Compass Points 20

Your weekly round up of publishing news, publicity information and trivia!

Conrad Black has been all over the media this week promoting his gripping autobiography, A Matter of Principle. There was a Sunday Times News Review last weekend, an interview on the  BBC Radio 4 Today Programme and on BBC 2’s Daily Politics Show on Tuesday; pieces in the New Statesman and the Financial Times on Thursday and yesterday he was on  Have I Got News For You. This Sunday he is on LBC Radio, and there will be a big interview in the Mail on Sunday. Conrad Black is one of the most controversial figures in British media over the last twenty years. In 1993 he was the proprietor of the Daily Telegraph and the head of one of the world’s largest newspaper groups. He completed a memoir and “great prospects beckoned.” In 2004 he was accused of fraud and fired as chairman of Hollinger. In A Matter of Principle Black describes his indictment, four-month trial, partial conviction, imprisonment, and largely successful appeal.  He writes without reserve about the prosecutors who mounted a campaign to destroy him and the journalists who presumed he was guilty. Fascinating people fill these pages, from prime ministers and presidents, to the social, legal and media elite, among them: Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, George W. Bush, Rupert Murdoch and Henry A. Kissinger. Black is candid about highly personal subjects, including his friendships, his faith, and his marriage to Barbara Amiel. Above all, Black maintains his innocence and recounts what he describes as the “fight of and for my life.” A Matter of Principle is a riveting memoir and a scathing account of a flawed justice system. It came into the publishing schedule very late indeed – so some of you may not have ordered it via your usual channels – it’s published this week and getting tons of great publicity – so don’t miss out!

You can order A Matter of Principle here

Now – how gripping does this sound… “This hitherto unknown story described in these pages cost the writer his marriage and (several times) almost his life… Somehow it happened.  Somehow, on a shoestring, the helicopter-borne, night fighting intervention force began to frighten the black turbans out of the Taliban, Al Qaeda and opium barons… And his Pathans…Those fifty dark featured, tough, lean, hard warriors, as dangerous as the land that made them… for a few months led by an infidel Britisher, they terrified those whose only language was terror.” This is from Frederick Forsyth’s foreword of Ask Forgiveness Not Permission: The True Story of a Discreet Military Style Operation in the ‘badlands’ of Pakistan by Howard Leedham MBE. By any standards this author’s military career is unusual. He started life as a Royal Navy clearance diver, was commissioned, became a Commando helicopter pilot and then served in the Special Forces. Twice decorated by the Queen for gallantry, he also became the first British officer to command a US Marine Corps squadron on active service. On retirement Howard settled in the USA with his American wife and successfully flew executive jets until he was recruited in 2003 by the US State Department’s Airwing; which operates an international fleet of aircraft engaged in counter-terrorism and anti-narcotics operations. Howard’s specific brief was to activate a fleet of anti-terrorist helicopters given to the Pakistan armed forces but which had been embargoed and never properly used. He was given command of fifty Pathan soldiers to train in Special Forces tactics and helicopter skills. They became an amazingly loyal team and the book describes in detail several very successful discreet operations; and the occasional failure– often because of leaked information. How could Howard tell who was a friend and who was a foe – even among his own troops? All this came at a personal price – Howard’s marriage broke up and he was nearly killed by a bomb on a subsequent visit to Islamabad. Today he lives and works in London. Howard Leedham will be on the BBC World News next week (30th October) – and the book is already being favourably reviewed by the many military review bloggers. There is a massive market for these true war and combat stories, so this should do very well – it’s just published.

