P'kaboo Author Carmen Capuano moves into journalism

Our author Carmen Capuano, who wrote the soon-to-be-released YA crime fiction novel, "Split Decision", has exciting news which she shares with us in the following press release:

Press Release – Copy Editor

This summer is set to be a busy period for Bromsgrove author Carmen Capuano. Not only has she got the release of her latest book, Split Decisions to look forward to, but she has been head-hunted by the prestigious and highly popular GEM magazine to be its Copy Editor and columnist.

“I am delighted to be involved with this informative and inspirational magazine. I have always read GEM with great interest and it’s wonderful to think that I will be a part of it now.”

GEM magazine is part of GEM Media which has events management at its heart, making it best placed to know exactly what is going on in and around the city.

Said a spokesperson for the group, on the appointment, “We are so pleased to be welcoming Carmen onto our team. We feel that she has an often quirky and unique take on life and are sure that she will entertain our readers in her own inimitable style.”

Ms Capuano will be taking over her duties in the July issue and is set to provide insights into her creative writing process and to her daily life in the column.  

 To find out more about GEM and how you can subscribe, contact 0121 422 2249 http://www.gemmedia.co.uk

Carmen's book "Split Decision", dealing with a young girl facing an apparently arbitrary choice that turns into a life-changing decision, is awaiting its cover art.  The publication date is provisionally set for 4th July for the ebook.

View Carmen Capuano's profile on P'kaboo here:
http://www.pkaboo.net/CCapuano.html

Carmen at a book signing of her series, "The Owners"

Two of our authors doing well at recent events

Go searching for a Marie Marshall poem…

March 4, 2015 by bookseekeragency

… and cheer yourself up. Our client informs us that the Poets Collective has just published its cheerful anthology Abandon the Shadows. Marie has a poem included, by invitation, and recommended the book to us, saying: “I know several of the poets involved and I rate them very highly.” You can find the book on Amazon or via the collective’s own web site.

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Carmen Capuano at a recent booksigning event of her series, "The Owners"

Thanks to Bookseekeragency for the post material!

P'kaboo Authors winning at Winter Words

(Reblogged from Bookseeker Agency) :

Marie Marshall and Lucy P Naylor do it again!

February 10, 2015 by bookseekeragency

We have just this minute learned that our clients Marie Marshall and Lucy P Naylor have both had winning short stories in this year’s ‘Fearie Tales’ competition, at the 2015 Winter Words festival in Pitlochry. Lucy’s story ‘The Dragon Stone’ will be featured on Friday 13th (!) and Marie’s ‘Voices’ on Saturday 14th. Here’s how Marie broke the news. Both writers received emails within minutes of each other, it seems.
The picture below is actor Helen Logan, who will be reading both stories.

The 2 BIGGEST Submissions Mistakes to Avoid

You've written a book.  What's next?  Submissions.

But before you shoot off your work of love to a publisher, consider the following.  There are certain things publishers detest.  I'll give you two, right here, to get you started on the right road.

• Don't submit by smartphone.

Yes we know, today one can do everything from a phone.  Your emails are on your phone.  You come across an interesting website and "drop them a line", by phone. You know what?  It shows!  The Windows Smartphone "autocorrects" your words into what you didn't want to say.  Also, a lot of spelling errors and poor grammar slip through on a phone message.  As an individual writing a quick message I will forgive you this; but if a submissions letter starts with "I wrote a bokk, pls cn u hve a lppk at ti", you have blown it.  Forever.  It doesn't matter if it was your phone, if your book is top quality (though after such a "sub" I battle to believe this).

Don't shoot your own foot.  Open that computer, find the link, then compose a carefully considered subs letter in Word or Libre, utilize the spell checker and send it after re-reading it carefully.  If you don't want to waste time writing a decent subs letter, why should I waste my time on the rest of whatever you've written?

Remember:  When contacting a publishing house, everything you write in that opening email is a submissions letter.  First impressions count.

 

• Have you spell-checked your manuscript? 

One of the most annoying things for a submissions editor (and any editor) to find are common spelling and grammar errors. Common old gremlins.

