Hello! I’ve got some news. We’ve been reading tattoo submissions and I’m delighted to announce that we now have a short list. This week we’ll be reviewing the list and hopefully, fingers crossed, will be able to announce the work we’ve selected by the 6th of March. It’s been great to read these poems and short stories – thank you writers for sending your work!
Also, I wanted to let you know that I’ll be posting our news here on this blog (from today onwards) instead of sending a newsletter. I’ll send an email to let you know when there’s a new post. I’m hoping the transition will be nice and smooth and also allow more people to find out about Guts Publishing on our blog.
So, here’s the news I’d like to share with you today.
We’re currently looking for the cover art for the tattoo anthology. What we’re looking for is a photo or drawing of a tattoo, so if you have one that you’re particularly fond of, we’d love to take a look. I’ve been posting about this on social media but if you haven’t yet heard, you can send up to two photos to be considered for the cover until 6 March. Please send to tattoos.gutspublishing@gmail.com and include your name, the tattoo artist’s name (if known), and the country where you currently reside.
Speaking of social media, I’ve been posting somewhat regularly on Instagram and Facebook but not so much on Twitter (sadly). I used to really like that platform although with all of the recent changes I just don’t find it’s the same. Engagement level is low and I hardly ever see the people I used to see on a regular basis (thank you, Elon Musk!). So, if you’d like to follow us on Instagram or Facebook, we’re there (and occasionally on Twitter). I’m also spending more time on LinkedIn, which is a totally different vibe but I’m starting to get the hang of it.
I have some wonderful news about Deborah Price (The Peanut Factory) and also an opportunity for writers who are seeking funding. Here’s the news: Deborah recently received a grant from the Arts Council to finish her upcoming novel! You may be wondering, how did she do that? Well, on the heels of publishing The Peanut Factory, she submitted an application for the DYCP (Developing Your Creative Practice) award to develop her fiction writing. I think it took 6 weeks or so to review her application and then she got the news! Congrats Deborah, we’re delighted and wishing you all the best.
If you're a writer living in the UK, you can also apply for DYCP funding throughout 2023. Round 17 will open for applications on 28 March 2023. For more details you can visit the Arts Council website: artscouncil.org.uk/dycp
I also have some news about Aidan Martin (Euphoric Recall) who recently did an interview with The Devlin Brothers on their new podcast. This was episode 2 and I have a good feeling about these guys, especially with their tagline of Real, Raw and Relevant. They posted a video on YouTube last week, which I watched and would recommend. It’s one of those honest and gritty but inspirational interviews and I should mention that if you haven’t yet read Euphoric Recall there are lots of spoilers (and triggers, as they say). But it was great to hear Aidan speaking about his life and the issues that so many people in Scotland are facing - addiction, trauma, cancer, abuse, social deprivation, violence. It’s about an hour long and you can watch it here: youtube.com/watch?v=uD6vCUUWs3M
If you haven’t yet read Euphoric Recall, you might want to read it before watching the video. You can get a copy from Guts Publishing or from most online book retailers (and Waterstones in Scotland).
I also have some news about our memoir Dear Mr Andrews which has been called ‘A remarkable debut’ by Michael Turner and ‘Highly recommended’ by Susanna Kleeman. The book and Lotte Latham were recently featured in The Guardian by author and journalist Jenny Valentish! The article was published on the 3rd of February and titled 'The Fantasy of Sugar Dating'. It’s a book review which also addresses how ‘sugar babes and daddies have infiltrated mainstream parlance’ and mainstream literature (Holly Hill’s memoir Sugarbabe got the ball rolling).
Well done Lotte and Dear Mr Andrews for landing in The Guardian! You can read the article here: theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/03/the-fantasy-of-sugar-dating
On the heels of that, on 12 February, Lotte was interviewed by Jessica Ure on BBC One Politics London, which is one of the prime time television shows here in England. In it they talk about sugar dating and escorting in the UK and how the current legislation is being reviewed to provide more protection for women. It was a brief but eye-opening discussion. Thank you Lotte Latham for sharing your story. It’s not an easy thing to do with the stigmas that come along with these topics.
If you live in the UK, you can watch it on BBC iPlayer: bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001j6kq/politics-london-12022023
I also would like to thank to everyone who has sent their memoir or literary fiction manuscript to us. I know some of you may be wondering where we’re at in the review process. If you haven’t heard from us, it doesn’t necessarily mean we’re not interested. What it means is that our inbox is very full and we have lots of submissions to review. It also means that we need some more time. After giving this some thought, what I’ve decided to do is set a closing date for submissions which will be 31 March 2023. After we’ve reviewed everything, we’ll reopen again. Please know that we’re grateful you’ve sent your work and if we’re interested we’ll get in touch. Hopefully within the next 6-8 weeks.
That’s about it for now. Thanks for reading. I’ll post again soon with the anthology results. If you’d like to get in touch, you can (as always) send an email to gutspublishing@gmail.com or you can also scroll down to the bottom of this page and leave a comment.
Keep in touch.
xx Julianne
p.s. If you'd like to receive a notification when we have a new blog post, please subscribe here: gutspublishing.com/newsletter
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