You can order it here

Who’s a Barbra Streisand fan? Well whether you are or not – there an awful lot of them out there – all potential customers for this new biography! In 1960 Barbra was just a seventeen year-old Jewish kid with plenty of talent and even more ambition. Four years later, she had taken over Broadway as the star of Funny Girl and had three platinum albums. Hello, Gorgeous: The Making of Barbra Streisand charts Streisand’s rise to fame. It covers her formative years: her relationship with her mother, her early lovers, and her husband, Elliott Gould. With access to the previously sealed private collections of Jerome Robbins, Bob Fosse, and many others, William J Mann lays out the first-ever accurate account of the making of Funny Girl, fills in an incomplete record of Streisand’s early nightclub and television appearances, and takes us behind the scenes of the canny marketing team whose strategies made her stardom seem inevitable.  He also re-creates a vibrant piece of New York theatrical history – the dinner clubs and the birth of ‘Off-Off-Broadway’. Everyone of a certain age remembers when the phenomenon of Barbra Streisand rewrote all the rules of stardom. In this intimate portrait, Mann incisively illuminates the woman before she became the icon. This is published in November, to tie in with the 50th anniversary of Streisand’s career and you can remind yourself of one of her seminal performances below! 

Order Hello Gorgeous here

This is something really special. Just in time for the Christmas present market, Myrmidon are bringing out a beautiful limited gift edition of The Garden of Evening Mist by Tan Twan Eng, which of course was shortlisted for the Booker this year and has now sold over 40,000 copies. This slipcased hardback edition is truly beautiful – and will be published on 7 November, at a retail price of £35. The edition is strictly limited to 1,200 copies, each of which will be numbered, signed by the author and stamped in red with his personal Chinese seal. The high specification design includes a silver foil design on the spine, front cover and front of the slip case; coloured endpapers; head and tail bands and a ribbon marker. The cased book is individually shrink-wrapped and labelled with price, barcode, 'signed by the author', 'Limited Edition of 1,200 copies' and 'Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2012’. The 1,200 copies will sell out for sure – so if you have the sort of customers who you feel will be interested in such a covetable collector’s item as this – then get your order in quickly! They are available firm sale - click here to find out more, view the gorgeous cover, and order your copies.

Of all the things that concern you on a day to day basis – is being buried alive one of them?  Possibly not – but your Victorian ancestors would have certainly been worried that this was a real possibility! Premature Burial: How It May Be Prevented was written to reassure the many nineteenth-century people who were apparently worried (to death?) about being buried alive.  You can find out more about it here. It was written by Doctors Hadwen and Vollum together with William Tebb – a wide-ranging social reformer who co-founded the London Association for Prevention of Premature Burial; and has long been out of print – but journalist Jonathan Sale has now produced this edited version of the original book. It includes extracts from the most frightening stories of narrow escapes and living burials from a mass of historical material!  The contents include: Animal and So-called Human Hibernation, Narrow Escapes from Premature Burial, Premature Burial of Doubtful Cases, Death-Counterfeits, The Danger of Hasty Burials, Sudden Death, Embalming and Dissections, and Count Karnice-Karnicki's Invention. This spine chilling volume would make the perfect, creepy Halloween read – and this type of wonderfully kitsch, true-life Victoriana is hugely popular at present! Sadly the average Victorian was clearly nowhere near as resourceful as Uma Thurman in Kill Bill 2 remind yourself of her fantastic escape scene below!

And if you are already bored by your Halloween window display – and it’s not even here yet, then why not click here for some more fun things you can do with a pumpkin!

This newsletter is sent weekly to over 550 booksellers. If you would like to order any of the titles mentioned, then please click here to go to the Compass New Titles Website.

That’s all for now folks, more next week!

Compass Points 19

Compass Points 19

Your weekly round up of publishing news, publicity information and trivia!

Well, many many congratulations to Hilary Mantel.  Writing as someone who has just finished reading – and been utterly gripped by – Wolf Hall I now cannot wait to start Bring up the Bodies which by all accounts is even better! This year’s Booker has perhaps been regarded as the “experimental” or “highbrow” year in comparison to last year’s apparent collection of easy reads, but there has been plenty of support for all the books on the shortlist. Ben Okri (winner for The Famished Road in 1990) said at the Booker dinner that he loved the poetic beauty of Tan Twan Eng's The Garden of Evening Mists. Let’s hope that all six titles on the shortlist continue to get a real sales boost from this prestigious prize!

