Many years ago, a new writer sent their manuscript to a publisher, and they would hear a 'yes', 'no' or 'maybe'.
Today, new writers send their manuscripts to publishers, and they are likely receive a postcard telling them to get an agent. Many agents now act like editors, helping their writers through rewrites. In turn, publishers turn to agents they trust - and agents stick to writers who have earned their royalties, or are writing in a fashion that is likely to earn good royalties (hence the...
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There may already be a book group in your area. Ask at your local library or check with The Reading Agency, a charity that aims to promote reading:  http://www.readinggroups.org/find/location/

Or try: http://wwwbookgroupinfo.co.uk

If a group doesn't exist in your area, or the existing group is full, you may have to start a reading group from scratch.

First, ask among your friends, co-workers and neighbours. You are likely to be surprised at how many people like to discuss books.

If you ar...

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Much is written about how it's the turn of the author, and publishers must take a back seat.
An article in Forbes magazine states: Publishers need to evolve their business models to reflect a new reality and one that is closely aligned to the authors. 
Self-publishing, author cooperatives, and pay-for-publication imprints are all receiving a massive amount of coverage right now. 
For a small publishing company such as ours, this discussion can make us wonder why we get out of bed. Yes, anyone ca...
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Ebooks for Africa! Tablets for Africa!
We hear a lot about digital technology being transported to Africa, and it's a wonderful ideal. The problem is that much of the telephone fibre in Africa is just that - made for telephone usage and unable to support the passage of bulky data (think of the old days of internet dial up).
So while ebook technology may not yet be appropriate, there is another digital mechanism that is ideal - the Espresso Book Machine! This physical printer operates like a ven...
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Do all publishers charge writers to publish their work?
According to some, it is a legitimate part of doing business in today's world, and I've just had a rather heated debate with a publisher who feels that not charging is impossible. 
Hmmm! I have been known for my Polly Anna tendencies, but a work should be accepted because a publisher feels that their investment in editing, typesetting, design, printing and royalty costs will be returned by enough readers purchasing the title. We all make m...
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'To own a certain book, and to choose it without help, is to define yourself.'
Julian Barnes

