Christmas book compo

Below is an 'advertorial' that appears in the current Gateshead Advertisers. Click on the image to see a larger version, and feel free to enter the book compo.


Paul

The Burglar's Dog singles reviews

A few weeks ago I jokingly mentioned a Burglar's Dog gig guide. Well here's the next best thing - the Dog aka Mark Jones reviews the singles in the latest issue of NARC magazine. Click on the image below for a readable version. Pete Doherty fans needn't bother.


Paul

Bye Bye Bookman

One of our favourite book bloggers, Grumpy Old Bookman aka Michael Allen, has announced he is taking a sabbatical from blogging. His incisive views on the publishing industry have been a regular lunchtime read for us, and he has always been kind to us at Tonto. He might return to blogging in a year or so, he says, but until then we wish him very well. The blog will remain online, serving as a very useful resource for anyone with an interest in books. And every aspiring writer should read Michael's (free) essay On The Survival of Rats In The Slush Pile and get hold of his book The Truth About Writing, which he also offers as a free PDF.

Paul

Burglar's Dog in party mood?

If you're at all familiar with the work of The Burglar's Dog you'll appreciate why we found the newspaper article posted below quite amusing. The headline "IT'S PARTY TIME" could hardly be less appropriate for a piece about the grumpy old dog, and the accompanying photo of drunken teenage revellers doesn't quite match his demographic. But perhaps this will introduce the book to a whole new set of fans? Will teenage girls buy the book, take its advice, ditch the Bigg Market, and start drinking in the Newcastle Arms? (That fine establishment's regulars will hope not.) Only time will tell.

The article was meant to be a Burglar's Dog's guide to a Christmas night out, but that seems to have been lost somewhere. Fear not, we'll post the guide here on the blog nearer to Christmas. In the meantime, you can read the article by clicking on the image below. Thanks to Ron Wilcox, manager of Borders at Gateshead's Team Valley for the quote: "It is a really popular book and will be great as a Christmas present. It is the funniest book in the world.'


Elsewhere, number one Newcastle United website NUFC.com is hosting a series of special Burglar's Dog pre-match pub reviews, and running a Burglar's Dog compo.

Paul

The Journal Culture Awards

Friday 30 November is the deadline for your votes. As we've seen various other organisations suggesting that people can vote for them, I thought I'd give us a little plug in case any of you were considering a vote... but looking at the website, I discovered that Newcomer of the Year has to be an 'artist' rather than a company. Shame, because we were certain we'd win. A friend of mine sent me a text message the other day saying he was voting for Tonto as Newcomer of the Year because we 'gave books a kick up the a*se', so at least the judges at The Journal will get a laugh out of the process.

Tonto Press has published two deserving newcomers this year Pete Tanton who won Tonto New Novelist competition and Mark Jones who wrote The Burglar's Dog, so if you fancy voting for them, you can do so by clicking here.

I think celebrating the arts (especially in our own region) is a good thing. It would be great to see some writers get a mention or some of the many literature events that are now happening in the North East.


Stu

Amazon's Kindle ain't no iBook

So Amazon has launched its electronic book reader, the Kindle. It uses the same "paper-like" display as Sony's reader, can store 200 books, and offers wireless connectivity. At a hefty $399 (Amazon won't ship them outside of the US) it's sold out already. But not everyone is happy with their purchase. The average customer rating as of today is just 2.5 stars out of 5.


My initial reaction, judging solely from the photos, is that it looks pretty ugly. It looks dated in "Apple White", which Apple stopped using a few years ago. Jonathan Ive certainly hasn't been anywhere near this one. Some of the features seem unnecessary. It allows users to read newspapers and blogs - but so does the internet, available on most modern mobile phones. Also, although Amazon's backing means a large number of titles will soon be available for download, at around $9.99 each they're not much cheaper than a good old paperback.


I can see how something like this would be useful for business purposes, to carry many previously bulky reference and text books, but for leisure I think people will stick to old fashioned books - at least until Apple comes up with something more desirable than Amazon's effort.


Paul

Ad enough

So you're trying to place an ad in the Guardian's Review section, like you did last year. After two weeks of unanswered phone messages and emails you finally get hold of someone who can help. The price is agreed, the ad is booked, and you're ready to supply the ad artwork as a print ready file, like you did last year. Only the Guardian no longer accepts files direct. So you have to go through a middle man and pay an extra fee. Only the middle man doesn't accept print ready files. He only accepts designers' files, converting them to print ready, then supplying them to the Guardian. If you already have print ready files, he says, then there's nothing he can do for you. You get back to the Guardian and explain the situation. Can't they just accept the file direct, like they did last year? After all, it is only a classified ad? No. So you can't place the ad. This country, the Guardian isn't what it used to be, Charlie Brooker's the only bit worth reading, etc.

Paul

Uptown top ranking

We're trying out RankTracer, a service for tracking Amazon rankings and estimating sales. You can follow a book's progress on the website and via weekly and monthly reports for $2 per month. It's a US-based site, but you can track sales on Amazon.co.uk. For example, today I can see that The Burglar's Dog has sold an estimated 4 copies in the last 24 hours, and 33 in the last week. This is obviously useful to any author or publisher who habitually checks their Amazon rankings once or twice a day. Most interesting is RankTracer's provision of estimated sales figures. I've seen various investigations into how Amazon's sales rankings correlate to sales figures (like this one), but most have been based on the US site, which obviously sells a lot more books than the UK site. Because of the way books are sold - via wholesalers, then via retailers, and then with the deadly spectre of returns hanging over everything - it can often be months before publishers (and authors) can have accurate sales figures to hand. So anything that can give a barometer of how a book is selling has to be useful.