 Sandi Toksvig is all over the place this week, promoting her brilliant new book Heroines and Harridans: A Fanfare of Fabulous Women – with its hilarious illustrations by Sandy Nightingale This book  attempts to redress the balance of history – which is often ‘his story’ with many men doing grand things while the women stayed home to make the soup. As you would expect from Sandi, it is a thoroughly eccentric and entirely personal mélange of the many women who were terrifically good fun, may have shaped the world but then often disappeared into obscurity. As Mary Beard said “I guess the Blessed Hildegard of Bingen might feel a bit alarmed to find herself between the same covers as Marie Stopes. But that’s the fun of Sandi Toksvig’s wonderfully eclectic collection of Heroines & Harridans – and the marvellously buxom illustrations of Sandy Nightingale to match. Not a size zero in sight!” Sandi Toksvig is an actor, author and comedian who is very popular on the radio, TV and in the press – among other things she hosts BBC Radio 4’s News Quiz and writes a weekly column for the Daily Telegraph – so she will have lots of opportunities to promote this book – and she will!  She was on the Alan Titchmarsh Show (ITV) just this week. It’s a perfect Christmas gift title, and the finished book, which has just arrived in the Compass Office looks terrific – a very handsome looking tome!

You can order the book here.

Come on, hands up, who (like me) was glued to The Great British Bake Off? Did you want John to win? Or were you rooting for handsome James or pernickety Brendan? Sadly this year’s final didn’t feature anything quite as amusing as the shot of that well endowed squirrel from last year – if you don’t remember, click here to remind yourself! As I’m sure you’re finding, baking books of all description are getting a massive sales boost from the series (viewing figures of 6-7 million!), so don’t forget about The Celebrity Bake Book with its forward by Mary Berry, which was published last month. Celebrities, chefs and politicians have contributed their favourite baking recipes for this excellent title (published in support of The Ben Kinsella Trust which raises awareness about knife crime). Among the tempting treats are Military Wives choir leader Gareth Malone’s Orange Almond Cupcakes; Joanna Lumley’s Fancy Bread & Butter Pudding; Mary Berry’s Best Chocolate Fudge Cake; Nigella Lawson’s Birthday Custard Sponge: Barbara Windsor’s Sour Cream Topped Cheesecake: Lorraine Kelly’s Dundee Cake and Samantha Cameron’s Figs with Barbados Cream!

Order the book here.

Who enjoys taking photographs? Just about everyone these days – whether it’s on a phone, ipad or camera. It’s one of the fastest growing interests in Britain today – and there’s never been more opportunity to show your work – via Facebook, blogging or on sites like Pinterest or Tumblr. But how many of us have the know-how to really be creative with our cameras? Photocrafty by Sue Venables is a new fun and quirky ‘how-to’ book aimed at digital SLR camera users who have yet to venture away from their auto setting. The book offers new and exciting ways of making the most of your camera – like a photography course which can be taken at the reader’s own time and pace. “What excites me about photography,” says Sue “is that the possibilities are endless – yet most people don’t even begin to explore beyond the basics. I see Photocrafty as an approach, rather than just a book. It’s about embracing the unknown and being a bit experimental. I want people to be saying ‘what would happen if I try that?’ rather than being stuck with the ‘point-and-shoot’ approach to photography.” It’s getting lots of publicity including the Sunday Express, The Lady, Photography Monthly, Amateur Photographer, the Daily Mail and the Sunday Telegraph.

Order the book here

Marking, planning, stealing colleagues’ milk - teaching has always been a difficult job. The Art of Teaching: Shortcuts for Outstanding Teachers by The Times Educational Miscreant is an outrageous catalogue of teaching aids where the author shares his unique approach to many of teaching’s most taxing problems. Whether it’s marking coursework by weight with Coursework Scales, or planning lessons with the Page-Choosing Money Box, The Art of Teaching is an absolute must for the conscientious teaching professional. The Times Educational Miscreant is also known as James Andrews. His book on thirteen years of teaching, The Bitter Root, was described by the TES as “amusing and eloquent, 9/10” and by the NUT as “a pleasure to read”. There are nearly 876,000 teachers in publicly-funded schools alone – so there will be plenty of  takers for this book – it would make a great present – it’s hilarious and has a real ring of truth that anyone who’s worked in a school will instantly identify with! You can look at sample pages from it on James Andrews' very funny blog - here,  and you can order the book here.

