Hannah Kate's Blog, page 75

OUT NOW: Psychic Spiders! by Toby Stone (Hic Dragones, 2015)

Really pleased to announce the release of the latest title from Hic Dragones…

From the mad genius that brought you Aimee and the Bear comes the tale of the ultimate arachnid anti-hero…

George is an unusual spider. Born with the ability to control human thoughts, he has a unique insight into the human psyche. And he doesn’t like what he sees. It’s time to deal with the problem.

George’s crusade to save arachnidkind takes him on warped journey through the city, to the one place where he can make his voice heard – the local television station. But George’s quest for media domination brings him up against an array of unlikely opponents: Igor, a troubled man long abandoned to a nursing home by his angry daughter; Tobias, a sensitive spider with a fondness for Countdown; Captain Ahab, a man with no past (that he can remember, anyway). And it’s only a matter of time before George’s activities catch the attention of The Web – a shadowy organisation whose furry legs stretch around the globe.

Will George succeed? Will humanity survive? Will television ever be the same again?

Available now in paperback and eBook formats from Hic Dragones and all good retailers.

Watch the trailer (featuring music by the amazing Digital Front):

North Manchester FM: Hannah’s Bookshelf, Saturday 7 February, 4-6pm

Catch me this Saturday, 4-6pm, for Hannah’s Bookshelf on North Manchester FM. As usual, I’ll be chatting about books I’ve read and books I love.

This week, local resident Linda Priest (aka my mum!) will be popping in for a chat. We’ll be chatting about the enduring legacy of Robbie Burns (and maybe having a wee taste of his poetry), and about some of our favourite contemporary Scottish writers.

If you live in or around North Manchester, you can catch the show on 106.6FM. Otherwise, you can listen online.

If you’re interested in being a guest on the show, drop me a line via the blog or catch me on Twitter.

North Manchester FM: Hannah’s Bookshelf, Saturday 31 January, 4-6pm

Tune in on Saturday, 4-6pm, for Hannah’s Bookshelf on North Manchester FM 106.6 (or listen online).

My guest this week will be Dr Sorcha Ní Fhlainn, lecturer in Contemporary American Literature and Film Studies at Manchester Metropolitan University. As well, as lecturing on a wide range of books and films, Sorcha has published a number of articles on horror and the Gothic. One of her primary specialisms is 20th- and 21st-century vampires, so expect a bit of chat about blood-suckers on the show this week. Sorcha is also the editor of The Worlds of Back to the Future: Critical Essays on the Films (published by McFarland in 2010), so as promised last week, we’ll be sharing our love of 1980s pop culture.

Sorcha will also be sharing her Apocalypse Books – the three books she’d save in the event of society breaking down and hordes of ravening zombies stalking the land. Should be a good show – so don’t miss it!

Don’t forget, if you’re interested in being a guest on the show in the future, drop me a line via the blog or catch me on Twitter.

OUT NOW: European Monsters (Fox Spirit Books, 2014)

Edited by Margrét Helgadóttir and Jo Thomas

Blurb:

They lurk and crawl and fly in the shadows of our mind. We know them from ancient legends and tales whispered by the campfire. They hide under the dark bridge, in the deep woods or out on the great plains, in the drizzling rain forest or out on the foggy moor, beneath the surface, under your bed. They don’t sparkle or have any interest in us except to tear us apart. They are the monsters! Forgotten, unknown, misunderstood, overused, watered down. We adore them still. We want to give them a renaissance, to re-establish their dark reputation, to give them a comeback, let the world know of their real terror.

Contents:

Here Be Monsters! by Jo Thomas and Margrét Helgadóttir

Herne by J.C. Grimwood

Vijka by Anne Michaud

Broken Bridges by James Bennett

Upon the Wash of the Fjord by Byron Black

Nimby by Hannah Kate

Black Shuck by Joan De La Haye

A Very Modern Monster by Aliya Whiteley

Mother Knows Worst by Jasper Bank and Fabian Tuñon Benzo (artist)

Fly, My Dear, Fly by Nerine Dorman

Mélanie by Aliette de Bodard

Moments by Krista Walsh

Hafgufa Rising by Chris Galvin

Old Bones by Peter Damien

The Cursed One by Icy Sedgwick

Serpent Dawn by Adrian Tchaikovsky and Eugene Smith (artist)

For more information about the book, please visit the publisher’s website.

North Manchester FM: Hannah’s Bookshelf, Saturday 24 January, 4-6pm

Tune in to North Manchester FM 106.6 this Saturday, 4-6pm, for Hannah’s Bookshelf (or listen online).