Paul

The Rocketbelt Caper in T3

The Rocketbelt Caper is featured in the new Christmas issue of T3 gadget magazine. You can see the printed article by clicking on the image below. The published text is quite a bit shorter than the supplied copy, so if you'd like to read the original text it's posted below.



FROM SCI-FI TO REALITY
Buck Rogers and James Bond owned one – now you can too

"No well-dressed man should be without one," quipped Sean Connery of the amazing flying rocketbelt as James Bond whizzed over the heads of befuddled Spectre henchman in Thunderball. But this most sought-after of sci-fi gadgets is much more than a movie prop. The rocketbelt is real – originally developed by the Nazis and then the US Army, before becoming the world's most profitable entertainment attraction. Powered by highly-concentrated Hydrogen Peroxide, the flying backpack lifts its pilot into the air on a jet of supercharged steam. Now gadget fans who find the iPhone a tad dull can purchase their own personal flying machine. The folks at Tecaeromex (www.tecaeromex.com) will sell you a custom-made rocketbelt, plus fuel lab and training package, for $250,000. That should make the commute to work a lot more interesting, but watch out for telephone wires – the words "cheese" and "slicer" spring to mind.

1939 – Buck Rogers introduces sci-fi fans to the concept of the flying "rocketbelt"
1945 – Nazi scientists try – and (thankfully) fail – to build the "Skystormer" rocketbelt
1953 – Engineer Wendell Moore develops the first working rocketbelt for the US Army
1965 – Sean Connery's James Bond evades bad guys using a rocketbelt in Thunderball
1984 – 2.5 billion people watch the rocketbelt spectacularly open the LA Olympics
1991 – Disney's The Rocketeer battles nasty Nazi spies with a flying rocketbelt
1995 – Three Texan friends build the best ever rocketbelt – the RB-2000
1998 – A feud over the RB-2000 ends in lawsuits, kidnapping and murder
2001 – Tom Cruise flies a futuristic rocketbelt in Minority Report
2008 – Pretty Bird, starring Paul Giamatti and based on the RB-2000 story, will open

"The Rocketbelt Caper: A True Tale of Invention, Obsession and Murder" by Paul Brown (ISBN 9780955218378, Tonto Press, £8.99) reveals the secret history of the rocketbelt, and tells the full story of the RB-2000 murder.

Paul

Money off for penniless students

Are you a student in Newcastle? Are you bewildered by the limitless sprawl of Newcastle's legendary drinking scene? Have you spent all of Mummy and Daddy's money already? Fear not, because we've teamed up with Newcastle University's Courier newspaper and Blackwell's bookshop to offer a full English pound off The Burglar's Dog, the indispensable guide to the eighth best party city in the world. The Alternative Guide to Drinking in Newcastle upon Tyne will tell you where to go, where to avoid, and assess your likelihood of getting a sound beating if you stumble into the wrong drinking hole. Essential reading, I'd say. Just print and cut out the voucher below (click on the image first to get the full-size version) and present in to Blackwell's on Percy Street at Newcastle's Haymarket before 31st December 2007 to receive £1 off the cover price. There's also a compo in the article below, with a closing date of tomorrow, Friday 16th.

[Are you NOT a student? There's no reason why you can't print out and use the voucher as well.]

Paul

Writing advice from Hank Moody

Californication is a new TV show, currently airing on Five in the UK, starring David Duchovny as Hank Moody, a writer who has forgotten how to write and now spends his time blogging and, erm, fornicating his way around California. In this week's episode, Hank gave a careers talk to a school class. 'Being a writer blows,' he said. 'It's like having homework every day for the rest of your life.' Fairly un-PC but reasonably amusing, Californication could be one to watch for more useful writing advice.



Paul

The Book That I Wrote... not.

There was a very interesting article in The Times Online today. Bruce Dessau looked at the wonderful world of the ghostwriter: "One publishing insider suggests that there are few celebrities who literally write their own autobiographies, maybe less than 20 per cent, but the book world is often reluctant to let readers in on the fact."

What? You mean they don't even write their own books? It was refreshing to see that Peter Kay was one of those who bothered to sit down and write his own story. The celeb memoir is big business and now there are two I can think of who have branched out into novel writing. As a ghostwriter myself, I always have a chuckle when I hear or read interviews telling that a celeb has just finished his or her book, wondering if they mean just finished reading it for the first time. Cynical? Moi?

Here's a great in-depth interview from one of those new novelists.

Stu

Johnny Lonely - free extract

The last of this week's free samples is an extract from Johnny Lonely by Pete Tanton. You can download the sample of Pete's novel using the link below:

Download Johnny Lonely extract (pdf)

If you don't already have a pdf reader you can get Adobe Reader free here.

And if you enjoy the sample you can buy the full thing from your favourite book shop. Get more details here.


Paul

The Rocketbelt Caper - free extract

Today we're posting an extract from The Rocketbelt Caper, A True Tale Of Invention, Obsession and Murder. You can download the extract using the link below:

Download The Rocketbelt Caper extract (pdf)

If you don't already have a pdf reader you can get Adobe Reader free here.

And if you enjoy the sample you can buy the full thing from your favourite book shop. Get more details here.


Paul

Jonny Kennedy - free extract

Today you can read the first few pages of Jonny Kennedy, The Story of The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off, including the foreword by Nell McAndrew. You can download the extract using the link below:

Download Jonny Kennedy extract (pdf)

If you don't already have a pdf reader you can get Adobe Reader free here.

And if you enjoy the sample you can buy the full thing from your favourite book shop. Get more details here.


Paul

The Burglar's Dog - free extract

This week we're posting free extracts of our latest books online for you to sample free. First up today it's the brand new version of The Burglar's Dog. You can download the extract using the link below:

Download Burglar's Dog extract (pdf)

If you don't already have a pdf reader you can get Adobe Reader free here.

