Keegan backs Stephen Miller book

Paralympian Stephen Miller met up with his pal Kevin Keegan at Newcastle United's training ground yesterday, and sent us some photos. Stephen has known Kevin since he was a toddler, and Kevin was kind enough to write the foreword for the book.

Stephen and King Kev

With Stephen's Mam Ros

A previous meeting...

...and another
Paul

Stephen Miller Paralympian media coverage

Here's just some of the media coverage for Stephen Miller's Paralympian book and launch. The Newcastle Evening Chronicle ran three days of double-page spreads, including a great interview that you can read here.

The Sunday Sun followed up on the launch here.

And BBC Sport ran a good feature about the book here.

Paul

More Paralympian launch photos

A few more photos from Stephen Miller's Paralympian launch:

Ian Payne interviews Stephen

Watching Miller the Movie

Team Tonto with Stephen (and Wor Al)

Stu, Stephen and Jill

A queue forms for signed books

Signing for the fans
Paul

Stephen Miller breaks another record

Not satisfied with breaking world records ahead of Beijing, Stephen Miller broke a Tonto Books record last night. Right, one down, now let's see how many other athletic clichés I can shoehorn into this post...

We were amazed by the level of support Stephen received. You never know how many to expect at a book launch, but as we’d been at Tonto Towers all day, we’d been unaware of the TV coverage for the signing on BBC Look North earlier in the day. So setting up shop, we had a mild panic as we realised we’d have a busy night ahead of us. By the time everyone was in for the event, our Tonto Audience Reader was going off the scale at 300 plus – a new personal best for Tonto.

There were some great moments – a DVD was played to introduce the night showing Stephen winning medals where we cheered along, applauded and were silenced by some of the more poignant moments. Tyne Tees TV presenter Ian Payne was the perfect host in a This is Your Life-style Q&A session, covering some of the book’s stories in more detail. As it drew to a close, Stephen received a standing ovation and went straight back into signing mode (we hope he didn’t strain his throwing arm too much). At one point, I was amazed to see a longer queue for Stephen’s autograph than there was at the bar. How often does that happen?



Massive thanks to everyone who attended. We now have a new Tonto Books Barmy Army on hand at our events and it was nice to see the return of one particular Tonto irregular who was once in the running for ‘Ligger of the Year’. Also there last night: Boxing champ Glen McCrory, ex-Newcastle United goalie Kevin Carr, Mike McCloud and Players Inc editor, Steve Wraith. Thanks also to Jill and Caroline for helping out on the bookstall.

Stu

Stephen Miller Paralympian book launch TODAY

Stephen Miller will be launching his autobiography Paralympian today, Thursday 24 July, 7.30pm at the Club 206 Suite, Level 3, St James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne. There will be a talk-in, a quiz, a book signing, and several of Stephen's sporting celebrity guests. Entry is free.


In other news, you can hear Sin Cities author Ashley Hames live on the radio tonight - on TalkSport with Ian Collins from 10pm, and, if you're an ex-pat in Spain, on REM.fm with Maurice Boland at 7.40pm UK time.

Paul

Ashleigh's First Tonto Blog!

Hi my name's Ashleigh, no not Ashley Hames, for a start I'm a girl. Paul and Stu have kindly let me come into the world of Tonto Books for two weeks to get a taste of what it's like working in publishing. And what a packed couple of days it has been so far! It was a good week to join the team as we are launching Stephen Miller's Autobiography on Thursday, hope you can all make it! With that in mind I have been writing the press release for it, and inviting all the North East's premier journalists along, as well as meeting Stephen himself, which was a pleasure.


Today has also been productive, as I work on the PR for Rosalind Wyllie's Everything You Ever Wanted,this has seen me delving into the world of Women's magazines, as if I needed any persuasion, in order to find out which type Rosalind's book would appeal to more. I personally think it's a great book and a perfect summer read. However, as a good few magazines now adorn my temporary desk, maybe it wasn't a good idea to let me loose with the glossies!

Well it's time to get back to work, I'm sure I'll be back to let you all know how I'm getting on!

Ashleigh

Free books from BookRabbit

BookRabbit is a new website that is part social networking site, part bookshop. You upload photos of your bookshelves, 'tag' your books, and you're then matched with other readers, meaning you get personalised recommendations, reviews and whatnot. And if you upload a pic of your bookshelf right away they'll send you a handpicked book free! (I've done it - my bookshelf is here). Sign up and get details at www.bookrabbit.com.


Paul

Ashley Hames Newcastle event photos

Wednesday evening saw the start of Ashley Hames' Sin Cities book tour in Newcastle upon Tyne. Ashley's shameless attempt to curry favour with the good people of Newcastle by wearing a Newcastle United shirt with 'Sin Cities' emblazoned on the back worked a treat, and the fantastic event at Waterstone's was followed by a trawl through the city's watering holes until the early hours.

Ashley in Stu in matching jackets related tomfoolery

Ashley enjoys Stephen Miller's Paralympian

Ashley regales the crowd in Waterstone's

Ashley gets wrist ache

Stephen, Paul and Ashley move on to a local watering hole

Stephen and Ashley with Jonny Kennedy author Roger Stutter

If you missed out, Waterstone's have some extra signed copies of the book, while stocks last. Photos from York and Leeds will follow in the next couple of days. Further events and signings are planned across the country - watch this space. Next up will be Stephen Miller's Paralympian launch on Thursday.

Paul

Ashley Hames York & Leeds book events TODAY

Ashley Hames' Sin Cities book tour continues today (Thursday 17 July) as he appears at Waterstone's in York for a book signing at 2pm, and then in Leeds for a talk and signing at 7pm. Click here to view Waterstone's Ashley Hames events page.


