To celebrate publication of Days Like These, I’ll be reading some poems* in a live virtual event with @bookshop_org_uk – in support of UK independent bookshops – this evening at 7pm UK time.
More info on tickets and books can be found here:
https://bit.ly/brian_bilston_event
*approx. 21
Given that my new book ‘Days Like These: An Alternative Guide to the Year in 366 Poems’ published the other week, I suppose I should bang on about it a bit.
It contains a poem for every day of the year, each one inspired by an event associated with that day – from the invention of television to World Bee Day; from Ada Lovelace Day to the founding of the NHS; from the death of Agatha Christie to the beheading of Charles I.
Subjects I’ve written about along the way include: quarks, morse code, Wittgenstein, Blue Peter, bananas, beards, unicorns, Barbie, the unification of Italy, the Rubik’s Cube, water, Scrabble, Waiting for Godot, the moon, Jane Austen, Esperanto, beer, Matt Hancock, Lego, kindness, octopuses, escalators, Countdown, Elvis, and the very angry caterpillar.
It’s available in all the usual places from which you might buy books (commonly known as ‘bookshops’).
All proceeds raised by the book will go towards paying my energy bills for the next couple of weeks.
I’m delighted to tell you that my new book ‘Days Like These: An Alternative Guide to the Year in 366 Poems’ is now available to pre-order from your local, friendly bookshop.
It’s publishing in October, just before tea time.
It contains a poem for every day of the year, each one inspired by an event associated with that day – from the invention of television to World Bee Day; from Ada Lovelace Day to the founding of the NHS; from the death of Agatha Christie to the beheading of Charles I.
It’s taken me a few years to compile this. There are quite a lot of days in the year, I have discovered – typically at least 365 – which means a lot of poems.
Subjects I’ve written about along the way include: quarks, morse code, Wittgenstein, Blue Peter, bananas, unicorns, Barbie, the unification of Italy, the Rubik’s Cube, water, Scrabble, Waiting for Godot, the moon, Jane Austen, Esperanto, beer, Matt Hancock, Lego, kindness, Countdown, and Elvis.
All pre-orders are very gratefully received, not least because they can help both the publisher and the booksellers understand the demand for a new book and plan accordingly.
Thanks for your support!
I’m delighted to receive some advance paperback copies of my book ‘Alexa, what is there to know about love?’. It publishes on 3rd Feb and is available to pre-order.
I’ve taken a photo of it next to a plant because that’s what book bloggers sometimes do if a cup of cappuccino is unavailable.
It’s available through all the bookshops, particularly the independent ones. The book may or may not be appropriate for Valentine’s Day or be put to a variety of other sundry uses.
I’ve also attached a few poems from it, what always used to refer to as ‘bonus promotional content’.
If you’re an ebook sort of a person, you might like to know that Kindle version of my novel ‘Diary of a Somebody’ is available at the bargain basement price of 99p at the moment.
And if you’re more of a papery sort of a person – I know I am – paperback (and hardback) copies are also available, of course, through all the independent bookshops, as well as Waterstones, Blackwell’s and the like.
And should you need any more persuasion, this is from the Daily Mail’s review of the book:
“I mostly found this man irritating. I also preferred the prose to the poems even though I know some are bad on purpose.”
Oh, and it got shortlisted for the Costa First Novel award.
Here’s the ebook link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Diary-Somebody-Brian-Bilston-ebook/dp/B07LCR1YW1/ref=nodl_
A new online bookshop has launched today, in support of the UK’s independent bookshops. Do bear it mind when Christmas shopping.
I’ve created a page on the site, featuring my own titles plus a list of ten novels which make me laugh, and some of the favourite books Ive come across since following the excellent books podcast, Backlisted.
https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/brianbilston
Some news. I’m delighted to have a new poetry collection publishing next year with Picador Books: ‘Alexa, what is there to know about love?’
It’s coming in January to coincide with the seventh wave of the virus, and can be preordered now.
You can find out more at the link below:
My bank manager has told me that I need to promote my book some more now that I’ve given up my proper job – or I’ll soon find myself on the breadline.
So, here’s a photo of it. It can be found in shops, some of which are mentioned in the link below:
Click here to find some of the places where you can buy my book
It publishes in paperback in the US tomorrow.
Thanks very much,
Brian
*End of shameless promotional message*
I’m pleased to say that my poetry collection You Took the Last Bus Home has now published and is available through bookshops and online stores in both print and ebook formats.
If you’re interested in buying a copy, do seek out your local bookshop – or Hive is an excellent online alternative, as it allows independent bookshops to benefit, thus enabling the book industry as a whole to continue to thrive.
It will publish in the US in January.
If you’d like to read more about how I went from posting poems in tweets and blog postings to publishing a book, you can read about it here in a piece I’ve recently written for The Irish Times.
Brian Bilston
Yesterday I was very excited to take delivery of advance copies of my book, You Took the Last Bus Home. It is an objet d’art; a beautiful jacket, colourful endpapers, French flaps. Shame about the words inside but you can’t have everything, I suppose.
It publishes on 6th October and is available for pre-order from all those usual bookshop places.
You can find out more about it here: https://unbound.com/books/brian-bilston
WARNING: may contain poetry.
Brian
Brian Bilston's Poetry Laboetry 