admin, Author at Allison & Busby

The battle against bad spelling and typos

11 August, 2011

Recently I came across an article (read it here) which claimed to pinpoint ‘the most illiterate areas of Britain’. The proof of this claim lay in photographs of publicly displayed signs such as ‘Lorrys turning’, ‘Dictionries’ and ‘Cash Only – sorry for incontinence’ (which presumably was an error, and not just someone being very honest). […]

Remembering our author Jean Saunders

11 August, 2011

We are sorry to report that A&B author Jean Saunders (who wrote under other names including Rachel Moore) has passed away. Jean was prolific and very talented, as at home writing heart-warming romances, as she was giving advice to aspiring writers.

Economic crisis? Opt for sales and escape…

9 August, 2011

World markets crashing, economies collapsing and a rolling snowball of bailouts – it seems all the safe havens have well and truly disappeared. And while we’re all watching our own pennies as the weekly Sainsbury’s shop creeps up at no slow pace, it’s easy to start panicking. Then you read that the US deficit is […]

Co-founder of Allison & Busby dies

4 August, 2011

Clive Allison, who co-founded Allison & Busby together with Margaret Busby back in 1967, has died. Read his obituary written by Margaret Busby in the Guardian.

Making your business memorable…

4 August, 2011

In today’s ultra-competitive business world, it’s imperative to get your product/service/name out there. For instance, we’ve been distributing samplers of our international bestseller Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet to all and sundry – so there really can’t be many who haven’t heard of the book yet. (If you are, howevere one of […]

Edward Marston & Judith Cutler at Holywell Library

3 August, 2011

Thursday 6th October, 7.00pm HOLYWELL LIBRARY Come and meet a husband-and-wife, crime-writing duo: Edward Marston and Judith Cutler. Edward Marston is the bestselling author of the Railway Detective series and he will be celebrating the launch of the first book in a new historical crime series set in WWI, A Bespoke Murder. Judith Cutler is […]

Entering the Realm of A&B…

29 July, 2011

It’s my first blog post at Allison & Busby, and I’m daunted by the example set before me. How can I possibly contend with such tales of Parmesan pencils, book barges and Mad Hatter parties? And in particular, how am I to top the goblin-ridden farewell post of my predecessor, Georgina? Well, that would be […]

Today’s entrepreneurs…

26 July, 2011

Yesterday this little note popped through my letterbox. Clearly someone forward-thinking little soul has been staying up past their bedtime and watching The Apprentice. And to have embarked on such a venture on the first day of school holidays is particularly impressive. Unfortunately though, whoever’s behind this enterprise has neglected to include their business card […]

A classic and beautiful gift (eg. for a baby shower…)

21 July, 2011

A few weeks ago, I was thrown a surprise baby shower, complete with an inventive Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatters’ theme. Not only were the amazingly colourful foodstuffs decorated with ‘Eat me’ and ‘Drink Me’ instruction labels but everyone was in a wacky hat or white rabbit ears, drinking suspicious-looking punch out of mismatched teacups. […]

Margaret Thornton book signing in Blackpool

13 July, 2011

Saturday 6th August, 1.00pm WATERSTONE’S, BLACKPOOL Come and meet local author Margaret Thornton who will be signing copies of her new book Time Goes By as well as her other books at Waterstone’s, The Tower Shopping Centre, Bank Hey Street, Blackpool FY1 1QN. For more information call the bookshop on 0843 290 8157.

Author names, pseudonyms and baby names…

12 July, 2011

Posh has called her newborn daughter Harper Seven… Never underestimate the Beckhams; who’d have thought To Kill a Mockingbird was one of their favourite books? My own baby-naming task is coming up, and while I don’t have the celebrity or financial clout to allow my poor child to bribe the would-be bullies who would tease […]

HOW TO SURVIVE A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE WINS BEST INTERNATIONAL SHOW

7 July, 2011

The School of Survival’s hit cult seminar How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse has won the coveted FREAK award for Best International Show at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. The show will be hitting the Edinburgh Fringe this year for the last time with a final seminar: THE END IS NIGH.

Titbits from the RWA Conference

5 July, 2011

One of our lovely authors, Susanna Kearsley has just returned from the Romance Writers of America (RWA) conference – a week-long event, which this year was held in New York. She’s reassured me she’s still in one piece despite a no-doubt gruelling schedule of socialising with other like-minded romance authors. (If you are interested in […]

Alanna Knight speaking at Jedburgh Library

5 July, 2011

Wednesday 13th July, 2.00pm – 3.00pm JEDBURGH LIBRARY Come and meet crime writer Alanna Knight who will be talking about her writing including her new release The Seal King Murders, and signing copies of her books at Jedburgh Library, 15 Castlegate, Jedburgh, TD8 6AS. For more information contact the library on 01835 863 592.

Anna Dean book signing in Lancaster

4 July, 2011

Saturday 27th August, 12noon WATERSTONE’S, LANCASTER Come and meet Anna Dean, author of the delightful Dido Kent mystery series, who will be signing copies of her books, including the new paperback release A Woman of Consequence at Waterstones, 4-6, Cornmarket, Marketgate, Lancaster, LA1 1AL. FOr more information call the bookshop on 01524 842561.

AUTHOR FRANCIS KING HAS PASSED AWAY

4 July, 2011

Former Allison & Busby author Francis King passed away on 3 July at the age of 88. He was the author of over 30 novels and many short stories, including ‘Ash on an Old Man’s Sleeve’, ‘Dead Letters’ and the short story collection ‘A Hand at the Shutter’.

THE PROVENCE CURE FOR THE BROKENHEARTED A TOP 20 BESTSELLER

1 July, 2011

Bridget Asher’s heart-warming, funny and poignant novel about family, love and the magic of summers in Provence, has hit the Small Publishers Bestseller’s list at n14.

£5.99 for…um…nothing.

30 June, 2011

In our weekly meeting debating hyphens and curly apostrophes, I’m afraid to admit I switched off for a minute and daydreamed about the proofreading ‘effort’ required for this book: Currently outselling Dan Brown’s Da Vince Code and JK Rowling’s Order of the Phoenix (admittedly neither book are exactly at their peak at the moment), What […]

Judith Cutler at the Kelmarsh Festival of Historical Literature

28 June, 2011

SUNDAY 17th JULY, 3.10pm – 4.10pm KELMARSH HALL ESTATE, NORTHAMPTON Come and celebrate the HWA inaugural Festival of Historical Literature and meet historical crime writers Judith Cutler (author of The Keeper of Secrets and Shadow of the Past), Andrew Taylor, Rory Clements and Mike Jecks who will be speaking on a panel entitled Crime and […]

Adrian Magson book signing in Moreton-on-Marsh

27 June, 2011

Saturday 16th July, 10.30am – approx 2.00pm COTSWOLD BOOKSTORE, MORETON-ON-MARSH Adrian Magson, author of the new Lucas Rocco crime series set in France in the 1960s will be mingling with customers and signing copies of his book Death on the Marais at the Cotswold Bookstore, 20 High Street, Moreton-in-Marsh GL56 0AF. For more information call […]

Edward Marston speaking at The Big Read in Newport