My featured publisher this month is Louise Walters Books. I became a supporter of LWB when I took out an annual subscription last September and this month I was on the receiving end of two lovely books. Louise sends them uniquely packaged, which adds to the experience. Who else receives books wrapped in old copies of the Bookseller?

 

Louise Walters Books

 

 

You might recognize the name Louise Walters as Louise is also the author of Mrs Sinclair’s Suitcase (Hodder 2014), A Life Between Us (Louise Walters Books 2017) and The Road to California (Louise Walters Books 2018).

 

 

Louise Walters Books was founded in 2017, the year that Louise turned 50. It was the realisation that time was ticking if she wanted to achieve her dream of publishing books. In her words ‘I remember thinking, I need to do this now, if I’m gonna do it. So I did’.

LWB is very small and proudly independent. Louise looks, quite simply, for well written stories. The quality of the writing is always her first consideration when looking at submissions. Her aim is to publish up to four books a year and she has the ambition to publish more working class writers – her first Chris Walsh, will see his debut novel The Dig Street Festival published in December 2020.

​Louise is a one woman band; essentially doing this job part time, alongside her own writing, and critiquing work. Of course, publishing doesn’t come cheap, there is a long road to getting a book from submission to the bookshelves. A regular income is essential for small start-ups like. Louise needs funds in place for print runs, for paying her freelance team who copy edit, design (interiors and covers) and promote her titles. Postage, also takes up a surprisingly large chunk of her budget! To try and generate income to facilitate this Louise has created a subscription package for LWB supporters.

 

LWB Supporters

 

The cost of a 12 month subscription package is currently £36 (£50 outside the UK) and
will see you receive an early, signed copy of each of the four annual titles (one book per season). Sign up here.

Anyone subscribing now can expect to receive

Roots of Corruption by Laura Laakso (paperback) March 2020 

 

I started my subscription last September and have already received Don’t Think a Single Thought by Diana Cambridge (signed paperback) and The Naseby Horses by Dominic Brownlow (signed hardback). This month I’ve received the limited, signed edition paperback of The Naseby Horses and a signed copy of  Roots of Corruption by Laura Laakso.

 

The Naseby Horses by Dominic Brownlow

Not officially published until 13 June, but limited early signed copies are available now via LWB

Seventeen-year-old Simon’s sister Charlotte is missing. The lonely Fenland village the family recently moved to from London is odd, silent, and mysterious. Simon is epileptic and his seizures are increasing in severity, but when he is told of the local curse of the Naseby Horses, he is convinced it has something to do with Charlotte’s disappearance. Despite resistance from the villagers, the police, and his own family, Simon is determined to uncover the truth, and save his sister.

Under the oppressive Fenland skies and in the heat of a relentless June, Simon’s bond with Charlotte is fierce, all-consuming, and unbreakable; but can he find her? And does she even want to be found?

Drawing on philosophy, science, and the natural world, The Naseby Horses is a moving exploration of the bond between a brother and his sister; of love; and of the meaning of life itself.

 

 

The Roots of Corruption by Laura Laakso

Published on 26th March but early signed copies available now via LWB

On the night of Samhain, the veil between worlds is at its thinnest, and ancient magic runs wild in Old London.

When Lady Bergamon is attacked in her Ivy Street garden, Wishearth turns to Yannia for help. Who could have the power to harm Lady Bergamon in her own domain? While Yannia searches for the answer, nature herself appears to be killing Mages in Old London. Yannia and Karrion join forces with New Scotland Yard to solve the baffling Mage deaths. But wherever they turn, all the clues point back towards Ivy Street.

Yannia’s abilities are put to test as she races to save Lady Bergamon’s life, and prevent further murders. But with the lines between friends and enemies blurring, she must decide who to trust and how much she’s willing to sacrifice for Old London and its inhabitants…

The third in Laura’s Wilde Investigations series

 

Are you tempted?