As David Cameron and Alex Salmond sign the deal on the Scottish independence referendum for autumn 2014, and we all bet on whether Bradley or Andy will be the BBC Sports Personality of the Year; perhaps it’s a good time to remind your customers of the extreme fondness our two great nations have for each other, ahem. Auld Enemies: The Scots and the English by David Ross, illustrated by Rupert Besley is a title that should appeal to and amuse readers from both sides of the border. For almost a thousand years, Scotland and England have been neighbour nations and for more than half that time, they were foreign countries, often at war. Four hundred years ago, they began to share a monarchy; three hundred years ago, they joined in a United Kingdom. A new concept of “Britishness” arose, but for most purposes Scots remained Scots and English remained English, and the old sense of rivalry remained. In olden times, a war of words and propaganda accompanied the fighting. As the countries got to know each other better and the fighting died down, the verbal exchanges continued, and became sharper, more wide-ranging, and funnier. This book provides a unique record of the long contest of verbal warfare across the Border, from its beginnings right up to the present day. Here’s a little film on YouTube giving one person’s entirely unbiased view on the Scotland versus England debate; and you can find out more about the book here.

And lastly for those who just haven’t got the concentration or time to read the likes of Bring Up the Bodies – or any other big fat historical book – you might enjoy this – the entire history of the world in just two minutes!

This newsletter is sent weekly to over 550 booksellers. If you would like to order any of the titles mentioned, then please click here to go to the Compass New Titles Website.

That’s all for now folks, more next week!

Compass Points 18

Compass Points 18

Your weekly round up of publishing news, publicity information and trivia!

Imagine you’re on a train. Think about all the other people on the train with you, what their lives are or have been, and the different experiences you've all had. But there is one more thing that you undoubtedly all share: you have all been in love at one time or another. Trains and Lovers, the new novel by bestselling author Alexander McCall Smith is a surprising and poignant story; four strangers meet on a journey from Edinburgh to London. Each has a tale of love and of railways: all very different experiences, but throughout them all runs a deep current of love. Sandy McCall Smith is a global phenomenon and the publicity plans for this book are mega – just to give you a taster: the Sky Book Show has interview broadcasting on 15 November; there is a BBC Radio 3 documentary; Classic FM, Radio 4, Radio Scotland, Radio 2, Radio 3 and BBC World Service also all have interviews. There will be features, interviews and articles in the Telegraph, the Guardian, Woman & Home, Sainsbury’s Christmas Magazine, the Times, the Herald, the Express and the Scotsman. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that Alexander McCall Smith’s readers are all of a certain age or type – his Facebook page now has over 23,000 fans. If you haven’t tried his books I really urge you to give them a try – he will be doing a UK wide tour in October and November 2012, covering festivals, and bookshops from Brighton to Paisley!

Order Trains and Lovers here

And talking of trains and lovers – who cannot be reminded of the most famous trains and lovers story of all – click here to have a little watch and a weep at the last five minutes of this fabulous film.

Who’s doing a bit of a home decoration at the moment? Well, has it ever occurred to you that rather than going down to IKEA or B&Q and spending a fortune – you could simply find everything you need in a nearby skip, salvage yard or dump? Reclaiming Style by Adam Hills and Maria Speake, the partners behind architectural salvage and design business Retrouvius; combine their salvage work with one of the most sought-after interior design practices in Britain. The book takes you from the demolition site to the warehouse giving an insight into the process of designing with reclaimed materials. It’s getting a lot of publicity – there will be a big feature in the Telegraph Magazine tomorrow, and also prices in Country Life, Easy Living, Marie Clare, the Independent, Living Etc and Grand Designs Magazine.

Order Reclaiming Style here

F in Retakes by Richard Benson, which has just been published, continues to get some good publicity as rants about educational standards  are never far away from the front pages of the “things ain’t what they used to be” harrumphing of the broadsheets and tabloids.  The Daily Mail ran a great piece this week, entitled Education Secretary Michael Gove may have a bigger task on his hands than he thought, if these genuine examples from exam papers are anything to go by! which you can look at  here to enjoy some more classroom clangers!