The mini tour kicked off in fine style last night in Newcastle - thanks to everyone who came along, especially the bloke who curiously thought he was coming to see "Adam, as in Adam and Eve". By all accounts it was one of the best events the store has ever had. Photos will hopefully appear here later today.

Paul

Ashley Hames Newcastle book signing TODAY

Sin Cities author and TV presenter Ashley Hames will be in Newcastle upon Tyne today (Wednesday 16 July) to kick off his book signing tour. Ashley will be appearing at the Waterstone's Emerson Chambers store at Grey's Monument from 6.30pm to talk about his adventures around the world and to sign copies of the book.


'One of the few concrete truths of modern life is that Newcastle is the UK's number one Sin City,' says Ashley. 'It's ace. With that in mind, I guess it's the perfect place to start our book signing tour...'

You can hear Ashley on Radio Newcastle today at 1.30pm.

The book tour continues tomorrow (Thursday 17 July) at Waterstones in York (2pm) and Leeds (7pm). Click here to view Waterstone's Ashley Hames events page.

Paul

Amazon price match deal

Faceless behemoth it might be, but I really like Amazon. As a reader, you can get any book in print, and some that aren't, at pretty good prices. As a publisher, your books are made easily available and get a fair crack of the whip. Amazon's huge buying power means that they can heavily discount books that they know will sell in reasonable quantities.

From today we're going to try to match Amazon.co.uk's prices in our own online store. So you can get Ashley Hames' Sin Cities for just £5.99, Stephen Miller's Paralympian for £6.99, Rosalind Wyllie's Everything You Ever Wanted for £5.99, and Stephen Miller's Being Normal for £6.39. That's up to 35% off the cover prices. (For a limited time you can also buy Everything You Ever Wanted and Being Normal together for just £10.)

You can visit our online store here.

If, however, you prefer to shop with Amazon, you can view our catalogue of books in the UK, US, Canada, Germany, France or Japan.

Paul

Sin Cities London Launch

Friday 11 July was the launch party for Sin Cities: Adventures of a Sex Reporter at The Westbridge pub, Battersea. Judging by the photographs, bar staff are still tidying up ahead of opening up this morning.


I assume this photo was taken quite a way into the party.

I spoke to Ashley the following day and he told me waht a brilliant time he'd had. Big thanks to everyone who turned up - all the photos can be viewed as people post them here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=18563684013
The publicity for the book is growing all the time. Ashley went for an interview at Loaded magazine on Thursday and ended up taking part in a bizarre bacon sarnie eating competition - no idea why, but we'll post up details of the magazine feature in September.



Ashley rolls in to Newcastle tomorrow, so in case we're offline for a bit, here's the publicity for this week:
Tuesday 15: Smooth Radio: Ashley picks his '6 at 6' and talks to Paul Wappat.
Wednesday 16: Ashley and Stu on BBC Radio Newcastle.
Wednesday 16: Ashley's author event at Waterstone's Newcastle, 6.30pm.
Thursday 17: Ashley's signing session at Waterstone's York
Thursday 18: Ashley's author event at Waterstone's Leeds, 7pm.

We'll post details of any updates.

Catch up with all the events and goings on at: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=12931077445

Stu

Sin Cities is London Lite Big Read

Ashley Hames' Sin Cities was the Big Read in yesterday's London Lite (readership: just the 824,000, apparently), receiving a very nice almost-full-page review. Orders are flooding in, and Amazon is currently showing the book as #2 in its TV Tie-in Humour chart, outselling the massive QI, and only pipped by the not-really-very humorous Life On Mars. [UPDATE: Now it's #1. Take that, Gene Hunt!] There's loads more great publicity coming up, so watch this space. As a reminder, Ashley's book launch is this Friday 11 July. It's at the Westbridge Pub in Battersea, London from 8pm, so, if you're in the area, why not pop along?

Paul

Sin Cities Release Date

Today is the official launch date of Sin Cities: Adventures of a Sex Reporter by Ashley Hames. And as luck would have it, today we were sent an advert for the book that some unknown cyber geek has edited and put a brilliant 'carpet salesman' voiceover to. A big thank you to that anonymous technical wizard!

Anyone in the London area, watch out for a review feature of the book in tomorrow's London Lite paper. As publicity continues for this title, we'll keep posting updates.

You can also join the Facebook group here



Unrelated news: We took delivery of Everything You Ever Wanted and Being Normal on Friday. All those placing orders via our website will receive their copies long before amazon or other stores have theirs.

Stu

Stephen Miller Paralympian book launch

The launch event for Stephen Miller's Paralympian, My Autobiography will take place in the Club 206 suite at Newcastle United's St James' Park on Thursday 24 July at 7.30pm. There will be a 'talk-in', with Stephen answering questions about his career and the forthcoming Beijing games, a chance to get a signed copy of the book, plus other fun and games and special guests. The new Club 206 suite is named after Alan Shearer's goalscoring record, and can be found on the third level of SJP.


Paralympian launch event, Club 206, Level 3, St James' Park, Newcastle, Thursday 24 July, 7.30pm, free.

Paul

One-two, one-two, this is just a test

'How smart are you?' asks the BBC website. 'Hardly a week passes without headlines about academic standards. Are exams getting easier? Are people getting smarter?' Find out with this quick English test. There's a maths test next week, but I'll be skiving off that one.

Paul

Places mentioned in this book...

