Beachy Books – Children's Picture Books

I was apprehensive before our second Waterstone’s  book signing in Hastings on 31st July for Jack and Boo’s Bucket of Treasures. This was due to our first signing in the Isle of Wight being a bit quiet because of torrential rain. This time we had a full day slot booked from 11am till 5pm, and despite the weather initially bringing rain (a bad omen I had thought), it turned out to be a great day. Again, we were welcomed by very friendly staff who set us up on a table in the children’s area, provided comfy soft seating, free balloons and, importantly, quick access to a Costa coffee upstairs!

Apart from a lull at lunchtime I spent most of the day chatting to families and children who came in, after an initial nervous few minutes of reticence to approach browsers and tell them about our picture book. I found that families would overhear me talking to others about the book, and then come over to take a look. There was a good mix of Hastings/Bexhill locals and holidaymakers who all responded well to the book, some recognising where the photos had been taken.

The attraction of our free colouring sheets, word searches and balloons soon pulled in the kids, with parents enjoying a brief respite from childcare. I had one very friendly and chatty little girl who sat and coloured in our Jack and Boo sheets for an hour, which really helped attract other inquisitive children to sit next to her and join in the fun. Of course this gave me a good excuse to make my sales pitch to their parents.

I really had some great chats with people and received some very complimentary remarks on the book. In the end I didn’t get around to doing any book readings (or taking photos in the heat of battle) as I was chatting so much. In any case, it didn’t matter as out of the 20 books ordered by Waterstone’s for the signing, I shifted 15 signed copies!

We are truly grateful to Waterstone’s for giving us the slot, and importantly the parents who parted with their hard earned cash to buy a book or two on the day. We appreciate it and hope you’ll tell your friends about it, and want to buy future Jack and Boo sequels.

Looking forward to the next one.

We have our second book signing at Hastings Waterstone’s on 31st May 2010 between 11 and 5pm. We are brining along some beachy-theamed activities, such as colouring, make-your-own jack and boo picture, word searches, etc. If you want to get a personalised copy of our children’s picture book or meet us then come along.

It’s also the start of Old Town Carnival Week in Hastings with the grand opening on Winkle Island, a Tug-o-war and a free beach concert!

So come along for all this fun in Hastings plus please try and pop into Waterstone’s and get a book to keep the children entertained on your visit to Hastings. There are some wonderful beaches in East Sussex, and many of the images from the book were taken on Bexhill beach, which is just up the road and also worth a visit. Especially the De La Warr Pavilion.

Just for fun we put together this video of our new picture book Jack and Boo’s Bucket of Treasures. Deliberately lo-fi it has been a labour of love and immense fun to make on a few hot evenings.

My son, the real “Jack” offered his services for the voice-over and did a fantastic job and if you watch to the end we’ve included some hilarious out-takes were he just couldn’t stop laughing during recording. Happy viewing!

We made it into the Isle of Wight County Press today so a big thank you for including us. Waterstones, Newport, Isle of Wight, still have signed copies of our book available to buy.

We had our first book signing at Waterstones Newport, Isle of Wight today. It also coincided with very heavy rain. Not a good combination. We thought it might drive people into the shop. It did, but unfortunately not many children with families. Anyway, when we arrived the amazingly friendly staff welcomed us and made us tea! We arranged our table and soon after the photographer from the Isle of Wight County Press arrived to take some snaps. Our children loved that bit.

We settled down to wait for the crowds to arrive. Of course, they didn’t. To say it was quiet was an understatement. A few children turned up and were happy to do some colouring, but when their parents found them, only one bothered to pick up the book and when I invited children to come over they just looked at me with worried faces and ran off to find their parents – “Mummy a scary man just asked me to do some colouring!” :-).

I think people who passed didn’t connect us sitting/standing at the signing table with the books arranged in front of us. It was only after talking to several people did they realise we were the authors and it had a local connection. Even then they didn’t buy. Due to the layout of the shop, there wasn’t room for us in the children’s section, so we found ourselves between Gardening Picks and Current Affairs, which meant any families and children on their way to the children’s section didn’t see us. Also several customers used the free chairs around the table to sit on and read other Waterstone’s books. One woman even leaned on an open copy of our picture book with her wet arms! I eventually pulled the book away and wanted to tell her that if Waterstones has to return the book it’s us that has to pay for it!

Up sides to the day were when staff asked me to sign all the stock. I felt suddenly like a “real” author and put an individual message in each book, and on request dedicated a book to a Waterstone’s member of staff. It was also a big ego trip to see the black “Signed by the Author” sticker going onto every copy.

So what did we learn? Selling books is a hard business. There’s millions of other books in competition. Books are not a “must have” buy for most people. We’re not likely to make our first million vey soon ;-)

We’d like to say a massive thank you to Paul and all the staff at Waterstones, Newport IOW, for their hospitality, support and opportunity to promote our children’s picture book – Jack and Boo’s Bucket of Treasures! You are brilliant! And thanks also for giving us a prime spot in the window. We hope to sell all copies very soon. Role on our next signing in Hastings in July!

Beachy Books are celebrating the publication of their first children’s picture book, Jack and Boo’s Bucket of Treasures, at a book signing at Waterstones in Newport on Saturday 29^th May between 11am and 1pm. There will be also be beach-themed activities and book readings to keep the children entertained at the start of half-term. All Welcome!

Jack and Boo’s Bucket of Treasures, the first in a series, follows the adventures of two children on the beach collecting found treasures washed ashore by the sea. The book also includes a beach spotter guide and family ideas to entertain children on visits to the beach.

Happy reading and beach treasure hunting this summer!

On Saturday I almost fainted when I walked past our local Waterstones and spotted our beachy treasure, Jack and Boo’s Bucket of Treasures in the window display along with with a card about us and details of our book signing this coming Saturday. Rah! We are very thankful to Paul at Waterstones Newport, IOW for giving us this book signing slot and such a prominent window position.

And if you don’t believe us…

Just to prove our book is in a real Waterstones!

Close-up

Due to a big order of 60 books today Amazon.co.uk seems to have randomly discounted Jack and Boo’s Bucket of Treasures to £6.09, saving you a whopping £1.90 off the RRP!

Stateside, Amazon.com is currently selling the book at a 15% discount for $10.71!

We don’t understand how amazon works out the discounts but we love them for it!

Thanks and happy reading.