Click here to order the book

Are you in the mood for a bit of online shopping – but wants something a bit different from ASOS or Amazon? Click here to go to SupermarketSarah.com which is a really fun website; it features different “walls” – all decorated with cool stuff where you can just click on anything you like the look of to buy it – careful, it can become a bit addictive! The site’s become a real platform for young talent and has been featured in a wide range of media, including the Guardian, Evening Standard, Sunday Times Style, British Vogue, Elle and the BBC News. And now Supermarket Sarah has a book out too!  She has travelled the globe, offering up inspiration and variety as she illustrates novel ways in which people use their own walls to display themselves and their “treasures.” She visits the homes and studios of designers and collectors, viewing the displays of minimalists and hoarders. The walls range from the quirky to the romantic, from vintage to brand new. They are all revealing, amusing and thought-provoking – Supermarket Sarah is becoming a bit of a sensation – so don’t let your customers miss out on this fast growing trend!

Order the book - which is called Wonder Walls - here

And now let’s go back in time see what the Norwegians make of our ongoing eBooks versus real books debate…

Watch The Medieval Helpdesk here!

This newsletter is sent weekly to over 550 booksellers. If you would like to order any of the titles mentioned, then please click here to go to the Compass New Titles Website.

Compass Points 17

Compass Points 17

Your weekly round up of publishing news, publicity information and trivia!

Well, it’s the time of year for party conferences – and we’ve now heard from Labour and the Lib Dems as to how exactly they’d run the country – if only they were in charge. Out this month is the gripping first biography of one of the men who actually is in charge – George Osborne. The Age of Osborne by Janan Ganash charts the mixture of rare brilliance, deadly opportunism and extraordinary good fortune that propelled Osborne’s vertiginous ascent through British politics, from journalist fresh out of university to the youngest Chancellor in over a century. In doing so, it paints a portrait of that rare thing in the coalition government: a compelling character. A lifelong Tory but a man of few fixed convictions, the author of the most dramatic austerity programme this country has seen since the war, the most aristocratic member of an unusually privileged government and a ferociously ambitious moderniser with aspirations for the premiership, George Osborne is perhaps the most modern and metropolitan figure in British public life. Janan Ganesh is the British political correspondent of The Economist, and this title is attracting much media attention, as you would expect. Starting this Saturday it will be serialised in the Daily Mail – which will run through into next week.

Order the Age of Osborne here.

Another title in the news is Ted and I: A Brother’s Memoir by Gerald Hughes – his story of growing up with the poet Ted Hughes. This had a two page serialisation this weekend in the Sunday Times. Anecdotal and immensely charming, this book is a unique portrait of one of the finest and best-known poets of the twentieth century. Hughes brings alive a period when the two brothers would roam the countryside, camping, making fires, pitching tents, hunting rabbits, rats, wood pigeon and stoats. Ted’s fascination with all wildlife subsequently fed directly into his sublime poetry and Gerald subsequently describes how he watched his brother become one of the greatest poets in English literary history, and his relationships with others, in particular. The title containing a great many unique and never-before-seen photographs of Ted Hughes, and has a foreword by Frieda Hughes, daughter of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes.  I have always loved Ted Hughes, and was lucky enough to see him reading his poems at a festival years ago – if you too are a fan you can watch a short tribute to him here.

And the book is available here.

Now – something very exciting is happening on Monday – 46 million people all over the world will watch the largest ever global photographic show!  A Day in the World will be simultaneously shown across 85,733 major digital display screens in 22 countries; including in New York’s Times Square.  The synchronised exhibition will kick off on the farthest eastern screen in Sydney, Australia, and travel across the world until it reaches the most western in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Come on – surely those sorts of numbers and that sort of publicity have got to lead to some serious sales for the Day in the World book which has just been published!

On 15th May 2012, ADay.org asked amateur and professional photographers around the world to pick up their cameras to photograph what was close to them on a single day. The response proved phenomenal and the initiative became the most comprehensive documentation of a single day in human history through digital photography. Of over 100,000 photographs taken and submitted, from 165 countries, the 1,000 best have been selected for this book. A Day in the World highlights the sharp juxtapositions between different geographical regions and economic positions – and includes a great variety of situations and subject matter. As Desmond Tutu says in the book’s introduction “Every picture has added to my experience – my comprehension of life is suddenly richer.”

