For the publishing industry, digital piracy is the elephant in the room.  We all want to believe that the shiny, digital future won’t be marred by rampant online piracy.  But, says Redhammer’s Peter Cox, such optimism is naive.

Over a year ago, Peter appeared on Sky News (see below) to warn about book piracy on websites such as scribd.com.   “What’s changed in the past year”, says Peter, is that Scribd now has the effrontery to charge for illegal downloads!”.  You can watch Peter steal a book here - we hope the industry is paying attention.

Picture by Drewhound

MUSE, the new quarterly literary e-zine from the pioneering Litopia Writers’ Colony, is available now.

With big-name contributions from the likes of Lee Child, Bernard Cornwell, RJ Ellory, international YA success MG Harris and Charlaine Harris, the first issue makes gripping reading.  Written and produced by members of Litopia, Muse contains author interviews, articles, reviews and short fiction – not to mention a writers’ agony column with the irate (and somewhat batty) Granny Bates, an anonymous Stig-like publishing guru.

MUSE, the new literary e-zine from Litopia Writers Colony

Litopia founder, London-based literary agent Peter Cox, said: ‘We’ve always been a pioneering community, from being one of the earliest online writing forums through to the development of our podcasts and our use of social media to engage new members and listeners.

‘The birth of Muse is another groundbreaking move. The publishing climate is undergoing a radical transformation, particularly the relentless rise of online media set against the decline in printed media, and Muse positions Litopia at the forefront of this changing climate.

Rising Stars

‘Muse encompasses everything that Litopia is about,’ Cox said.  ‘One of the most pleasing aspects about the way the community has developed over the years is the collegiate atmosphere that prevails, and this is something that is at the very heart of Muse. I took a back seat when the idea was first being discussed and left it to the editorial team to get the magazine off the ground. They’ve done a fantastic job, both in terms of the content and the design of Muse – it looks absolutely first-class.  I believe this is where many of the ‘nets rising literary stars will first make their debut.’

Team Effort

Most of the Muse team have never met each other, working instead in Litopia’s forums.   Holding the editor’s reins for the first issue of Muse is John Quirk, a former journalist now working in PR and advertising.

He said: ‘It’s been a fascinating project to be involved with, particularly as the editorial team has been on board from the very start and we’ve all watched Muse grow from an initial throwaway comment within the Litopia forums. The finished product has been a real team effort and I’d like to thank everyone within Litopia who has contributed in any small way.

‘We were also very lucky in that one of the editorial team, Jamie Mollart, is an associate director at Leicester-based PR, marketing and design company Rock Kitchen Harris, which kindly offered to look after the design. I was knocked out when I first saw Muse in all its glory. The designer, Matt Laws, has pitched it spot on.’

John explained:  ‘Each issue of Muse will have a theme running throughout, chosen by the editorial team, and a section focusing on a particular genre, chosen by the editor, with the plan being that each member of the editorial team takes a turn in the editor’s hot seat. The theme for issue one is, naturally, “beginnings”, with the genre focus on crime.’

Coming Next

The online build-up to the launch of Muse is being coordinated by Jamie.

‘The beauty of an e-zine is that its potential readership is unlimited,’ said Jamie. ‘It hasn’t cost us a penny to put together, other than the time of those involved, and there is no print run or physical distribution to worry about.

‘We will put Muse in the RSS feed for the Litopia podcasts, which have in excess of 20,000 listeners a week, and everyone who is subscribed will automatically receive it. Muse will also be promoted via our Twitter profile – @litopia – which has more than 8,000 followers, in addition to being available as a download from Litopia itself. All this, of course, ensures we are hitting our target audience – and all of it at no cost.

‘The same principle applies to promoting Muse – via Twitter, Facebook, and a host of blogs, with our members, and those who contributed to the first issue, all posting a teaser PDF to whet people’s appetites. As word-of-mouth spreads, the potential readership can only increase.’