When browsing through a bookshop or library, we are often reluctant to stake our time and money on an unknown author. It feels safer to opt for the novel that has had attention in the media - either through reviews, author interviews or a billboard picture or two. But, as we all know, not all highly hyped novels turn out to be wonderful reads, and not all unhyped novels are worthless.
So how do we discov...
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Congratulations go to Victoria Owens, of Bath Spa University, with her novel Caelica's Bridge. Set in 18th century Wales, the novel follows a young woman who finds the courage to stand up to her father and her fractured community.
Hookline book groups said:
"The characters were strongly developed as the novel progressed."
"It had a good sense of period."
"This was definitely our favourite."
I look forward to working with Victoria, and we aim to have her novel published by April.
Congratulations to ...
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Book groups are sending in their results as we move toward the conclusion of the Hookline Novel Competition.
Usually, we see a particular novel rise above the others, and I can easily bet on who might win. Interestingly, so far, there seems to be no clear favourite. So all bets are off.
For those unfamiliar with the Hookline Novel Competition: We take submissions only from students and graduates of MA writing courses and ask book groups to judge their work - in short, we bring together serious ...
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I remember a time before itunes and CDs when music came on vinyl albums. Oftentimes you weren't keen on all the musical tracks, but you listened anyway and oftentimes those unpopular tunes grew on you. I'm not the only person who sat in a bedroom listening to every single track on an album while reading the cover from top to bottom - including the copyright details - while the eighth, ninth or tenth song grew more appealing.
Today when we download digital music files, we pick only the album tr...
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Does anyone feel followed by a cloud of words?
I don't mean in the books we read, I'm more concerned with social media. 
I love Facebook for the contact with old friends and new, and I have found some amazing pointers to events and ideas on Twitter. But sometimes, it feels these forums have simply too many words.
I understand the democratic nature of social networking and even champion the lack of gatekeeper, but sometimes...
Ask yourself, who wants to know about your mood today? Do the public ne...
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It will come as no surprise to read that Fifty Shades is massively popular in women's prisons. The surprise may be that it is also popular among the men's prison population. "Their wives tell them to read it," said one reading group volunteer at the Prison Reading Groups conference at Roehampton University last week.
No matter whether it is requested, not all libraries will keep it in stock. Books with sexual content are sometimes banned. This is easy to understand in prisons holding sex offen...
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Tea and biscuits have a deep association with book groups, but this connection is significant for book groups that meet in prisons.
Almost every volunteer and librarian who spoke at the Prison Reading Group conference at Roehampton University last week, talked of tea and biscuits and how integral they are to meetings. It was just one of the details that fascinated me, that put prison reading groups on a par with any other reading group in any community.
The conference was held, primarily, to sh...
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Publishing tends to keep readers and writers far apart - writers write; readers read and the publishers take care of the bit in the middle.
But there is a huge overlap as almost all writers read, and increasing numbers of readers write. The two groups no longer sit at opposite ends of the publishing table.
Hookline Books already brings readers and writers together - we take submissions from new writers, and rely on book group readers to decide the manuscripts that go to print. 
We would now like...
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When it comes to book covers everyone has an opinion. Some look at the design, professionals look at the techniques involved, readers look for clues to the story.
Personally, the simpler the better has huge appeal. I dislike peering through swashes of colour for a subtle hint of appeal. 
Which is why the cover of Hookline's A Young Woman's Guide to Carrying On is one of my favourites. And, at book fairs, I have seen women pick it out from among all the other books on our shelves. It's simplicit...
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It used to be that reviews were limited to the literary pages of our weekend newspapers. The books were often put forward by publicists, and the reviews were written by editor-appointed experts.
Then came Amazon!
Amazon allowed us all to be reviewers, and we loved it. Giving us the opportunity to rate the books we bought made us feel close to this company - the website was ours, we were contributing to it. Of course, some authors tried to create fake reviews, pumping up their book's assets. And...
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I love first lines - or hate them if they are really bad. When browsing a book shop, the first line has to grab me. If it isn't awful, I am likely to proceed to the next and onward through the whole paragraph - and if that keeps me happy, then the book is mine.
At the moment I'm reading The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach. The first line isn't superb: Schwartz didn't notice the kid during the game.
Not wonderful, but I do want to know why Schwartz notices the kid now. 
 This is a novel centered ...
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This is our first 99p title and it sounds dreadfully cheap. 
After all, what can you buy for 99p these days? A chocolate bar, a small piece of fruit - but certainly not a cup of tea, a coffee or even a bus ticket!
Yet, 99p for Underground will take you places you have never been - the soft green landscape of the antebellum south where Samantha prepares for her debutante ball, not knowing she'll soon be heading north with two escaped slaves. In a parallel story, we have Annie in the mountains of...
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A Young Woman's Guide to Carrying On is a very funny novel, and Jilly Wosskow, the author, is a very funny woman.
I've decided to post some of her lines and challenge anyone to find better in novels by Kathy Lette or Jilly Cooper.

" 'And don't think I'm going to give up my retirement to look after your illegitimate babies.' Mother had never gone out to work in her entire life so God alone knew what she would retire from - thawing TV dinners or spying on the neighbours perhaps."
 