You can find out all about the project here - and view many of the amazing pictures!

You can order A Day in the World here

This is fun – one of the Compass publishers has their own radio station! Hay House –the world’s leading mind body and sprit publisher – as well as having a great website, also has its very own radio station, where you can listen to words of wisdom from some of their bestselling authors. If you’re bored of Classic FM, Radio 5 Live or 6Music then why not have a listen to it here.

And click here for the Hay House website

Who fancies escaping the wild weather of a typical British autumn, and jetting off to the isle of Mustique for a decadent party with the rich and famous?  Sadly most of us don’t have this option – but it’s always fun to read about those who do. Lord of the Isle: The Extravagant Life and Times of Colin Tennant (Lord Glenconner) by Nicholas Courtney is the long anticipated biography of the late Lord Glenconner – an often unconventional and always newsworthy figure. Born to an immensely rich Victorian industrial family, he used his wealth to live an eccentric lifestyle of self-indulgence from the 1940s to his death in 2010. He bought the private island of Mustique in the West Indies and made it one of the world’s most exclusive destinations for the famous –  royalty, film and pop stars, international businessmen and the jet-set flocked there. His parties were legend. The inside story of this remarkable and often tragic life continues to cause ripples even after his death – not least because, to his family’s surprise, he left his estate to his manservant. This book is a major biography for the autumn and Christmas and will generate a lot of publicity. A serialisation is running in the Daily Mail to run in three instalments between 13th October and the date of publication, Monday 29th October.  There will also be big pieces in the Sunday Telegraph and The Scotsman and we’re expecting interviews with Nicholas on the BBC World Service, BBC Scotland and BBC Radio 4.

Order the book here

New in this week’s “oooh er missus” spot comes Venus in the Cloister by the rather unfortunately named L’Abbe du Prat.  Fifty Shades of Grey may have created a phenomenon but is a relative newcomer to the world of fictional eroticism – why not go back to the beginning to see how it all began. Written in 1683 as a series of dialogues (known as whore dialogues) between the two nuns, Venus in the Cloister shows erotic fiction was popular long before the days of EL James and could be just as titillating. In fact it was considered so shocking at the time in its portrayal of sexual voyeurism and notion of female intimacy; it was responsible for the first trial for obscenity in the United Kingdom. This is the only available edition of this classic erotic tale, and it’s published in November, by Hesperus. It has a suitably saucy but tasteful black and white cover – and will sit very nicely alongside all the other mummy porn – sorry erotic fiction – on your shelves!

Find out more here

Who’s into rugby union? Well, then this is the book for you! Behind the Lions: Playing Rugby for the British & Irish Lions by Stephen Jones, Tom English, Nick Cain and David Barnes is a unique history of the Lions told in the players’ own words. These four world-renowned rugby authors represent each of the Home Unions – and 2013 marks 125 years of Lions tours so there’s certain to be plenty of interest in this book! Just to give you a flavour of emotions involved, here’s one fan's tribute to the 2009 Lions tour! The Lions tours embody a revered legacy that is steeped in tradition yet maintains a vibrant standing in the modern era. Every four years the rugby world’s focus is drawn to a great red pilgrimage as the Lions embark on a brutal and exhilarating tour that challenges the very limits of their rugby ability and the strengths of their characters. They travel to the far reaches of the earth to confront the great powers in the world game… and the weight of history itself. Behind the Lions delves to the heart of what it means to be a Lion, interviewing a vast array of former tourists to uncover the passion, pride and exhilaration experienced when wearing the famous red jersey. It is a tale of heart-break and ecstasy, humour and poignancy that is at once inspirational, moving and utterly compelling.

And you can order the book here!

This newsletter is sent weekly to over 550 booksellers. If you would like to order any of the titles mentioned, then please click here to go to the Compass New Titles Website.

That’s all for now folks, more next week!