Matador News

16 July 2010

Pam Keevil signs her way to success

The School Fete was the last Circencester Junior School will have as it closes in September this year. Pam signed copies for pupils, parents and friends who attended the event. Pam, who is the headteacher of Circencester Junior School, wrote There’s No Such Thing As Ghosts after a chance remark by a pupil about a Victorian ghost that supposedly haunts the school. Mr Jones’ Daydreams has been inspired by her 30 years of teaching experience.

16 July 2010

Author of Talli’s Secret wins competition

Julie Noble, whose novel Talli’s Secret was published in 2004, has just won a short story competition with SHE Magazine. Her story Sands in Time, about a father and his son’s illness, was shortlisted along with four other stories and chosen for first place by the six judges on the panel. The decision was almost unanimous and the story was described as “ "so gentle and poignant and yet devastatingly heartbreaking”. Julie’s story will be published in the August issue of SHE. Julie was also invited to the Brit Writer Awards Unpublished 2010 ceremony, which took place on 15th July, as Talli’s Secret was shortlisted with five other entries for Best Novel. She is pictured below (photo courtesy of Ceri Oakes at the Whitby Gazette) with her children.

03 July 2010

Author Liam Midwood, invited to speak at the Children’s Media Conference

The Children’s Media Conference is the UK gathering for everyone involved in developing, producing and distributing content to children. And 16 year Liam Midwood (author of My Life in Rhymes and There's a Traffic Cone Stuck on my Head, both self published with Matador) has been invited to speak at the event. Liam will be talking about tactile books to a important audience of key decision makers.

26 May 2010

AUTHOR ON THE AIR

The air time was at Radio Addenbrooke’s, a radio station manned by volunteers and geared to entertaining bed-ridden patients at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge. The station’s main function is to play records requested by patients following visits to the wards by the Radio Addenbrooke’s team. John, himself a volunteer newspaper seller at the hospital, was given an hour-long slot … and had three of his own requests played. He told listeners: “Estate agents are NOT all crooks, despite what some people say. “I have met literally hundreds of them and none are remotely like Theo Salter, the main character in my book. “I have never known an agent to be involved in drug-dealing, robbery, money laundering or pimping … let alone murder … like Theo. It has to be said, though, that the sharp estate agency practices described in Agent from Hell have definitely occurred in real life.” Interviewed by Bent Larsen, John told how he became a journalist in 1967 after eight years in insurance. “One day. I wrote an article for a club magazine, it was well received and I suddenly realised that I wanted to become a journalist and eventually write a novel,” he said. After contacting 'every publication under the sun,' John secured a reporting job in the London office of the Sunday Post a big-selling Scottish newspaper. Jobs on trade magazines and another newspaper, the Leicester Mercury followed. However, most of John’s journalistic career was at the Cambridge Evening News where he spent 33 years before taking early retirement in 2003. For much of that time, he was the newspaper’s property correspondent. His work won him several awards. Agent from Hell is his first novel. He currently spends Tuesday and Wednesday mornings selling newspapers to patients at the some of the wards at Addenbrooke’s. “I find this immensely satisfying, and like to think it cheers a few people up!” he said. John was delighted to hear songs by Nat King Cole, Elvis Presley and Ella Fitzgerald while at the station. “The three singers are still favourites of mine, though my daughter will probably say it shows what a fogy I am!” he added.