Issue two of Muse is scheduled for distribution towards the end of August. Litopia members who would like details of how to get involved can email muse [AT] litopia.eu or keep an eye out for announcements within the Colony.

Malcolm Edwards, Deputy CEO and Publisher of Orion Publishing Group and Jon Wood, Deputy Publisher OPG, have bought Michelle Paver’s ghost story DARK MATTER from Peter Cox of Redhammer.  Orion has secured World Rights and will publish in hardback this year.

Set in 1937, DARK MATTER is a terrifying ghost story set on the Norwegian Arctic island of Spitsbergen now known as Svalbard.  A group of idealistic young Englishmen set off with high hopes of scientific discovery – only to discover how long the arctic night is when something is out there in the snow.

Michelle Paver explained her fascination with the Arctic:

“I’ve always loved ghost stories and for the past decade, I’ve have had DARK MATTER at the back of my mind.  The title came first, and soon afterwards, I realised that the story must take place in the Arctic: the land of extremes that has haunted me for years.   DARK MATTER is my attempt to capture the beauty and menace of the Arctic – in a ghost story that will scare the hell out of you.”

Jon Wood said:

“If you’ve ever woken up in the dark and blindly searched for the light switch – convinced that there is something in the room with you – then you will know exactly how this novel makes you feel. When you add in an intensely powerful personal story and the wonderful atmosphere of the arctic, you have something pretty special.”

Malcolm Edwards, Deputy CEO and Publisher of Orion said:

“Quite simply, DARK MATTER is the best book I’ve read in the last year.  It wouldn’t put me down.”

Michelle Paver is one of the top bestselling authors in the UK.   As well as being published as an adult author, her highly-acclaimed children’s series THE CHRONICLES OF ANCIENT DARKNESS has sold two million copies since publication with rights sold in 33 territories.

For further details use the contact form here.

David Yelland’s heartfelt and heart-warming “The Truth About Leo” has been published to a torrent of media coverage.  The book tells the story of ten-year-old protagonist Leo, who lives every day desperately trying to hide the fact that his father is an alcoholic.  With five pages of coverage in The Mail On Sunday, including a page one cover story, “The Truth About Leo” is on target to become the year’s most talked-about book for children.

“Writing this book is the most important thing I have ever done”, says David.  “I was compelled to write it although at times it was an intensely painful experience. Though this book is a fiction and I am not the father in it, he is the man I nearly was. Like him, I fell victim to alcohol. There came a time when it controlled me and nearly killed me.

Some years ago I realised that I would die if I did not stop drinking entirely, and I saw that I needed help. Fortunately, I found that help and I chose to recover. Too many choose the other route. Too many children are left either in chaotic homes or without parents. I have not drunk alcohol since 2005, and have no intention of ever doing so again. I’m lucky, I have a happy and wonderful life but I have it only because I stopped in time.

This is a book about truth. Alcoholism is too often swept under the carpet. I hope my novel will encourage adults and children to talk about the issue, but I also want this book to show children what recovery is so they may seek it if they ever need to.”

More about David Yelland here.

Playtone’s Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman are producing the film of Nicholas Booth’s book “ZigZag”, the definitive story of Eddie Chapman: Britain’s greatest, and most unlikely, WWII double agent.
A pre-war safebreaker, Eddie was on the run from British justice when he was captured in Jersey and trained by the Germans as an agent: he became the only German spy to be parachuted into Britain – twice.  But Eddie was working for the British all along with the codename ZigZag.

Booth’s book reveals:

*  How Eddie became the only British national – and indeed the only Jew – ever to be awarded an Iron Cross

*  How he fooled the Germans into believing that he had sabotaged the De Havilland aircraft factory.

*  How the British secret service used him to rob the Polish Embassy after the war and wanted him to spy in the Soviet Union.