"He unlocked the...
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If you like Jilly Cooper, you will love Jilly Wosskow. 
While Jilly Cooper writes about wealthy jet-setting polo-playing characters, Jilly Wosskow sticks to people we know, girls from Sheffield who want fun and a man to love them. And she does this as she makes us laugh and loud with sex scenes that would make Jilly Cooper blush.
Jilly Wosskow herself is a shy woman - although you would never think that to see her. She describes herself: 
born in Sheffield in the mid-1950s and has been carousing...
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There have been wonderful statements made by the great and good in the publishing industry concerning listening to readers, and it makes me think of our first Hookline novel, The China Bird by Bryony Doran.
Given that we let reading groups choose the novels that go to print, I thought we would let our readers select the cover that went on the book. We had several images. The one I favoured featured a china pie bird. Not being domesticated, I didn't realise that it was a kitchen utensil for pre...
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Another month and more updates on the evolution of E-books.
Faber Factory have organised a conference to brief members on new aspects of E-publishing.
Many of us are keen to know how the Waterstones-Kindle alliance will play out. Will Waterstones continue to sell ePub books alongside Kindle books? (For the uninitiated, Kindle uses a different e-book formatting programme from the rest of the industry - hence Kindle can only read Kindle books). If Kindle books are sold onto Kindle devices in shop...
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Tax on books is a terrible thing - especially when it's a full 20 percent.
No matter what you think of progressive and regressive taxes, £1 tax on a £5 book is excessive.
Fortunately, we don't pay tax on paper books, but it is a different matter when it comes to Ebooks. Apparently they are treated as computer games - hmm!
Ebooks are not cheap to produce. Editing and typesetting must still take place and then they have to be 'converted' to ePub. I'm not exactly sure what this process involves -...
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Print-on-demand publishing is a growing segment of today's book market.
For the uninitiated, print-on-demand means that books are printed as they are ordered rather than having a fixed print run of ten, twenty or thirty thousand books. For publishers, not having to commit money and warehousing space to thousands of books means we can take chances on new authors.  
In the early days, print-on-demand technology wasn't great - the text wasn't even and the bindings often fell apart. This is no long...
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Book groups are to be celebrated. As these dedicated readers meet each month and discuss their monthly read, they have become the backbone of the fiction industry. 
I will repeat my previous claim that Alexander McCall Smith and his Number One Ladies Detective Agency, Louis de Bernieres and Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Rebecca Wells and her YaYa Sisterhood would not be successful without word of mouth praise from book groups.
Here at Hookline, we have huge faith in reading groups. All the books ...
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So many unpublished writers are out there diligently working away at plot, character development and writing style. Brown envelopes are mailed to publishing houses and pushed into the reluctant hands of editors, who may only be on a shopping trip to Sainsburys (yes, it happens!) There is a desperation out there. So many writers want their work to be relished by readers.
It's a tough world - lot's of people telling stories while the majority of readers are engaged by a narrow field of best sell...
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Hookline Books do not publish many novels - one or two a year. So a party to celebrate one of our books is a big event. 
Underground by Gayle O'Brien topped the approval ratings from our book groups last year - and we trust our book groups so much we let them guide us in choosing what goes to print. Underground is our fourth winner and, as a lover of a good story, I am proud to put it to print.
Underground follows two young American women - one contemporary and another from the 19th century - a...
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Dear Independent Booksellers,
We know you face problems as you try to compete with Amazon, supermarket discounts and the rise of Ebooks.
On the publishing side, small independents also struggle - raising the profile of new works is not easy when our weekend newspapers all review the same high-profile books. Many of us have no money for sales reps never mind publicists and their campaigns.
Like other small publishers, we have some highly praised reads - books that may not be reviewed in our newsp...
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Our reading groups have voted and we have our short list of authors for this year:

Ainscow and the Children of Fire by Paul Beatty of Manchester Metropolitan University

The Net by Andrea Case-Rogers of Manchester Metropolitan University

Charlotte by Andrew Chesney of Anglia Ruskin University

The Ivy Stone by AJ Morgan of University of Wales

Caelica’s Bridge by Victoria Owens of Bath Spa University  

An interesting point to note is that three of the five are men - so far Hookline has publi...
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Seven Days to Tell You came in the top three at the finals of The People's Book Awards - a huge privilege. Ruby and I had a fun evening - great to meet the other authors and publishers up for the award.
While Seven Days to Tell You didn't win, we did top the number of positive reviews on The People's Book Prize website.
If you have any doubt about the novel's merit, read below:

Excellent new writing; engaging characters and exciting plot. I devoured Seven Days to Tell You in one sitting... This ...

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The People's Book Prize award ceremony is Wednesday night. Our very own Seven Days to Tell You by Ruby Soames is a contender in the fiction section.
The prize was established to give readers a say in the industry - much like Hookline Books. Rather than have publishing giants choose the best sellers by putting large budgets behind well-known writers, the organisers wanted to give readers the chance to promote a good book - from the bottom up!
We congratulate all the writers who have made the fin...
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I hate it when writers slip a dream sequence into a novel. I know they are trying to show the characters inner fears, desires, etc, but it is boring, and my eyes skip those paragraphs so fast that I almost reach the last page. I actually grow bored listening to friends describe their dreams - sorry, friends, I do try not to let my eyes glaze over.
So it is probably one rule that, according to me, should never be broken.
But this is subjective - other readers may like this skip into fantasy.
Anot...
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This is the final leg of voting in the finals of The People’s Book Prize.

We are delighted that Seven Days to Tell You by Ruby Soames is a finalist in the fiction category.

It is tough for a small publishing company like ours to rise – we may have great stories, terrific writers and a wonderful niche in allowing reading groups to choose what goes to print. But what we don’t have are the finances for a publicity campaign.

So this competition is an excellent opportunity for Hookline...

