The deadline for a Family Christmas meal is now closed. Once again the quality of submissions were excellent and I expect to contact successful authors within the next few weeks. Without the usual notice to come up with ideas and concepts I’ve been extremely impressed with the numbers of submissions I’ve received.
I’ll also be making a statement about next years publishing list very soon as well.
I’m proud to announce Growing up in the 70s, Black Coffey Publishing’s second release, is now available from Amazon for the Kindle and Smashwords (who carry most other formats). In the coming weeks it will also be available from the Apple Store, WH Smiths, Barnes and Noble, and at the Kobo store.
The quality of the stories was once again amazing and I’m really pleased with the outcome. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed pulling it together!
“Remember Tiswas, Jubblys and inexplicably funky pants in the 70’s? Growing Up in the 70’s is a collection of short stories from exciting new literary talents, bringing the world of the seventies to life with skilful storytelling, hints of nostalgia and comedy. If you grew up in the seventies and even if you didn’t, this short read is a must for anyone that values their inner child.”
The final title in the Black Coffey Publishing’s release schedule for 2012 has been confirmed as “A Family Christmas meal” with a submission deadline of 12th October 2012. With such an enormous response to all of the submissions in this years release schedule I’ve no doubt I’ll be inundated. As with all our releases this year, I’m looking for humorous stories with great dialogue. All other terms and contract options remain the same.
The target release date for the book will be 1st December 2012.
The ‘Growing up in the 70s’ collection has been a pleasure to work on. Once again there was an enormous number of submissions, if budget allowed I could have published several collections I’m sure. I’ve had offers accepted for all the selected authors and I hope to have a book launched in the next three weeks. More news on cover art soon.
I must say thanks to all those authors who submitted works for the anthology. The quality has been really high and I’m touched by the positive and patient communication I have with authors. There’s really nothing not to like about putting together these collections, great stories to read and lovely people to communicate with.
Separately, I hope to confirm the final publication title of the year in the very near future. I’ll also extend the deadline for submissions to by a few weeks but I make a further announcement on this soon.
It’s been an incredibly busy May and early June. I’ve worked my way through a huge number of submissions and I fully expect to approach the successful authors early next week. As ever I’ve been blown away by the quality of submissions. It’s always a tough job to try to blend the stories together and in truth I could publish twice the number of stories my budget allows!
More news on cover art soon.
It’s always exciting to begin the review process for a new anthology. The current set of submissions is no different. Since the last deadline date I’ve had over 80 submissions, a quite incredible number.
The early signs are very positive. I’m always impressed by the quality, not just quantity, of the submissions I receive. With so many quality manuscripts to read, and a bank holiday weekend ahead of me, I’m pretty sure the 1970s won’t seem that long ago.
I expect to begin contacting short listed authors in the next fortnight.
Office Life
After 5 months of reading, writing and general beavering away the first Black Coffey Publishing anthology, Office Life, is now available on the Kindle. Office Life is a collection of short stories which show that the office is more than just bricks and mortar; it is a location where intrigue, revenge, romance and comedy feature, all with a healthy dose of humour, sarcasm, wit and schadenfreude.
In this book you will find humorous reference to all aspects of office life, from the competition for promotions to the avoidance of the tea round, from the placating of the office pedant to handling (or not handling) the pressure of deadlines and office politics.
The stories contained within Office Life are about more than just a day’s work however, they are about the relationships we form with our colleagues and how it is possible to find humour and interest in any setting – even those of abject boredom.
All the office characters you know and love are there, the charming debonair heartthrob, the domineering she wolf boss and the ubiquitous office clown. There are even some office inhabitants which have a distinctly piscine outlook on the world.
We’ve scoured the globe for some of the freshest and most exciting authors to give their work the limelight it deserves. Ultimately, Office Life shows that even in an ordinary environment, the extraordinary can happen, whether it’s a rhino orgy, a corporate power struggle or a quest for love.
Every year we spend hundreds of hours at work, don’t you think it’s about time we started enjoying it?
Fed up with the monotony of work, sick of drudging to the office every single day? Well fear not. Office Life is here to show you that even in the most mundane of settings it is possible to find comedy, drama, tragedy and romance. Office life is a collection of short stories from exciting authors and will open your eyes to the endless possibilities within the world of work.
The Office Life collection. To be published in early April .. the manuscript is ready for a final read through before I finally put it to bed. The marketing material has been written and with a few changes to the cover and I’ll be ready to share that as well ..
Not that I’m nervous/excited or anything!
The deadline for the our maiden publication has now past and we’re closed to further submissions on the title for the moment. Thus far we’ve received just under 90 submissions – far more than I anticipated! The standard has been incredibly high and we’re working on a short list of 19 serious candidates for inclusion. I expect the final running order to be agreed by Friday with those authors selected being contacted in the next 10 days or so.
It’s been an amazing response thus far. I’m beyond excited about the strength of material Black Coffey Publishing’s first collection will contain. The marketing related activities have already begun with the brief for the cover design now complete and circulated, as well as work on keywords, meta data and the most useful social media channels beginning. In short, Office Life is about to come to life.
Of course the search for ‘Great Stories, Well Told’ starts all over again for the next collection, ‘Growing up in the 1970s’. No rest for the wicked ..
To say the response so far has been larger than I expected is an understatement. I launched Black Coffey Publishing in hope more than expectation and, frankly, I’ve been overwhelmed. The quality and quantity of the responses I’ve received so far has been higher than I could possibly have hoped for. There are some talented and enthusiastic authors in the world.
My first deadline is closing in and I’m still keen to read great, funny, stories about office work. The stories I’ve read thus far have been have been fantastic and there’s still room for other stories in the collection.
The kinds of story I’m looking will be fast paced and particularly focused on the dialogue. Quick witted exchanges, memorable punch lines and turns of phrase. The kind of dialogue in the TV programmes like ‘Peep Show’, ‘The Inbetweeners’ and ‘The Thick Of It’, keeps me amused and that’s exactly the kind of story I enjoy reading.
The deadline date is the 31st January 2012.
