I sincerely hope you and yours are staying well. And I mean that. So often I start an email with ‘hope you are well’ and it feels rather empty after months of writing the same words, but I do mean it. Hang in there, we’re getting through this, and today I’m going to do my best to provide a nice distraction from the chaotic events of the past week in the US, and the grim news headlines here in the UK. On that apolitical note, I shall tell you what we’ve been up to.

Once again, Sending Nudes is the news, however I would like to congratulate Aidan Martin (Euphoric Recall) on his upcoming meeting with Scotland’s new minister for Drugs Policy, Angela Constance MSP (later in January 2021) to discuss the drug-deaths crisis in Scotland. Which I guess isn’t all that apolitical, but I do feel the work he is doing is so important and the way he has turned his life around is such an accomplishment. Sending my personal hats-off to Aidan for all he is doing to make this world a better place. 

Christmas and New Years were expectedly quiet, and, as I’m working from home I just kept working. Katy Dadacz, my assistant, has been spreading the word about Sending Nudes and we have a number of reviewers currently reading the book. We’ll post the reviews on our website, and on social media, as soon as they arrive. Katy is currently posting on our Instagram page, which is looking fantastic — you can take a look here.

We finished our interviews with our Sending Nudes contributors in December – written and video — and many are now on our blog. In Liam Hogan’s interview (who has been in all of our anthologies) I was delighted, and really touched, to read this: 

“I've always been a sucker for a theme and a deadline, and though I definitely struggled initially to fit ideas to the Sending Nudes theme, I stuck with it because Guts, even though it hasn't been going very long, already feels like a community. And maybe because I'm a completist - I like to keep a run going. Being accepted for Sending Nudes is just encouragement, you realise that, don't you? (grin)”
 
Love that, thank you Liam. It does feel like a community, and I don’t really know how that happened, but, to date we have published over 60 writers. I am so grateful, and honored, to work with all of you and to share your ballsy stories with the world. Many thanks for being part of Guts Publishing.

We’ll keep posting the Sending Nudes interviews throughout this week. And I’d like to remind you about our virtual launch on Friday 15 January, 7:00pm GMT. You can register here. I’ll be hosting the event and we’ll have readings by: Molly McLellan, Shyama Laxman, Karla Linn Merrifield, Michał Piotrowski, Issy Flower and Lynda Scott Araya. 

Other news, yesterday I stopped by The Word bookshop and dropped off more copies of Stories About Penises – yes, they’re still selling, well over one year after publication – and to say hi to David Brett, the owner. One of the cool things about being a book publisher is I get to meet bookshop folks who love books and stories as much as I do. AND – they are open! Monday to Saturday 11am-5pm. 314 New Cross Rd, London SE14 6AF.

David has the door open and a table set up in front so he can take orders from people as they walk up the street. It was about 38F yesterday (3C), so yeah, that’s dedication and determination not to let lockdown get in the way. I guess we all do what we need to do, but have to say, it was a chilly day to be standing outside for 6 hours.

I’ll be delivering Sending Nudes to The Word this week, so you can stop by there to buy a copy. You can also order from Guts Publishing, and get a free ebook. Pre-orders are £7.95 until 14 January, then retail price is £9. Here's the link: gutspublishing.com/sending-nudes

It’s also available on Amazon worldwide (ebook and paperback). Here are some links: Amazon UK, Amazon US, Amazon Canada and Amazon Australia. And, excited to let you know we’ve expanded our ebook distribution to include Apple Books.