Listen!  Back in the time of manual typewriters, we had Tipp-Ex (sic) strips to correct where we made most embarrassing typos.  You may be of the new generation that has never seen a genuine typewriter, let alone clocked up hours on one; in which case you are spoilt and should be spanked.  ;-)  Just kidding.  But typewriters disciplined us into saving time by not making spelling errors, and by trying to minimize all other errors.  Because a single error cost you retyping the whole page.  Even after Tipp-Ex, you couldn't include a page that had too many corrections on.  You retyped.

Today every word processor has a spell-checking function, a dictionary and a thesaurus.  If it doesn't, download LibreOffice, it's a free download and definitely has.

Do not submit a manuscript you haven't spell- and grammar checked!  It frustrates the editor and detracts from your chances.

I'll give you one more.

• Submit exactly, I mean exactly, what is asked for.

If the publisher asks for 3 chapters and your book only gets exciting in chapter 6, by all means submit chapter 6, and two other selected chapters.  But don't expect the subs editor to read the entire 400 pages manuscript if 50 pages were what was asked for.

Blowing your own horn also won't help.  The tired response is, yaah, we know, you're the best author who's ever walked this Earth.  We know you think that.  All writers think that.  It's part of the essential arrogance one needs to be a writer.  Don't blow your horn.  Let your work speak for itself.

Featured Author Carmen Capuano: Interview

Book Reader Magazine interviewed an author of ours, Carmen Capuano.

Quote:

Tell us a little about your latest book?

I have just completed a YA/crossover novel which is currently with my agent. I’ll let you know how that goes.

My most recently published book is The Owners, Volume IV: A New Epoch. It was an emotionally hard book to write, as has been the two volumes which follow on from it which are not yet published.
 
My characters had already been through so much and there I was pushing them into more conflict; even more dangerous situations. My stomach was churning with anxiety as I wrote every word of those books! And yet it was a thrilling ride!

The whole interview can be read

here.

Reblogged from Bookseeker Agency:

Carmen Capuano in the Bromsgrove Standard

February 1, 2015 by bookseekeragency

Our client Carmen Capuano was recently asked to write a short story for The Bromsgrove Standard, her local newspaper, and came up with a tale called ‘The Wanderer’, a lovely depiction of infidelity with a twist at the end. Carmen said this about the Standard:

I remember the very first time I ever read the Standard. I was house-hunting in Bromsgrove and it seemed like a good idea to read the local newspaper to get a flavour of what life could be like here. It was also the first time I had encountered a local newspaper, since none of the cities I had lived in before [Glasgow, London, Birmingham] had published anything so closely linked to the lives of its inhabitants.

The distinction between a national newspaper and a local one, is more than just a difference in the types of articles they cover, for the disparity lies not just in scale but in proximity. The Standard knows its readers [‘demographics’ to other newspapers] better than just by their bank balances and the size of their homes – it knows their hearts, the things that make them tick, their whims and their foibles and it knows this because the people who write for it are local too. 

If you click on this link you can navigate to the Standard. ‘The Wanderer’ is on page 12. Enjoy.

Nikki Mason from BestChickLit reviews "Raider" (Solar Wind 4)

Thank you Nikki Mason of BestChickLit, for this lovely review:

The Solar Wind IV: Raider! – Lyz Russo

 December 5, 2014  Charlotte Foreman  Book Reviews  0

What they say:

Alien Touchdown! If the crew of the Solar Wind thought the Unicate and the Rebellion were tough cookies, they haven’t yet met the Danaan – from Planet New Dome. Coming to take over Earth – or destroy the planet. Or alternatively, for a mango daiquiri in the subtropical paradise of Southern Free. And then destroy the planet.

And why is Captain Lascek acting so strangely?

Raider is the fourth in the series of Solar Wind novels.

What we say – review by Nikki Mason:

Things are getting even darker aboard the Solar Wind in this fourth novel in the series.

When the beautiful but psychopathic alien, Dana, arrives for a visit, all hell breaks loose. Captain and the stunning, ass-kicking Perdita break up as Captain is once more captivated by his previous flame – Rushka’s mother, horrific mutants are threatening the crew and, indeed, the world and it looks as though the ship is going to have to be taken into space to escape. Everyone has their secrets, and it is only by pulling together and trusting each other that the whole crew can survive. At least Paean and Federi are back together…surely nothing more can touch them, right?