‘Fiction has not, and probably never will, produce an espionage story to rival in fascination and improbability the true story of an English crook, Edward Arnold Chapman, whom only war could invest with any virtue.’ – Eddie’s MI5 file

Author of the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series, Michelle Paver flies to New York for a guest appearance on The Today Show’s Al Roker’s Book Club. A worldwide success, Chronicles of Ancient Darkness has sold more than three million copies in over thirty languages. Michelle will be talking about her research trips, and showing her collection of stone-age artifacts.

Redhammer and Scholastic Children’s Books are delighted to announce a new, exciting acquisition for Scholastic’s fiction list: THE JOSHUA FILES by MG HARRIS.

Fighting off competition from four other publishers, Scholastic have secured a series deal with world rights for a major six figure sum.  Elaine McQuade, from Scholastic says, “Maria Harris writes so well. She has created a spooky action adventure with an incredibly clever but accessible plot where ancient Mayan myths meet the X-Files – it gripped us from beginning to end and we know that it will do the same for young readers.”

“THE JOSHUA FILES is the biggest children’s deal for a first-time writer this year,” says Redhammer’s Peter Cox. “Josh is such a universally accessible kid – he’s smarter than Alex Rider, but much more vulnerable and human. It was wonderful for Maria, a first-time author, to have so much interest from publishers.”

The New York Times has reviewed book three in Michelle Paver’s Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series, Soul Eater. “The books are page turners”, declares the Times, “and Soul Eater is perhaps the most thrilling… Paced like summer blockbusters, the novels open with a bang and pick up speed from there… Readers will find that Torak and his companions could go a long way toward filling that Potter-size hole in their lives.”

The New York Times is echoed across the Atlantic by The Times (London) which also carries a major feature on Soul Eater and also suggests that Torak, the protagonist of the series, is a worthy successor to the Harry Potter mantle.

Read the full New York Times review here.

The New York Times interviews Michelle here.

Orion Books and Redhammer announce the launch of Michelle Paver’s WOLF BROTHER podcast. Narrated by Sir Ian McKellen, the podcasts will be released over 13 weeks via Guardian Unlimited and iTunes. The Guardian will drive traffic to the podcast from its website via banners and printed advertising, and audiobook retailer Audible is offering a bundle offer on the series downloads for the duration. Each podcast is topped and tailed with a message promoting the official series website www.torak.info, managed by Redhammer.

“We are lucky to have such an amazing product with which to entice new readers to the series at this stage in its life and see the podcast as the perfect way to do so,” said Orion’s senior marketing manager Claire Brett. “The 13 week lifecycle of the podcast will take us up to publication of the next book the series, creating the perfect platform for the launch.”

In one of the largest book-to-film deals in Hollywood recently, that film rights to Michelle Paver’s best-selling CHRONICLES OF ANCIENT DARKNESS series of books have been sold to renowned film director and producer Ridley Scott and Fox Studios.

Set in 4000 B.C. in a world of dark enchantment, menace and superstition, the stories revolve around 12-year old Torak and his wolf companion as they battle great evil to save their world. WOLF BROTHER, the first book in the series to be published, sold over 100,000 copies in hardback in the UK within weeks of its launch. Foreign rights have been sold to more than 40 territories.

World rights to publish the series were originally acquired by Orion Children’s Books, in a hotly contested auction that became the largest children’s book deal of the year.

The project will be produced by Ridley Scott from Scott Free with Vice President
Erin Upson. Scott Free is the production company of Ridley Scott and Tony Scott.

Ridley Scott comments: “Wolf Brother is an enchanting book. Michelle has created
a world that we have not seen before in any previous film. We are thrilled to
be working with Michelle on this project.”

Ridley Scott adds his voice to a growing number of A-list celebrities who have
been spellbound by WOLF BROTHER’s magic. Sir Ian McKellen, known to millions
as Gandalf in “Lord of the Rings”, recently recorded the WOLF BROTHER audio
book and said: “Like other great children’s books which also entrance adults,
Wolf Brother conjures up an utterly believable, yet original world where the
story grips you to the very last page.”