Inspiration from Winnie the Pooh

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“What day is it?” asked Pooh.

“It’s today,” squeaked Piglet.

“My favourite day,” said Pooh.”

A.A. Milne, the creator of Winnie the Pooh, was born this day in 1882.  Although he wrote a number of other novels and non-fiction, it is his stories about that little bear that have been a lasting legacy.

A book, whether it is fiction or non-fiction, is a wonderful legacy and is one that so many people dream of having. It doesn’t have to sell loads of copies or make you Read more

Are you prepared if your laptop dies?

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My laptop is dying! Yep, after about 5 years and a couple of mishaps it is on the way out. It’s done well considering. At least it is giving me notice though. If I try to switch it on, it just freezes, you know the sort of thing, and then the only course of action is to switch it off, cross my fingers and try switching it on again. Read more

‘ How Food Shapes Your Child’ wins Janey Loves Platinum Award

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It is always a delight to hear that one of our authors has won an award so we are very pleased to announce that Louise Mercieca of The Health Kick and her book How Food Shapes Your Child has won the Janey Loves Platinum Award as best parenting book. Her book, How Food Shapes Your Child, is an essential guide for parents on childhood nutrition, as well as sharing a range of fun, healthy meal ideas.   Read more

Createspace and KDP merging – What must I do?

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If you are reading this article you have probably heard about the amalgamation of Createspace and KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) and are wishing you had a crystal ball to predict what will happen. Or perhaps you can’t see the wood for the trees and are confused about what you need to do before this change takes place. Either way this article is for you.

What is an Advanced Information Sheet and how do you create one?

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I have been asked questions about an Advanced Information Sheet by a number of my authors recently so I thought the best way to answer it would be to actually create one using information from one of Goldcrest Books’ most recent publications. So, my thanks to Hester Durkan whose book Get off that Phone is featured here in this blog post.

14 Things to do on Goodreads.com

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I was invited to talk to a group of authors a while ago about Goodreads.com which is a terrific website for readers and a must for any author or aspiring author.  My talk went down very well and seemed to be of use to everyone, judging by the comments I received afterwards, so I thought I would share some of it with you today.

What is Goodreads.com?

If you haven’t come across Goodreads before then let me start by giving you some background information.

All you’ll ever need to know about ISBNs

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I am often asked about ISBNs and when they should be used and how to get one so I thought I would put together a post that answers the most frequently asked questions about this topic. 

Use your roots to promote your novel

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Have you written a novel based near your home town?

Top 5 myths why you don’t write a business book

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Have you ever dreamed of writing a book but not got any further than dreaming? Then you are in good company, over 80% of Americans and probably a similar percentage in the UK would like to write a book.

Find more readers with Google Alerts Part 2

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Google Alerts Part 2 will look at how to create your own Google Alerts. Setting up Google Alerts is a great way for authors to find out who is talking about them and their books.