My Books ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was more than a little surprised to realise I've now self-published twenty-one books. Thirteen are photo-books, four form a children's self-illustrated space-adventure series, one is a stand-alone story for kids and three are adult fiction. Well, I didn't know I had it in me! 

I've loved the creative process that's brought each of these publications to life. I've probably been able to produce each of the photo-books in a matter of months, but the written work has taken years. The promotion of them all is a different matter though. I have spent so much time searching for literary agents and interested photographic parties to take up my work, but all to no avail. It's bloody hard work to get noticed out there. Still, that's not going to stop the fun I'm having while I create them. I have three others in the pipeline!!

Ps: The titles are :-

Photo-Books

Book One. Photography? There's no money in that, son ..

Book Two. Snaps? I'm an artist!

Book Three. So what do you do in the week?

Book Four. My Uncle's got a good camera.

Book Five. Shot anyone famous?

Book Six. Who d'ya think you are, David Bailey ..?

Book Seven. Cheese!

 Portrait Photography

69 Portraits

77 More ..

Joy Division

Bowdon Vale Youth Club (French & English versions)

Travel/Documentary Photography

Continental '82 (A road-trip around America .. by air!)

Riding the Dirty Dog (Across America on a Greyhound Bus .. in a week!)

Children's Space Adventure Series

Swapsies

Meet the Neighbours

Friend to the Stars

Don't go near the Black Hole, Sunshine

Children's Fiction

The Boy who missed Next Year

Adult Fiction

Page 99, by Joe Bancroft

SNAPS

Tofalofalos

 

Click the image to enlarge it, and click here to find out how to part with your hard-earned dosh!

 

Read on ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today is 'Je lis' day in France. (I read!) And it has delighted me to see that my blog is still read a lot (3.7k visitors last week), even though I don't put up as many posts as I used to. But why do I blog? I was asked the question over a lovely dinner this weekend. "Because I like writing," I answered, and I felt for the most part that was true. However, just a few years back, my response would have been 'To promote my work' and I realise now that's still true, too. What Princess Anne has to do with it I have no idea, but I thought I'd show you one of the earliest 'Royal' pictures I ever shot - Autumn, 1978.

Anyway ..  (Here comes the commercial break) .. can I interest you in reading one of my books?

The Boy who missed Next Year

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, my Lord! I woke this morning to the news that someone has actually bought a copy of the first book I wrote. 'The Boy who missed Next Year' is a children's adventure story that I put onto Amazon Kindle about six years ago, and which promptly disappeared down the long and echoing rabbit warren that is self-publishing. To say I'm surprised is an under-statement. (Delighted too, of course!) I'm just going to sit back now and wait for the royalties to pour in. I always knew it was a long slog, this book-writing mullarky ..

(Oh, and to get your own Kindle copy, just paste this bad boy into your browser .. https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=the+boy+who+missed+next+year&i=digital-text&crid=11TDAS8AG8B8R&sprefix=the+boy+who+missed+next+year%2Cdigital-text%2C72&ref=nb_sb_noss)

A smile on my face

 

 

 

 

 

 

I watched the film 'Sideways' again last night. Great film, and fantastic acting .. with a novelist who can't generate any interest in his new book. Man, can I relate to that! My own story 'Page 99, by Joe Bancroft', is currently wallowing at  2,211th in Amazon's Biographical Fiction list (But at least it's in there, right?), and I've run out of ideas as to how to promote it. (Well, apart from writing this, of course!) Still, at least I've had a new review today. A reader described it as "a really imaginative, funny, enjoyable read", and that's truly put a smile on my face ..

Write on ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I told you I could write! (Welcome to Blog #476 in the series 'O'Neill blows his own trumpet'!) I've just come runner-up in a local writing contest. My essay 'You move me' has taken second place in a local magazine's 800-word short-story competition and a judge told me it was "a very close-run thing." Read it here if you really must and, of course, my real writing is still out there for all to enjoy ..

My picture today shows a 'real' writer, Salford's very own John Cooper Clarke, who is signing the copy of his book that I still have. I wonder if anyone will still own one of my books in forty years time ..  

Stop press: I just dug out my copy of this book, and I think the clues are in the title .. John Cooper Clarke Directory 1979. It was forty FOUR years ago!! OMG ..

 

 

Blackmail, kidnap and sponge-cake ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the radio today I heard 'Don't stop the cavalry' by Jona Lewie and I froze. What? Christmas songs already? But we've only just hit November ..

Fear not. If the thought of the approaching Yule has sent you into a present-buying frenzy then I can help. I have the perfect gift for the person who has everything. My second novel, which I launch today and just in time, if you ask me ..

SNAPS is about the members of a Yorkshire camera club, following their lives and photographic projects as well as - as a pal of mine so succinctly put it - their petty rivalries, backbiting and illicit sex! All that and blackmail, kidnap and sponge-cake (as it says on my back cover!) And don't worry if you have no photographic knowledge. You won't need any of that pesky stuff as you follow the fourteen club members on their adventures around South Neldon ..

The book costs a mere tenner and, funnily enough, I highly recommend it! Search on Amazon in your country. 

UK readers can buy a copy here, US readers here, French readers here and Aussie readers here ..

Enjoy!!!!

Working with the stars ..

 

 

 

 

Sorry NASA, you may not have blasted off to The Moon yesterday, but I've already spent the last couple of years working there. Kind of!..

I'm delighted to say I've just finished a series of children's adventure books based on Space travel. I've written and illustrated a set of four books featuring The Moon as one of the main characters, along with the Sun, the Earth and a cast of stars and planets and .. a Black Hole!