Google's ongoing efforts to digitise every piece of information ever imagined continue apace. I've noticed an interesting feature on Google Book Search that displays on a Google Map "places mentioned in this book". So far, the only Tonto book that seems to have been mapped out in this way is The Rocketbelt Caper. Hopefully our other titles will follow soon - it would be nice to see Johnny Lonely's road trip mapped out. For now, if you want to see where the Rocketbelt 2000 was flown, or hidden, or where all the other shenanigans happened, click here. Who knows, if you zoom in really, really close you might spot the rocketbelt itself...

Paul

New Novelists News

Both Nik Jones and Sarah Shaw are now into the mentoring process for their new novels. Updates from Caroline Smailes and Wendy Robertson tell us that both novels are coming along nicely, and they are enjoying working with our new writers.

Caroline and Wendy are not just mentoring them as writers, but also helping out with tips on the promotional side of being a writer. I'm a believer in self-promotion and I think with t'internet bringing us such things as blogging, Myspace and Facebook (even I'm on them!), it also brought us innovative and cost-effective ways of flogging our wares. Social networking is a great way of reaching people and both of our other mentored writers are at it too! Roz and Stephen are building up a good fan base with their respective online presence, and now so is Nik Jones.

You can keep up with the progress of 9987 by watching here.

Stu

State of independents

There's an interesting post on the Guardian's blog, Why writers can't go it alone by David Barnett, which sums up some of the gripes we have regarding the book industry.

'Flying the flag of independence is a mark of respect in most areas of popular culture ... apart, it seems, from literature,' Barnett writes. Why are independent cinema and independent record labels celebrated, while independent book publishers are shunned? As Barnett says, 'Can you imagine any serious film reviewer refusing to watch anything other than the major Hollywood blockbusters?'

The fact is that book reviewers at national newspapers and book buyers at national book chains tend to equate 'independent' with 'crap'. At least one major UK bookseller is in the process of severing ties with independent publishers. That's a kick in the nuts for the publishers, their authors, and - ultimately - readers, who are seeing bookshops turn into literary versions of multiplex cinemas, with a small range of lowest common denominator-pleasing tosh piled high and wide.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - let's board this whole industry up like an old abandoned mine and start a-bloody-gain.

Paul

Irresistible new fiction offer

Here's an offer that should be difficult to resist: pre-order both Being Normal by Stephen Shieber and Everything You Ever Wanted by Rosalind Wyllie for just £10 with free UK p&p. Both books are published on 11 August, but we'll deliver the pair of them to your door as soon as we receive them from the printer, usually several weeks in advance of the release date. You'll save £5.98 on the cover prices, plus about £3.50 in postage. It's a limited offer, so act quickly before stocks disappear like some kind of rare gas. Place your order here.


Paul

Paralympian in stock

Paralympian, My Autobiography by Stephen Miller is now in stock and available to purchase from www.tontobooks.com with free UK p&p. The book is not officially released until 28 July. It features a foreword by Stephen's friend Kevin Keegan.



Stephen Miller is one of Britain's most successful athletes. Record-breaking Stephen, who has Cerebral Palsy, has won three Paralympic gold medals, plus dozens of other international accolades in the club and discus events. Still only 28 years old, he will endeavour to win more honours at Beijing 2008 and London 2012. A writer and poet, Stephen's inspirational autobiography tells of his struggles and triumphs, and is told with refreshing honesty and infectious humour.

'I know how hard it is to compete at the highest level. It takes dedication, courage and self-belief, and Stephen has those qualities in abundance. His story is truly unique and inspiring.' - Kevin Keegan.

New Novelists Results

Way back in January, we launched Tonto Books' North East New Novelists 2008 contest. There were 121 eligible entries, which is remarkable considering entry was restricted to writers in the North East of England with completed manuscripts. We knew there were lots of writers out there with ideas for books, first chapters and unfinished drafts stuffed away in drawers... but we were amazed by the number of entries as well as the high standard. The task of selecting the winners was performed by judges Wendy Robertson and Caroline Smailes.

And the winning manuscripts and authors are (drumroll please)...

'Make It Back' by Sarah Shaw.
In Make It Back, Muriel leaves her family to nurse sick and injured children in the Spanish Civil War. Forty years later, Muriel's decision leads her granddaughter, Dee,
into love, into danger and, finally, into the passion and dust of south-eastern Spain.
Sarah is from Blackhall Mill and is currently studying for an MA in Creative Writing at Newcastle University. She will be mentored by Wendy Robertson over the next couple of months as she puts the finishing touches to her novel, which will be published by Tonto in January 2009.

'9987' by Nik Jones.
Tragic and dark, 9987 is a story about a jagged and at times disturbing world where only three things are constant: fantasy, loneliness and love. It's a tale about a crime that only one person seems to care about.
Nik is a teacher and 'occasional barman' from Consett. He will be mentored by Caroline Smailes, and 9987 will also be published by Tonto in January.

Congratulations to Sarah and Nik, and thanks to the judges Wendy and Caroline, and everyone who took the time to enter the contest. The high quality and variety of submissions showed that the North East really is a hotbed of writing talent and thoroughly justified our desire to run this project.

Keep checking future blogs for updates on progress.

Stu

... and on a positive note

It's no secret that I'm a bit of a Jam/Weller fan. A lot of my time this week has been taken up, as mentioned earlier, chasing orders, promises, features, reviews and sales, etc. Oh, the cruel irony as 'Running on the Spot' by The Jam started up on my Media Player after another frustrating phone call.

I was hoping we'd make real progress
But it seems we have lost the power
Any tiny step of advancement
Is like a raindrop falling into the ocean

... well said, Mr Weller.

