Nosy Crow's Blog, page 91

A change to our submissions policy

Today we made a sad decision: having been open to unsolicited manuscripts (which means anyone can send a book to us so that we can consider whether we want to publish it) for nearly seven years now (since Nosy Crow opened shop), we have had to say, today, that we Just Can’t Cope. So now you can’t send an unsolicited book to us directly… or, if you do, we won’t be able to look at it.

Next year – and we’re working editorially on books for next year and beyond – we are publishing around 100 books, and our hands are pretty full with that endeavour. Our first duty is to publish, as well as we can, those authors and illustrators to whom we have already made a commitment.

We’ve recently been receiving anywhere between 10 to 50 manuscripts or book proposals a day from members of the public (as opposed to agents, who send us stuff too), and we are simply failing to get back to people.

We make this decision really reluctantly, partly because we want to be as open and accessible as a company as we can be, and partly because there’s sometimes really good stuff to be found in the slush-pile (that is, the texts received as unsolicited submissions): Paula Harrison and Helen Peters are both authors who were unagented at the time they sent in their books to us, and we are very proud and pleased to have published them successfully. More recently, we signed up Frances Stickley from the slush-pile. She’s a picture book author, who has just won a short story writing prize run by National Literacy Trust.

We’re aiming to get through our slush-pile backlog, but if you haven’t heard back from us within six months of having sent your submission, you should assume we aren’t going to take on your book.

We’ll review where we stand on this in the New Year, when the big lump of editorial work we are labouring on at the moment may have diminished a little.

If you’d like to find out if we re-open to unsolicited manuscripts and book proposals, you can sign up to our books newsletter here, and we’ll share the news with our newsletter subscribers. I hope we can do so.

Meanwhile, good luck with your writing and other creative work! If you get yourself an agent, we’d be happy to look at what you’re doing.

And if you’re an un-agented BAME author with a fiction submission (ie, not a picture book or non-fiction text), you can still send this directly to our commissioning fiction editor Tom Bonnick, who’s looking for BAME voices – you can find out more here.

Get our award-winning life science app, Rounds: Parker Penguin, for just 99p!

We’re celebrating winter with a special sale for one of our apps – get the award-winning life science app Rounds: Parker Penguin for just 99p/ 99¢ until the end of November!

This highly-acclaimed, award-winning app is the second in our fantastic Rounds series, and just like the first one, Rounds: Franklin Frog, it combines a charming and accessible story with a bold, graphic illustrative style (using only circles and components of circles), some hugely innovative interactivity, animation, voicework and original music throughout, and LOTS of fun facts – perfect for both home and the classroom.

You can help Parker do all the things that penguins do best – waddle, slide, swim, hunt, march, dance, protect their eggs, help a chick to hatch and shed its down – and then start all over again with Percy! Along the way, there’s lots to find out about penguins and the Antarctic – did you know that penguins can dive over 500 metres underwater? Or that they can hold their breath for 20 minutes when they are hunting?

The app is the winner of a 2013 FutureBook Innovation Award and was named as one of USA Today’s top 10 apps for kids for 2012.

You can watch a preview of the app at the top of this post – and here’s a free, downloadable penguin fact sheet to accompany the app:

 

Nosy Crow meets Ingela P Arrhenius

Last week we had a very special visitor: we met Ingela P Arrhenius, illustrator of the award-winning Felt Flaps series, for the first time! Ingela lives and works in Sweden and this was the first time we’d met her in person – despite us now having published several books by her.

And to celebrate the occasion, we filmed a Q&A between Ingela and Kate – you can watch it at the top of the post, and find out about Ingela’s inspirations, how she works, what she likes to draw (and what she doesn’t like to draw…) and get an early look at one of our next books with Ingela – which won’t be published for another year.

If you’ve not yet discovered Ingela’s beautiful artwork, you can find out more about the Felt Flaps series here – and here’s a piece by Kate, written after Where’s Mr Lion won the Sainsbury’s Children’s Book of the Year award.

And if you’d like to be kept up-to-date with all of our book news, you can sign up to our newsletter at this page, or with the form below, and you’ll never miss a thing.