And if you enjoy the sample you can buy the full thing from your favourite book shop. Get more details here.


Paul

Free books for bloggers

Do you have a blog or a website? Would you like to review one of our latest titles? If so, drop us an email (contact [at] tontopress [dot] com) letting us know which book you'd like to review and pointing us to your website, and we'll send you a free review copy. Simple as that. Choose from these three books:

Jonny Kennedy
The Rocketbelt Caper
The Burglar's Dog

Happy blogging!

Paul

Free books and 20% off at Borders!

Two great offers courtesy of two of our favourite literary blogs today. First up, Michael Allen at Grumpy Old Bookman is having a clear-out and is rather generously offering free copies of some of his books in the hope that they will be read and enjoyed, and then passed on to others to do likewise. Grab a great free read here.

Meanwhile, Emma at the Snowbooks Snowblog has posted a voucher for 20% off any full-priced item at Borders, valid from 2nd to 5th November - just print it out and take it in to your nearest store. Once there you'll find many a nice Snowbooks publication, and also, of course, our very own Jonny Kennedy and The Rocketbelt Caper, both of which are stocked by Borders nationally. Get the voucher here.

Paul

The Burglar's Dog gig guide

We Tonto folk do like our music. Only last week I bumped into Short Stories scribe Roz Wyllie at a Kate Walsh gig, and last night I saw Mark Jones, AKA The Burglar's Dog, at a show by Arcade Fire - the 10-strong Canadian 'baroque indie' outfit (no, I have no idea what 'baroque indie' means either).


The general consensus as we left, after an astonishing encore performance of Wake Up, was that it was something approaching the gig of the year. Mark's verdict? 'Mediocre. 6 out of 10.' To be fair, he blamed this on the rubbish venue - the soulless Metro Radio Arena Newcastle - rather than the band, stating he would never go there again, even if they 'dug up Hendrix'. The Burglar's Dog Gig Guide will be on a bookshelf near you somewhere around the year 2099.

Paul

Watch out publicans - the Dog is back

A good piece on The Burglar's Dog by Tony Henderson in this morning's Journal. It doesn't seem to be on the paper's website, so here's a scan - click on the image to see a bigger readable version.


Paul

Pete Tanton on the California wildfires

The terrible wildfires that are currently sweeping through California have brought back some vivid memories for Johnny Lonely author Pete Tanton. In October 1992, Pete lived in Mission Viejo, Orange County, as a series of wildfires erupted around the area.


'It was terrifying,' says Pete. 'What started as plumes of smoke in the distance grew to become massive columns on every horizon. We'd stand at the top of our street and see lines of flame along the ridges. We were trapped, and to my eyes there was no way out. I spent three or four days watching the helicopters and firefighting planes dropping water on this wall of fire in what appeared to be a futile effort.'

'The television news did a fine job of sensationalising the emergency with alarmist headlines, while at the same time urging viewers not to panic.'

After several days Pete managed to escape to Laguna Canyon, which had remained relatively unaffected by the fires.

'I expected to see the city of Laguna Beach in charred ruins, and was surprised to see all the shops still open. It was the houses up in the hills that had burned. Locals told me that the area was prone to brush fires. Why, I wondered, did people build expensive houses in such a volatile place, and why did everyone seem so surprised that they burned so easily?'

'Many of the things in Johnny Lonely come from this experience: people desperately watering down their roofs with garden hoses, news reporters standing a few feet from trailer homes as they went up in flames, their kerosene tanks exploding for the cameras. I hope I went some way towards capturing the experience.'


Johnny Lonely follows wannabe musician Hughie Youngkin on an ill-fated quest to become a rock star, during which he finds himself trapped in wildfires.

Paul

Getting your book stocked

Recently Paul blogged about the curse of being a 'local' publisher and the associated problems. There are, of course, many more...

We've had an ongoing battle with high street chain WHSmith since last year. Today we heard from them that they will not be stocking Jonny Kennedy, Rocketbelt or Burglar's Dog books. It's a shame as in our hometown of Newcastle, WHSmith is one of the only bookstores not to stock us. Obviously, we realise that the decision largely comes down to not being a major publishing organisation and not being able to afford tens of thousands of pounds to ‘buy’ shelf space. No doubt we'll carry on with the battle. At Tonto we refuse to give up on such matters. The last buyer at the store couldn't stock us because she didn't know how the computer system worked! Really.
For those of you interested, you can actually go into any WHSmith store and order our titles from them. If you are from the Newcastle area, you can always pop into WHS in the MetroCentre where they buy direct from us. Yep – there’s the other problem: Decisions also come down to personal taste. Some buyers are able to buy direct from us (to support us locals) and some won’t or can’t. You really don’t know until you ask.

Which brings me to another point. We are approached quite often by people asking us how much we charge to publish new authors. We’ve advised those authors whenever possible, and it is nice to see that instead of paying a vanity publisher, people are now self-publishing. The entire process of publishing is difficult enough, so for an author to take all this on board is a huge risk. However, it is pleasing to see people taking the initiative. For those of you who are interested in the pitfalls of DIY publishing, there is a very informative blog by June Austin. It tells of the highs and lows she’s encountered in her struggle to see her book stocked. Read it here.

Stu

The future of reading is electronic

As publishers we would have to be crazy not to keep a very close eye on the progress of electronic books - e-books - or books published on the internet. We've become used to finding our music online, and now movies and TV shows are becoming increasingly available for download. Magazines are going 'web-only' - big US mags Premiere and FHM are just two that now exist exclusively online. But how will this electronic shift affect books?