I'm thick skinned now, I can take the knocks.
And it made me realise that even as a publisher, you still go through the same emotions as writers. So there is no difference in the great publisher vs writer hierarchy, really. We all get knock backs and face a constant battle - it really is how this industry works. You HAVE to stay positive.

Even John Blake has had his problems. I admire John for the impact he's had on the publishing world and this is a very interesting feature on him.

Competition rejections only mean that someone didn't get your work. If you believe in yourself and the work, it'll find a home.
Publisher/agent rejections? Same thing.
Keep passing it round, get feedback - there are loads of websites now where you can get feedback from other writers. Develop, improve, don't give up.

We'll be announcing the winners of our New Novelists 2008 competition very soon, and I dare say there will be a lot of disappointed writers in the region. Judgements are made on so much criteria... is it marketable? Will the story communicate to a large audience? Does it require too much work?
These are elements to bear in mind wherever you submit. But just because you don't get through, doesn't mean all is lost. Some may even make suggestions and ask you to resubmit, some may send you a more personal rejection (which means they did read it).

Unfortunately, we can't comment on any submission that didn't get through. This is because we didn't judge, but also because it isn't part of the project to offer that. And without touting for business, our editor runs a manuscript critique service at competitive rates, for those interested in feedback.

Keep the faith!

Stu

Going Solo

Well, with Marianne gone and Paul already on his hols, I'm on my Jack Jones at Tonto Towers. There's loads to keep me busy though: Sin Cities is doing well and it is only now that the hard work starts. Just like being in The Apprentice, this is where sales matter, and this is where you have to become a salesperson. But when its your own company, you can't just run around aimlessly shouting 'That's what I'm talking about!' and 'I'm one hundred per cent passionate about sales.'... none of that counts. Pre-orders and orders, following up leads, calling/charming buyers, bookstores, making sure orders go ahead - those are the most difficult and crucial calls. Then there's all the publicity to go with it, and in turn, they generate more sales. So it's all the PR elements, arranging signings, booking travel etc, contacting press, arranging interviews, following up all those initial calls, hassling, chasing up reviews and features.

We've got a few signing sessions arranged for Ashley to attend so far. I'll post them up nearer the time, as well as the other publicity we've secured. In the meantime, if you are a FaceBooker, why not join the Sin Cities Book Group where there are regular updates.

I fell a book submissions rant coming on... I'll hold back for a bit though.

Stu

Marianne's Final Blog!

Hi everyone,

Well today has been my last day working with Tonto Books and like always I've been kept busy. I've spent most of the day transferring all of my notes on the novel Everything You Ever Wanted onto an electronic draft for Stu and Paul to use at a later date.

The past couple of weeks seem to have gone really fast, like during my first work experience I've been given really interesting tasks and the opportunity to work with some very exciting projects and gain more insight into the process of publishing books. As always it's been lovely working with Stu and Paul and I want to thank them both for having me back and making me feel so welcome. Hopefully I'll be back at some point in the future, so keep an eye out for me on their blog!!

Marianne.

Marianne's Second Blog

Hi Everyone,

Well today has been another productive day in the office, I finished proof reading Everything you ever Wanted by Rosalind Wyllie and I have to say I immensely enjoyed it. I think it's going to do really well when it's released later on in the summer, as it's very witty, and has lots of twists and turns that really keeps you guessing until the end. Also I think there is nothing worse than reading a book which has a rubbish ending but you'll be pleased to here this book isn't one of them, without wanting to give too much away, I thought the ending was very satisfying as you really feel like you're leaving the main character in an optimistic and hopeful, yet realistic place in her life, after everything she's been through previously in the book.

The bookmarks for both Everything you ever Wanted and Being Normal also arrived in the office today, so you'll have to do your best to get your hands on one!

Marianne.

Sin Cities in stock at Amazon

A full month before it's officially released, Amazon.co.uk have Sin Cities by Ashley Hames in stock. At the time of writing it's just £6.39, that's 20% off the RRP. (Buy three and get free p&p!) You can order it here. Or, if you prefer, you can buy a copy direct from us (with free UK p&p) here.

Paul

Marianne's Blog - I'm Back!

Hello everyone,

It's Marianne here - remember me? For those of you with good memories you'll know I did a couple of weeks work experience with Tonto Books last summer, for those of you who don't remember, not to worry, cos now I'm back!! Not quite 'back for good' as those Take That lads crooned in recent years, but for the next couple of weeks I'm working with both Paul and Stu as a Freelance Editor. I like to think that title sounds rather posh, but really I'm doing similar work to last time.

The last few days I've been very busy proofreading two of the boys' most recent projects, an excellent collection of short stories by Stephen Shieber called Being Normal and a brilliantly written novel with a very unusual subject, called Everything You Ever Wanted by Rosalind Wyllie. They both hit the shops on the 11th August so make sure you stick that date in your diaries! All of Stephen's stories in his collection are interesting and different, but my favourite has to be one called Business Trip. This is a deeply moving, realistic and powerful story - but I'm not saying any more than that, I'm afraid you'll have to buy the collection when it comes out to find out what happens and if you agree with me!

I reckon Rosalind's novel would be a perfect book for all you ladies out there to take on your summer hols with you, as I can't think of anything better than lounging by a pool with a cocktail in one hand and this fast-paced, funny and slick book in the other, which by the way, is much better than your average chick-lit book. Besides it seems only right and natural to read a book entitled Everything You Ever Wanted when you're on your hols, as it feels like you've got exactly that when you're surrounded by the sun, sea and sand a summer holiday promises.

Follow the links below to find out more about these upcoming books:

Being Normal
Everything You Ever Wanted

Anyway, I better stop writing and get back to the proofreading, although I must admit, I really just want to find out what happens in the next chapter!!

