I’ve got loads of news to share with you, so get your cup of coffee or tea and we’ll get started. Ready? Ok, here we go.

First, I’m happy to announce that Blade in the Shadow is now in the world! A coming-of-age memoir about a young Scottish woman struggling to navigate life with obsessive compulsive disorder. To quote Jessica Andrews (author of Saltwater) it is, ‘a wrenching portrayal of the mind in all of its colours.’ (Wrenching in the best possible way – heartbreaking and uplifting all at once.)

We launched Blade on 14 October with an online event that you can now watch on our blog.

The book has shed some much-needed light on this often misunderstood subject, and has made quite the splash in the literary world. In my last newsletter, I said our goal was 300 pre-orders, and I’m happy to say we hit that mark. Pre-orders were close to 350! Outstanding for a debut author and an indie publisher. We’ve had a number of 5-star customer reviews too, here’s one:

“It's a rarity to find such a raw, emotional, and honest story told through such expressive and beautifully vivid writing, but 'Blade in the Shadow' stands out as one of the strongest debuts I've ever come across.” — Chris, Incredible debut from a promising new author

We have another Blade event on Thursday 4 November, which you are welcome to attend. It’s at 5pm GMT and will be hosted by Goldsmiths ECL department (GLITS). We’ll have a reading by Jillian and a discussion about what it’s like writing (and publishing) a memoir and what OCD actually is. To join us, click here (it’s on MS Teams).

If you’ve read the book, please consider writing a short review on Goodreads or Amazon. It really helps people to understand more about the book. Here are the links:

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/book/show/58793044-blade-in-the-shadow
Amazon UK: www.amazon.co.uk/Blade-Shadow-Jillian-Halket/dp/1838471928

Other news - happy six-month anniversary to Fish Town! (published on 28 April) and big congrats to the author, John Gerard Fagan, who just recorded an episode of the Big Scottish Book Club, a TV show hosted by Damian Barr. What an honor and a testament to Fagan’s powerful writing. In short, we're thrilled! The episode is due to be aired sometime before Christmas (they don’t actually tell us when, oddly).

If you haven’t yet read Fish Town, it’s the story of John’s bittersweet departure from Glasgow at age 29 when he set off for a teaching job in Japan believing he’d be living in Tokyo. He only finds out after arrival that he's actually going to be living in a remote fishing village. With little knowledge of the language or culture, the hilarity (and despair) begins. Here’s an excerpt:

many of us spend our entire lives in hiding
seeking a comfort blanket and wrapping ourselves tighter and tighter
so we can drift towards old age
in the same town
with the same people
drift and sever anything that goes against that straight path
of comfort
I ripped mine apart
not out of bravery
not out of trying to better myself or the world
I ripped to feel something

Other exciting news – October 1st was the one-year anniversary of the release of Euphoric Recall! Written by Aidan Martin, it’s the true story of a young Scottish man’s recovery from addiction and trauma. Since the book’s release, Aidan has been working nonstop to raise awareness on the drugs-death crisis in Scotland. I still remember his first pitch to Guts when he said his goal was to become a public speaker, which in a short amount of time he has accomplished. The book continues to generate media interest including an interview with Aidan on David Wilson’s Crime Files and an appearance on an episode of VICE (about the cocaine culture in Scotland, due to be released soon).

Also, big congrats to Aidan who has been awarded a grant from the Society of Authors for his next book, a fictional narrative called Where the F*** is Phil? Well done, Aidan. As one of my interns once said: ‘The platform this man has built for himself is insane.’ And it is. He takes every opportunity that comes his way and runs with it. Got to love ambition, especially with a worthy cause behind it.

I’ve also got some news about me and Guts Publishing. Some of you may know that I’m American and have been living in the UK for the past four years. Each year I’ve had the support of Goldsmiths College as my visa sponsor, although this was the last year they were able to sponsor me. So, this year I knew I had to make another plan. 

I started working with an immigration lawyer and they suggested I apply for the Global Talent visa with sponsorship by Arts Council England. I was told not to get my hopes up as they thought it was a bit of a long shot. A long shot because the visa is usually granted to an individual as opposed to an organization, and they had never heard of a publisher being granted this visa. 

What is a Global Talent visa? Well, it’s a visa is for people who have made a significant contribution to UK culture in the arts, sciences or technology. So, I thought, hey that’s right up our street, why don’t we give it a go. And we did. And I’m over the moon to announce that Arts Council England said YES!