One of our Jelly Bean books David the Pizzly Bear has been awarded a red ribbon in the Wishing Shelf awards. Well done, Molly Arbuthnott and Camilla Seddon.
Archive for #selfpublished
Jelly Bean Self-Publishing is delighted to have been awarded Self-Publishing Company of the Year at the 2020 Welsh Enterprise awards.
The Welsh Enterprise awards recognise the contribution of small to medium sized businesses to the Welsh economy.
Since its inception in 2013, Jelly Bean Self-Publishing has provided a range of publishing services to independent authors all around the world. Head of Publishing Shaun Russell is delighted to have received the commendation:
“Self-publishing has grown enormously as an industry over recent years. Thanks to the Internet, the rise of eBooks, and the refinement of Print on Demand technology, it is now viable both economically and practically for independent authors to find engaged readerships in an incredible variety of ways.”
“It’s this flexibility that is at the heart of self-publishing’s ever-increasing success, and it is something that we have always put at the heart of what we do. We never try to pigeonhole our authors or force them into a one-size fits arrangements. We tailor our work to an author’s needs, budgets and ambitions.”
“And whatever the services they require, we provide them to the same standards as we do for our award-winning traditional imprint Candy Jar Books. Not only is this, of course, only fair to the author, it’s an investment in the long-term viability of self-publishing as an industry.”
“We are delighted SME News has recognised our efforts to provide a quality self-publishing service. We see it not only as recognition for ourselves, but a testament to the many companies around the country that are working so hard to establish self-publishing as a viable route to readership for independent authors, as part of the wider publishing environment.”
“Mark my words, thanks to these efforts, in the coming years you will read more and more about authors finding success through self-publishing.”
Jelly Bean is pleased to announce its fifteenth ‘Book of the Month’, Messy Dad at Christmas by Gemma Greening and illustrated by Matthew Prewett. This slightly anarchical book is a must for lovers of all things festive.
Messy Dad at Christmas is the third Messy Dad book, following Messy Dad at the Beach, and the singularly titled Messy Dad.
Gemma is adamant that the Messy Dad series is not based on her partner, although she does admit that sometimes it does veer close to the truth. She says: “Messy Dad started in the summer of 2019, when funny poems that I had written in my partner’s birthday cards were read aloud at a friend’s barbeque. I was pleasantly surprised when my friends and children were laughing and asking for more. A neighbour was listening to these funny poems from his garden, poked his head up from the fence and said, ‘I can draw, and would love to draw some pictures of Messy Dad’. The rest is history!”
Gemma went on to release Messy Dad to critical and financial success. She continues: “I really should be a sales person. I can’t believe how many books I have sold. People really seem to enjoy my stories and, in particular, the character of Messy Dad. I think everybody knows someone like him. He might not necessarily be a dad; he maybe someone’s brother, uncle, grandfather, but the idleness combined with a heart of gold seems to resonate with my readers.”
With the holiday season fast approaching, Gemma is excited that Santa will not be the only bearded man that children will look forward to. Head of Publishing at Candy Jar Books, Shaun Russell, is also thrilled to see the third book released. He says: “I knew straight away that Gemma would be a fantastic advocate for Messy Dad. Her book really touched a nerve, and I’m not surprised that so many people loved the characters and situations. Her insightful humour plays well with children and adults alike. No wonder it was so popular! So when she delivered the sequel Messy Dad at the Beach I read it with some trepidation, but, of course, once again it was excellent. And thankfully Messy Dad at Christmas also delivers the goods, or perhaps I should say presents?”
2020 has been a difficult year and Messy Dad at Christmas serves up a welcome dose of laughter and pathos. Gemma concludes: “Christmas is definitely my favourite holiday and I just had to write a book on our family fun. But, as much as I love Christmas, I always feel stressed and worry about everything that needs to be done. However, last year I put my foot down and wrote Messy Dad instead.”
Will Messy Dad save the holidays? That’s for you to find out! One thing for certain, the book will certainly make you laugh (and groan) as our hero attempts to save Christmas!
Messy Dad at Christmas cost £7.99 (+ p&p) and can be ordered here.
Mary Edith Pechey and Marie Curie were two of the most influential women of their times. Marie Curie conducted significant research on radioactivity as well as being the only person to win a Nobel prize in two different sciences. Edith Pechey was one of the first female doctors in the United Kingdom and a promoter of women’s rights. Both women were contrapuntal to the development of the human race, but what would happen if their lives were thrown off track?
Paul Robinson takes a small hiatus from his Charlie Holmes series to write Time Split, a new novel following the adventures of Jenny Johnson. Jenny finds herself launched into the bodies of two teenage girls in the past. She must ensure that they are set back onto the correct paths to secure their future influences, and the success of humanity!
Inspired by a writing exercise, Paul created Time Split after receiving the prompt “One day she woke up…”. He combined this with his expansive knowledge of famous women throughout history -– of which he has a list -– in order to raise more awareness of their achievements.
Paul explains: “I am a strong believer in writing about important female characters. I want to readdress the balance between the genders while teaching younger girls about amazing, influential women.”
Having taught young people for the past 40 years, including working with those hard of hearing, Paul’s main aspiration is to develop new role models in order to inspire his students. He aims to create more relatable and exceptional characters; Charlie Holmes is based on one of his deaf students, Charlotte.
Time Split encapsulates adolescence in a realistic way, with a generous serving of miscommunication, humour, love and heartbreak.
If you like to publish a YA or children’s book with us and take control visit: www.jellybeanselfpublishing.co.uk
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Compared to other publishers that I approached, Jelly Bean always listened, gave advice and were interested in the book itself. Self-publishing can be daunting but Jelly Bean guide you all the way.
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