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Nosy Crow publishes the book to accompany the John Lewis Christmas advert 2017

Nosy Crow has created a children’s picture book based on this year’s John Lewis Christmas advert. Moz The Monster will be published today, 10 November 2017, to coincide with the release of the retailer’s eagerly-awaited annual Christmas advert.

This is the fifth time that Nosy Crow has worked with John Lewis to produce the companion picture book for the Christmas advert. The book, Moz The Monster, will be sold exclusively through John Lewis stores and via the John Lewis website.

Moz The Monster is illustrated by Katy Halford, whose artwork perfectly captures the fun and mischievousness of the playful monster who comes out from under Joe’s bed.

Kate Wilson, Nosy Crow’s managing director, comments: “It’s a real privilege to be involved again in the John Lewis Christmas advert campaign as the creator of the book that ties in with the advert. The anticipation around the advert is an annual phenomenon, and the warmth that so many feel for the adverts is extraordinary. We’re really proud to have been able to work with the hugely professional team at John Lewis to create a tangible evocation of that warmth.”

Becky Brock, Marketing Director at John Lewis said: “This year’s Christmas campaign brings to life the power of children’s imaginations and the joy of great friendships.  The Moz The Monster book allows Moz and Joe’s magical and heartwarming story to be shared by people young and old in their own homes.”

You can watch actor Sally Phillips read Moz The Monster in the video below:

Buy the book from John Lewis.

Bid for original, signed artwork by Axel Scheffler – and help raise money for charity

Earlier this year, Pip and Posy illustrator Axel Scheffler led a fantastic live-drawing and storytelling session at the Edinburgh Festival. And today we’re very pleased to say that we’ll be auctioning some of the original artwork that Axel produced on the day in aid of charity. There are four different signed, dated pieces available to bid on, featuring some of Axel’s best-known and most loved characters – including The Gruffalo and Pip and Posy – and all proceeds will go to Three Peas, a charity offering help and support to the thousands of people suffering and fleeing civil war in Syria and other war torn countries.

Here are the four pieces being auctioned:

The Gruffalo meets Pip and Posy:

Bid for this piece.

Pip and Posy on the beach:

Bid for this piece.

Pip and Posy in the rain:

Bid for this piece.

Pip and Posy on a tractor:

Bid for this piece.

Each piece of artwork is a signed and dated original – if you’ve always wanted your own original illustration of The Gruffalo or Pip and Posy, here’s your chance!

The auction will run for 10 days, and end on Sunday November 19th at 5pm.

Please do bid generously for this hugely important cause – and good luck!

Win a signed copy of Spectre Collectors: Too Ghoul for School

This September we published Spectre Collectors: Too Ghoul for School, the first book in a hilarious new series by Barry Hutchison. We recently had Barry into the office to film some short videos (you can watch them here) and sign some copies of the book, and today you can win one – we have three signed copies of the book to give away!

To win one of these exclusive signed copies of Too Ghoul for School, just head over to the @NosyCrowBooks Twitter feed, follow @NosyCrowBooks, and re-tweet this message.

If you’re new to Spectre Collectors, you can read the opening chapter of Too Ghoul for School below. Funny, exciting, and action-packed, this series is PERFECT for 9+ year olds.

Denzel is having no luck with his maths homework. First, it’s too difficult, then there’s the terrifying phantom that wants to kill him, then two teenagers explode through his window holding guns and throwing magic. They are the Spectre Collectors, and spooky is their specialty.

Realising that Denzel has a special gift, they sweep him off to their headquarters, where Denzel quickly realises that he is terrible at the job. But there’s a serious problem on its way from the Spectral Realm, and Denzel is going to use all of his non-existent skills to save the day…

Here’s a look inside the book:

Buy the book online.

We’ll pick three winners at random on Monday – good luck!

The next Nosy Crow Reading Group is almost here – we’re discussing The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman

The Nosy Crow Reading Group is back in a couple of weeks – we’ll be discussing The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage, the first volume of Philip Pullman’s highly-anticipated new series.

And if you’re interested in coming along, there are just a couple of places remaining!