27 April 2010

Happiness is... being shortlisted for a business award

Matador author Karen Lindsey has reached the final stages of an award celebrating women in business, following her successful marketing campaign for her book Happiness is a Ticked Off List! The Langtry Manor Business Women Awards, which have ten categories, were created to recognise the achievements made by women in Dorset. Karen, who lives in Ringwood, is one of three finalists for the PR Initiative award who have been invited to attend the award ceremony on 13th May at Langtry Manor. Explaining how she went about marketing the book, Karen said: “Having identified that students studying for diplomas in Event Management were one area of my target audience, I embarked on an exercise to source universities, provide inspection copies and promote guest lecturing opportunities. Basing the guest lecture on a specific chapter enabled me to promote my publication whilst at the same time engaging with students and lecturers – a personal connection which has driven sales and established my book as ‘recommended reading’ with over 60 per cent of the contacted universities and, so far, securing Happiness is a Ticked Off List! as ‘core’ reading material with two of these educational establishments. Implementing this ongoing PR initiative has also given me the opportunity to give something back to the community and help our future event organisers on a mentoring basis.” Happiness is a Ticked Off List! was self-published in August 2009 under the Matador Buisness imprint. The book provides a step-by-step guide on how to successfully organise and manage a corporate event. In it, Karen shares the knowledge she has gained over twenty-one years of organising events for blue chip companies, demonstrates fail safe processes and provides insider tips on how to survive the many trials and tribulations of life as a proficient event organiser.

23 April 2010

London Book Fair, April 2010

It was another successful and productive year for Matador at the fair. We had a large stand within the general publishing zone, on which we displayed a wide selection of recently published titles. The Book Fair is important trade-to-trade event, and we had good meetings with key trade personnel at Amazon, Waterstone’s and Gardners. We were also able to chat and exchange news with existing trade partners thereby cementing our strong relationships. We look forward to announcing some interesting developments and link ups, made while at the fair, in the near future! Matador staff, when possible, also enjoyed attending seminars and workshops run in conjunction with the exhibition, honing their skills in digital and ebook publishing and promotions. The stand was staffed over the 3 day event by Jeremy Thompson (Managing Director), Julia Fuller (Marketing) Jane Rowland (Marketing), Caroline Bromley (Administration) and Terry Compton (Production) who, during the event, were pleased to welcome many future and existing authors to our stand. The photo (below) shows Jeremy Thompson being interviewed about self-publishing (on the Matador stand) for the Book Channel on Sky TV.

22 April 2010

Matador Author celebrates shortlist success

MG Naylor is celebrating after hearing that his novel, The Secrets of Hightower has been shortlisted for the Sheffield Children’s Book Award 2010 Over 5000 children in the Sheffield area have taken part in the scheme, reading and voting for their favourite books. The shortlisted books will now be read by school children over the summer holidays and the results will be announced at a special ceremony in November at Sheffied Town Hall. The Secrets of Hightower is nominated in the ‘Shorter Novel Category’, and has been shortlisted alongside books by Mark Haddon, Michael Morpurgo and Gervase Phinn.

15 April 2010

Successful launch for Wig Begone despite downpour!

Despite appalling weather conditions, Charles Courtley sold 24 copies of his novel, Wig Begone, at his local book launch in Frinton-on-Sea, Essex. The book, stocked at Caxton's in Connaught Avenue, Frinton, is continuing to sell well since its publication in January.

12 April 2010

Local launch for The Crimson Bed

Matador author Loretta Proctor held a booksigning event in her home town of Great Malvern, Worcestershire on Saturday 10th April. It was held in the Malvern Hills Art and Craft Gallery, a charming venue, with the beautiful backdrop of the Malvern Hills. She said, "It was a sunny day, perfect for gardeners, and the Grand National was kicking off during the afternoon but despite these possible setbacks, I was well supported and sold several copies of my new novel The Crimson Bed and a few of my first novel The Long Shadow. Loretta has already had a London launch at Goldsboro Books, in London's historic Cecil Court. She said, "That was a wonderful event but I wanted to have a launch in my home town of Malvern as well, as many people said they would like to attend".

12 April 2010

Stab Proof Scarecrows goes under the hammer for charity

A book auction to raise money for the Sophie Lancaster foundation has fetched £30 on EBay. The signed copy of Lance Manley's book Stab Proof Scarecrows went under the virtual hammer on the online auction site at the end of March. Giving his reasons for the auction, Lance said: "Sophie was beaten to death in August 2007 by drunken teenage thugs simply for being different. "I have dedicated my book to Sophie with her mother Sylvia's permission. One chapter is about her attack and why it was one reason I resigned from the police."

