'Warm and fun and sweet' Marian Keyes, author of Grown Ups'Hilarious, insightful and so uplifting' Beth O'Leary, author of The Road Trip'Such a warm, funny and relatable book' Jendella Benson, author of Hope and Glory-------------------------Yinka wants to find love. Her mum wants to find it for her.She also has too many aunties who frequently pray for her delivery from singledom, a preference for chicken and chips over traditional Nigerian food, and a bum she's sure is far too small as a result. Oh, and the fact that she's a thirty-one-year-old South-Londoner who doesn't believe in sex before marriage is a bit of an obstacle too...When her cousin gets engaged, Yinka commences 'Operation Find A Date for Rachel's Wedding'. Armed with a totally flawless, incredibly specific plan, will Yinka find herself a huzband?What if the thing she really needs to find is herself?MARIE CLAIRE 'BEST BOOKS OF 2022' AND FEBRUARY PICK FOR MALALA'S LITERATI BOOKCLUB**PRE-ORDER NOW!**-------------------------'Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband? is the spiritual heir to Bridget Jones's Diary, while bringing something entirely fresh and modern to the table' Emily Henry, author of You and Me on Vacation'Hilarious and heartfelt. Yinka is an unforgettable heroine' Sarah Morgan, author of The Christmas Escape'Beautifully observed, warm and deeply human, Yinka is a meditation on family and friendship, on love and self-love' Josie Silver, author of One Day in December'A joyful, pacy romp. Yinka's world is both hilarious and poignant' Irenosen Okojie MBE, author of Butterfly Fish'A warm, witty and joyful novel bursting with charm and unforgettable characters, YINKA is a story about friendship, family, romance, and the most important quest of all--loving and accepting yourself' Lauren Ho, author of Last Tang Standing'A beautiful, big hearted story about friendship, family, and love' Emiko Jean, author of Tokyo Ever After'Glorious debut! Read it over two nights and loved it!' Nikki May, author of Wahala'Lizzie Blackburn writes with a witty tenderness and absorbing fluidity that brings Yinka, the most loveable character you'll meet, to rich life!' Lolá Ákínmádé Åkerström, author of In Every Mirror She's Black'Smart, sophisticated, and fresh this is the 'girl gets herself' type of story I love to read!' Jayne Allen, author of Black Girls Must Be Magic'Funny, charming, warm. A book that will make your heart smile. A cute and charming tale about family, love and the importance of accepting yourself' Milly Johnson, author of My One True North'I giggled out loud so many times my partner asked me to finish the book upstairs (!). A gorgeous, easy read, but with real depth to its punchy chapters. Extraordinary' Lizzy Dent, author of The Summer Job'Funny and unforgettable, with a loveable heroine and a cast of vibrant and entertaining supporting characters, Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband? isn't your average contemporary rom-com and it's all the better for it' Culturefly'A sassy, spirited story' Kirkus Reviews'Incredibly relatable' Marie Claire, Best Books of 2022'A delightful romantic comedy that refuses to play by the genre's rules' PopSugar'Loads of entertainment and a dollop of enlightenment' Publishers Weekly'You'll fall in love with Yinka in this witty and heartwarming romantic comedy' Red'A romcom 'where Cinderella is Black and no-one bats an eyelid' Irish Examiner'One of the talked-about debut novels' The Sunday Times'Lizzie Damilola Blackburn's uplifting debut weaves a hilarious and irresistibly witty narrative about love, family and self-acceptance' Waterstones, Fiction You need to Read in 2022'More than a book about a woman looking for a man. It addresses themes such as female friendships, black beauty standards and religion. This is not a romance novel, unless the journey to self-love qualifies.' Daily Mail
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Greatest Of All Time. An acronym from the sporting commentators' book of superlatives, and transferable to all. Everyone can be GOAT at what they do and who they are. An alternative and related meaning for GOAT, as referenced by positive thinking writer Douglas Miller, is Goals, Objectives, Aims, Targets. In his excellent book about positive thinking, Miller uses the metaphor of 'herding' your GOAT's to explain the importance of organising personal activities so that they are focused on clear meaningful outputs, and in this respect there is a certain resonance between both GOAT acronym interpretations: decide what you want to be great at and then organise your plans accordingly.
