So the marketing for pre-launch is picking up steam. This week is half term so, being a teacher, I'm not at work. I've managed to read a book (Your Friend Forever by Zena Barrie, which is brilliant) and start in on another couple. I've always got 3 or 4 books I'm trying to juggle. Too many books, not enough time.
Aaaanyway, that's also the dilemma that faces independent booksellers, so I set myself the task of taking the PR material from Unbound for the book and approach as many bookshops as I could with a view to getting them to stock the book on release. My friendly-worded email has yieleded some good results so far.
The following bookshops have all either said they've ordered copies in already or are about to. Not bad for a couple of days - in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland! More to come I hope. If you live near any of these, please do support your local bookshop and why not point your friends and family in their direction so that they can get their own copies of 'A Hundred Years to Arras'?
Launch date is 19th August. Watch this space for news of some kind of launch event...
Mostly Books, Oxford
Griffin Books, Penarth
Cogito Books, Hexham
Daunt Books, Hampstead
Fred's Bookshop, Ambleside
Gulliver's Bookshop, Wimborne
Midland Books, Tullamore
Hunting Raven Books, Frome
Adventure into Books, Blairgowrie
Newham Bookshop, London
Hurley Books, Mevagissey
Winstone's, Sherbourne
Jaffe & Neale, Chipping Norton
Warwick Books, Warwick
Of course, Kenilworth Books have been a supporter throughout, as has the best second-hand bookshop in Warwickshire, The Tree House Bookshop, also in Kenilworth.
Talking of Kenilworth Books, co-owner Tamsin Rosewell has chosen the tracklist for the next edition of my radio show, which will go out live on radioabbey.com at 8pm on Friday 11th June!