BIG NEWS!!
I am SO delighted to share that Children's Books Ireland have selected my book, Zeki Goes to the Market to be one of Eason's Summer 'Recommended Irish Reads'
This is fantastic news as my publishers in the UK have really struggled to get books into Irish bookshops (long story - see below*) so this is finally a chance to get Eason's branches to realise that I am in fact an Irish author!! Help!!!
Easons have asked that I (or anyone supporting) go into Easons and take a selfie with the book and post on social media (tag Easons). You can say (I'd LOVE you to say) you're my cousin / friend / whatever. This is an Irish writer's promotion, so good to remind them I'm local.
That alone would be fabulous support, but... If you buy... if you'd like to buy a book (in store or online - link) they are €9.49. Actually I can admit that this is a really lovely book, full of fun - so a great book for little kids (0-5), as a present, or to gift to your local pre-school or doctor's waiting room... If anyone would like to buy one as a present, I'm working on book plates, book marks and two little gift cards. I will have these at home so I can put the child's name on and sign them for anyone who would like that. I can send to you and you can send them with the book (or stick the bookplates inside). Thre's a contact form below. If you put the child's name (or anything else) in the comments along with your name & address and which item you'd like (1,2,3 or 4 see below), I'll send them as soon as they are ready. 
1 Gift card with mammy
2 Gift card with daddy
3 Bookplate A -
can be stuck into the book
4
Bookplate B - can be stuck into the book
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Some background
So the problem we've been having is that there's only one books wholesaler in Ireland that supplies most bookshops (especially independent bookshops).
They have been ordering 20 or 30 copies, but only allowing a few weeks then they RETURN them if they are not sold. That means my publishers pay sales commission, then distribution fees to supply the book, THEN another distribution fee to get it back again. If the warehouse is in the UK (ours is in Scotland) SOME people don't want the trouble of returning unsold books so they pulp them (but don't repay the publisher). So my publishers were making a loss on Irish orders and have stopped supplying that wholesaler. Which is very sad for me, obviously. Schools and libraries use a different wholesaler who is EXCELLENT and buying and selling lots. Bookshops can order direct from our warehouse BUT often this is just too much bother for them (they can do one order for everything they want from the wholesaler and have one invoice, so I do understand the reluctance, though it's disappointing). Anyway, I've more or less stopped promoting the books (to anyone other than librarians and teachers) - there's no much point in working really hard to get great reviews if anyone who reads the review can't then get the books in the shops. SO you'll understand how excited I am about this!!!! Easons have ordered about 200 for this promotion and I think if they sell through they might finally start ordering more (and the others in the series) directly from the publishers / warehouse. I think up to now that they assume (because little Zeki is a black boy) that it's written by someone not Irish - and this is my chance to get them to realise that and get behind the book. I've had very positive feedback to the Zeki series - lots of reviewers and people who work in early years say that little kids like these because they see the kind of small details that little ones notice and enjoy. So they engage with the stories (I had one message from a mother that her little one sleeps with his one under his pillow!) It's important to me that ALL children see themselves in books, so I hope that Zeki can show all children reading that everybody needs to be included. |