The Hobcast Book Show

What do readers want? That's the question we ask ourselves every day at Hobeck Books. The truth is, that changes all the time, but there's no doubt that if a writer can connect emotionally with a reader, you're going to find plenty of readers. Our guest this week, Caron McKinlay published her first novel The Storytellers this week, and already the feedback has been overwhelming, with many readers saying they've been moved to tears by her tale of three women recalling their lives and debating if any of them have experienced real love. Caron draws heavily from her own experiences and those of her family and friends. It's a powerful book, and a great interview. Also this week, Rebecca reveals her shock at her alma mater, The University of Wolverhampton cutting Fine Art from their prospectus, and Adrian discusses the latest data showing E-book sales have dropped dramatically in the past year in the UK. And as promised, you can book tickets to meet Hobeck author Malcolm Hollingdrake at an event in Wigan on June 11th 2022 - tickets available from https://www.theoldcourts.com/shows/crime-at-the-old-courts-meet-the-authors/          

Who doesn't enjoy a good festival? The UK crime season is in full swing, and we took The Hobcast Bookshow to Bristol this week for Crimefest '22 - back for the first time in three years following the pandemic. In this special edition of the podcast, we bring you some of the highlights of the event, including an in depth interview with one of the UK's most successful crime writers, Ann Cleeves, best known for her Shetland series that has been adapted for TV as Vera starring Brenda Blethyn. We also bring you a little taste of our conversation with Andrew Child, who has famously stepped in to fill his brother Lee's boots to continue writing the incredibly successful Jack Reacher series of thrillers. We'll bring that full interview at a later date. And we also had the chance to gather together around a third of our own Hobeck Books author roster at Crimefest, which again proved why it's one of the best crime writing festivals anywhere in the world.

Some members of the indie publishing community might treat it as a dirty word, but "selling" is all part of the job. Nicola Cook, writing fiction as Isabella Wiles, is one of the most sought after motivational speakers in the UK on the subject of selling and developing great sales teams. She's also the author of two worldwide non-fiction bestsellers, so she felt her next challenge was writing fiction. Following a trip to London Book Fair in 2019 where she met some of the leading lights in the UK indie fiction community, she decided to pursue that dream, and has released a trilogy of modern women's fiction novels, The Three Great Loves of Victoria Turnbull series. As Nicola tells us, the key to success in business is holding your nerve long enough to reap the rewards. Also this week we hear from Lin Le Versha as she releases her second Hobeck novel Blood Lines, and Adrian and Rebecca look ahead to their trip to Crime Fest in Bristol next week.  

The 2022 UK literary festival season is upon us, and The Hobcast Book Show will be bringing you highlights from all the key crime focused events like Harrogate, Crime Fest and Bloody Scotland. But this week we hit the road to take the stage with actor and Hobeck author Robert Daws at the inaugural Royal Tunbridge Wells Literary Festival in Kent. This week we bring you the Q + A with Bob, chaired by Adrian. Also this week, we digest the impact of Amazon's first quarterly loss since 2015 and ask, is the party over for the world's biggest online retailer?

Is there anything more mysterious in publishing than the world of the literary agent? There can't be many aspiring authors who haven't asked themselves - 'how do I get an agent?' There are copious 'how to' guides out there offering advice on how to secure representation, but how relevant is that advice? Euan Thorneycroft is a senior agent with A M Heath, a London-based agency established for more than 100 years. In this revealing and fascinating interview, Euan tells The Hobcast Book Show how he began in the business, how it's changed over the years, and how he deals with the never-ending tide of submissions he and his colleagues receive every week. He also explains the do's and don'ts of submitting your manuscript, and what he's looking for in a potential client and project. Also this week, Adrian and Rebecca celebrate two Hobeck authors being long-listed for this year's CWA Daggers - congratulations to Mark Wightman and Antony Dunford.

There's a healthy debate within publishing about the impact of blog tours. They're designed of course to support book releases and raise awareness of the authors. But just how effective are they? Our guest this week on The Hobcast Book Show is Zoe-Lee O'Farrell who is both a book blogger and a blog tour organiser. What does she see as their key value? We also discuss her first novel Ouija and her work with fellow indie press, Spellbound Books. Also this week, Adrian and Rebecca reflect on a post London Book Fair bout of COVID, and discuss the impact a bad agent has had on one of the UK's leading promoters of new writing, Jericho Writers.  

We made it! It's been an epic few days at the London Book Fair at Olympia, and in our concluding special Hobcast Book Show we speak to two of the key figures in the growth of indie publishing, Mark Dawson and Mark Stay. Mark Dawson is the multi-million selling author of three series including the John Milton series, but he's also the creator of the Self Publishing Formula courses which have helped thousands of writers fulfill their dream of becoming full-time authors.  Mark Stay has also been highly influential in this area through his podcast The Bestseller Experiment which has now run to over 400 shows.  Adrian and Rebecca also speak to two further members of the Independent Publishers Guild: Jon Barton from Vertebrate Publishing and Alison Jones from Practical Inspiration Publishing.

Never underestimate how huge the London Book Fair is. Hundreds of exhibitors, acres of show space and thousands of delegates - it can feel bewildering! In the second of our special shows from the London Book Fair 2022, we're joined by our very own Robert Daws. We also speak to a range of people and ask them what LBF means to them.

The Hobcast Book Show is at the London Book Fair! In this first in a series of special podcasts, we speak to one of the most successful indie crime authors in the UK today, Barry Hutchison, who under the pen name J D Kirk has built a huge following for his DCI Jack Logan series. Originally a traditionally published author, Barry was quick to recognise the potential of the Amazon KDP platform and decided to become an independently published author of crime novels - a genre he'd never even read before he created Jack Logan! In this fascinating interview, Barry reveals the challenges he's overcome to become one of the UK's most successful crime writers.

The relationship between music and literature is long established. For Dorset based author Guy Gardner, his love of one inspires the other. A gifted jazz musician, Guy published his first novel, The Mirror Game earlier this year. It's a historical thriller set in the 1920s. So how much work does it take to recreate such a complex decade accurately? Also this week, Adrian and Rebecca discuss their plans for this week's London Book Fair where they'll be recording a series of special shows from Olympia.