There's a book in us all - now get writing (From Worcester News)

There's a book in us all - now get writing

8:58am Friday 21st November 2008

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THERE’S a book in everyone – so the saying goes – and possibly several tomes in some cases. But the publishing world is traditionally a very hard nut to crack and even the most prolific and talented writers have found it difficult to convince publishers that their writing is worthy of a contract.

International bestselling author JK Rowling had her first Harry Potter manuscript rejected by a number of publishers before her agent finally found one willing to take it on.

Of course not everyone wants to write a bestseller but there are plenty of people with interesting stories to tell and self-publishing is becoming a very popular way of getting those stories into print.

Aspect Design, a family-run printing and design business, which has run for nearly 30 years in Malvern, has seen the number of self-published books by local authors rocket in the past year.

Sue Smith, who runs the firm with her husband Allan, said: “When we first started we did mainly business cards and stationery. Now 80 per cent of our work is publishing books by local authors. We have got about 12 on the go at the moment. About 95 per cent of the authors are based in the Malvern area.”

One of the reasons for this huge rise in the number of people publishing their own books is the advent of digital technology.

It means people can have a tiny print run – as few as 30 books – and, once the words and illustrations have been set up on the computer, writers can have the finished article in just 10 minutes.

Mr Smith, a former art teacher at Worcester’s Samuel Southall School and illustrator, said: “Definitely in the last year we have seen a huge increase in self-published books. We have published about 50 to 60 books in the past year compared with about 30 a year in the mid 1990s.”

Their authors include Ledbury’s Phil Martin, who did a bike ride from Lowestoft to Land’s End and decided to write it producing just 30 copies to give to his family members.

It went down so well he decided to re-write the book for a wider market and is having it reprinted for general release.

Authors self-publishing through Aspect Design range from their mid 30s to mid 90s. They have just published a book of poems by 94- year-old medical physicist Lloyd Kemp, from Bath, and a children’s book called Pepper And The Three Little Stars by young Malvern mum Heather L Bassett. It is beautifully illustrated by her mother-in-law Lorna Bassett, also from Malvern, and the profits are going to Colwall Church of England Primary School where Mrs Bassett’s daughter, Jessica, is a pupil.

Their self-published books include memoirs, walking guides, travel, novels, nature books and hobbies.

Mrs Smith said: “Wendy Dedicott drove to Castlemorton Common everyday for a year and sat in her car for a couple of hours and noted down the nature she saw. She then wrote a book called Castlemorton – A Living Nature Book.”

Former probation officer Alex Nichols from Stroud developed an interest in Houdini and escapology and wrote A Guidebook to Handcuffs and Other Restraints Of The World.

The first volume sold out and is being reprinted while Aspect Design has now printed a second volume and the author is working on a third.

The firm has also produced the Memoirs of a Russian general – whose daughter Maria Rumney lives in Malvern – entirely in Russian. “It was incredibly difficult to publish because we could not read it and we did not know what we were editing,” said Mr Smith.

This boom in self-publishing has been a delightful development for Aspect Design and Mrs Smith admits she always had a secret ambition to run a book shop.

“This is more satisfying than just selling books. We are helping people realise their dreams,” she said.

Mr Smith said: “It is a treat to see the expressions on people’s faces when they first get to see their book printed. In a lot of cases we are also helping to preserve a bit of history.”

The Smiths hope to encourage more people to let the book within them come out and be recorded in print.

Aspect Design is holding a book morning on Saturday, November 29, from 10.30am at its offices in Newtown Road, Malvern, when about a dozen local authors will be there signing copies of their books, talking about their publications and offering advice on self-publishing.

The authors include acclaimed Malvern artist Rose Garrard, who recently published a fascinating history of donkeys on the Malvern Hills; Roy Miller, whose book Worcestershire Villages, Churches and Pubs, has sold more than 1,000 copies; and Michael Shiner, whose book tells of his adventures with his golden retriever Fiona on the peaks of the Welsh Border country.

There will also be printing and binding demonstrations and Rob Hemming, the chairman of Malvern Writers’ Circle, will be on hand to talk to budding authors. There will, of course, be plenty of locally produced books on sale.

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