The main argument for resisting the switch from paper to electronic is the loss of physicality - books are desirable, people like to hold them, and they're a lot easier to read than LCD screens. But witness the Sony Reader (above), which uses a 'paper-like' display to make reading e-books easy and pleasurable. 'Suppose Apple released an electronic-paper iTome,' suggests Jon Evans in his Walrus magazine article Apocalypse Soon. Based on Apple's previous successes you'd have to assume that such a device would be desirable, tactile, and easy to read. Then the world of electronic books would become very interesting indeed.

It's a debate that will continue, but one that will need to be settled very quickly if the book industry is to continue to compete with other entertainments. You can read the full Jon Evans article here. He also discusses giving electronic books away for free in a Guardian blog here. Credit to Grumpy Old Bookman for the links.

From our own point of view, we published a free-of-charge Christmas Short Stories e-book last year that was downloaded more than 1,200 times within the space of a week or so. But how many of those 1,200 actually read the thing, and how many of them went on to actually buy a Tonto book? (It was, after all, a promotional exercise.) Crucial questions, but certainly we will continue to experiment with electronic books. If nothing else, it will save a few trees.

Paul

PS. On a tenuously-linked subject, I went across the road to the Cluny last night to see singer-songwriter Kate Walsh. Kate, once of this parish and now living in Brighton, has made good use of the web. She was the first unsigned artist to have a number one hit on iTunes, and subsequently her album Tim's House (so-named because it was recorded at friend Tim's house) has become a hit CD, prime-time Tesco ads and all. Of course, much of her success is just down to the plain fact that she is bloody brilliant. You really must visit her MySpace page for a listen and a look.

A small, good thing...

There's an interview with Tonto author Jolene Hui on a website called Blushing Ladies in which she is asked, 'What do you feel has been your most important writing accomplishment to date?' This is Jolene's reply:

The most important writing accomplishment was the first story I had published with Tonto Press. It was called "Bookshelves" and was the first fictional piece I'd had published (outside of my college literary journal). It meant all the difference in my self esteem and pushed me in the right direction writing-wise. Since then I have had so many successes I can't even count them. Even though I had already been writing for years, I look at it as my true starting point.

Jolene has gone on to write for publications as varied as Inside Hockey and A Is For Amour, and we're pleased she regards being published by Tonto as her starting point.


Jolene's story 'Bookshelves' is published in 'Tonto Short Stories', which is available from Amazon in the UK and the US, and 'The Remaining Half' is published in 'More Tonto Short Stories', available from Amazon in the UK and the US, and also with £2.00 off the cover price direct from Tonto. Jolene has a website here.

Paul

Publishing will eat itself...

Interesting article in the Observer this week about Frankfurt and the state of the book industry ('It's carnage ...' Inside the genteel world of books). To summarise: the publishing industry should be boarded up like an old abandoned mine.

The feature's author, Carole Cadwalladr, does a nice job of wading through the bizarre world of solicited/unsolicited submissions, slush piles, and agents, and gets some interesting quotes from industry faces.

Selected highlights include Bloomsbury editor-in-chief Alexandra Pringle on the joys of being a writer ('It's a horrible job. It doesn't pay well. It's lonely. It's depression-inducing. It's frustrating. There's no fun to be had... When my writers say I could earn more money at the till at Sainsbury's, I say, well go and do it.'), Curtis Brown agent Jonny Geller on why writers should never attend Frankfurt ('It's soul destroying. You see writers being traded like pork bellies.') and publisher-turned-agent Patrick Janson-Smith on the state of the industry in general ('You look around and you think the world needs another book like it needs a hole in the head... If you're not in a three-for-two or Richard & Judy, forget it. There's no point. If you ask me, publishing is in a mess.').

This comes in the same week that Anne Enright's The Gathering (described by judges as as 'bleak, depressing and uncomfortable') won the Booker Prize. Chairman of the judges Sir Howard Davies launched an attack on the 'kid gloves' approach to reviewing literary novels. 'There appear to be some novels where people leave their critical faculties at home,' he said. His comments are printed in the Times (Rank outsider Anne Enright takes Man Booker Prize).

Meanwhile, Ed Handyside, founder of this fair city's own Myrmidon Books (Tan Twan Eng's Gift of Rain was long-listed for the Booker), discusses the peculiarities of the publishing industry in Publishing News (Boxing Clever).

'We've found the UK supply chain to be especially challenging,' says Ed. 'We actually find it easier, and often less costly, to sell our books overseas. There, buyers are content to judge us by our products. In British trade publishing the formula is reversed: the assumption made by press reviewers and some influential booksellers seems to be that a small press can't possibly produce books worth taking a look at. We've sold thousands of books in the Far East, South Africa and Australasia but, despite the enthusiasm of Borders, some independent booksellers and a few brave Waterstone's branches, you couldn't find any of our titles in our own city of Newcastle until a couple of months ago.'

All very interesting, and a good insight into why the book industry is currently circling the drain.

Paul

The Burglar's Dog's 'caustic critic' is back

The brand new edition of The Burglar's Dog was officially released yesterday. It's available from all good bookshops, including Amazon, Asda, The Back Page, Blackwell's, Borders, Fenwick and Waterstones. If you enjoyed the original 2006 version, this is a must-have - completely revised and updated and containing up to 33.3% brand new material.


There was an interview with author Mark Jones in the Sunday Sun at the weekend ('A caustic pub critic has blasted fun pubs and designer venues, claiming they are destroying a North city's individuality').

And don't forget, you can claim a FREE exclusive set of four Burglar's Dog badges here.


Paul

Wor Al Shearer in Toon and in tune

Alan Shearer was back on the pitch at Newcastle's St James' Park yesterday for the first time since his retirement to take part in a charity match (he scored a hat-trick in a 5-3 win for his side). Meanwhile, video footage has surfaced of Wor Al performing a cabaret version of Lionel Ritchie's All Night Long. Particularly impressive is his decision to sing his own backing vocals ("Let the music play on, play on, play on"!), and also his attempt to sing the Swahili bit in the middle!



