Rife Magazine goes Unbound for youth-focused title

/
Rife Magazine Unbound

Unbound, the book crowdfunding site, is probably the most democratic of book creation tools available. If a book doesn't get enough funding it doesn't get made. If it does then there's clearly interest, and everyone's a winner. Authors get to bring their books to life, and readers get to help support and bring to life an interesting read, usually by pre-buying the title in digital or print forms. 

The site is home to a great deal of wonderful books-to-be-funded, and right now the one that has caught our eye is Rife: Twenty Stories from Britain's Youth. Bristol-based Rife magazine is for young people, by young people. And the magazine and its editorial team are behind a pitch which they hope will resonate across the UK.

To be edited by Nikesh Shukla - Rife editor and editor of The Good Immigrant (a standout Unbound success-story) - it feels like a pretty important time for the voice of youngsters to be read and heard and considered on an even level with other generations. It always is of course, and opportunities for discourse across generations is something to always encourage.

Yet we understand the timing in the drive for this particular project, and it's one which Unbound's self-powered approach to book creation (and backers) will ultimately determine the future of. If you're intrigued you can hop over to Unbound and check it out here. And, if you're 24 or under and UK-based, there's also a chance to contribute to what may prove to be a really insightful read.

WCBP17 and some unseen dynamics

/

We were going to write a by-the-numbers news story today; one about the shortlist being announced for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2017. We could do that, and it would go something like "the shortlist for Watersones Children's Book Prize has been announced!" And it would be true excitement because we loved books as a child, children's books are great, books are great, but books for young'uns are a little extra special in some ways.

In any case, the shortlist has been announced and we send our hearty and genuine congratulations to all those on it. They're actually listed nicely on Waterstones website, here. We'll list them below just because we enjoy typing their marvellous titles, but if this bores you a little rejoin us after the list (or, seriously, click here and check them out - aren't they some beautiful looking books?).

Ahem, the books:

  • Super San - Matt Robertson
  • The Journey - Francesca Sanna
  • The Bear Who Stared - Duncan Beedie
  • There's a Tiger in the Garden - Lizzy Stewart
  • Tiger in a Tutu - Fabi Santiago
  • Life is magic - Meg McLaren
  • Wolf Hollow - Lauren Wolk
  • Bettle Boy - M.G Leonard
  • Time Travelling with a Hamster - Ross Welford
  • The Girl of Ink & Stars - Kiran Millwood-Hargrave
  • Cogheart - Peter Bunzl
  • Captain Pug - Laura James
  • Hour of the Bees - Lindsay Eagar
  • Anna and the Swallow Man - Gavriel Savit
  • The Wildings - Nilanja Roy
  • Orangeboy - Patrice Lawrence
  • Paper Butterflies - Lisa Heathfield
  • The Sun is Also a Star - Nicola Yoon.

Okay, so there are five things are jumping out at us here. 

  1. Are those just some marvellous titles? They just make us so happy. They're bloomin' great!
  2. Excellent selection of animal-based tales, authors. Good stuff.
  3. Several books involving flying things. Flying things are awesome. 
  4. The Sun is Also a Star may be the best, science-related title ever to sneak onto a children's book.
  5. As shortlists go, it's not the shortest - but the more the better as far as we're concerned.

Another thing to notice is that it's been quite a week for Kiran Millwood-Hargrave. As well as a place on this shortlist, earlier this week the author also found a place on the shortlist for the Jhalak Prize. Well done, Ms Millwood Hargrave. Back to the list and it's nice to see such a strong selection of books from professional, creative, authors. We're referring to them as 'professionals' specifically, because of this piece on the website of the Guardian and the reported effects of celebrity authors. Celebrities writing books is hardly a new phenomenon, but the last few years have seen the idea diffuse in new waters with the rise of YouTubers and - specifically, for the purposes of this post - celebrity writers of childrens' books. 

We recommend the article, and can understand the concerns being raised. We suppose our thoughts are that there's nothing wrong with celebrity-written books if buyers (including ourselves) can support professional writers as much as possible. After all, book deals are based on appeal. Also, a bit like independent bookstores, professional writers presumably chose their profession for the love. But they are professionals and are invariably ruddy good at what they do. If the support that keeps the doors open falters - as it seems may sadly be the case for some authors - talent is unused and terrific tales are lost. 

Perhaps we're speaking to publishers more, being that they're in the position of power here. But really, we'll be sure to consider all these elements when next we pick up a title. As for the Waterstones Childrens' Book Prize, good luck to Watersontes for running it, and to all on the list for this year. More when we have it of course!

Rhyannon Styles' transgender memoir to arrive in July

/
The New Girl

Writer, musician and performance artist Rhyannon Styles' memoir, The New Girl, will be arriving in July. That's according to publisher Headline, which says the titles' exploration of the author's journey transitioning from male to female will be "redemptive" "very personal" and will also "explode myths". 