We’ll be meeting on Monday, November 20th at 6.30pm, at the Nosy Crow offices – 14 Baden Place, Crosby Row, SE1 1YW – for a discussion of the book (along with wine and crisps).

If you’d like to come along, just register for a place with the form below, or at this page – if the reading group becomes fully booked, you can add your name to our waiting list, and we’ll notify you if a place opens up.

You can buy the book online from Waterstones here.

We hope to see you there!

 

Two Nosy Crow titles nominated for the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Awards

The nomination lists for the 2018 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Awards have been published today, and we’re absolutely thrilled that two Nosy Crow books have been recognised for the prizes!

The CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals are the UK’s oldest children’s book awards, and are judged solely by librarians. The CILIP Carnegie Medal is awarded for an outstanding book written in English for children and young people, and the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal is awarded for an outstanding book in terms of illustration for children and young people.

Troll Stroll, illustrated by David Barrow (and written by Elli Woollard), has been nominated for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal.

Here’s a look inside the book:

Buy the book online.

And The Jamie Drake Equation, written by Christopher Edge, has been nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal.

Here’s a look inside the book:

Buy the book online.

You can read more about the awards, and find the full nomination lists, here. The longlists for both the Greenaway and Carnegie Medals will be published in February 2017, followed by the shortlists in March – and the overall winners of each award will be announced in June.

Congratulations, David and Christopher – and good luck!

Evie’s Ghost is longlisted for the Redbridge Children’s Book Award!

The longlist for the 2018 Redbridge Children’s Book Award has been announced, and we’re delighted to see that Evie’s Ghost by Helen Peters has been recognised! The award, run by Redbridge Schools Library Service, celebrates the best books published in the UK – every school in the Borough is invited to take part and vote for their favourite children and teen books.

The 2017 Award was won by The Many Worlds of Albie Bright, by Christopher Edge – and we’re delighted to see another Nosy Crow author celebrated for the 2018 prize.

Part Gosford Park, part Charlotte Sometimes, and part The Go-Between, Evie’s Ghost is an absolutely brilliant time-slip story – spine-tingling, moving, funny and heartbreaking.

Evie’s been sent to stay with her ancient grandmother in an old creaky house in the middle of nowhere. Her phone is broken and she can’t believe how hugely unfair everything is.

Then, on the first night, Evie sees a strange, ghostly figure at the window. Spooked, she flees from the room, feeling oddly disembodied as she does so.

Out in the corridor, it’s 1814 and Evie finds herself dressed as a housemaid. Little does she know that she’ll need all her cunning to fix the past and stop everything falling apart in the future…

If you’ve not yet discovered the book, here’s a preview of the opening chapters of Evie’s Ghost:

Buy the book online.

And here’s Helen reading from the book:

The winner of the award will be announced at a ceremony in June – congratulations, Helen, and good luck!

Watch the new animated trailer for Press Out and Decorate: Unicorns

This autumn we’re very pleased to have published Press Out and Decorate: Unicorns, illustrated by Kate McLelland – the latest book in the incredible Press Out and Colour activity series. And to show just how beautiful the new book is, we’ve made an animated trailer showing how it works – you can watch it at the top of this post.

Each press-out design is intricately decorated with pink foil and perfect for all ages to decorate. Featuring 20 unique designs, the press-out pieces can be slotted together to create magical three-dimensional hanging ornaments or threaded together to make a super-cute garland. From flying unicorns and shooting stars to fluffy clouds and rainbows, these gorgeous press-out pieces look elegant in white and pink, but even better as a decorated collection of flying unicorns.

Pam Norfolk, reviewing the book for the Lancashire Post, writes: “Keep boredom at bay in the run-up to Christmas with an exciting and creative activity book from inventive children’s publisher Nosy Crow. These gorgeous, intricate unicorns are perfect to hang around the home or can be threaded into a super cute garland and will add sparkle to any setting, especially at Christmas. Ideal for older children to make on their own, or as a shared project with parents, these fabulous press-out unicorns are guaranteed to let young imaginations take flight …”

You can buy Press Out and Decorate: Unicorns online here – and if you’d like to stay up-to-date with all of our book news, you can sign up to our books newsletter at this page, or with the form below.

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