Marianne

It's a sin

Sin Cities has arrived! It's not released until 7 July, but if you can't wait you can get it direct from us now, or pre-order from amazon.

Paul

I am a writer, writer of fictions

This bank holiday weekend, inbetween some gardening and gigging and various cold drinks, I finally got around to checking out authonomy.com, HarperCollins' new community site for authors. The idea is that writers post their work on the site, readers comment, and the most popular manuscripts are read by HC. It's kind of like an electronic slushpile with added bells and whistles. Does it work? Only one way to find out, so I've uploaded the first few chapters of my novel, Sunday League, 'a funny and gritty football fairytale set in the WAGs-to-riches world of modern football' it says here. P.S. Gold star to anyone who can advise which song this post's title is a lyric from.

Paul

On Her Majesty's Time-Consuming Service

This week I've spent much of my time telephoning and filling in forms for Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs. All necessary of course, particularly as our accountant is currently indisposed, but what a bloody chore. I worked for part of the HMRC back in the day when it was called the DSS, so I'm very familiar with the bureaucracy that weighs so heavily upon the organisation. I reckon I've filled out maybe 10 or 12 forms this week, all with a lot of duplicated information. A VAT number transfer alone required 3 forms. And none of them could be filled out online.

Here is my solution: Only have one form. For everything. It would be an online form with tick-boxes, asking, 'What do you want to do?' Every time you tick an option, the form re-jigs itself, until you are left with the form you require. So for example, I would tick 'VAT', 'VAT number transfer' - and the relevant (single) form asking for all of the required information would appear (literally) in two ticks. And I would only have to enter the information once.

None of which has much to do with books or publishing, but then not much of my time spent this week has had much to do with books or publishing. Hooray for the Bank Holiday!

Paul

I'm Will Self and I've got a thesaurus

Came across the following quote from Will Self today. Now I actually quite like Will Self - if not as a writer, then for his involvement with some of the best moments from Vic and Bob's Shooting Stars (notably the brilliant Hernia Hotline sketch). But this quote, promoting a DVD of art films by Ian Breakwell (no, me neither), is twaddle of the very highest order:

'Breakwell's was an art of retrieval, absorption and contrariety. His video pieces are subtle enactments of an individual praxis that compel our attention, again and again, to the uneasy comity of lived life.'

I don't know about you, but among those 30-odd words are at least three that I would have to reach for a dictionary to check. This, of course, is the literary equivalent to driving a garish sports car. 'Look at me! I'm Will Self and I've got a thesaurus!' Apparently, Self has written a full 'accompanying booklet' of this stuff. The BFI project was supported by the Arts Council, and I can't help wondering how much cash Self must have trousered in return for his efforts. Watch this instead:



Paul

We do not publish poetry

We do not publish poetry. Never have, never will. This is not because we have anything against poetry or poets. It's because we have limited experience and expertise of poetry, and there are plenty of other publishers - nationally and in the north east of England - that are much better equipped to publish it. So please do not send us poetry submissions via email or post. They will not be read, acknowledged or replied to. This is because do not publish poetry. Please do not come knocking on our office door with reams of poems under your arm and a sad story about how very difficult it was to find us. You will have wasted a journey, and it gets embarrassing for all concerned. Because we do not publish poetry. Please do not send us handwritten poems scrawled on the back of letters you have received from a local estate agent. It's unprofessional, and a little bit odd. And we do not publish poetry. Please do not call us up and ask us to come to your home to see your poetry because you are housebound, and then get really angry and quite abusive when we politely and quite patiently (even if I do say so myself) suggest some other avenues you might try. Because we do not publish poetry. And please, please, please do not send us audio CDs of yourself reading your poems in a strange monotone voice. Curiosity will make us listen to a few seconds of it, and then we'll have to spend a good 20 minutes or so laughing like drains, and we're really far too busy to do that. And anyway, we do not publish poetry.

Paul

A bad poet, but didn't know it.

As some of you my remember, we've had the odd poetry submission here at Tonto Towers. One of which got a bit 'difficult' when we said we didn't publish poetry. But, all is not lost, as 'the worst poet in the world' can even make a fortune from their work.
OK, so William McGonagall died penniless in 1902, but it seems he now has a bit of a following. His work going under the hammer is apparently in the same league as first editions of Harry Potter. Not that I've read any.

Finally recognised for his work when he was panned by the critics and had food thrown at him at public readings... a happy ending, then.
Read all about it here.

Stu

David Peace's dirty little secret

There was an interesting interview with author David Peace in Saturday's Guardian Review section, notable because, unlike the vast majority of interviews with authors in the Guardian Review section, it wasn't a load of pretentious twaddle. I picked out Peace's The Damned Utd as my favourite novel of the year in a Christmas 2007 post and it's now getting a second wind of coverage thanks to a South Bank Show and a forthcoming movie adaptation.

Talking about his craft, Peace advocates a useful practice that we talk about on our occasional writing courses: 'When I come across a sentence or paragraph that impresses me, I write it out. I'm not sure if other writers do it, but I suspect they do and it's a dirty little secret. It is like practising five-finger exercises. I thought Cormac McCarthy's The Road was a fantastic piece of work. But the only way I could really understand how it was done was to write some of it out.' Peace also names as an inspiration Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl, which, if I'm being completely honest, is perhaps my favourite book ever.

P.S. While I remember, this Sunday, The Observer is doing an miscellany-type 'Observer Book of Books', which, if their previous books of music, film etc are anything to go by, will probably be worth getting hold of.

Paul

This week, we will be mostly reading...

