Pax Britannia badges

A rather exciting package arrived in the post. Well at least I thought it was rather exciting because it contained these...


As part of my on-going efforts to self-publicise I've had some Pax Britannia badges made. One bears Simon Parr's new PB logo and the other is the central image from Mark Harrison's cover for Dark Side, which is coming next summer.

The first place where you will be able to get your hands on one (or two) of these beauties is at my talk at the University College School Beyond Words Festival next Tuesday afternoon, so book your ticket now!

What is Myrrh Anyway? hits the streets

As any regular reader of this blog will know, I have been busy promoting What is Myrrh Anyway? of late, but I'm not the only one.

I have to say a huge thank you to Mat Cooper for doing the same thing in and around Sheffield. On Monday morning he visited bookshops, libraries and art galleries asking staff if they would take some of the Moo MiniCards I have had made up to promote the book.

I hear that the staff of the Orchard Square branch of Waterstone's in Sheffield were particularly helpful. When Mat whipped out a copy of the book the kind gentleman on duty recognised it as recent stock, took a bundle of the cards and went to the actual area where the book was on sale to distribute the cards where readers would be looking.

So, thanks again to Mat and if anyone else would like to do the same thing in and around their area, drop me a line via this blog. And you will receive a gift in kind for your efforts. I am a great believer in the adage 'If you scratch my back...'

Here's Mat holding some of my MiniCards and his signed copy of What is Myrrh Anyway?

My Myrrh Moo MiniCards

Having been hard at work on a novel for the last six weeks, I'm now taking some time to work at the other side of the writing business, as it were - that of self-promotion. Such is the lot of a freelancer; you have to learn to blow your own trumpet pretty fast if you don't want your latest publication to sink without trace among the other 399 new books published in Britain alone every day! Hence the renewed vigorous blogging and the latest promotional item I've had made up - Moo MiniCards, to help promote What is Myrrh Anyway?

Moo MiniCards are great. They come printed with an image on one side and six lines of text on the other. In my case, that's enough space to entice someone to look at the card with an intriguing question on one side along with the details of my latest book on the other. I'm going to make sure I've got a box of my minicards with me everywhere I go, so that I can hassle coffee shops, bookshops, and perhaps even libraries, to see if they wouldn't mind me leaving a handful around the place, on tables, by the till, wherever.

So, keep an eye out and you might just be able to snap one up for yourself.

Match Wits Google Search

I'm told by those people whose business it is to know such things that companies put a lot of effort and money into having their names at the top of the list when anybody puts the relevant search into Google.

However, I have also been told that with a little canny use of the Internet yourself, a writer can achieve the same results without having the big budget to back them up.

So, you can see why I'm understandably very happy that when you type 'Match Wits with the Kids' into Google UK, that the first ten items on the search results page are all to do with my book! This is thanks in part to an Amazon listing, my publisher Icon Books arranging for me to be filmed by the people at Meet the Author, and my own blogging efforts.

It just goes to show, that a little effort in the right place at the right time can work wonders! A lesson for us all, I feel.

All we hear is Radio Ga Ga

I was on the radio last night. No, not sitting on top of it, talking on it, on BBC London's Late Show with Tessa Dunlop to be precise.

To find out more, follow this link.

Match Wits in the Sunday Times

Match Wits with the Kids got a mention in the Sunday Times, as part of an article about books aimed at adults to remind them of what they once learnt when they were at school.

If you missed it yourself, follow this link to read more at Times Online.

Coming soon

Regular readers of this blog (as well as first-time visitors - Hello there!) may be interested to hear about a couple of forthcoming publicity items concerning my fun learning book Match Wits with the Kids.

This Sunday, all things being well, a major national newspaper will hopefully be running a feature about Match Wits with the Kids, while on Monday night (at around 11.40pm) I am going to be on The Late Show on BBC London radio, talking about the book.

So why not pick up a copy or tune in to find out more?

Watch and learn

As some of you may know, a couple of weeks ago I recorded a video to accompany the release of Match Wits with the Kids. Well, if you follow this link you can now see it for yourself.

PS - This also happens to be my one-hundredth post to this blog. Unnatural History is a century old and still going strong!

A timely lesson on counting chickens

Some of you may recall that I was rather excited a couple of weeks ago about the prospect of appearing in a national newspaper today. Well, I duly went out this morning and bought said paper, only to find that I'm not in it.

Hopefully, the feature may appear at a later date, and I'll be sure to let you know if it does, but for the time being I've learnt a valuable lesson regarding the totting up of farmyard fowls.

You shouldn't count your chickens before they're hatched, as you may end up with egg on your face if you do.

Match Wits at Meet the Author

The video I recorded for Meet the Author is now up on their website here. Click the link to hear me speak about Match Wits with the Kids and discover why it's the book for you!

Match Wits in the Sunday Express

It was a busy day yesterday. Not only did I spend the morning recording a video about Match Wits with the Kids for a company called Meet the Author, I was also interviewed by the Sunday Express, and had a my photograph taken in preparation for a feature on Match Wits, which is due to run on Sunday 1 June 2008.

So, if you'd like to find out more about the book just before it's published, then pick up a copy of the Sunday Express in 10 days' time.