New in Lost in a Book's online shop... only one available

New in Lost in a Book's online bookshop Only one available!

Messing around with trucks...

 

  What's behind the shed door, with the chunky button door handle?  

 Drive along the road, and into the tunnel... or is it a cave?

 There's a handy pocket...Just use your imagination - it's a new story every time... 

...so how did that happen?

I started off lost in a book and rummaging for words, so how did that lead to rummaging in wool, and in danger pf getting lost under a pile of wool, fabrics and ingredients?

So - the wool started when I decided to merchandise my books, and make some characters from  the books to display on my table at book signings. The sheep were the first - people love sheep, and it's not just the children who want to take one home, I get adults who find them irresistible too...

 Then came  the cats - no not the real ones who became the stars of my latest book Outnumbered by Cats - and were the inspiration for Basil and The Flappy Thing came from - no, I mean the little knitted Basil's who are new to my stock this Christmas...

...and are now causing a wool crisis as I'm rapidly running out of ginger wool, and can't find any more.

Then there's fabrics for busy books

 - and as fast as I can use bits up, I seem to run out of something else...

As for the ingredients - well that's just a family Christmas sneaking up on me, and all the ingredients waiting in an overloaded pantry to be turned into a traditional Christmas.

So this afternoon I'm escaping the craziness and going to play with books - my stock of books is going down, last week I opened a new box of Doodle Mayhem, and this week I need to break open a new box of But I'm Not Sleepy - still my bestseller.

The real cats might just get a new box to play with...

Christmas fairs, book signings and sunny days in Yorkshire

The Santa hat was on on Saturday for the first Christmas fair of the season - I even had a mince pie to get me in the spirit...

What a beautiful start to the day - parking by the river...

Nov 1st and not a cloud in the sky in Wetherby

I've got quite a full table 

Still no sheepdog to keep those sheep in order, but there is something new coming soon...

Christmas quiet / busy book

I made a Christmas pudding yesterday - but not the sort you can eat...

This is the front cover of my first Christmas quiet / busy book. The pudding is a flap - can anyone guess what might be under the flap? I'll post more pictures later, because this book isn't quite finished. I ran out of time and inspiration for the last page yesterday,  and I also need to go shopping for a few bits and bobs in festive colours...

Who let the sheep out...?

Who let the sheep out...?

The best part of working for myself is that I can plan my own day, and if that leads me to doing a photo call of knitted sheep, then so be it...

So where did they all come from - they just kept dropping off my knitting needles last winter, as I knitted more and more to keep up with demand as I did book signings at Christmas fairs. And it wasn't just the children who wanted them, it seems all age groups have a secret soft spot for sheep.

Find out how to get one in my online Bookshop
or how to knit one with a free pattern

Book signings and the randomness of craft fairs

Every so often I venture out from behind my computer screen, out into the world....

Book signings in bookshops are good because people are already there looking for books, but you can't beat the randomness of a craft fair...

I'm usually the last to arrive at these events, because I know I can set up in less than 10 minutes. It's become like a well oiled machine - the tablecloth, the book stands, the books of course - some on stands and some laid flat on the table. Most people like to pick up the ones from the table rather than the stands, who know why... maybe they don't want to risk upsetting the stands. But really not much upsets the stands, they're a tough lot, my display team, valiantly holding up books for hours on end  with never a complaint... (oops, letting my visual imagination run away with me again).

The newest addition to the display is a little flock of sheep, that go with my bestseller But I'm Not Sleepy. I have fairy lights and bookmarks, and the sometimes forgotten notice that says I'm a local author doing a book signing - strangely that's the thing that mot people don't notice...

Although the characters of my latest book Outnumbered by Cats, try to stow away in the boxes as I pack them, I don't think half a dozen cats running round a craft fair would be very practical, especially as the occasional dog comes in...

The other traders are usually a friendly bunch, which helps the day go by, through the quiet times. And there's nothing like eating a sandwich to bring out the customers, it's as if they just wait for you to fill your mouth with food to come over and ask a question, so lunch can take a while to eat. My record for longest lasting sandwich was a couple of hours - if only I could remember the filling for that magic sandwich that brought the customers flooding in...

And there's nothing more random than the customers...

• There's the obvious book lovers, who spot the books from the other side of the room and come over with that glint in their eye. 
• There's the ones who look totally uninterested, but get drawn in and often buy one. 
• There's the collectors who buy a signed book to put away and see if it becomes valuable - while quite possibly missing the true value of a book, which needs to be read to be revealed... 
• Best of all is when a book is bought for a small child and placed in their hands to hold and enjoy. Books are precious, but not the sort of precious to be placed on a shelf like fine china. The sort of precious to hold, to read, and to look at the pictures, and to get a little shabby like a favorite teddy...
• Lastly there's the difficult ones, who'll pick fault with everything, but stay to talk anyway, they've no intention of buying, and the books are probably shying away from them in terror in case they get picked... (oops that imagination again...) 

Craft fairs can be fun, and a great way of meeting customers and getting your book out there. 

Monday ramblings and book marketing

Monday ramblings:

Well that was a busy, if a little maddening morning, sorting out the mess I made of my blog header on Friday night, when I would have been better employed leaving the computer well alone and reading a book instead...

My marketing team are busy taking a siesta in various sunny and shady places about the house depending on their current preference - the darker their coats, the sooner they seek shade.

So that leaves me tackling the hardest part of writing a book - namely: shouting about it and getting it out to a greater audience.

    So why should you buy my new book?