Yep, as reported yesterday, our fiction project is going full steam ahead. At the moment, we are working on the final manuscripts from Roz and Stephen and it is great for us to see that they have enjoyed such a useful development process with their respective mentors.
Both writers showcased their work at the Hexham Book Festival recently, where they went down a storm to a very appreciative audience. I’m sure they were as moved as I was to receive such feedback and have an audience laugh, smile, nod and cringe along in all the right places. It made me more confident in the project and it felt good to see Roz and Stephen beginning to establish themselves as credible writers in the region.
So, at Tonto Towers this week and into the next few, we are re-acquainting ourselves with the finished manuscripts and putting them through final processes before sending them off to print. Personally, I think the project has been a tremendous success so far as we’ve seen two works produced to a very high standard by using the best mentors possible. Credit to all those involved – it has been great to be a part of it. Of course the hard work starts now as well... promotion, publicity, selling...
Both are available for pre-order on amazon.co.uk.

Stu

New Novelists news

The judging process continues for our New Novelists contest - the winners will be announced in June. There is one piece of news, however, as there has been a change to the judging line-up. Newcastle-born author Caroline Smailes now joins Wendy Robertson to select and mentor the winners. Caroline, author of In Search of Adam, has already been involved with the Tonto Fiction 2008 project, having done a great job of mentoring Rosalind Wyllie, whose novel Everything You Ever Wanted will be published in August.

Paul

Miller time for Keegan

We're currently putting the finishing touches to Stephen Miller's autobiography Paralympian, and very good it is looking, too. The final cover is shown below, as you'll see now featuring the words 'Foreword by Kevin Keegan'.


King Kev (at the time of writing still Newcastle United manager, despite naughty national press speculation) is understandably rather popular in these parts, having now saved the Magpies from certain disaster on three separate occasions, once as a player and twice as a manager. Kevin and Stephen have been friends since Stephen was a nipper, as proven by this great photo.


Kevin also provides a quote for the back cover: 'I know how hard it is to compete at the highest level. It takes dedication, courage and self-belief, and Stephen has those in abundance. His story is truly unique and inspiring.' The book is released on 28 July, but you can preorder a copy now from our website or from Amazon.

Paul

Why do people buy books?

It's a fairly crucial question for the publishing industry: why do people buy books? New research commissioned by The Bookseller shows that the most important factor in driving UK shoppers to buy books is an instore display. That's a little bit disappointing for independent publishers who can't afford to pay for prominent instore placement and have to rely more on word of mouth or internet marketing.

The Bookseller research surveyed more than 1,000 people across the UK, and the results are below:

26% instore displays
14% newspaper and magazine reviews
13% mentions on television or radio
12% recommendations from friends and family
9% internet recommendations
2% the advice of shop staff or librarians

For some reason the percentages only seem to add up to 76, so who knows where the other 24% get their book buying habits from. If you're stumped for a recommendation, why not buy this?

Paul

No defence for book flop Cole

We get our padded envelopes from Poundland - you can guess how much they cost. So, every couple of weeks, I pop in to buy a basketful. Poundland also sell books - remainders returned to the publisher and sold on for pennies, basically to save the cost of pulping. This week, I noticed a very high profile book - 'My Defence' by Ashley Cole (RRP £18.99, now yours for - obviously - a pound).

According to The Guardian, Cole was paid an advance of £250,000 (The Sun says £500,000), yet his book sold just 4,000 copies. So 'love cheat' Cole (The Sun again), by my reckoning, must owe his publisher about £245,000. Of course, they won't ask for it back. That's the nature of big money celebrity advances, although surely the Ashley Cole 'affair' will have caused major publishers to think before splashing the big bucks.

But did I splash a quid and buy a copy? No. To obscurely quote Curb Your Enthusiasm, 'I'm with Cheryl!'

Paul

Hextatic

I was at the festival on Saturday night for the Stuart Maconie gig (got to talk to him and get a book signed at the end) and had a quick look at our set up to find we'd have a much bigger audience than anticipated. Cue Wheatman panic attack.
Sunday: 12 o'clock came and Anna from New Writing North introduced the event. She talked about mentoring for a bit and asked me a few questions about publishing and opportunities in the region for new writers. Then it was my turn to introduce Pete (pictured), Roz and Stephen, who delivered readings from their work and answered my questions about mentoring, entering competitions and story development. It was a relaxed and informal atmosphere - enjoyable, in fact - and great to see the audience reaction, laughing in all the right places to the chosen stories. I'm sure it will have helped raise our authors' profiles further in the region and boost any future interest in them.

As all this was going on, Roger Stutter was busy at our book stand in QHA foyer and doing a brilliant job. When he wasn't talking to everyone who passed by, he even sold a few books too!

In my humble and unbiased opinion, the event went very well indeed. Big thanks to Roger, Pete, Roz, Stephen and Anna.


Photo above: Roger setting up the book stand.

Stu

Hexham Book Festival Reminder

Stuck for something to do tomorrow? Well, why not pop along to the Queen's Hall in Hexham for around 12pm. As part of the Hexham Book Festival, three Tonto writers will be showcasing their work in an hour-long event.
Pete Tanton will be reading from Johnny Lonely, Roz Wyllie will be reading from Everything You Ever Wanted and Stephen Shieber will be reading from Being Normal.

As if it couldn't get much better, I'll be asking them questions about their work and even answering a few from Anna Disley, Deputy Director at New Writing North. And that's not even the best part... the event is free. Free, I tells ya!

In QHA foyer, yet another Tonto writer, Roger Stutter, will be playing shopkeeper at our book stand and selling all Tonto books at Hextastic discounts.

