Thursday 15 December 2011

Books & Ink, Banbury

Books & Ink, Banbury

The past few days have been pretty good.

Last Saturday I was very pleased to deliver a batch of my books to Books & Ink in Banbury. This is a fantastic little shop - well, I say little; they have over 25,000 books in stock - tucked away in the heart of the town but well worth seeking out. Find them on Facebook here, or check out the website here.

It's run by the extremely knowledgeable, helpful, and friendly Sam. She definitely understands the importance of the written word - the shop's mantra is "Read Books, Write Books, Live Books, Love Books", and when you look around the numerous shelves and displays it quickly becomes clear the place is run with the kind of passion for books that is all too often absent from those big chain stores.

With a mix of new, second-hand, and antiquarian books, it's one of those shops that's a joy to browse around, just seeing what catches your attention. Every time I've gone there I've spent more than I intended, finding books I had no idea I needed before I'd set foot inside. And that, my friends, is exactly what I want from a bookshop.

Actual books on an actual shelf in an actual bookshop...

I'm really pleased to get Somewhere to Start From into another bookshop (there are already some in The Press Shop in St Peter Port, Guernsey). I know I don't stand a chance of seeing it piled up on the front tables of Waterstones or WH Smiths, but having a few physical copies out there opens up the possibility of complete strangers picking it up, and hopefully being intrigued enough to buy one. Don't get me wrong, I love that lots of my friends have bought copies, but the idea of my stories spreading that little bit further is a very exciting prospect.

In other news:
  • I reached Number Eight in the Ten-Four Challenge, with an entry sent to the Willesden Herald competition (you might just have time to squeeze in an entry there).
  • A few more entries for my competition arrived. It seems to be gaining momentum, which is great. Still plenty of time to enter if you haven't already.
  • I picked up a Highly Commended in the NAWG open competition. Which is nice.

So, yeah, a good week, generally. How was yours?

4 comments:

Chloe said...

Great to see a photo of your book in an actual bookshop! Well done on NAWG as well - great stuff!

Teresa Stenson said...

That bookshop looks wonderful.

I have had a good week though I am up to my eyes in paint, sequins, and glitter. And I might have just made a breakthrough with a long story I'm writing. I made the potential breakthrough then imeediately went online to celebrate. Should get back to my notebook, really.

Glad you had a good week, Dan. Wonder what the final 2 subs for ten-four will be? Good luck with Willesden.

Patsy said...

Ooooh, it's actually your book in that actual bookshop etc etc Bet it feels good?

Dan Purdue said...

Sorry - somehow I missed all these responses. I don't know how that happened. I wasn't ignoring you all, honest!

Thanks for the congratulations and the good luck wishes and so on: much appreciated. It's good to know the book is out there, although whether or not it'll be flying off the shelves is another matter. I'm sure Sam will do her utmost to sell one or two copies.