Our Shearer tribute, Wor Al, is currently available direct from Tonto for just £4.99 - get it here. If you prefer you can get it for £5.99 from Amazon. Mick Lowes from BBC Radio Newcastle called it 'A tribute book that no self-respecting Newcastle United fan should be without'. Fifty pence from each copy sold goes to the NSPCC.


You can hear BBC Radio Newcastle's 'Local Hero' montage of extracts from Wor Al here. It's an mp3, so you can right-click to 'save as'.

Paul

Pete Tanton back in Durham with Johnny Lonely

Fresh from opening the Durham Literature Festival, Pete Tanton will be back in Durham tomorrow (Saturday 13th) to sign copies of Johnny Lonely at the city's Waterstones from 12.30pm (69 Saddler St, Durham, 0191 383 1488). The next day, Pete and fellow Tonto scribe Roz Wyllie will be visiting HMP Low Newton as part of the Lit Fest Inside programme of literature workshops within the prison.


Paul

Not fair, not in Frankfurt

The Frankfurt Book Fair officially got underway yesterday but, although we do have a couple of spies in the midst, we aren't there. This was a source of much debate for us, as we were keen to be there and do some 'networking', but ultimately we couldn't justify the cost of going over. This is a view echoed by an anonymous publisher (not us!) in the Bookseller's Frankfurt Preview. Other publishers, obviously, state that the Fair is invaluable to them. The article, Strength in Numbers on pages 10-11, reports on how independent publishers are banding together to reduce costs, via organisations like the IPG. The Bookseller is publishing daily during the Fair, and the issues are available electronically via its website. We will get to Frankfurt eventually, this year's event probably just came around a little too early for us. In the meantime, anyone wishing to discuss rights for such fantastic internationally-appealing titles as Jonny Kennedy and The Rocketbelt Caper is most welcome to get in touch! Our 2007 Rights Guide can be viewed here.

Paul

Website redesign uploaded today

The Tonto website has undergone a slight redesign over the last few days. The homepage has more news stories and a new feed from this blog, and there are now dedicated pages for writers, trade and press. Check it out here and let us know what you think.

To celebrate the website's redesign we've added a couple of special offers - you can now get £2 off More Tonto Short Stories and £3 off Wor Al.

Speaking of offers, we've also extended our free Burglar's Dog badges offer until 22 October.

Paul

Jonny Kennedy Book Day

Following on from our launch for the Jonny Kennedy book, there is now a short from the day.
You can view it by clicking here. Soundbites come from Nell McAndrew, Edna Kennedy and the author, Roger Stutter. If you look closely you can see Paul and I trying to avoid being caught on camera.

Stu

Jonny Kennedy in the Weekly News

Another good piece on the Jonny Kennedy book in the new edition of the Weekly News. Click on the image to view a readable version.


If you haven't already got your copy of the book it's available from all good bookshops around the country, including Asda, Borders and Waterstones, and from Amazon stores worldwide.

Paul

More Jonny Kennedy mixed media

There was a nice piece on the Jonny Kennedy book in the Hexham Courant on Friday. Jonny lived much of his life in nearby Rochester. Click on the image to read a bigger version:


And on Saturday the Shields Gazette reported on Nell McAndrew attending the book launch (Nell's model behaviour at Johnny book launch).

Paul

Lit Fest opens in style with Pete & friends

Tonto Press writers Pete Tanton, Katie-Ellen Hazeldine, Stephen Shieber and Roz Wyllie headlined the opening event at the 17th Durham Literature Festival on Saturday. Pete read from his novel Johnny Lonely, and Katie-Ellen, Stephen and Roz read stories from their acclaimed More Tonto Short Stories collection. All did a great job, engaging and captivating those present. The writers then signed copies of the books for audience members.


Thanks to all four writers, and to everyone who came along, some of whom had travelled long distances to be there.

Paul

Tonto writers kickstart Durham Lit Fest

Tonto writers Pete Tanton, Katie-Ellen Hazeldine, Stephen Shieber and Roz Wyllie will open the 2007 Durham Literature festival tomorrow, Saturday 29 September.


Pete will be reading from his prize-winning comic novel Johnny Lonely, following wannabe musician Hughie Youngkin on an ill-fated quest to become a rock star, during which he finds himself trapped in a terrifying firestorm. Katie-Ellen, Stephen and Roz will be reading their stories from the acclaimed More Tonto Short Stories collection.

The event, Pete Tanton and Friends, will take place at Durham's Gala Studio tomorrow Saturday 29 September at 2pm.

Pete will also be signing copies of Johnny Lonely at Waterstones in Durham on Wednesday 3 October from midday.

Johnny Lonely by Pete Tanton and More Tonto Short Stories are both available to order from all good book shops.

Paul

Jonny Kennedy coverage and contest

As promised, here is a selection of coverage of yesterday's Jonny Kennedy book launch. Scroll down to win a copy of the book signed by Nell McAndrew and Roger Stutter.


Firstly, for some reason the third part of the Evening Chronicle's serialisation of the book didn't appear online, so you can view a PDF of it here. The first two parts can be seen here and here.

Roger, Nell and Edna were all featured on ITV1's North East Tonight last night. You can watch the programme online here.

The Journal covered the launch this morning. Click on the image below to view a bigger version.


The Evening Chronicle ran a similar feature, again click to see a bigger version:


The launch should also be featured on BBC Radio Newcastle later today.