Tickets can be booked from QHA directly, or you can turn up on the day. Hope to see you there.

I'm off to see Stuart Maconie there tonight as part of their brilliant line up.

Stu

Bookseller Sin Cities article

This week's Bookseller has a small piece on Ashley Hames's forthcoming Sin Cities, complete with LBF photo, and reports 'Tonto Books gets sinful with first tie-in title'. Click on the image below to see a bigger version.


Paul

Farewell Richard and Judy, I hardly knew thee

The news that Richard and Judy are moving to tinpot digital satellite channel UKTV has sent shockwaves through the publishing world. R&J - and their producer Amanda Ross - are among the most influential people in publishing due to the phenomenally successful Richard & Judy Book Club. The Book Club initiative, I'm saying, has been a very good thing. Persuading thousands of Tesco shoppers to buy David Mitchell's fantastic Cloud Atlas is reason enough for it to exist. But, with R&J's show set to lose a predicted 1.5 million viewers following the switch, will their influence remain? I think it will. The Book Club will no doubt continue, as will the practice of stickering their picks. Stickered titles will continue to be favoured by buyers, enjoy prime instore placement, and be pushed by supermarkets. Punters will see the stickers and buy the books, whether or not they've seen the show.

Thinking on, I'm pretty sure I've never seen a full episode of Richard and Judy, but I'm aware of the books that have been selected for the Book Club. Like a TV equivalent of David Beckham moving to LA Galaxy, R&J's transfer to the very fringes of tellyland can at least partly be explained by the fact that they will pocket a hefty retirement package (£1 million each). The TV show might well become an irrelevance, but the Book Club will continue to influence the publishing industry, for better or for worse, for a time to come.

Paul

New Novelists update

The judging process for our North East New Novelist is underway - and what a task it is! There were 121 eligible entries, which is remarkable considering entry was restricted to writers in the North East of England with completed manuscripts. We knew there were lots of writers out there with first chapters and unfinished drafts stuffed away in drawers, but who knew so many had managed to finish their potential masterpieces? At first glance, I've spotted several that look very publishable, but thankfully I don't have to choose the winners. That task will be performed by Kitty Fitzgerald and Wendy Robertson, who will then work with the winning writers to develop their manuscripts. The winners will be announced in June, and the two selected novels will be published in January 2009.

Paul

London Book Fair: the aftermath...

Playing catch-up after the London Book Fair today, sending proofs of our 'buzz' titles off to all the interested parties and emailing general follow-ups all over the world. Personally, due to illness and a Tyne-Wear derby, I've still not really had time to process our first LBF. Our tiny stand only took half an hour to set up on the Sunday, so we were able to get out of the mayhem of carpeting and lighting and have a couple of afternoon pints with Martin from Zymurgy. We were located right at the very back of Earls Court 2, which actually had some advantages as we were in quite an airy and open position opposite the Arabic Deli and next to the bar. This meant queues of punters surveying our wares every lunchtime, although I'd guess that a lot of LBF visitors never made it back as far as our row Y.


On Monday morning we were at the stand bright and early for the 9am kick-off. We quickly realised that it would take even the most fleet-footed visitors a good 45 minutes to reach the back of EC2. A quick wander revealed an amazing array of books from all around the world. How on Earth could our little books have any chance against such massive competition? Gulp. A couple of positive meetings boosted the confidence, and at lunchtime I popped outside and found a cafe selling wonderful sausage baguettes for a quid. These one pound baguettes became somewhat legendary, as Martin began a one-man marketing campaign to inform everyone at the LBF of their amazing bargainous properties. Gordon Brown turned up at the cafe across the aisle (presumably not for a one pound baguette) but somehow none of us spotted him. Too busy, I'm saying. Jill arrived in the afternoon and, beginning to be feel the grip of the dreaded lurgy, I made an early exit to hunt for a pharmacist. I did managed to rally to meet Stu, Jill and Martin, and Andy and Emma from Northumbria Uni Press, for a quick pint, but I was severely flagging, and a quick pint was all I had. I retired to the hotel and resorted to gargling asprin. Meanwhile, I'm told, a good night was had by all.

Tuesday saw Stu hit the casualty list, with sore feet sending him off shopping for comfortable shoes. I was pepped up on paracetamol plus, but luckily, Ashley Hames had flown in for LA to act as wing man in a couple of great meetings. It was nice to see how many people from different countries recognised Ashley - his Sin Cities book really does have international appeal. Other titles also attracted international interest, but of course we'll not discuss that until the deals are signed! The day ended in near disaster when Martin realised that a very naughty passer-by had dumped two half-full coffee cups in the box containing our promotional stuff. After the stress and rush to get our catalogues printed in time for the fair, the last thing I wanted to see was a soggy load of them getting chucked out... I went back to my sick bed!

Wednesday was a blur of last-minute meetings and hand-shakings, then a quick pack up, a rush back to the hotel, and then negotiating the Tube back to King's Cross. Any chance of three hours of precious shut-eye on the way back to Newcastle? Not if the woman who was sitting next to me with her mobile on speakerphone had anything to do with it.


Odd but interesting introduction to the LBF from http://www.herecomestheboss.com
So that was the London Book Fair. Good stuff, bad stuff, ill stuff, funny stuff. Was it worthwhile? I suppose we won't know for sure until a few months down the line. Certainly it gave a very useful overview of the strange industry in which we operate. And, thankfully, I am now very much on the mend. God bless antibiotics and all who sail in them.

Paul

London Book Fair photos

Team Tonto: Stu, Ashley, Jill and Paul

Open for business: Stu Tonto and Martin Zymurgy await their first punters

Behind the scenes: Jill finds a "wi-fi hotspot"

Essential items: Spot the antibiotics (and some of our lovely catalogues before a naughty passerby tipped two cups of coffee over them all...)