This week, I will be joined by Rob Shedwick – aka Digital Front – Crumpsall-based indie musician, designer and publisher. Rob is my partner in Hic Dragones and the designer behind our book covers and website. (And yeah… as some of you know, he’s also my husband but other than that minor blip he’s pretty sensible.) We’ll be talking about the perils and joys of small press publishing, horror fiction and much more. Join us on Saturday at 4pm!

Last week, I introduced a section of the show that will be a regular feature – Apocalypse Books. This section is partly inspired by Desert Island Discs and partly by the Denzel Washington film The Book of Eli. I’ll be asking each of my guests: in a post-apocalyptic wilderness, when society has completely broken down and vigilante mobs roam the land, which three books would you save… and why? Last week, Toby Stone shared his slightly bonkers (but very practical) suggestions. Join me this week to find out which books make Rob’s Apocalypse list.

If you’re interested in being a guest on the show, drop me a line via this blog or catch me on Twitter.

 

North Manchester FM: Hannah’s Bookshelf, Saturday 17 January, 4-6pm

I’m really excited to finally be able to announce… my new radio show on North Manchester FM! My weekly show is called Hannah’s Bookshelf, and it’ll be on every Saturday, 4-6pm. If you live on the north/east side of the city, you can tune in at 106.6FM – but for everyone else, you can listen online via the NMFM website. And if you miss a show,, you can listen again via the site.

Each week, I’ll be talking about books, creative writing and publishing – discussing the books I’ve read, but also current issues in the book and writing world. And each week, I’ll be joined by a guest. This week, my guest will be Whitefield author Toby Stone, who’ll be talking about his novels Aimee and the Bear and Psychic Spiders! (which launches at the end of the month).

And, of course, I’d like to hear from anyone who’d like to be a guest on future shows. If you’re a Manchester writer/publisher/librarian and would like to come on the show, drop me a line via this site or catch me on Twitter.

Psychic Spiders! Launch Party

Thursday 29th January, 7-9pm

International Anthony Burgess Foundation

3 Cambridge Street

Manchester

Free event

Come and join us for the launch of Toby Stone’s phenomenal new novel, Psychic Spiders!

George is an unusual spider. Born with the ability to control human thoughts, he has a unique insight into the human psyche. And he doesn’t like what he sees. It’s time to deal with the problem.

George’s crusade to save arachnidkind takes him on warped journey through the city, to the one place where he can make his voice heard – the local television station. But George’s quest for media domination brings him up against an array of unlikely opponents: Igor, a troubled man long abandoned to a nursing home by his angry daughter; Tobias, a sensitive spider with a fondness for Countdown; Captain Ahab, a man with no past (that he can remember, anyway). And it’s only a matter of time before George’s activities catch the attention of The Web – a shadowy organisation whose furry legs stretch around the globe.

Will George succeed? Will humanity survive? Will television ever be the same again?

Join us on the 29th to welcome our new arachnid overloads. Readings from the author, free wine reception and giveaways.

For more information, please visit the Hic Dragones website. And check out Toby Stone’s debut novel Aimee and the Bear – ‘a book as unique and astonishing as it is chilling’.

Online event registration for Psychic Spiders! Launch Party powered by Eventbrite

Hannah’s Bananas – a #VATMOSS analogy

Over the past couple of days, I’ve had to explain the new EU VAT regulations to a couple of people who know nothing about how e-commerce (or indeed, the internet) works. I had to find a ‘real world’ analogy to help them understand the concerns of microbusinesses and sole traders, so I thought I’d post it here in case it’s helpful to anyone else. Feel free to use it. (Or send it to Vince Cable!)

I grow bananas and sell them on a stall outside my house. I follow all the rules for banana-sellers, and happily sell to any of my neighbours who comes along. I don’t make much money, but it’s a little bit of income that I’ve worked for myself.

One day, I find out that a new law has been passed that says I need to find out which streets my customers live on. If I sell to a neighbour from Green Street, I have to go and pay a small tax to that street. If I sell to a customer from Red Street, I have to go and pay a different tax to them. If I sell to anyone from my own street, the rules are different. A nice man called Mr Moss offers to help me find the right people to pay on each street, but it will be up to me to make sure all the payments are made correctly. The people on Green Street have some complicated rules that I’ll need to follow, by the way, but Mr Moss doesn’t know all the details as yet.

Not only do I have to find out which street each of my customers lives on, I also have to take their fingerprints when they buy a banana. And I need to store those fingerprints in a secure underground vault for 10 years. I ask Mr Moss how I’m supposed to get customers to agree to have their fingerprints taken, but he seems confused that I’m not doing this already. He also doesn’t know what I’m supposed to do if someone hides their fingerprints or lies about what street they live on.

