April 2026 update
The Alternative Book Fair
This month I’ve been thinking about how publishing works, especially small-scale publishing, which includes both small/smaller publishing houses as well as independent authors and hybrid publishing. (Hybrid publishing, for those who aren’t familiar with this term, is when an author works with a publishing house to publish their work, sharing the costs of production and editing/proofreading.) I’ve been thinking about this, in part, because I attended The Alternative Book Fair and Indie Press Fair at Islington Central Library earlier this month, where I had a great time browsing the various small publishers’ stalls and book offerings, as well as chatting with some of the publishers themselves about their presses and how they operate. I also picked up some interesting new titles (pictured at top of post) that I was unlikely to find in a high-street bookshop.
These novels (well, one is a novella) span genres, with the first, Past Participle by Jane Labous, being a suspense story set between Senegal and Dorset, England. It’s published by Afsana Press. The second book, What Willow Says by Lynn Buckle—the novella—won the 2021 Barbellion Prize and is about a deaf child and her relationship with her grandmother. It was published by époque press. The third and final novel, Witch Borne by Rachel Grosvenor, was published by Fly on the Wall Press and is a historical fantasy novel set in the medieval era that was well reviewed by The Historical Novel Society.
It was interesting to learn more about the various small presses that attended, and I look forward to reading all of my new books!
What I’ve Been Working On
This month I copyedited a lovely new Christmas novel that will be coming out later this year (more on that in a future post). For those who don’t work in publishing, it probably seems strange to edit a novel so completely out of season like this. However, the reality of publishing is that books need to be edited and proofread far ahead of their release dates, as there’s so much work that goes into preparing a novel for publication. Besides the various rounds of editing and proofreading (often including developmental/structural editing, followed by line editing, then copyediting, and finally proofreading—for more on this process, see this post I published some years back, which still gives some insight into the process:), a book cover needs to be prepared and finalised, ISBNs need to be acquired, the novel needs to be designed/typeset, and so on, and this is before the marketing even begins! This means that editors are often working on summer novels at Christmastime and Christmas novels in summer (or thereabouts). When I first began doing this, it felt slightly odd to be immersing myself in snowy settings where the characters were sipping hot chocolate and snuggling under blankets while I sat at my garden table on a hot summer day drinking iced tea. But I soon got used to it, and before long, I started to enjoy anticipating the coming seasons (this isn’t to say that I don’t still enjoy reading Christmas novels at Christmastime, though, or summer novels during summertime!).
Recently Published Novels I’ve Worked On
Several novels I proofread have recently been published by Harpeth Road Press. These are: Icing on the Cake by Amanda Uhl, The Bristlecone Writers’ Group by Lisa Williams Kline, and A Life Rewritten by Laura Ashwood. I enjoyed working on all of these stories, though they’re all very different.
Icing on the Cake by Amanda Uhl is a fun and flirty romance, set in a community restaurant. There’s lots to love about the story, and one of my favourite things about the novel is all the wonderful food, especially baked goods, that the characters enjoy (and yes, I ate more cakes and pastries than usual while working on it, because how could I not, given her descriptions? 😊).
A Life Rewritten by Laura Ashwood is a compelling and thoughtful story about a woman finding her strength again after a devastating loss, and how aspects of her new life that she thought would break her, ultimately heal her. The author does a great job of portraying the range of emotions involved in grief and healing. I also appreciated her focus on the transforming power of love and connection.
I thoroughly enjoyed helping Lisa Williams Kline polish up The Bristlecone Writers’ Group before its publication. This is such a brave and intriguing story, filled to the brim with empathy—something the world needs a lot more of right now. It’s also a fun read with an interesting setting and characters—the story takes place in a retirement community, and it’s written from the point of view of several of the different writing group’s members, most of whom are residents of the community. I loved the diversity of voices in this one.
One of my favourite aspects of this press is that many of their stories centre on women finding their strength, and they feature women from all different walks of life. All of their novels feature strong character arcs, great stories, and immersive settings that transport readers (and editors!).
So that’s my news for April. What’s yours? I’d love to hear, so please feel free to send me an email, either via my contact form (which you can find here: link) or via my email address: kendraroseolson@gmail.com.
Until next time,
Kendra
