Things are looking good here. The grass is green again. And it’s not boiling anymore. Hallelujah.

To start, I would like to say thank you again to our wonderful readers and supporters of Guts Publishing. I was very touched by your outpouring of support last month. Both in terms of pre-orders for our new books and donations. You’re flat out amazing. We couldn’t do what we’re doing without you.

Although we didn’t quite reach our goal, there is a lot of good news! Since 1 September we’ve had a steady stream of pre-orders for our new books, and some generous donations as well. Which means, in short, we’re moving forward with our new books!

There's also some not so good news - our application to Arts Council England was unsuccessful. Yeah, big ouch on that one. However, there’s good news in there too. I am currently revising the application and will be resubmitting soon. Which means – there are always second chances! Onward we go!

I’m delighted to announce that we’ve changed our publication schedule slightly and will be publishing Dear Mr Andrews by Lotte Latham in January 2023. If you haven't yet heard about it, here’s a brief summary:

Dear Mr Andrews is an illustrated memoir about a young British woman’s entry into sex work via 'sugar-dating'. It's an intimate and sometimes unsettling look into this young woman’s personal and professional sex life. Often revealing the conflict between her dual life as artist and sex worker.

As we’ve been editing, I’ve come across some fascinating information online about sugar dating. I watched a show on 60 minutes Australia addressing the grey area that sugar dating occupies. It’s something I honestly had no knowledge of prior to this. If you’re wondering what sugar dating is, here’s what Lotte says:

“Sugaring is a structured form of dating where one party (usually a younger female or gay man) trades intimacy in return for material goods (usually from an older man). Examples might include an allowance, or that ‘new camera’ you desperately need, or a cash ‘bail out’, or a holiday, or a job.”

An FYI, Lotte is doing well. We have regular Zoom chats and lots of emails. From past experience, I can say that I know how challenging it is to share your life story, any life story, but I can only imagine what it’s like to share your sex life. I truly admire her courage and feel that sharing her story will shed some light on the topics of sex work and sugar dating.

If you'd like to pre-order a copy of Dear Mr Andrews, please visit our website:

gutspublishing.com/product-page/dear-mr-andrews 

I think that’s about it for now! Ah yes, but I also wanted to give you a little update on our authors. John Gerard Fagan (Fish Town) and his wife had a baby girl in August – congratulations John! We’re thrilled for you and hope your lovely little girl is doing well.

Aidan Martin (Euphoric Recall) launched his new charity in Scotland, The Scheme, to help people access the creative arts. Here’s a blurb from his Facebook page:

“Honestly we have slogged our guts out for two years to get to this stage and we are still awaiting our official charitable status. So the fact folk are turning up means the world. We are just starting slowly, one workshop a month. But the long-term goal is to run these full-time. Weekly workshops of wide-ranging creative disciplines. Structured workshops, outreach, drop-ins and partnership work. We aim to use creativity to reach anyone who needs it. With no barriers. No fee to use the service ever.”

Well done Aidan!

Our lovely Deborah Price (The Peanut Factory) is currently in Ithaca, Greece, and sending photos which I've been posting on Twitter. The amount of travelling she does is phenomenal!

And yesterday I heard some wonderful news about our contributor Emma Grae (Sending Nudes anthology). She was awarded Book of the Year by The Scots Language Awards 2022! For her debut novel Be Guid Tae Yer Mammy (Unbound, 2021). Well done Emma! Congrats!