• Colour photos - if a picture is worth a thousand words, then the word count in this book is immense - with 82 colour photos of cats and kittens, from all the time when they were getting into mischief and I reached for the camera instead of lifting them down...
• Small first print run - this is a print run of just 100 books, and all the books will be hand numbered and signed
• True story - it's all there, maybe a little too much at times...
• Launch price of £7.99 till the end of May.

The Blurb:

I'd like to get a female kitten and let her have one litter," I said to my stunned family when they raised the kitten topic. Not surprisingly a suitable kitten was quickly found...  and Mitzi arrived in time for Christmas, bringing her own brand of fun and chaos, and demanding friendship from our 5 year old cat Cleo.

By summer Mitzi was quite confused, she came into season and started calling shamelessly. But when a hapless tomcat answered her call, she was far from impressed; causing more than one cat flap drama, and a hole in the door where a flap used to be. 

Eventually nature took it its course and Mitzi had kittens. The first few weeks were blissfully peaceful, watching as Mitzi took care of their every need. We had a week of heartache when one of the kittens was poorly, and then not developing properly, and was destined to challenge and inspire us in ways we could not yet imagine. 

Then they grew big enough to escape their box, and the bedlam began... 

The story that emerged from the kitten diaries, written as kittens climbed on me and chewed the edges of my note books... 

Cats and boxes... it's a cat thing

After all the hard work I'm very proud of my new book - but all Kryten wants is the box...

Help him get his wish - 4 more books and the first box is empty Outnumbered by Cats launch price £7.99 till the end of May

Unique selling point and marketing hats

So I'm supposed to be wearing my marketing hat - so what can I say... I need to tell you about my book's unique selling point (USP) well apart from the unique story, a behind the scenes view of living with kittens - and the 82 colour photos, this is a small print run of just 100 books, all of which will be numbered and signed. 

So for a first first - first edition, first print run it's pretty exclusive, and the first box is going down fast...

New book now on sale - exclusively from my website

This will have to be a quick post as I've been busy adding my new book to my website bookshop - but the stars of the book are gathering now and reminding me that it's their suppertime.

Oh wait, I can cheat and copy paste my facebook post - then I'll call the magic words that mean it's suppertime, in this house at least, and what are those magic words? it's all in the book:

Finally it's done - The story that emerged from the kitten diaries, written as kittens climbed on me and chewed the edges of my note books...

It's bursting with 82 colour photos - yes I managed to edit them down to 82!

They're currently only available from me - because I've got them all! It's a small print run of 100 books, which will all be hand numbered - how exclusive is that...?

Free gift

Everyone loves a free gift, and since my knitted sheep have been such a hit at Christmas fairs, I've let some of them lose in my website bookshop, where they're running a amok and getting into mischief.

So if you'd like to give a good home to one of these woolly characters, they're £3 each, or free with a copy of But I'm Not Sleepy

One hand knitted sheep

approx size:

nose to tail 12cm

width 7cm (some are fatter than others)

height 7cm (when on tip toes)

Each sheep is hand made and therefore slightly different. They were inspired by the characters in the book But I'm Not Sleepy, and can be purchased individually or free as a gift from me when you buy a copy of the book.

Supporting small business

We hear a lot about supporting our local shops in the community, which is great, I like to support local small businesses, but what about supporting small online business?

We could be a business you've met at a local show or fair, you probably even picked up a business card, or in my case a bookmark. But do you ever follow it through...?

I get a wonderful response when I go out and do book signings, I even get asked if I'm there every week at some events, well the truth is I'm not there every week, I lack the time, and the money it costs to have a stand at such events every week, but my website is always there, and I've now got a shop on Etsy, both of which are my online book signing, and I don't even add postage, so you pay the cost of the book and get it delivered to you free of charge.

Successful book sigings

I had a very good weekend signing books. My little flock of ten sheep have all gone out to new homes with copies of But I'm Not Sleepy, the book that inspired them.

The customer of the day on Saturday had to be little Annabelle, who went away in her buggy cuddling her new sheep and saying "Baa", her copy of the book tucked into the shopping tray of her buggy for later :)

York Flea Market proved to be an interesting and successful day, and one I'll definitely be going back to.

Whixley Winter Craft Fair was a lovely traditional village craft fair with an array of hand crafted gifts. I met some lovely people who share my passion for books, and enjoyed browsing and buying my books, many for Christmas presents.

So what next...?
Back to basics with some proof reading - and then tonight I'll be knitting more sheep for my next event on Thursday: A Christmas Shopping Event in Wilberfoss.

Book signings in York

I've got a busy weekend coming up, with two days of book signings:

Saturday: I'll be at York Flea Market, this is a brand new venue which started last week, and from the pictures on facebook it promises to be a good one. With an eclectic mix of crafts on display, it's the perfect place to do a bit of Christmas shopping for things that you just can't buy on the high street.

I'll be doing a book signing, with the added attraction of my little flock of sheep. inspired by my bestseller But I'm Not Sleepy.

Sunday: I'll be at Whixley Wnter Craft Fair, a craft fair with a Christmas theme, at a village just outside York - I'd better get my Christmas hat and fairly lights ready for this one, and hope for a mince pie or two, between signing books.

First edition first print run

When I first published Lost in the Christmas Post I thought it might only sell in the lead up to Christmas, how wrong I was, I have sold Lost in the Christmas Post throughout every month of the year.

Lost in the Christmas Post was the very first title published under my own imprint Lost in a Book, and is currently being reprinted as my stocks have nearly sold out. But there are 4 books left of that original print run, on the shelves of my Etsy shop Lost in a Book at Etsy  and in my website shop.