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Positive comments from famous writers or newspaper book reviewers are craved by every new novelist. It is a widely held belief that if Celebrity Writer A or Newspaper Writer B liked it then the book will sell well. But will it?
Anthony Horowitz has written a super piece in the Guardian on 'Who's Helping Who In the Cover Blurb Game'. 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2012/may/11/cover-blurb-book-recommendation 
He asks whether readers pay any attention to what is clearly a back scratchin...
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National Reading Group Day is on June 30, and I think Hookline Books should do something to celebrate. After all, it is reading groups who choose the novels we put to print - we couldn't exist without reading groups.
But what do we do to celebrate this day?
Free books, deep discounts are all great ideas, especially for consumers.
But I'd like to do something to celebrate these communities of readers who meet regularly in homes, libraries, cafes and bars to discuss their monthly read.
How can we p...
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No one expects prisoners to read novels, let alone discuss them. 
But the Prison Reading Groups have released a list of recent choices among prison book groups.
Women prisoners choose fairly predictable titles by authors such as Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love), Anita Shreve (Testimony), and Sarah Waters (Affinity).
But male prisoners selection of titles is a bit more surprising: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, and Lucky Man by Michael J. Fox.
Okay, Michael J. ...
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Five days to the start of the London Book Fair and it is the usual gamut of things going right and those turning wrong. 
I'm not going to bore you with details of printers, brochures, logos and egos, because today I am taking big breaths - in and out!
It's always the same at this time - the 'never again, I'm getting out of this business' shoots through me, and I think of taking up work in a war zone. But the truth is it usually all turns out well in the end - and it is that sense of things 'tur...
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The London Book Fair approaches and there is much to do. However, immersed in it all, I can't help but look back at Hookline's first appearance at the London Book Fair four years ago. The China Bird by Bryony Doran was our first winner - we had no other publication - so our entire stand was stacked only with Bryony's book. 
We looked pretty foolish among the more seasoned publishers with their shelves of new titles and a healthy backlist. Many of them asked why we only had one title and, when ...
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On the run from a killer, Annie and her mother flee to a remote farmhouse in New England. When Annie finds an unsent letter from a debutante in the Civil War, she is drawn to the story of a Southern girl immersed in a love that cannot see light in the American South. Determined to find out what happened to her, Annie risks bringing the killer to her farmhouse door.Underground chronicles two remarkable journeys – one across modern-day America and another through a country on the brink of its...

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Book groups rarely get a mention at literary festivals. Instead it is the great and good among authors who are feted and discussed.
But a small forum at next month's Chipping Norton Literary Festival aims to change that. Book Groups - Not All Tea and Biscuits will discuss why book groups are popular and will ask book group members to talk about how they find the books they read, how serious does it have to be and even, critically, how do you deal with a difficult or dominating member?
The event...
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Who can write a novel? 
Any celebrity apparently - it seems to go with the gene that blesses them when they talk on television and appear at award shows.
The latest celebrity to sign a book deal for fiction is Richard Madeley - of Richard & Judy fame. Previous celebrities to be blessed with the fiction writing gene are Anne Widdecombe, politician and dancer; Michael Howard's wife, the former model Sandra Howard; Katie Price, model and feminist icon. We can also add to the list Naomi Campbell, S...
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Mention reading groups to most people, and they expect middle age, middle class and middle brow.
How wrong!
Reading groups are a growing force in publishing, and some big name titles owe their success to word-of-mouth recommendation through book groups. For instance:
Number One Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières
Devine Sisters of the YaYa Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

These novels were original...

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Seven Days to Tell You by Ruby Soames has reached the final twelve in The People's Book Prize. We're thrilled, and it's all thanks to the readers who put their votes behind the title.
All our novels are published after their raw manuscripts are given a thumbs up by reading groups. Fiction is subjective - what receives praise from one reader, will be ridiculed by another. But if large numbers of book groups are thrilled by a work, then we are happy to put it to print and let other readers share...
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Yesterday we announced that Hookline authors were available to visit book groups in their area.
Today, we have another offer to make to book groups - 25 percent discount and free postage when you order directly with us.
Hookline Books could not exist without book groups - you choose the fiction we put to press, the least we can do is ensure a few perks.
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Readers like to meet writers - especially when they've enjoyed their work. 
Writers like to meet readers - especially when their work has been appreciated.
So Hookline Books is offering readers visits from authors.
Bryony Doran, author of The China Bird, and Jilly Wosskow, author of A Young Woman's Guide to Carrying On, are both able to visit book groups in the area around South Yorkshire.
Author of The Partridge and the Pelican, Rachel Crowther, can visit groups in Cheshire.
Book groups in London...
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This is the final TWO DAYS of voting for 1^st stage of The People’s Book Prize.

