Spring was dominated by the publication of Secrets in May. Leading up to a book’s launch, the author commits to all manner of publicity and marketing. This can range from writing articles commissioned by mags and papers in return for a plug (of the book, not of the bath…), to interviews across the media (tv, radio and press) to events up and down the country, plus signings in book shops and finally, undertaking daft things to secure any publicity going. In fact, all authors become a little shameless in giving their new books a leg-up! As you may remember from my blog, the leg-up for me came in the form of a ladder propped against a bus. It was fantastic to don a hi-viz jacket and physically fix one of the amazing posters to the side of a London double-decker!
The shenanigans that take place around publication can be as exhausting as they are fun - and the rewards are always well worth it. You must remember, we authors spend most our year in utter silence in the company of people who don’t actually exist - so I for one find it a real thrill to be out and about, meeting the people who really matter (you lot who buy my books, the staff who ensure the shelves are well stocked, the journalists who take shorthand while I gabble nineteen to the dozen, the producers who let me witter on and on, on radio and tv….)
March-June were packed with commitments ranging from writing my first short story for radio (entitled Fish & Chips, for BBC Radio 4 - I’ll see if I can post it up here, in due course), to appearing on the Matthew Wright show on TV. I also turned the airwaves blue-ish with Claudia Winkleman, but then I turned the airwaves silent on the Robert Elms show when I promptly lost my voice! I signed books up and down the country - me and my trusty felt pen (a Pilot Liquid Ink Sign Pen - in either pink, mauve or blue, since you ask…) and spoke at length to journalists from the nationals as well as regional papers. I also did a number events in the North East - which is of course where Secrets is set. How much fun it is to return ‘for work’ to a place so close to my heart. I even managed to organize at ‘working lunch’ with a journalist…at one of my favourite eateries in Saltburn, Virgo’s!
There were fantastic evening events in Whitby, York and Middlesbrough too - it was great to meet so many readers, old and new. I must make mention of one lady, Colette, who has been writing to me for years and years. It was such a thrill to finally meet her when she journeyed from Leeds to York for the talk there (tork in york? talk in yalk?). At the event in Whitby, a certain Sharon Stone was in the audience (yes indeed. No, not that one). Well, a few weeks later, she took a day off work and decided to drive north for an hour to read Secrets on the beach at Saltburn… and she was strolling along the vast sands at pretty much the same time as I was being frowned at for not having a copy of my book on me for a local photo call (doh!). Sharon to the rescue… Perhaps the event I enjoyed most was the final one on my schedule. Middlesbrough was organized by my great friend Jennifer Garton who has a cameo in Pillow Talk. The evening was a sell-out. Raucous, spirited a fantastic giggle…with a great curry afterwards in Stokesley and a fantastic night’s sleep at Crathorne Hall, my favourite hotel ever.
All in all, I enjoyed every exhausting minute - I know Secrets is my 10th novel, but the thrill of seeing my book in the shops, in the pages of a magazine or in the hands of a reader is as much a thrill now as it was way back in 1996 when Sally was first published. Secrets enjoyed two months in the UK Top Ten and is my fastest selling and biggest selling novel to date. A massive thank you to all who have supported me. It’s been emotional!
I KNOW it’s been a long time since I updated my blog and I apologize profusely. I’m going to make it up to you with a lengthy post in the journal section. And when I’m feeling particularly brave, I will try and upload some of the videos I’ve been taking over the last few months.
Anyway, welcome back to all of you - it’s nice to chat after a prolonged silence.
I am extremely excited and honoured to tell you that the magical, awesome Beth Tweddle - Great Britain’s recently crowned World Champion gymnast - is currently reading Secrets. Not just in her spare time, mind. She was reading it in the preparation room just before she took to the floor to win a couple of weeks ago. She recommends reading as a way to focus and prepare and to block out the sound of the crowd. I am thrilled, flattered and humbled, Beth, and I know that all my readers will want to congratulate and thank you for your fantastic achievement (all the more awesome when you consider she is just a month off an op on her ankle). We are very proud of you! Roll on 2012, Ms Tweddle.
666!
nope, not the devil in me… but a very very lucky number for us.
Secrets was published 6 weeks ago
Secrets has spent 6 weeks in the national Top 10
Secrets is number 6 in this week’s chart!