I have considered only selling bananas to people on my street, even though this might lose me some customers, but apparently there’s another law that says I’m not allowed to discriminate on the basis of what street someone lives on.

I do have another option though. If I want to avoid doing any of this, I can sell my bananas at the Banana Superstore. They will take all responsibility for taking customers’ fingerprints and finding out what street they live on. However, they will take 65% of the money for themselves, and there’s no guarantee that they will actually stock my bananas in the first place. There’s always a chance that they might demand that I become one of their Banana Direct suppliers – meaning that I’m never allowed to sell my bananas at another superstore. Or they might let people have my bananas for free, as part of their Banana Unlimited programme, and only pay me a very, very small price for this.

I only have three weeks to decide which of these options I want to take. No one told me about the law in advance, because they didn’t think to tell anyone with a banana stall about it. They only informed the Banana Superstore, who are already prepared for the changes.

Now my banana stall’s future looks bleak, and I can’t seem to get any answers from Mr Moss. Apparently, an apple stall from Green Street has been told the new laws don’t apply to them, and the man who sells strawberries on Red Street hasn’t heard anything at all. I think the cherry-seller on Blue Street has just buried her head in the sand and pretended this has nothing to do with her. I’m currently being bombarded by people offering to take people’s fingerprints for me (for a price), and the powers-that-be just won’t accept that banana stalls like mine actually exist.

Is there any future for my little stall?

UK small press publishers – the new VAT legislation DOES apply to you…

As you might know, I run a fiction micropress publishing paperbacks and eBooks. We sell via the usual platforms, but also through direct sales on our website. I know a number of people I am friends with on social media also do the same. This post is directed specifically at UK small presses (and non-KDP self-published writers) who might not be familiar with the upcoming changes to EU VAT regulations. I see from Twitter that many UK small presses and sole traders are under the assumption that the new law will not impact them – I hate to be the bringer of bad news… but it will. And you need to know about it now.

I’m writing this from the perspective of a UK small business. Due to our high VAT threshold, there are some specifics that might not be as concerning to companies based elsewhere in the EU. But all EU businesses are affected by this legislation. And our non-EU colleagues might also want to be aware that the new regulations mean that if a non-EU business/entrepreneur sells an eBook to an EU customer, they will also have to register for EU VAT.

Here’s our situation – if the same applies to you, then this post is for your information. If it doesn’t apply to you, or you already know all this, then as you were:

We are a small press with a turnover of less than £81,000 so are not currently registered for VAT in the UK. We sell eBooks (which are subject to VAT, while paperbacks are currently exempt in the UK). As VAT is currently collected at the ‘place of seller’ (i.e. where we’re based), and we’re exempt, we’ve never had to deal with collecting or paying VAT. We sell eBooks directly to customers, using a payment processor (i.e. PayPal).

We were not told about any impending changes to VAT legislation, despite the fact that we submit our tax returns to HMRC, we have an accountant and we are a member of the Federation of Small Businesses. I found about this via Twitter. HMRC have since admitted that they only notified companies that were already registered for VAT. You may have ignored the #VATMOSS hashtag over the past couple of weeks because you assumed your press was exempt from paying VAT. It’s probably time to start joining in the conversation now.

HMRC have also admitted that they thought we all sold through Amazon/Apple/Google, and had no idea that we might – you know – not want to give the axis of evil the lion’s share of our profits.

As of 1 January 2015, VAT on business-to-customer digital downloads (i.e. when a customer buys an eBook directly from your website) will be collected in the ‘place of supply’ (i.e. where the customer is based) and there is a zero threshold. Companies and sole traders need to be registered for VAT with any EU member states they intend to trade with, even if they only anticipate selling a £1.99 eBook to a reader in France. There are also regulations on what information you must collect to verify the location of a customer – and this is an administrative and financial nightmare/impossibility.

If you currently sell eBooks via your own website, you need to learn the implications of this legislation. It does affect you, no matter how small your turnover.

If you are registered as a sole trader, this will still affect you. Sole traders are counted as small businesses under this legislation.

It’s 3am, and I’m not a tax advisor, so I’m not going to start trying to explain the details of the legislation. Here are some links to get you started:

http://rachelandrew.co.uk/archives/2014/10/13/the-horrible-implications-of-the-eu-vat-place-of-supply-change/

http://onemanbandaccounting.co.uk/eu-vat-changes-2015/

http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/news/creative-business/vat-moss-facts-for-creative-professionals/

You should also search ‘EU VAT regulations 2015′ and check out the #VATMOSS hashtag on Twitter.