As promised, we have a copy of Jonny Kennedy specially signed by Nell McAndrew and Roger Stutter to give away. For a chance to win the book, email your answer to the following question along with your name and address to:
contact [at] tontopress [dot] com

Question: Jonny's theme tune 'Don't Stop Me Now' is performed by which rock group?

The contest closes next Friday 5 October 2007, and the winner will be chosen at random from correct entries received.

Paul

Nell McAndrew supports Jonny Kennedy launch

Nell McAndrew was kind enough to come up to Asda Gateshead today to help launch the book about her friend Jonny Kennedy, which she contributed a foreword to. Author Roger Stutter and Jonny's mam Edna Kennedy were also present, along with many friends and supporters of the Jonny Kennedy North East (JKNE) charity - and a room full of press reporters.

Nell McAndrew with the Jonny Kennedy book
When not surrounded by TV and newspaper cameras and radio microphones, Nell and Roger signed copies of the book for shoppers, and collected donations for the JKNE charity. Nell was very patient and kind, and told us she liked the way the book had turned out and thought it would be a big hit with readers.

Nell with author Roger Stutter
Asda stores across the North East are donating £1 from every copy sold to JKNE. We'll be posting more photos, plus some of the TV, radio and newspaper coverage of the launch here on the blog over the next few days, and tomorrow we'll be giving away a copy of the book specially signed by Nell (and Roger!), so watch this space.

Paul

P.S. Yes of course Stu and I had our photo taken with Nell. Nell is the one with the smile!

That's Amaz(on)ing!

We've just noticed that all ten Tonto Press books have five star ratings on Amazon.co.uk. Not bad going by any publisher's standards, if unregulated reader reviews mean anything at all - and of course they most certainly do.


So if you're an Amazon 'System Addict' and 'Can't Wait Another Minute' why not 'Find The Time' to have a look 'Whenever You're Ready', 'Rain Or Shine'? [That's enough Five Star-related puns for today, thank you very much.]

Paul
[Five Star were an inoffensively-rubbish mid-80s brothers-and-sisters pop-soul combo. Watch their infamous Going Live TV appearance on YouTube.]

Local books for local people?

One of the problems we've encountered in running a publishing company from Newcastle upon Tyne is that our books are often perceived as being of only 'local interest'. This means that some North East bookshops stock our titles in the Local Interest section rather than alongside their regular stock, even when they are supplied nationally via their head office. It means some national buyers overlook our titles in favour of 'national' books published in London. And it means that we regularly get submissions along the lines of, 'I know you only publish local stuff, but I once had an uncle who lived in Whitley Bay and so I thought you might like this...'


In fact, of the ten titles published to date by Tonto Press, only two are specific to the North East of England (Wor Al and The Burglar's Dog - our two bestsellers, both of which sold well nationally).

Jonny Kennedy lived in North Tyneside and then Northumberland, so he was a 'local' lad, but the book can hardly be considered to have only 'local interest'. The documentary about Jonny, The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off, was screened - and won awards - around the world. The Emmy Award judges did not dismiss it for being 'regionally specific to the North East of England'. [It won the Emmy.]

And when The Rocketbelt Caper - a true crime / popular science book that is set in TEXAS - is filed under Local Interest in a Newcastle bookshop you know you have a problem. [It should be added that Local Interest sections are usually a mish-mash of local history and guide books tucked away at the back of the store.] Bookshop staff explain that this is because the author is from the North East. True, but the Harry Potter books are not filed under Local Interest in Edinburgh. [Is Peter Kay filed in Local Interest in Bolton?]

It's a fact that we work with more writers from the North East than elsewhere because we receive more submissions from writers from this area (although we also currently work with writers from as far afield as Los Angeles, Geneva, Ottawa...). We're quite happy for that to continue, after all there is a pressing need for a good publisher in this area to support the very many talented writers up here. But their work deserves to be read outside of the North East.

So what is the answer? Set up a 'virtual office' in London? Affect Home Counties accents on the phone? (This might prevent callers from hearing our Northern twang and behaving like they have accidentally dialled Outer Mongolia: 'Oh, I'm sorry, I'm calling from London...' 'Yeah, we've heard of it - it's where the Queen lives, right?') I suppose the answer is to continue to plug away with our books and hope that eventually their quality will be seen to be more important than the address on the copyright page.

Paul

Jonny Kennedy book released - watch the doc

Jonny Kennedy: The Story of the Boy Whose Skin Fell Off is released today and available from all good bookshops here in the UK, and from Amazon stores worldwide (United Kingdom, United States, Canada, France, Germany and Japan.


If you have not yet seen the remarkable documentary that made Jonny a household name, or you would like to see it again, you can now watch The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off at the FourDocs website (just click the yellow 'play' button).

Paul

Jonny Kennedy launch events

Jonny Kennedy: The Story of the Boy Whose Skin Fell Off as told to Roger Stutter, with foreword by Nell McAndrew, is released on Monday and will be available from all good bookshops (ISBN 9780955218385) including Borders stores and Amazon.


To celebrate the release, the book's author and Jonny's friend Roger Stutter (above) will be appearing at a number of launch events, as will another of Jonny's friends Nell McAndrew, and Jonny's mam Edna:

Tomorrow, Saturday 22 September, from 12 noon
Borders, Silverlink, Newcastle upon Tyne:
Roger Stutter will be signing copies of Jonny Kennedy, talking about Jonny, and the Jonny Kennedy charity.

Thursday 27 September, from 1pm
Asda, Metrocentre, Gateshead:
Roger, Nell McAndrew and Edna Kennedy will be signing copies of Jonny Kennedy, talking about Jonny, and the charity.

Saturday 29 September, from 12 noon
Borders, Team Valley, Gateshead:
Roger will be signing copies of Jonny Kennedy, talking about Jonny, and the charity.