06 April 2010

Amazon.co.uk and their author web pages

The Author Central web pages state that '[authors] have the opportunity to share the most up-to-date information about yourself and your work with your readers - you can view and edit your bibliography, add a photo and biography to a personal profile and upload missing book cover images.’ Any author with a book listed on Amazon is eligible to join. More info and example author pages can be found by searching amazon.co.uk author central online.

06 April 2010

Matador author to appear on Sky TV

Matador author David Rankin is to have his book discussed on Sky TV. The Things I wish they'd told me as I was growing up will be featured on On the Edge on channel 200 at 8.00pm on 15 April. The programme, which goes out live, will also feature an interview with the author.

29 March 2010

Seventy guests attend launch of The House at Ampasiet

The House at Ampasiet has been officially released at a great book launch, held at Canning House in Knightsbridge. The event was organised by Lore van Vuuren-Ridings, the daughter of the author Paula Kogel, and editor of the English version of Paula’s war memoirs. Among more than seventy delegates were representatives from the Imperial War Museum, the Far East Prisoner of War (FEPOW) Association, the Children of East Prisoner of War (COFEPOW) Association, the Indonesian Embassy, the Royal Society for Asian Affairs, the Anglo Indonesian Society, survivors and relatives, people with Indonesian or other war connections and many of Lore’s friends, who took a great personal interest in the story. Lore said, “The event was a great success and a fitting launch pad for The House at Ampasiet. “Presentations by historians and a survivor gripped the audience: Bernice Archer, a historian and herself an author on Japanese civilian internee camps, gave an insight into the huge numbers of women and children that had been interned throughout Japanese occupied territory, and Pieter Tesch, historian and media advisor at the Indonesian Embassy, gave a presentation on the post war history of Indonesian independence. A very moving account was given by Roberte Swain-Halberstadt, the translator, about her own mother’s experiences and her memories of her return to Holland.”

24 March 2010

Self-publishing experience days

Matador and printers MPG Biddles have teamed up to offer authors "self-publishing experience days" at Biddles Kings Lynn factory. Through the two companies' forthcoming AuthorsChoice partnership, the experience days will offer self-publishers and first-time authors the chance to learn about the ins and outs of publishing a book. Matador Publisher Jeremy Thompson said: "These unique experience days will enable authors new to self-publishing to talk to people who publish and print books for a living. Matador and Biddles staff will be on hand to discuss all aspects of publishing a book, from design through print and marketing.. and there'll be no hard sell either. We hope that, after having seen what Matador and Biddles can do, authors will want to work with one or other of us, but if not that's fine." Biddles are the UK's foremost short run digital printing company, part of the MPG Biddles group. They specialise in printing between 100 and 500 copies, and so are an attractive option for many self-publishers. Those who attend the experience days will learn how the design of a book has a direct impact on its printing, have a tour of a book manufacturing factory, learn about marketing and distribution to the retail trade, and meet like-minded independent self-publishers. The first experience day will be on 20th May 2010, and attendance is free for the first 10 delegates. Details are yet to be finalised, but you can register your interest in attending by emailing matador@troubador.co.uk.

15 March 2010

Successful launch for The Crimson Bed

Loretta Proctor has enjoyed a successful launch for her book The Crimson Bed. About 40 people attended the event at Goldsboro Books, in Cecil Court, London on March 12th. Loretta said: “It was a real thrill to see the window with rows of my book in it, and I sold a good 30. The wine flowed, conversation hummed and it was a most enjoyable evening.” Amongst the guests was actress Tessa Nicholson, who read extracts from the book for Loretta’s podcast. Loretta said: “She kindly agreed to drop in and read a portion of Chapter One, leaving off just as my hero unbuttons his trousers ...! That got the audience! “It was all great fun. I'm shattered now but it was worth it.” BELOW: Actress Tessa Nicholson reads an extract from The Crimson Bed

03 March 2010

Matador launches ebooks

Ebooks are gaining in popularity and the demand from both authors and readers is increasing. In response Matador has introduced a full ebook creation service for current and new authors, with distribution through established books retailers like Waterstones, Tesco and Amazon, plus dedicated ebook retailers like Kobo. Available as an add-on service for authors, we offer ebooks in a variety of formats, including ePub and Kindle. Authors receive 80% of the net receipts from all ebook sales. Full details of the ebooks service can be found on the Matador website.

08 January 2010

Unleash your inner novelist

Several Matador authors were interviewed by The Telegraph for an article that appeared on 8th January on the rise in self-publishing. The newspaper also quotes the Editor of The Self Publishing Magazine, published by Matador's parent company Troubador. The Telegraph looks at the increase in the number of self-publishing authors, and some of the reasons why many are now choosing to self-publish rather than try and get a conventional publishing deal. It also examines the options available, from simple print 'on demand' through to litho printing and sales through high street retailers. The full article can be viewed elsewhere on this website.

09 December 2009

Google Preview

Books that are registered in the Google "Search in a Book" programme by Matador authors are now accessible from Troubador's own webshop via Google Preview. Each book that is in the Google "Search in a Book" programme is searchable through general Google search queries, so that more traffic is driven to the content of a book, and thus the likelihood that it will be found (and thus bought) by the enquirer is far greater. The text that can be viewed by anyone through Google is limited, so no-one can view a complete book. Authors can opt in or out of the scheme as they wish, but most choose to give their book as much exposure as possible so they remain in the scheme. Now searchable books will be accessible direct from the Troubador webshop using the 'Google Preview' button, enabling prospective purchasers to view some of the book before deciding whether to buy (much as you would when browsing in a bookshop). When a 'Google Preview' button is clicked, a pop-up window displays the cover and selected pages from the title in question. There is also a list of online retailers who sell the book, with Troubador's webshop at the head of the list, instantly giving potential purchasers a choice of where to buy the book.

08 December 2009

Barking mad launch for dog recipe book

Dogs and humans mingled happily at the first Matador book launch to be held at a pet shop. Over 170 people attended the launch of A La Bark Baking at Fin ‘n’ Fir in Bishops Stortford on Saturday 5th December. Forty-seven books were sold at the event and the shop owner asked to stock the book in order to supply customers who couldn’t make it. All customers who attended and owned dogs received a free bag of gourmet biscuits using recipes from the book, and any dogs attending received a slice of celebration cake. Author Kris Owen said, “I made a jumbo size liver cake which was well-received, although I nearly lost a few fingers in the process of handing it out! “Some customers who had bought the book in the morning came back in the afternoon to buy others as Christmas presents! “I had always aimed to use the book to promote greyhounds - and many people had a long chat about the advantages of the breed - and took leaflets for future consideration.”

10 November 2009

Second pre-publication sell-out for Matador author

The hardback edition of Lyme Hall, Stuart Webb's second children's novel has sold-out on pre-orders, more than three months before publication. The paperback version is published on 1st March 2010. The same thing happened with the hardback version of his first novel, Aurora's Tears in 2008, with the paperback selling out shortly afterwards.

05 November 2009

Tony Horne joined by Chris Ryan for joint signing

Author of Hornes Down Under, Tony Horne was joined by bestselling author Chris Ryan for a joint signing at Waterstone's in Hexham on 4 November. The pair took part in the signing after Chris appeared on Tony's breakfast show on Metro Radio.

26 October 2009

Plenty of publicity for Hornes Down Under

Matador author Tony Horne is making the most of his local celebrity status to market his book Hornes Down Under. The breakfast radio show host has already held signings at his local branches of WH Smith and Waterstone’s and was asked to officially open the Durham Book Festival. On 4 November, he will be joined on his show by author Chris Ryan, before they take part in a joint book signing at WH Smith in Newcastle. In January, he will be the guest speaker at Down Under Live, in London.

15 October 2009

New book features on BBC1

Tony Corley's new book More Questions than Answers was featured on BBC1's East Midlands Today news on 15th October. The news programme featured the book, as it deals with a well known murder case, and a subsequent miscarriage of justice which saw the alleged murderers set free. The programme featured author Tony Corley with his book, and examined the background to the case which led him to write and publish his story.

05 October 2009

Fans crowd into Housemans for Black Shoes launch

Michael Oboira has enjoyed a successful launch for his book Black Shoes. He read excerpts from the book and signed copies for fans who packed into Housmans Bookshop in London.

23 September 2009

Matador at Gardners' Trade Show

The UK's largest books wholesaler Gardners invited Matador to exhibit at their Annual Trade Fair this year for the first time. The Fair is held at the start of the Booksellers' Association Annual Conference, held in Warwick, with the Trade Fair held on the opening day, Sunday. Attendance at the trade fair is by invitation only from Gardners, with space for just 50 publishers in all. Visitors to the fair are mainly independent bookshop owners and managers, looking to see what publishers have in their lists for pre-Christmas sale. Several authors were also present at the fair to do book signings, among them Ron Clooney, who published two books with Matador. He signed over 30 copies of his books for booksellers during the event. Below: Ron Clooney on the Matador trade stand, with Jane Rowland

21 September 2009

Busy launch for Ian Richardson book

Matador author Sharon Mail has enjoyed a successful launch of her book We Could Possibly Comment – Ian Richardson Remembered. More than 60 people attended the event at Waterstone's in Argyle Street, Glasgow to hear Sharon explain why she decided to write it. “Ian Richardson was a remarkable actor and human being," she said. "He was a tremendous influence on my life and a great friend and inspiration. After his sudden death, on February 9, 2007, I knew that I had to do something to honour his memory and show just how highly respected and loved he was. “It took quite a while to get responses in, but in the end, I had around 60 contributions – from people like Dame Judi Dench, Dame Helen Mirren, Sir Peter Hall, Patrick Stewart, Brian Blessed, Stacy Keach and Nicholas Hytner and many other writers, producers, directors, crew and people whose lives were greatly enriched by his performances and friendship. Everyone was so enthusiastic about the project and many of them thanked me for undertaking it.” Introducing the author at the event, novelist Margaret Thomson Davis, whose 41st novel, Double Danger, is published in October, said: “Sharon Mail is a very talented writer. She was also a wonderful and loyal friend to Ian Richardson and his wife – a love and friendship that stretches beyond the grave and shines in this book. It includes the work she did in contacting and gathering contributions from some of the most famous and talented people in the world. They tell some fascinating stories.”

16 September 2009

Lord Mayor of London receives Matador title

Matador author Brian Livesley has presented a copy of his book The Dying Keats to the Lord Mayor of London, Alderman Ian Luder. Brian met the Lord Mayor at the formal reopening of Keats House, in Hampstead, in September, following its £125 thousand upgrade. The book, which looks at the death of Keats, and it’s contribution to the debate on Euthanasia, will go into the Lord Mayor’s archives for this year and be seen, as a talking point, by his entourage.

04 September 2009

Sales reps push Matador titles

Over 200 Matador self-published titles will benefit from full sales representation by Star Book Sales. Troubador has appointed Star, based in Exeter, to represent the Matador list in its sales activities to retailers. It is believed to be the first time that a self-published list will have been represented by a commercial sales company. Star Books see the Matador list as a straightforward commercial books list that can be sold to retailers - both chains and independents - like any other list. The arrangement has been structured so that self-publishing authors with Matador will not have to hand over any additional percentage of their sales receipts, nor pay any fees for the privilege of being repped - thus maximising their returns from sales while benefitting from far greater market penetration. The only restriction for an author is that they must print 500+ copies of their book, so that stock is available to place on retailers' shelves. Repping is thus not an option for those publishing using print on Demand, or printing small numbers of books. Full details can be found on this website. Troubador Publishing Ltd’s Managing Director Jeremy Thompson said: “This really is excellent news for us and our authors, and is an important step in our commitment to provide quality self-publishing services under our Matador imprint. We expect over 200 new titles to benefit each year from full sales representation by Star Books. The retail industry has always had sales reps, whatever sort of product is being sold, and for good reason. A sales rep knows the product, can sell one-to-one to a retailer, and has the logistical back-up to ensure orders arrive promptly. I don’t think the influence that a sales rep has on what a retailer buys for stock should be underestimated. “The problem of course is that retailers don't like taking risks and, historically, the stumbling block for self-published authors has been that retailers have been reluctant to stock self-published titles. This has been partly because the quality of many self-published books has been poor (content and presentation), and because people have erroneously assumed that all self-published books are printed ‘On Demand’ – certainly not the case for most of Matador’s titles. But attitudes to self-publishing are changing, and companies like Matador are demonstrating that good quality self-published books can hold their own in the books trade. “Self-publishing authors are also beginning to realise that if they want to sell books in volume, they have to compete with a very savvy trade publishing industry which has the infrastructure in place to sell books in volume. Most self-publishing companies simply don't have that marketing and sales infrastructure, and as a result few of their authors sell many copies of their book. Printing books ‘on demand’ doesn’t often result in volume sales, as there are few copies available for anyone to buy off the shelf, thus most sales come from an author selling copies themselves. “To really get volume sales and a noticeable presence in bookshops you have to play the same game as a commercial publishing house, and that means operating in the same way as any trade publisher. Matador already has a good reputation for quality, strong links within the books trade and efficient distribution through Orca Book Services. Full sales representation is the last piece in the jigsaw – Matador authors can now publish and sell their book in exactly the same way as an author with a trade publisher. “The future for self-publishing is looking very good at the moment. The general books trade is far less sniffy about self-published titles, and if a book is commercial and has the potential to sell, a retailer is usually happy to stock it – they’re not generally interested in how it was published.”

01 September 2009

Former player helps to launch Chelsea Book

Former Chelsea footballer Kerry Dixon has helped to launch the latest book about the club by fans Mark Worrall, Kelvin Barker and David Johnstone. Dixon joined the authors at Chelsea's match against Burnley on Friday 28th August to sign copies of Chelsea Here Chelsea There. The book, which looks at Chelsea's return to the old First Division in 1984, provides a flawless time capsule for Blues fans seeking a trip down memory lane or those on the lookout for enlightenment in the ways of the old school.

10 July 2009

Children’s Prize Success for Matador Author

Matador author Richard Parkyn is celebrating after his self-published children’s book The Balaclava Boy scooped Cornwall’s prestigious Holyer An Gof children’s prize. Richard was presented with a trophy by the Grand Bard Mrs Vanessa Beesman at an award ceremony, held at Waterstone’s Bookshop in Truro on Thursday 9th July. He also recieved a £50 donation to a Cornish charity of his choice – The Cornwall Children’s Hospital Appeal. It’s one of a number of book prizes awarded by Gorseth Council, to promote an interest in ‘all things Cornish’. Richard was brought up on a farm on Bodmin Moor, but now lives in Ottery St Mary, in Devon. He said, “I’m absolutely delighted to have won the Children’s section prize of the Holyer An Gof awards. I had an immense feeling of satisfaction when the book had been printed, but then to actually have won an award makes the six years it took to get from idea to finished copy all the more worthwhile.” The Balaclava Boy, which is set on a Cornish farm, was published through Matador in November 2008. It tells the story of Jack, a farmer’s son who is tricked into taking on a local giant. Richard describes it as ‘Jack the Giant Killer for the 21st Century’. As well as frenetic action and the humour of every-day life, the book tackles themes as diverse as bullying, the ridiculousness of the tabloid media and bad breath! Troubador’s Managing Director Jeremy Thompson said, “I’m thrilled that The Balaclava Boy has been selected for this award and offer Richard my sincerest congratulations. And of course, from Matador’s point of view it’s another feather in the cap for self-publishing, and proves once again that quality self-published books can more than hold their own against their mainstream counterparts.”