Not pictured: Gordon Brown, the male stripper, Doctor Who, the one pound sausage baguette, the ginger beer, and the King's Head and Blackbird pubs. Thanks to everyone who took the time to come and say hello or meet with us. Thanks also to Stu, Martin and Jill for covering for me as I took medicinal breaks (Manflu? I wish!). Same time next year?

Paul

The Boys are back in Town

Terrible blog title, I know.
So, we got back to Newcastle last night and are now taking in the last few days properly. London Book Fair? It was definitely worth going to and hopefully the contacts and meetings will mean that there will be a lot more to show for it in time. The main reasons for going for us were to strengthen our presence, discuss rights opportunities with overseas publishers and meet up with already-established contacts.
There's always the bizarre meetings... authors and agents touting their wares, printers looking for business, other publishers not wanting to talk to you without an appointment as they are 'too busy' and probably think you are one of those in my list, and of course, the socialising.
We met a few people from the North East who were passing and dropped in to say hello, met up with NEPub members and I even dropped in on John Blake Publishing to be an 'annoying' author myself (Blake is publishing my next book in August).
Roll on next year...


Team Tonto: Tonto Stu, Ashley Hames, Editor Jill, Tonto Paul

Stu

Day Three at LBF

More contacts made last night at the Bookseller party, and today has been another interesting one.
A quick health update: Another relatively tame and early night later Paul is still suffering from man flu and I am still in need of new feet. However, there have been some good meetings over the past few days and we have some great leads to follow up, once back at Tonto Towers. Ashley HHames dropped in again today and helped with some further Sin Cities promo (more on that if and when and photos to follow).
Cherie Blair is apparently here today, so maybe she will drop in on Y820 to discuss her sequel.

Stu

Blogging the book fair

The last time I was in London I was scowled at by Nicholas Witchell. No BBC royal correspondent shenanigans so far this year (although still time to be sworn at by Jenny Bond) but with me struggling with man flu and Stu with sore feet it has been a tough introduction to the London Book Fair. We had a couple of good meetings on day one and everyone else apparently had a good night out afterwards while I went back to my sick bed. Gordon Brown was here yesterday, although he didnt make it as far as stand Y820. Ashley Hames is coming along today to help with efforts to sell rights to Sin Cities. If you are going to be here to feel free to stop by for a Lemsip.

Paul

London Book Fair preparations

We're currently loading up the horse and cart ready to set off for the London Book Fair, which runs from this Monday 14 to Wednesday 16 April. We'll be at stand Y820 if you're going to be visiting. If everything goes to plan, we'll be blogging daily from the fair with photos, so watch this space.

Paul

Free book winners

A week or so ago we gave away 50 free copies of Jonny Kennedy and The Rocketbelt Caper. The lucky winners are listed below, if you're one of them your free book is on its way:

Paul Gandy, Catherine Yuill, Joanne Maggs, Katie David, Stacey Williams, Emma Tallett, Lynda Shrubb, Derek Lavery, Vikki George, Mary Cronin, Carrie Ford, Vikki Colman, Vickie Kenyon, Marina Kinsman, Ali Bonham, Miss C Gregory, Amanda Stephen, Paula Wheeler, Suzie Mosson, Dave Rossiter, Sabrina Fancy, Ross Coyle, Deborah Fisher, Lloyd Sequeira, Emma Mannion, A Bowers, Victoria Mann, Samantha Nemeth, H Dudhwala, Audrey Kane, Emma Louise Felkin, N Daley, MJ Thompson, Chris Reed, Denise Soos, Jackie Cassidy, Sue Danim, Lesley Gregory, Shirley Hopkinson, Anne Murray, Shirley Donovan, Lisa Stout, Kevyn Whitelaw, Nina Timmis, Natasha Gandy, Michelle Davies.

Paul

London Book Fair preparations

We're busy getting ready for the London Book Fair, which runs next week from 14 to 16 April. This means running around trying to get hold of our (worryingly delayed) catalogues, posters and other promo stuff before we set off to the big smoke. If you are going to be down there we'd love to meet you at our stand, Y820. We might even buy you a drink. Why not take a look at our 2008 catalogue and rights guide.


Paul

Roz reading reminder

A quick reminder that Rosalind Wyllie will be reading from her forthcoming novel, Everything You Ever Wanted, at the Jesmond Festival at lunchtime today. The event takes place at the Jesmond Methodist Church between 12 and 1 and is absolutely free. If you can't get along you can preorder the book here.

Paul

The Tonto Swearbox

T*gb**t. M*dfl*ps. H*tst*nd. Clearly publishing is the hardest game in the world, and for that reason the air here at Tonto Towers does occasionally turn very slightly blue. So today's big news is that we have implemented a swear box, with all proceeds going to our pub lunch fund. What a chuffing brilliant idea.

Paul

Jesmond Community Festival

Jesmond is a residential suburb of Newcastle trying to regain its community spirit after several years of being completely overrun by a transient student population. To that end, some of the the residents have organised a community festival, and two Tonto writers are involved.


TODAY (Tuesday) between 12 and 1, Stephen Shieber will be reading from his forthcoming collection, Being Normal.

Later, from 7.30, Rosalind Wyllie, author of the forthcoming novel Everything You Ever Wanted, will be taking part in a discussion about new writing.

Then, on Friday 4 April between 12 and 1, Rosalind will be reading from Everything You Ever Wanted.

All of the events take place at the Jesmond Methodist Church, and are free.

Paul

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