The books are aimed at children from the age of eight, and are fun and educational with lots of interesting facts about astronomy. 

(Brief diversion .. if I was ever to believe in omens, a Beatles song has just come on the radio. Which song? Across the universe! You couldn't make it up ..)

Anyway, have a look here for a glimpse of each book, including pricing and details of a free print offer, and you can contact me directly for any of the books.

I'd love it if you gave them a try .. 

 

The word on the street ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I was a kid - seven or eight, probably - I received a postal order for a pound after I'd had a letter published in my weekly 'Speed and Power' comic. I was absolutely thrilled. About as thrilled as I am this morning, having received an e-mail from Amazon with the details of my first ever Royalty payment. Yes, I am earning money from my book, at long last! (I'm not going to tell you how much, but let's just say the yacht's on hold for a wee while yet!) ..

'Page 99, by Joe Bancroft' is what I call my 'factional' story (a mix of fact and fiction) of a young Manchester lad who lands his dream job as a press photographer on a local newspaper. It took me about five years to write, edit and finally self-publish on Amazon but, oh boy, has it been worth it. The reviews and comments I'm receiving are like honey to my heart, and it's fascinating to see how the book hits readers in different ways. There's been lots of 'laughing out loud',  lumps in the throat and sadness at the way Joe Bancroft's life progresses, and one reader even told me it related to her own experiences of dealing with dementia and COPD ..

 I now have five 'five-star' reviews on Amazon's website, and sales from as far afield as the USA, New Zealand and Australia. Requests for signed copies from friends and family are always a delight, too ..

I apologise if I'm 'going on' about the book but, having enjoyed my position as author, I must now take on the role of the Marketing and PR department .. (Sales! Graphs! Units!) .. but, above all, I want to get the book out to as many people as I can - people who'll enjoy a good read, a good laugh, a heart-break or two and a warm look back at life at the end of the 1970s ..

Spread the word .. please!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, my new book ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Writing a book, they say, is the easy part. After that, you've got to market the bugger! So here I am, marketing the bugger, and you're going to have to get used to me going on about it. Yes, I've finally self-published my book, after probably four years of writing and editing (and trying to find an agent!) ..

Page 99, by Joe Bancroft, is the semi-autobiographical tale of a young Manchester lad who lands his dream job as a press photographer on a local newspaper (ring any bells?) There's a lot more to it than that, of course, and it feels good that it's finally all down on paper ..

I've already had a great review, which ends with the line "Personally I loved the book and can't recommend it highly enough, I can relate to so much that Martin has written about, a joy to read, go on treat yourself to Page 99" .. so that's a good start, isn't it?..

If you fancy a good read, you can get hold of your own copy on Amazon Kindle. 

I really hope you'll give it a go ..

It's a long road ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm thinking of having my yacht re-sprayed. It looks so boring in white ..

Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. When I get a yacht I will no doubt, at some stage, have it re-painted. I will have bought a yacht because the film rights to a book I've written will get taken up by a big Hollywood studio and I'll be assigned the role of artistic director to oversee accurately creative filming. The film rights will have been bought after an unsightly mega-tussle because my book will be such a massive best-seller that all the studios will want to get it to the big screen. The book will have been so successful because nine publishers all wanted to get their hands on it and the highest bidder paid out big styley. The publishers went crazy for the book because seven separate literary agents all wanted to represent me ..

And this is where I wake up again. At the 'literary agent' bit. Yes, I'm having a bit of trouble with that bit. 

Like a zillion other 'writers', I don't seem to be able to get anyone interested in taking it on. By sheer coincidence, I got yet another rejection email this morning but an email from one agent described perfectly to me how hard it is to get selected. She receives, she tells me, five manuscripts every .. what? Every week? Every day? Folks, she receives five manuscripts an HOUR!

So, the yacht, the respray, the mega-tussles .. it'll all have to wait. I've got a long road ahead of me ..   

My latest book ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So what did you do during the latest lockdown?

Well, I'm glad you asked. I wrote my next book, that's what I did.

And, do you know what, I already have something in common with the Man Booker prize winning novel, Shuggie Bain. Yes, I've been rejected .. already! Hurrah! Only 41 more rejections to go, now.

It's called Page 99, by Joe Bancroft and I've absolutely loved writing it. 85,000 words and a real dive into the world of a young press photographer on a local newspaper. (Where DO I get my ideas??)

So yes, now the fun begins, trying to find an agent that will take my work on board.

Don't worry, I'll still love you when I'm famous!!!

Take that leap, boy ..

I feel a bit weird today - I'm at 'a bit of a loss' ..
I blogged recently about the fact that I've written a book and, since then, I've gone through the manuscript a further three times, tightening it all up and rectifying my rather liberal scattering of exclamation marks!!!..

It's an adventure story written for young adults. It started as a children's book, as it involves a young boy, but evolved into something rather more complicated as I tried to make it all make sense ..  

Now though .. it's finished. After six years writing, it's well and truly done. All 538 pages, all 220,000 words!!! (Oops) ..

So now what? Well, I've already started to get it out to publishers - first rejection email proudly saved - and I'm just waiting for the first suggestion that I "shorten it a bit" .. but it's just the fact that it's not a part of my daily life any more. All the ideas are down in black and white, the plot came to its planned conclusion (Phew..) and there's nothing else to be done with the characters. Or is there? I had my first sleepless night last night as I mashed out the basis of my follow-up book. My heroes will live again. They need me, but oh boy .. not as much as I need them!  I have the writing bug. Time to take the leap into Volume 2 ..


Stop Press: I've had an email from a publisher this afternoon inviting me to submit my full manuscript. I think I'm going to faint ...