Ex-Blue Peter presenter seeks funding for a book about the programme

by Tom Cole

Former Blue Peter presenter Mark Curry is seeking funding from the public to complete work on a book about the long-running children’s TV programme.

Trust Me I’m a Blue Peter Presenter is a project Curry has been working on for some time, in which he aims to tell the definitive story of the show and the people who made it over the last 53 years.

As well as exposing the realities of working on the programme, Curry aims to clear up various Blue Peter controversies in the book, such as whether or not ex-presenter Michael Sundin was sacked from the show for being homosexual.

He has already lined up interviews with alumni including Peter Purves, Sarah Greene, Janet Ellis, Peter Duncan, Yvette Fielding, Anthea Turner, John Leslie, Diane Louise Jordan, Liz Barker, Stuart Miles, Tina Heath, Tim Vincent and Lesley Judd, and hopes to persuade others to talk about their work on the show once the project gets under way.

However, owing to the fact that many former Blue Peter stars live in far-flung places, Curry needs donations from fans to cover travel expenses so that he can conduct interviews and carry out research for the book.

Anyone who contributes money via publisher Unbound’s website will have their name printed in every edition of the book, with further benefits available for particularly generous contributors.

Click here to read the rest of the article…

This week, we are running a competition for you to win a signed, illustrated copy of Alexander McCall Smith’s Precious & the Monkeys, the charming story of how Precious Ramotswe (later of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency) solved her very first case while still a schoolgirl.

To enter, all you have to do is pledge for the 26 Treasures book on the Unbound site (the book is a collection of poetry by various writers, including Alexander McCall Smith, inspired by items from UK museums). And once you’ve done that, then use the Promoters button on the book’s home page to encourage as many people as you can to pledge using your link. Not only do you earn a £1 credit for every pledge made via your personalised link, the person who gets the highest number of pledges by 5pm on Friday 24th February wins the signed, illustrated novella.

Graham Smith & Chris Sullivan will be signing copies of the book, reminiscing and playing the best early 80s music from 6.30pm on Wednesday 22nd, at The Sun & 13 Cantons, Great Pulteney Street in Soho. Pay bar. Dancing from 9pm. For more info click here.

26 (an association for writers, editors and language consultants) has posted a great interview with one of our founders, John Mitchinson in which he shares advice for aspiring writers keen to get published by Unbound…

John Mitchinson is the co-founder of Unbound, a revolutionary crowdfunding publishing concept. He is also the co-author of QI books and director of research for QI. As 26 Treasures builds support on the Unbound website, John tells Elen Lewis why we all need to make sure the 26 Treasures book sees the light of day.

What makes 26 Treasures an ideal project for Unbound?
It’s exactly the kind of book that might get overlooked in today’s rather confused publishing environment. Yet it comes with wonderful writers attached – some well known; many not – and four museums supporting it. It offers us the chance to collaborate with readers to producing a memorable, beautiful object – an artefact in its own right – made from words and images. That kind of idea – one which stimulates excitement and offers the chance for readers to create something new and different seems to be the ones that work best for Unbound.

What advice would you offer aspiring writers keen to be considered by Unbound?
Be bold in your ideas and don’t become preoccupied with which niche you fit into. There’s far too much second-guessing in publishing already. Send us your ideas as a pitch, in your own words explaining why you want to write it, with an excerpt of 1,000 words or so. If we like what we read, we’re pretty sure other people will too.

Click here to read the rest of the interview…

We’re publishing a book by 26, called 26 Treasures - it’s an illustrated anthology in which 26 writers (from established authors like Alexander McCall Smith and Gillian Clarke to up and coming talents like Lucy Caldwell) respond to 26 treasures in 4 museums, using only 62 words.

Click here to find out more about the 26 Treasures book, and how you can support it in return for things like a creative writing workshop with the authors, a museum tour with one of the authors to see the featured treasures and plenty more.

Anonymous asked: HI I think that this is a great idea to help authors who often get overlooked but have great books or ideas! i am an author who has been trying to break into the market for a few years now with nothing but refusal letters! I was woundering whether you are also considering children's books?

Yes, we are considering books from all genres so please feel free to send a pitch for your children’s book to authors@unbound.co.uk.

The pitch must be in the form of the pitches for books that we have on our site:

- a max. 400 word pitch (summary) of what your book is all about.

- a short excerpt  of no more than 1000 words.

- an author biography.

Looking forward to hearing from you!