work on a deep sea oil rig for large parts of the year. Has he changed his name? Where does he get his money? And why does he react so badly to Marion's best friend entering their house - what does he have to hide?

The Cruellest Game is a great read for lovers of crime fiction and thrillers, and finishes of course, with the compulsory twist at the end of the tale.

The focus was on authors at Byte The Book’s July event, with a panel of experienced and successful writers from a wide variety of literary backgrounds offering their pearls of wisdom to yet another sell-out crowd.

The discussion began with reflection on how things have changed for writers in the last decade. Best-selling author Lisa Jewell, famous for a string of wildly successful novels such as Thirtynothing and Ralph’s Party, described herself as ‘a bit of a relic’, and one of the few remaining survivors of the ‘sit in a room and deliver a book a year’ old school. Many of her contemporaries, she said, must constantly jump through hoops in order to keep their publishers satisfied - delivering ‘mini-books’ to fill the dead time between major releases, for instance - and she conceded that her personal position was both fortunate and rather unusual.

Byte the Book host Justine Solomons introduces the panel and guest chair, Salon London's Helen Bagnell

Much of the debate focussed on the growing importance of collaboration within publishing. Michele Gorman, author of the best-seller Single In The City, runs a publishing conglomerate made up of eleven previously trad-published writers called Notting Hill Press, which has been described by The Guardian as ‘the third way’. She stressed that collaboration in publishing is nothing new, of course, although as interactive author Dave Morris underlined, while a decade ago writers were aware of ‘being in a team’, they perhaps weren’t involved with every aspect of their careers in quite the same way as they are now. These days, ‘everyone needs to know a little bit about everyone else’s job’.

July Sponsors, Red Button Publishing, being thanked for their support.

Helen McGinn’s blog-to-print release, The Knackered Mother’s Wine Club, is in many ways a poster-book for how collaboration can feed success in the digital arena. Through her wine lovers’ blog, Helen kept her readers constantly updated on her progress in the literary world, revealing online that she’d been approached by a publishing house and, in doing so, taking her tribe on her journey with her. As a result, by the time the book was published, her readership were fully invested in it (indeed, some of them actually appear in it, in a section Helen put together from readers’ own wine-tasting notes).

Audience watching the panel, from right to left: Salon London's Helen Bagnell (chair), Helen McGinn, Michele Gorman, Dave Morris and Lisa Jewell

Focus eventually moved to advice for the many writers in the room. Dave noted that ‘the revolution isn’t doing everything yourself, but understanding everything’. Find people you can trust to do the jobs you can’t, he added, and then trust them (rather than hovering over their shoulder every step of the way). Michele signposted patience as the author’s biggest virtue, especially in a self-publishing environment that can tempt writers into releasing their books before they’re ready.

Our fabulous July audience at The Club at the Ivy

Finally, Lisa drew proceedings to a close by reminding everyone that great writing is, and always has been, pure alchemy. You just have to come up with the right product, at the right time. Or, to put it another way: ‘Bite the bullet, and write the book’.

Words by Chris Russell, photos by Daniel Solomons

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If you enjoyed this report why not join us again at The Club at The Ivy on 9th September 2013 when we discuss what book publishing can learn from consumer publishing.

Our July Sponsor's, Red Button Publishing, are eager to see your manuscripts and also offer consultancy services to self published authors. They asked us to pass on the following message to the Byte the Book community:

"Many traditional publishers refuse to look at unsolicited manuscripts, but independent digital publisher Red Button is throwing the doors wide open to talented fiction writers of all genres. After an exciting first year, during which we brought out Johnny Rich’s debut The Human Script (‘one of the most intelligent novels about science I’ve ever read’ - Tom McCarthy) and Paul Blaney’s novella The Anchoress (‘a moving and intriguing thought experiment’ - Mumsnet’s Justine Roberts), we are eagerly seeking the next Red Button title. If you’re looking to place a work of fiction, get in touch: we promise to read and respond to every submission. For writers planning to self-publish, Red Button offers a range of consultancy services, including copy-editing, proofreading, ebook formatting and cover design. Take a look at our website for more details: redbuttonpublishing.net"

We were intrigued to hear that as well as having some amazing speakers, Hampstead and Highgate Literary Festival have also added a kids' day.

Here are some more details on the programme from the organisers the Jewish Cultural Centre:

Hampstead and Highgate Literary Festival celebrates 5th Birthday with 3 day Festival, Kidsfest and Poetry in the Park, 15 - 17 September 2013

Returning author Tracy Chevalier said; ‘The Hampstead and Highgate Literary Festival has the feeling of a local event, yet with national players. I am very pleased to be returning.’

The excitement is mounting. The Hampstead and Highgate Literary Festival, celebrating its 5th birthday, takes place from Sunday 15 – Tuesday 17 September at Ivy House, NW11. Top authors and celebrities scheduled to appear include Ruby Wax, Nick Ross, Danny Abse, Tracy Chevalier, Susie Orbach, Sathnam Sanghera, Judith Kerr, Gill Hornby, Marcus Burkemann, Shelina Permalloo, Miles Jupp, Charlotte Mendelson, Mark Billingham, Countess of Carnarvon, Daisy Waugh, Kate Figes and Baroness Gillian Shephard, to name but a few. This year’s Festival is sponsored by Yelverton Properties.

Organisers, the London Jewish Cultural Centre in partnership with the Ham&High, are also delighted to announce the addition of Kidsfest on Sunday 15 September, a host of ‘kid for a quid’ events and activities designed to engage and entrance young readers from 4+. Don’t miss Tea and Jam Sandwiches with The Tiger Who Came To Tea author Judith Kerr, celebrating her 90th birthday, Lauren Child (Charlie and Lola), Horrible Histories, The One Hour Play, workshops and more. Kidsfest is sponsored by Diane and Allan Morgenthau Charitable Trust.

Carolyn Black, the LJCC’s Festival Co-ordinator, said: ‘Adding a children’s day was the obvious next stage as the Festival continues to grow. Our hope is that families will come from across London to enjoy a wide variety of events. And if that’s not enough, in partnership with the City of London Corporation, we are launching Poetry in the Park, a free event also on Sunday 15 September, in Golders Hill Park from 2 – 5pm, giving performance poetry a platform.’

Full line-up and online booking at hamhighlitfest.com
Dedicated booking line 020 8511 7900
Venue: Ivy House, 94-96 North End Road, London NW11 7SX.
Book sales and author signings by Daunt Books

For interviews and images: email Mandy King at mandy@jcc.org.uk or call her on 020 8457 5019

A while back we met with, Katy Grant and Karen Green, the founders of the very popular Facebook Book Club. They started their group just over a year ago, to help friends decide what books to read. Since then it has grown to a very active and vibrant group of over 3300 members. Recently they posted a list of recommended reads for the summer as chosen by their members. We thought their list might be of interest to any Byte the Book's subscribers wondering what books to read this summer, especially as it includes a title by a Byte the Book member and self-published author: One Step Too Far by Tina Seskis.

Their list is as follows: