LAST DAY for new novelists submissions

Today, Monday 31 March, is the LAST DAY for receipt of submissions for this year's North East New Novelist contest, hence the deluge of emails I arrived at work to find this morning. All entries that meet the submission criteria and arrive in our inbox by midnight will be accepted.

The competition is open to writers currently residing in the North East of England who have not previously had a novel published. Entry is free, and full details can be found here.

Paul

Mentoring discussion

Tonto's current fiction project gets a mention over on The Guardian's Books Blog, which sparks an interesting debate in the comments about mentoring, involving, among others, Tonto writers Adam Maxwell and Stephen Shieber. Rosalind Wyllie and Tonto mentors Caroline Smailes and Laura Hird are also mentioned. Just to clarify, the fee mentioned in the blog feature is for another mentoring scheme - writers on the Tonto scheme don't pay a penny.

Paul

Every book counts

There's a good article about UK independent publishing over on Publishers Weekly - Where 'Every Book Counts' by Edward Russell-Walling. 'Independent publishing in the UK is not without its pains and frustrations,' says Edward, 'but the sector is as inventive, as determined and, overall, as healthy as it has ever been.'

Paul

Free books!

Yep, today we are giving away free books as a little experiment in word-of-mouth. We're offering copies of Jonny Kennedy: The Story of The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off or The Rocketbelt Caper: A True Tale of Invention, Obsession and Murder to the first 50 people to contact us and offer to help spread the word! All we ask is that you tell us and others what you think of the book by posting a short review either on your website or blog, your Facebook or MySpace, your favourite forum or message board, or on a website that takes customer reviews such as amazon.co.uk or play.com. Just fill in the form here. But hurry, there are only 50 freebies up for grabs!

*UPDATE* Sorry, but the stock of free books has now run out. However, if you click on the link above - today only - you'll find a very special offer by way of consolation...

Paul

Last call for North East Novelists

If you're planning to enter this year's North East New Novelist contest you now have just a week to submit your manuscript.

Backed by the National Lottery and the Arts Council, the competition will see two local writers have their novels published, and give the winners the chance to work with bestselling local authors to develop their books before they hit the shops. The winning novels will be chosen by bestselling authors Kitty Fitzgerald (Pigtopia) and Wendy Robertson (Family Ties). Kitty and Wendy will then mentor the winning writers. Both chosen novels will be published by Tonto Books in January 2009.

The competition is open to writers currently residing in the North East of England who have not previously had a novel published. Entry is free, and full details can be found here.

The final date for receipt of submissions is Monday 31 March 2008.

Paul

Hexham Book Festival

The 2008 Hexham Book Festival (2nd-5th May, Queen's Hall, Hexham) features the likes of Germaine Greer, Simon Armitage, John Burton Race, Tonto office radio fave Stuart Maconie, and three Tonto Books authors.


On Sunday 4th May at 12 noon, Pete Tanton (Johnny Lonely), Stephen Shieber (Being Normal) and Rosalind Wyllie (Everything You Ever Wanted) will be discussing their work and the writing process, along with Tonto fiction mentor Caroline Smailes. It should be an interesting event for writers and readers alike. The Northern Writers' Awards ceremony will take place afterwards, so why not make an afternoon of it? Tickets are free and can be obtained from the Queen's Hall Box Office on 01434 652477 or online here.


Roger Stutter, author of Jonny Kennedy: The Story of the Boy Whose Skin Fell Off, will also be at the festival to chat about local lad Jonny and sign copies of the book.

Paul

New Tonto Books Catalogue

Here's a first peek at our new catalogue for autumn (some say fall) and winter 2008. Yes, I know we've not even had spring yet, but that's this publishing lark for you. You can download it as a PDF file here.


Paul

Bookseller Blog

Today I'm blogging over at The Bookseller, offering my views on the recent Arts Council funding changes. You can read it here.


Paul

Novella for charity by Caroline Smailes

Caroline Smailes is the author of In Search of Adam, and one of the mentors on our current fiction project. Now Caroline has written a novella called Disraeli Avenue, named after the street in which In Search Of Adam is set. Brilliantly, she is making the the novella available as a free download. Even more brilliantly, she is asking readers who download it to make a donation to One In Four, a small charity that offers support for people who have experienced sexual abuse and sexual violence. At the time of writing, she has raised £1,255, and is just £245 short of her target amount. Hurry here to offer your support.


On a related note, In Search of Adam is published by The Friday Project, an admirable publisher that is unfortunately currently being liquidated and having to 'dispose of its assets'. Bad news for all those involved with TFP, including the authors.

Paul

NUFC.com Toon Diary

Coming for Christmas - the NUFC.com Toon Diary 2009. A must-have for Newcastle United fans, this useful and fascinating spiral-bound week-to-view diary is packed with facts and information compiled by the fine chaps at NUFC.com.


NUFC.com (Newcastle's Unofficial Fans' Collaboration website) is the most popular and respected source for all things related to Newcastle United, receiving 3 million web hits every month - double that of the official club website.

2009 marks the 40th anniversary of Newcastle United's European Inter Cities Fairs' Cup victory, and the diary is presented in a fantastic retro cover to commemorate that fact. This book is sure to be on every Newcastle fan's Christmas list this year.

Paul

Ashley Hames: Sin Cities

Some more info on one of our future publications:
Sin Cities: Adventures of a Sex Reporter by Ashley Hames

With a weakness for women, good times and binge drinking, it seemed inevitable that Ashley Hames would turn cult hero with Sin Cities, blazing a toxic trail though a minefield of debauchery and fantasy across the globe.

As clown prince of L!ve TV, he happily meandered along as News Bunny and produced such lowbrow classics as Topless Darts. A few months down the line his career had him hoisted up on meat hooks, tortured, clamped and generally trampled on in the name of entertainment. It was only when the cameras stopped rolling that it got messy.

Ashley investigates the sexual habits of some of the most extraordinary people on the planet – from the bizarre to the unimaginable – and somehow helps it all make perfect sense.



"Irresponsible, insane but inspired, the Queen should present Ashley Hames with a knighthood and a straightjacket as this fine book amply illustrates that he is equally deserving of both." - Piers Hernu

Stu

Free UK postage and packing on all orders

We're now offering FREE UK p&p on all orders placed via our website. With more special offers on a selection of titles, there's never been a better time to shop.

Paul

Unofficial Football book free update

A free update for the Unofficial Football World Championships book is now available here. The download-and-print update is designed to slip seamlessly into your book and bring UFWC title matches and rankings right up to date as of March 2008.


You can read more about the book here, and, if you have no idea what the Unofficial Football World Championships is, then you should check out the official site here.

Paul

Tonto to publish NUFC.com Toon Diary

We're delighted to announce that in October we'll be publishing the NUFC.com Toon Diary 2009. NUFC.com is the Newcastle Unofficial Fans' Collaboration website, the most popular and respected source for all things related to Newcastle United. The diary will be packed with facts and info compiled by NUFC.com's Mike 'Biffa' Bolam. 2009 will mark the 40th anniversary of Newcastle United's European Inter Cities Fairs' Cup victory, and the diary will be presented in a fantastic retro cover to commemorate that fact. It's sure to be on every Newcastle fan's Christmas list this year. Keep watching this blog for a first look at the cover.


Paul

Cheap books for book groups!

Got a book group? Borders are offering 20% off when you buy 3 copies of the same book. Just print out the voucher and take it into your nearest branch. The offer is valid until 31st March 2008. Happy reading!


Paul