Intellectual Property. A common term meaning copyrighted or trademarked or otherwise protected work, owned by the originator unless sold or transferred. Most international law recognises the originator's rights in any type of original work or idea - in whatever media. If you doodle on a napkin or take a photo or write a poem this is all automatically your intellectual property. If you write a book or a play or a training programme or you design a better mousetrap, this would all automatically be your intellectual property (unless of course it replicates intellectual property already belonging to someone else). IP is a widely used abbreviation referring to any work of original creation. It's a complex area however. Many employers quite reasonably insist that any IP developed by their employees relating to their paid employment automatically belongs to the employer (since the employer has paid for it). Some employers seek to extend this to employees' ideas and creations that are not related to the work, which is less reasonable. For more detail relating to IP issues attached to important or potentially significant personal or organisational liabilities, licensing, etc., it's best to seek qualified advice.
Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic, Time-bound. If you're setting a standard, or an objective for yourself, or agreeing an objective with another person, the task or standard must meet these criteria to be effective. The same applies to communications which urge some sort of action or change by the audience/listener/reader. See for example the SMART planner template, for which more detailed explanation exists on the delegation page. Other interpretations of the SMART acronym exist, for example Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound. The version which includes 'agreed' is arguably more powerful because this represents the emotional contract with whomever is expected to meet the objective or standard. The SMARTER version below is more powerful and relevant for the moden world because it includes the essential philosophical aspect. Avoid interpretations that include both Achievable and Realistic because the words effectly mean the same so is a waste of a word. (See the Smartie Hunt team building game and MMM acronym.) See the different SMART and SMARTER posters on the posters page. Other words are used for depending on the situation, listed in the SMARTER entry. The SMART acronym/model is often very effective in conjunction with the AIDA communications model.
The difference between publicity, advertising, marketing, sales, and promotionPublicity (or public relations) is getting media to review your product (in our case, probably a book) or to do stories about you or your product without paying them to do so. It's making yourself discoverable. You may have to pay a publicist to help interest NPR or the New York Times in interviewing you, but you don't pay the media for doing the interview. You send a free book to a reviewer, but you don't pay them to write the review. That's why you hear the term "free publicity." Publicity includes press releases and websites and might include media and blog tours.
Author book talks (book events, readings)Online and in personShould you have a small showing and few purchases, hide your disappointment and be lively and engaging with the few who do come. Books are expensive, after all, your event has stiff competition from other forms of entertainment, and readers can experience author book talks online. Engage with the people who do come, as you never know who they are and who they may influence, or how their response to you and your book will have ripple effects. Don't look only for talks in bookstores--look for opportunities to speak to small and large groups of any kind, including book groups, and ask if you can bring your book and sell copies (not all groups allow that). Some readers are bored by author readings, so if you do one, keep it short--and learn to read in a compelling manner! Combine a brief reading with a story or two from your life or from your experience with the novel,or with the subject, and above all, try to engage with the audience. The Q&A period is sometimes the most interesting part, as you're talking about what they want you to talk about.
Book Marketing and Promotion In an excellent piece in the Summer 2014 issue of the Authors Guild Bulletin, "The Power Is Shifting to the Authors," novelist CJ Lyons writes about an article in Digital Book World that explains "the difference between marketing and promotion. Marketing is building the readership. It's getting the word out there when no one has heard of you. It's reaching new readers. That is vital, no matter what stage of your career you are in. Promotion is taking something that is already starting to get known and get a buzz, and increasing that, giving that buzz greater impact. But you can't do that without already having the buzz. Unfortunately a lot of publishers just want to do the promotion." (For 90% of authors and of the books they release every year, "they're not doing anything except throwing them in a catalog.") 2ff7e9595c