Further events are planned around the North East and further afield. Watch this space.



Roger and Edna can be heard on BBC Radio Newcastle this Monday 24 September from 1.15pm. You can listen live or listen again for 24 hours afterwards here.

The third part of the Evening Chronicle's extract serialisation will appear tonight. The first two parts can be seen here and here.

Finally, on a completely unrelated note, a mention for Tonto's opening event at the Durham Lit Fest on 29 September courtesy of the excellent Grumpy Old Bookman:
"Further to yesterday's mention of Durham Literary Festival (they've got two Booker Prize winners -- good, eh? Oh, all right then), I saw that the programme is being kicked off by some (mercifully) non-Arts-Council-funded writers from Tonto Press. So all is not entirely lost."

Paul

Geneva reading photos

As promised, here are some photos from More Tonto Short Stories contributor Daniela Norris's very successful reading from the book at English language bookshop Off The Shelf in Geneva on Friday. Daniela will next be appearing at the launch party for the Geneva Times next Friday 28 September.




Just a reminder that Jonny Kennedy continues to be serialised in the Evening Chronicle tonight. If you missed yesterday's extract you can read it and see photos here.

Paul

Press & media round-up

We've updated our website's media page, and here's a round-up of some of the latest coverage.

The Rocketbelt Caper was featured in the Sunday Sun (Murder movie's rocket science), and then reviewed in the same paper on the following week (Rocketbelt quest ends in murder) ('Yet another soaraway success for Tonto Press'). The book was also featured in a double-page Evening Chronicle spread (Invention led to kidnap and murder). I also spoke about the book to Julia Hankin at BBC Radio Newcastle. You can download the interview as an mp3 file here.


The NewsGuardian got reasonably excited about Pete Tanton's Johnny Lonely book signings (American promotes debut novel in borough).

And the Jonny Kennedy book has been mentioned in several articles about Jonny and the Jonny Kennedy North East charity. The Evening Chronicle featured Jonny's brave fight to help fellow sufferers. Both the Sunderland Echo and the Shields Gazette reported on the charity's new shop, and on the support offered by singer Charlotte Reid, pictured below with the book.


Finally, the Chronicle is beginning to serialise extracts from Jonny Kennedy tonight. We'll post more about that over the next few days.

Paul

Geneva reading is sell-out success

Good news from Geneva, and Daniela Norris's reading from More Tonto Short Stories. The Off The Shelf bookshop was full, and the book sold out. 'It was fun and I enjoyed the opportunity you've created for me to join the rank of "real" writers...' says Daniela. 'I love meeting readers and talking to people interested in books and writing, so readings are definitely my thing.' Expect photos from the reading to appear here here soon.


More Tonto Short Stories, featuring Daniela Norris's The Day Of The Dead, is a brand new anthology of fresh short stories by exciting new writers, following the acclaimed original Tonto Short Stories. It's available from all good bookshops, including Geneva's Off The Shelf, and direct from Tonto Press.

Paul

Geneva convention

More Tonto Short Stories contributor Daniela Norris will be reading from the book at English language bookshop Off The Shelf in Geneva tonight, Friday September 14, from 6 to 7.30pm. Swiss newspaper 24Heures has written a feature about Daniela (Short-story writer gives reading), which reports, 'Daniela Norris has a fascinatingly diverse background. Born in Bucharest, Romania in 1971, she has lived and worked in Canada, Israel, Kenya, Angola, Peru and France. The ex-diplomat and former editor currently works as a writer and an adviser to one of the permanent missions to the United Nations in Geneva. In her spare time she writes fiction.' You can find more details and directions at the Off The Shelf website.


Paul

Rocketbelt launch report & pics

Around 50 people squeezed into our makeshift cinema here at Brick Works on Thursday for the launch of The Rocketbelt Caper. It was a very warm night, and ice buckets full of premium Czech lager were much appreciated.


Once everyone had been suitably refreshed we screened a short film about the caper, with interviews and footage of the main protagonists - proof that the story in the book is 100 percent true! Over the remainder of the night the screens played a selection of real rocketbelt footage that had everyone captivated (you can watch a clip below), backed by music including, of course, Elton John's Rocketman (and William Shatner's Rocketman!).


Watch some of the real rocketbelt footage!
Thanks to everyone who came along to show support or buy a book, and further thanks to Jamie and Jo for their help on the night. The Rocketbelt Caper by Paul Brown is available now from all good bookshops, and some rubbish ones.


Paul

How NOT to approach publishers...

A week or so ago Stu posted some advice on how to approach publishers. Now here's how NOT to do it. We don't make a habit of posting submission emails here on the blog, but after our very polite and quite generous (even if I do say so myself) responses, this emailer's nasty reaction was astonishing... The spelling mistakes are the emailer's own, we've 'bleeped out' the swearing, and we've changed the emailer's name. Let's call him "Gary Blair"...


Dear Publisher,

I know there is a snobbery surrounding poetry, some publishers won't
touch a writer
who is unpublished, some won't read submissions, some demand hard
copy, some look
for structure, theme and reasoned arguments. As I am not "in the
scene" I can only
be honest and hope honesty is good enough..
Please find below a selection of works which I submit in word format
(I figure in
the immediate age of the internet, why not get an immediate rejection?)

Many Thanks

Gary Blair

[There follows an entire collection of poetry, not in 'word format' but pasted into the body of the email, so long that our email program is forced to cut it short]


[We reply]

Hi Gary

Apologies for this "immediate rejection", but it has nothing to do with snobbery, rather the fact that we do not publish poetry at all. Without wishing to patronise, it might be useful to check publishers' websites etc to ascertain the type of material they publish before contacting them. This will save you time and reduce the chances of rejection. Unfortunately your current approach is unlikely to yield
any positive results.