A couple of other independent creative industries have started to band together for support and lobbying power - the knitting pattern designers are proving to be quite the formidable force, and the comics creators are becoming more vocal. Those of us who run small presses or who are independent authors need to follow suit and stick together. We need to share information and support one another. I’d like this blog post to be the start of the conversation – so please add to the comments and share your concerns.

Most of us have day jobs as well as our businesses. We work ludicrous hours producing the books that we sell, on top of administration, other employment, childcare, etc. I’m sure if you’re anything like me, learning this news felt utterly overwhelming and defeating. Let’s talk to one another and see if we can’t share our knowledge and concerns.

I have already written to my MP and an MEP about this issue. Many small businesses are lobbying and putting pressure on the Treasury and HMRC. Fuck knows if it’ll do any good, but if the alternative is only selling eBooks through Amazon then I think it’s worth a shot.

In case you’re still holding on to the hope that HMRC know what they’re doing, here’s a video of someone attempting to register for the new VAT Mini-One-Stop-Shop (the one we all need to register for by January, to avoid registering in individual EU states). It’s Kafka-tastic.

North Manchester FM: Community Train, Tuesday 2 December 2014

So… my radio presenter training continues at North Manchester FM. This week, I was back on Community Train, this time with the help of the lovely Charlie Walduck.  I didn’t have a guest this week, as I was getting some training on a bit of the technical know-how, so this week’s show was some music and a bit of chat from me and Charlie.

I mentioned a few Manchester projects and places on the show, and I promised that I’d post some links on here in case anyone wants to check out the things I was talking about.

I started the show talking about the stall I ran at Castlefield Market last weekend. This was a bookstall for the small press publishers I run with my partner, Hic Dragones. We had a stall at the first weekend of the Off the High Street Christmas Market, which will be running each weekend until Christmas at the Castlefield Market. Check out the website for more info!

We had a great time at the market, and met some fantastic traders and customers (including Primer Spa Shop, Marie Jewellery and The Manchester Bee Company – to name a few). Sadly, we won’t be able to return to Castlefield this weekend… because we’re off to Sound Control for the Alternative and Burlesque Fair.

On the show, I mentioned that one of the Hic Dragones writers, Toby Stone came along to the market on Saturday to sign copies of his debut novel, Aimee and the Bear. We’re very pleased to say that we’ll be publishing the follow-up to Aimee and the Bear, Psychic Spiders!, in January. There’ll be a launch party at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation on 29th January, so watch this space for more information about that.

I also talked on the show about the Ancoats Dispensary Trust. I am really fascinated by Manchester history, and I’ve been following the progress of the community project to save Ancoats Dispensary for some time. The Victorian Ardwick and Ancoats Dispensary played a significant part of the development of Ancoats towards the end of the Industrial Revolution. After years of neglect by developers, the Grade II listed building (sadly, only the façade of which remains) was saved from the jaws of demolition by local campaigners who formed a charitable trust to preserve this piece of Manchester heritage.

The Ancoats Dispensary Trust have achieved incredible things since their formation in 2012, and have raised awareness about the plight of the building, prompted public consultation, and (most importantly) raised vital money to preserve the iconic façade and fund the construction of a new building that will function as a community resource in the heart of Ancoats. The trust have successfully applied for Heritage Lottery funding to ensure the development of the building – however, they need to match-fund in order to release this money.

There’s not long left in the final push to save this part of Manchester’s heritage, and the trust have turned to crowdfunding to raise the last bit of funding to release the Heritage Lottery funds. Check out their page on Spacehive for more information about the project and what’s needed.

Inspired by the story of the Ancoats Dispensary, Charlie and I spent the second hour of the show talking about our favourite bits of Manchester’s history and heritage. I won’t list all the buildings and places we talked about – partly because we went through quite a long list! – but I want to include a few links to things with a bit more info about some of the things we talked about.

I mentioned that I have written a short story inspired by the history of Piccadilly Gardens and the surrounding area. This story is ‘Lever’s Row’, and it can be found in the Hic Dragones anthology, Hauntings. I was inspired to write this story after reading about Ashton Lever and the history of Lever’s Row (now known as Piccadilly) in Manchester. I’ve written a post for my other blog on this history – as well as the stories behind some other Manchester street names – and you can read that .

If you’d like to know anything more about any of the things Charlie and I talked about in the show, feel free to leave a comment below. I’m going to be hosting my own show on North Manchester FM from January, so will let you know all about it after Christmas!