I’m just back from a week in Spain - and top of my to-do list is to update you with all my news, photos and videos…
In the meantime, follow this link… It’ll take you to my first short story written for radio, which BBC Radio 4 commissioned. Many of you will know that I famously HATE writing short stories - give me 140,000 words to play with, any day!
For ‘Fish And Chips‘, I was allowed 2,000 words…and I was told “No sex and no swearing, Ms North”
Listen and enjoy…and please let me know what you think!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00ktbf2/Afternoon_Reading_More_Love_in_the_Afternoon_Fish_and_Chips/
stop press!
You’ve done it again, you lot!
Your support and enthusiasm has seen Secrets climb the Top Ten to a fabulous no.5 this week - just 40 copies off the no.4 spot! Thank you so very much.
I’m just back from a jam-packed but fun and fantastic trip to promote the book - and I’ll be blogging AT LENGTH in the next day or so. For the time being, sending you my gratitude, I wish you all a great weekend. Freya x
Thank you Thank you Thank you!
I’m delighted (over-excited) to be able to tell you that… after only 3 days sales, Secrets has gone straight into the national Top 10!
I’m absolutely cockahoop and want to thank you, one and all, for your incredible support….
That’s all for now - I need to run around the garden like a mad thing… x
Well, what better way to spend a glorious sunny Tuesday…than down the local bus depot!
In London, Secrets is being advertised on the sides of 150 double deckers all over the network! I thought it would a giggle - and a bit of a thrill - to put up one of these impressive ads. They’re HUGE!
First, you have to stick the visual on a board - and it’s a massive sheet of sticky back plastic!
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Here I am at the CBS warehouse in Walthamstow with the lovely John Steer and his team
Next it was off to the Arriva bus company’s London North depot, at Enfield, with the wonderful Mick who kept the ladder steady and told me what to do!
off with Nokia! Up with Freya!
There are 150 buses across the London network, emblazoned with Secrets! If you see one - give it a big wave… and let me know!
A hearty thank you to all the great guys at CBS, to everyone at the Arriva depot - and especially to the fab CBS girls - l-r: Catherine, Michelle and Stephanie.
You made my day - you really did!
The Author and Her Assistant
(who tried to charge me 50p)
(we settled on an ice-cream… which turned out to be a damn sight more expensive!)
Well! What an exhausting, exhilarating day! My 10th novel is now, officially, published - and it was an utter thrill for your author to be out and about, nipping into book shops left, right and centre and seeing Secrets on the shelves! For me, the excitement of publication simply has not diminished one jot over the years.
Bizarrely, in Selfridges, the sales assistants refused to let me sign copies of Secrets until they’d had a long (rather stern) look at my author pic in the book to verify I was indeed who I claimed to be!
There are currently signed copies at Selfridges, at Waterstones opposite Selfridges and at Borders, Oxford Street. I’ll be sure to let you know as and when and where I sign more!
Hope you’re enjoying the new video section on the website - and that you’ve found the competition too!
What a day! So many lovely messages from you lot. Where would I be without you? Your seal of approval is more precious, more ‘real’ to me, than a month in the Top 10 (though that’d be rather nice too!)
Look at what I did to the sand at Saltburn on Sunday…
I thought it rather inspired marketing….and it was clearly visible for all on the pier to see! Saltburn Pier has been awarded the Best Pier in Britain for 2009 (Pier of the Year sounds better…). As most of you know, Secrets, my 10th novel (out on 30th April) is set in this wonderful, quirky Victorian seaside town.
Here I am, chasing Felix and Georgia off my handy work!
We were up in the North East because I was invited to give a talk in Whitby. It was excellent and I am so grateful to the staff of the Library (especially Allison) and all the lovely people (hullo Sharon Stone!) who came from far and wide to listen to me blether.
I also took videos at the Transporter Bridge, as well as at Saltburn, to provide you with my own tours of the settings of Secrets. I did the same for the settings of Pillow Talk (Stokesley and Great Ayton) and when I’m feeling particularly brave and technical, I’ll do my best to upload them for you!
I have to beaver away this week on a short story for Radio 4’s “Love in the Afternoon” which will be broadcast in June. I HATE writing short stories - it’ll take me longer to write than it takes me to write a couple of chapters. I think it was Browning or Byron or Someone Else Worthy Beginning With B who said “it would have been shorter had I had more time”. Give me 140,000 words over 2,000 words any day. How on earth can I fit a beginning, a middle and an end into THAT? Grrrrr.
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