Best of luck

Paul
Tonto Press
www.tontopress.com


[A couple of weeks later... Gary sends exactly the same email again]

Dear Publisher,

I know there is a snobbery surrounding poetry...


[We reply]

Hi Gary

We have already responded to this query. We do not publish poetry, therefore please remove us from your mailing list.

Best regards

Paul
Tonto Press


[Just weeks later...]

In A Bar At The Edge Of The World

Please find attached below a ten poem collection, as I do not have the
finances to
send a hard copy, be simply scrolling below this message the work is
contained for
your perusal. I appreciate this may not be the normal way of doing
things but who
knows you might actually like it!

Gary Blair

[Cue another very long pasting of poetry that again exceeds our email program's capabilities]


[We reply again]

Dear Gary

We told you last time you sent us poetry that we aren't interested in it. Try finding out this kind of info before just sending to anyone. Our website would have told you this.

There are publishers who are interested in poetry - try the INP website for poetry publisher in the region.

Best of luck.

Stu
Tonto Press


[Gary replies...]

Sorry for being a t*sser, it won't happen again! Gary


[But it does...]

Please find pasted below a collection of new poetry works entitled "Empty Sky".

I hope you may find the work to be of sufficent merit to justify further
corrispondance.

Yours,

Gary Blair

[Yes, another huge pasting of poems...]


[We reply again]

Gary

We've told you several times to stop bombarding us with your work. We are not interested in it and never will be. Remove us from your list.

Stu
Tonto Press


[Gary replies...]

The reason you end up on my mailing list is when I type UK Poetry
Publishers in a
search engine your company crops up. (By the looks of things you do actually
publish poetry)
Trust me I want nothing to do with you set of smug Geordie tw*ts
either, so let's
agree to mutually despise each other and be done.

GFB


[We reply]

If you want nothing to do with us - stop emailing us.

We don't publish poetry and have no plans to. It's quite simple. If you despise us for that, then that's your own problem. We tried being civilised to you though you clearly have issues.

Best of luck getting published!

Stu
Tonto Press


[Gary replies]


Like I said you end up coming up on poetry publishers in search
engines but I shall
remember in future


[Then Gary sends a postscript]

Oh f*ck off!

[Now what had we done to deserve that?!]


There are lots of things to be learnt from that electronic exchange, all of them blindingly obvious. We fully expect to hear from 'Gary Blair' again, but we hope not to.

Paul


[UPDATE: We DID hear from 'Gary Blair' again]

Please reemove me from your blog site

OK, OK I get the message I'm a tw*t, I know I am but can you remove my name from the blog of how not to approach publishers?

In exchange I give you my word that I will never approach your company ever again.

PS I still hate Geordie's so that won't change but if you want to never ever hear from me again please remove any reference to my name on your blog.

PPS My spell checkl was knackered for several weeks so sorry about the mistakes in my written insults!

Yours

Gary Blair

Jonny on the telly

Friday's North East Tonight on Tyne Tees TV featured Jonny Kennedy author Roger Stutter talking about his friend Jonny and the book. You can watch the piece on the new ITV Local website here.


Paul

Rocketbelt launch lands safely

Thanks to everyone who came along to the launch event for The Rocketbelt Caper. A good turn-out bought books and watched a film about the rocketbelt murder, and, on a very warm night, drank a lot of cold beer. Photos and reports will appear here next week. Special thanks to Jamie for lending his audio visual (and carpentry) skills, and to Jo for manning the book store.

P.S. We are assured that Jonny Kennedy author Roger Stutter's delayed appearance on Tyne Tees Television's North East Tonight will air tonight!

Paul

Rocketbelt Caper media frenzy!

It's the turn of The Rocketbelt Caper to go under the media microscope today, which means I'm readying myself to be grilled by the Evening Chronicle and BBC Radio Newcastle. The Chronicle article will be published on Thursday, and the Radio interview broadcast live today at 1.15. Here's a photo from the book of one of the rocketbelt builders, Larry Stanley, after being attacked with a hammer...


Paul

Jonny Kennedy media frenzy!

Although it won't be released until 24 September, Jonny Kennedy: The Story of the Boy Whose Skin Fell Off is already attracting a lot of media attention. (A big problem for publishers is trying to keep a lid on publicity until the release date nears to avoid jumping the gun!) There was an article in last night's Evening Chronicle (Brave fight to help fellow sufferers) about Jonny and EB, which mentioned the book. And ITV North East (Tyne Tees telly in old money) are today filming author Roger Stutter as he watches the book being printed(!) for a piece about the Jonny Kennedy North East charity on North East Tonight. So tune in on Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday at 6pm to see what Roger has to say. If you miss it you can catch the show online for 24 hours here.

Paul

The Rocketbelt Caper released today

'We finished the rocketbelt, and from then on there was murder, kidnapping, and all kinds of other stuff'

When three friends set out on a quest to build a real-life Buck Rogers-style flying machine, their obsession with the Rocketbelt 2000 shattered their friendship and set in motion an astonishing chain of events involving theft, deception, assault, a bizarre kidnapping, a ten million dollar lawsuit and a horrifically brutal murder. From sci-fi to reality, this is the incredible true story of the amazing rocketbelt.


'In this book, Paul Brown brings the topic alive. It has to be one of the most readable science/technology focussed books of the year. Brown has an excellent journalistic style, and pulls the reader on relentlessly through the tales of technical inspiration and human weakness that litter the history of the rocketbelt. The book overall is a delight to read, and the story is genuinely one where reality is stranger than fiction. Recommended.' - Brian Clegg, Popular Science .co.uk

As featured in yesterday's Sunday Sun (Murder Movie's Rocket Science).

Read more here and here.

Paul