We're sure it'll be an incredibly powerful read, and one which readers of Styles' Elle column may particularly be looking out for. Tracing Styles' transition - beginning in 2012 - The New Girl will (we're told) promote understanding of the transgender experience, while highlighting the importance of self-truth. Styles' commissioning editor at Headline, Christina Demosthenous, says the publisher is proud to be working on the title, and rightly so. Demosthenous adds:

Rhyannon bravely – and with brutal honesty – invites us on her journey of transitioning from male to female. Emotional, powerful and utterly upfront, her story is also narrated with her trademark wit and wry sense of humour.

For her part, Styles says "The New Girl is a very modern part of trans life". Her hope is that the memoir will "allow people access to the transgender experience, providing understanding and insight, and lighting up the electrifying process of transformation." We're sure it will. And that come July of this year, The New Girl will present a personal and revealing view of Styles' story; one in which many readers will find value, insight and perhaps a deeper understanding of a subject otherwise left unexplored. 

Jhalak Prize shortlist (and reactions)

/
Nikesh Shukla and Sunny Singh are the creators of the Jhalak Prize

Nikesh Shukla and Sunny Singh are the creators of the Jhalak Prize

The shortlist for the inaugural Jhalak Prize has been announced. What is the Jhalak prize? In its inaugural year, the Jhalak Prize aims to recognise the best books (and ultimately book) of the year written by a British or British-resident BAME (Black, Asian, minority ethnic) author. The winner of the prize receives the accolade along with a £1,000 prize. For this first year the books and authors on the shortlist are.

• The Girl Of Ink & Stars - Kiran Millwood Hargrave (Chicken House)
• A Rising Man - Abir Mukherjee (Harvill Secker)
• Speak Gigantular - Irenosen Okojie (Jacaranda)
• Black And British: A Forgotten History - David Olusoga (Macmillan)
• The Bone Readers - Jacob Ross (Peepal Tree Press)
• Another Day In The Death Of America - Gary Younge (Faber)

We will of course be posting when the winner is announced, but for now we'll leave you with some of the authors responses, including one from a new-to-Twitter Jacob Ross, and one by Gary Younge which seems to link to some other website. Not sure what that is...

Another Day in the Death of America

Harry Potter 20th Anniversary Editions Launched

/
Yep, these are some smart books.

Yep, these are some smart books.

Exciting news for Harry Potter fans and book collectors everywhere. Bloomsbury has announced 20th anniversary editions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone will be published in June. And, as the rather smart image suggests, there'll be four versions.

Yes, four versions - one for each Hogwarts houses - so if you fancy yourself Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin or Hufflepuff you can treat yourself. It's excellent marketing (well done Bloomsbury), but also a really nice idea. Honestly we'll be shocked if the Gryffindor books doesn't outsell the others. Yet we do live in strange times. Perhaps there'll be an upset though...with err, Slytherin? 

Let's just take a moment to look at those books and say "ohhh". Smart jackets/covers (it's hard to tell at this point) and sprayed edges is a strong look. And a little extra detail: paperback versions will reverse the colour theme and feature single-sprayed edges. Again, the start of June is when the 20th anniversary books will be available, so perfect gifts for Harry Potter fans celebrating around that time - be careful with version choice though.

Following on from the news, it's probably reasonable to expect follow-up 20th anniversary editions for the other six Harry Potter novels. So perhaps each novel will get a similar treatment in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2025, and 2027. 

Blimey, enough talk of the future - our heads are spinning more than (nope, couldn't bring ourselves to do a Potter pun).

Editor's Blog #2: Hello again

/

Hi all, Kevin here.

I just wanted to say hi again and thank you for returning if you checked us out before our hiatus. We'll certainly look to avoid a repeat of that (I really missed being here), and the idea is really to keep things running smoothly and consistently! So this is just a small update to say that regular pieces - likely one per weekday - is the plan for the immediate future. It might seem a bit 'half blog, half-news site', but a post a day seems sensible, and given the glut of things going on in the world of books we can't really cover it all.

What we will do is try to pick up on the news and topics we hope you'll be keen on reading about; ones you may have missed, or ones which might just freshen things up a bit if we feel that's needed. You can always help in pointing things out to us too - leave a comment below an article here, on our Facebook page or tweet us @wordsandmatter on Twitter. You can tell us your thoughts about what we're up to, what might be nice to see, or anything else. We'll do our best to get to it and see what we can do in response.

So that's that for now really. I'll be back next week hopefully - an Editor's blog at the weekend seems like it might work! So until then all the best. 

Happy reading! 

Speak Up For Libraries...did just that!

/
Speak Up For Libraries...did just that!

If you saw our post on Monday, you'll know that yesterday the Speak Up For Libraries group lobbied parliament - both on keeping libraries open, and ensuring they grow with their communities. Such support is certainly needed, especially as some 549 libraries have closed across Britain since David Cameron became Prime Minister.

Read More