One of our novels, Seven Days to Tell You by Ruby Soames, has been nominated.

It is tough for a small publishing company like ours to rise – we may have great stories, terrific writers and a wonderful niche in allowing reading groups to choose what goes to print. But what we don’t have are the finances for a publicity campaign.

So this competition is an excellent opportunity for Hookline to air its wares...

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Our 2012 manuscripts are going out to reading groups - always exciting as we pack, but daunting as we arrive at the Post Office and have to unload 30 boxes and queue for service. Those behind us fire daggers at the packages, but what can we do?
Reading groups - I hope you enjoy your work, and we look forward to hearing your results.
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We've received a few favourite first lines from readers:

'It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.' from George Orwell's 1984.
I haven't read this novel but the first line definitely wakes up the reader.

Another old classic came forth:

'Happy Families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way' from Anna Karenina by Tolstoy. A thought that cannot be denied.

But we also had first lines submitted from contemporary fiction:

'I'm unsure why one trifli...
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Sorry to harp on about these, but when browsing a book shop I am more likely to read the first line than the back cover. A good first line will make me read on, perhaps even to the end of the page. A bad first line, one that lies in a quagmire of unprepared detail, can make me shiver as I shut the page fast before it leaks out. Consider:
  
 The news about Walter Bergland wasn't picked up locally - he and Patty had moved away to Washington two years earlier and meant nothing to St. Paul now - b...
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For the next few days I will be airing my favourite first lines - and looking at why I think they work.
Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan sets the topic of the novel with his introductory sentence: They were young, educated, and both virgins on this, their wedding night, and they lived in a time when a conversation about sexual difficulties was plainly impossible.
This novel is immersed in sex and intimacy, and this first sentence immediately introduces the reader to the characters and their challenge...
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First lines are the entry into a novel. If you're like me, you read the first few lines, paragraphs or even pages when browsing for something to read. And if you're like me, a good first line can pull you straight into a story and have you at the till, ready to purchase, without a second thought. 
I felt like this when I opened Anne Tyler's Back When We Were Grownups and read, One upon a time there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person.
I so wanted to know more.
The mos...
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All submissions for this year's Hookline Novel Competition have been typeset and the files have been uploaded to the printer - I love those words, 'uploaded to the printer'. It doesn't mean our work is done - in the next two weeks, we should be in receipt of the paperbacks and the floor will be littered as we pack them for our book groups and drive to the post office where everyone in the queue shoots irritating looks at our 30 plus boxes. 
But 'uploaded to the printer' means that we can have ...
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This is the final two weeks of voting for The People’s Book Prize.

One of our novels, Seven Days to Tell You by Ruby Soames, has been nominated.

It is tough for a small publishing company like ours to rise – we may have great stories, terrific writers and a wonderful niche in allowing reading groups to choose what goes to print. But what we don’t have is the money for a publicity machine.

As a result, we rely on readers to promote our good name.

To refresh your memory Seven Days ...

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Much praise has been heaped on Charles Dickens this year - rightly so! His stories have engaged generations, and his depictions of life at the bottom of the ladder helped alter Victorian sensibilities. But I think we have to discuss why his work captivated so many readers over so many years.
My theory is his serialisation - his chapters, written for periodic journals, had to grab readers so they couldn't wait for the next episode to be printed. So often today, a novel might grab us in the firs...
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Kate and Marc have a perfect marriage – until one morning Marc goes out, and doesn’t come home. Where has he been? Is a week long enough to learn the truth?

Seven Days to Tell You by Ruby Soames has been nominated for The People's Book Prize - however it needs votes. Yours! Please follow this link to read an excerpt -
http://www.peoplesbookprize.com/section.php?id=6 
ease follow this link where you can read an excerpt -  http://www.peoplesbookprize.com/section.php?id=6 
































 ...
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Mention reading groups to most people, and they expect middle age, middle class and middle brow.
How wrong!
Reading groups are a growing force in publishing, and some big name authors owe their success to word-of-mouth recommendation through book groups. For instance:
Number One Ladies Detective Agency
Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Devine Sisters of the YaYa Sisterhood
The Kite Runner
These were all small-time debut novels until discovered by reading groups.
Following the success of these books, publish...
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Hookline is now four and we think it is big enough to have it's own website. To be honest, with so much work, we hadn't noticed that it had grown bigger than it's mother - Bookline & Thinker. 
So, this is it - a lot more work to do on the Hookline Books website, but we hope you will read, respond and air your views on what we do.



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