Russo once again surprises and delights with her depth of imagination and conviction for this surreal, piratical world. The characters continue on exceedingly realistic journeys as they blunder through very choppy waters indeed. As ever, it is the excruciatingly complex relationship between the ever developing Paean and her near schizophrenic soul mate Federi that had me hooked. And, whereas sometimes small plot details evaded my understanding from time to time, the adventure and the fascinating characters guaranteed a scintillating addition to the series.

What more can this crew of beautiful pirates cope with? I can’t wait to find out.

Click Here To Buy This Book – UK

Click Here To Buy This Book – US

... and of course you can

Click here to buy this book from P'kaboo or pre-order your P'kaboo paperback.

Carmen Capuano signs to P’kaboo! 

November 28, 2014 

Bookseekeragency announces:

Our client Carmen Capuano‘s new novel Split Decision has been taken up by P’kaboo Publishers, and is due out early in 2015. We’ll keep you posted. Meanwhile our congratulations go to Carmen, and also to P’kaboo on their choice!

Yes, P'kaboo are happy to verify this: Author Carmen Capuano has signed on for the publication of her YA novel "Split Decision".

We subjected the author to the P'kaboo Book Club on Facebook, and some reader questions.  Here is the post. If you are a fan of Carmen's or enjoy books in general, do check in on the P'kaboo Book Club; we have fun every Monday night, every time we do something different.  Sometimes we interview an author; sometimes we play a story game or rhyme; sometimes we discuss books.  The discussion does not die between Mondays but continues in relaxed Facebook-style commenting mode.

A more official author interview of Ms Capuano is posted at this link on the Bookseeker Agency's blog.

Carmen, welcome aboard!

Fairy Folk Christmas Market: We were there

Our stand: In the garden (Kitten and Moon Flower by Robin Shea)

Our book stand indoors

Some of the goodies there

Some more goodies

The Fairy Room

Fairies in the garden

The stand next to ours: Activities for children, all led by the "Fairy Folk" who run this fair and who have a children's party business.

One of the "Fairy Folk" in her full Party services getup.

It was an interesting and very lovely market.  Not entirely a book faire, but our books added a component that would most definitely have been missing.

Two books, reviewed by Nikki Mason of BestChickLit

Nikki Mason of Bestchicklit has blessed us with two more beautiful reviews.  Posted here are short excerpts from the reviews, but to read the full reviews please follow the links.

The first one is our youngest release, teen vampire fiction by Marie Marshall:

From My Cold Undead Hand – Marie Marshall

 October 17, 2014  Charlotte Foreman  Book Reviews  0

[...]

What we say – review by Nikki Mason:

What impressed me most about this book was that it was a vampire novel where vampires were unequivocally the bad guys. All the evil things you ever read about vampires from I Am Legend or Dracula come back to the fore in Marie Marshall’s novel, with no romanticism and no sexuality – just brutal, dead killers.

Chevonne is more than just a normal American teenager. She fights for a group called The Resistance, who aim to rid the world of ‘vamps’. But the undead seem to be [...]

Read more here.

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The other book that got a review has been around a little longer:  The third in the Solar Wind series, by Lyz Russo:

Freedom Fighter: Solar Wind III – Lyz Russo

 October 20, 2014  Charlotte Foreman  Book Reviews  0

[...]

What we say – review by Nikki Mason:

Ready for another complex, piratical adventure? Good! Because Freedom Fighter is just as delicious as Lyz Russo’s two previous novels in The Solar Wind Series.

This is the third Solar Wind book I’ve read and I’ve loved each one more and more to the point where now I’m desperate to have questions answered and I’m missing the characters not being part of my life…Oh, alright, I’m missing not being on board a pirate ship in my imagination!

But this series is becoming progressively darker and more mysterious  [...]

Read more at this link.

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About the reviewer:

Nikki Mason, 

acc. the profile on BestChickLit:

 "A chatty reading nut, amateur actress and hit-and-miss baker is our Nikki. She can't remember a time when she didn't love books and the memory of her six-year-old self being read The Hobbit by her dad will always have a special place in her heart. Give Nikki a gothic Victorian novel or ask her to quote anything by the Brontës and she'll be in heaven. What does she love about being a book reviewer . . . "Getting to read things you wouldn't choose otherwise. I also love reading while I'm having my breakfast and knowing that however badly the rest of the day goes, at least it started productively and with something I love doing! It's my dream job!”