This is Sir Michael Leighton’s third book of poems to be published.
It is a carefully arranged selection of poems about wars – from the Boer War to the present day. They express a strong sense of the waste that is war, but also an equally strong sense of the great inspiration that can be had from those who fought them on our behalf. His positive message is that we should cherish our heritage. The photographs and pictures from Loton Park and elsewhere are mostly published for the first time, and provide a vivid commentary.
Published:
November 2015
Hardback:
48 pages
Price:
£12.50
ISBN:
9-781909-644427
Sir Michael Leighton Bart., 11th Baronet of Wattlesborough and current resident of the magnificent Loton Park, on the Shropshire/Wales borders, 34th in descent of his family.
He has for some years been an ardent conservationist, ornithologist, wildlife photographer and poet.
He has completed a film on his lifelong passion, the Red Kite, which has been aired on National television. He was instrumental in the re-introduction of this bird back to the Welsh Hills and has formed areas of his estate for wildlife conservation.
A keen motorsport enthusiast, Sir Michael was also responsible for the formation of the National Hill Climb event, which takes place during the summer months in the Deer Park.
Flux is a collection of poems and essays by Pat Edwards. They span love and loss, topical events and living life to the full, and do so with warmth, honesty and sometimes a hint of humour. Pat's work has been published on-line in poetry blogs and websites such as Offa's Press and Not a Silent Poet. Pat regularly attends open mic events in Welshpool, Wrexham, Chester, Aberystwyth and Much Wenlock. She has had drama scripts published by Lazy Bees. Pat's first book, printed very much as a 'vanity project', was well-received:
The book won't make the holiday as it was read from cover to cover when I got home....I laughed and cried all in the same hour, fantastic writing Been reading your essays, moved me to tears. Can certainly recognise many feelings and thoughts. Fantastic keep writingVery poignant and clever - very moving
Pat was born in Aberdeen, went to school in Poole, attended college in Eastbourne, and has lived in
Mid Wales since 1979. She taught Physical Education for over thirteen years before training to be a
work-based assessor and verifier. Pat then worked in and around Telford and Shrewsbury
supporting people training to be Teaching Assistants and to work in Early Years Care. In 2013 Pat
re-trained, gaining the LAMDA Diploma in Communication, Speech and Drama Education. She
formed MASH-UP ARTS delivering workshops in drama, dance, singing and poetry. She continues
to teach English and Drama in a number of local schools and to promote MASH-UP ARTS. Pat
enjoys singing with Quindici, a small chamber choir which was formed in 2001, and enjoyed a long
and happy association with Buttington Musical Theatre Company until her recent decision to make
more time for her writing.
Reviews...
J. A. Humphrey - Intelligent and Moving Poems This book, consisting mostly of poetry with some autobiographical essays at the end, is full of 'oh yes, it's exactly like that!' moments. Pat Edwards writes with a mixture of intelligence, emotion and humour that creates an immediate connection with the reader. She has clearly been through a great deal of personal trauma because of recent serious illness, but has transformed this into universal experience through the quality of her controlled and incisive writing. I came upon 'Flux' purely by chance, but it is a book to which I shall return again and again.
When you have produced the final draft of your book, it is always advisable to have the text read and checked by a professional editor or proof reader.
You may have friends that are willing and competent to do this and we can advise you on the type of editing that is required.
We can offer four levels of editing as well as proof-reading.
You choose which, if any, are appropriate in your case: 1. Edit of sample pages and short report (£30)
We will edit a few pages to highlight editorial issues so that you can look for similar problems throughout the book.
This will reduce the amount of further copy-editing required when the book is finished. 2. Broad structural editing and criticism (£5 per thousand words)
A structural review is particularly relevant for works of fiction.
The structural reviewer will address the following main areas and produce a short report for the author ” Read More 3. Copy editing (£10 per thousand words)
A copy-editor takes a close look at your text, line by line, with an eye to grammatical errors, repetition, inconsistency and lack of clarity. The copy editor will make changes to the text, with suggestions for rewriting, grammar, and punctuation. When you receive the edited version, you have the final choice about accepting of rejecting the individual changes. 4. Proof Reading (£8 per thousand words)
Proof reading is a line-by-line check that the book is ready for publication. Proof readers will make small corrections for punctuation, grammar and spelling but they will not make significant changes to the text.
A proof reader will identify any significant issues and add comments to the text so that you can make those corrections yourself. 5. Consistency Scan
If you decide your book doesn’t need a full proof reading, we offer an electronic scan to search for common errors and inconsistencies. This looks at issues such as inconsistent spelling and inconsistencies of hyphenation and capitalisation.
We can also identify inconsistencies in the spelling of proper names. 6. Cover text
The quality of the text on the cover is very important as it indicates the quality of the writing in the book.
The title, sub-title and back-cover blurb are all important elements and we can work with you to make sure that these are correct and effective.
Copy Edit
Copy-editors get the raw material into shape for publication i.e they edit the copy.
When they have finished, the designer can lay out or typeset the book and produce a proof.
It is quite normal for the author to make additional changes after a book has been copy-edited.
Working through the material, the copy-editor may identify errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, style and usage, but also very long sentences and overuse of italic, bold, capitals and exclamation marks.
They should correct or query doubtful facts, weak arguments, plot holes and gaps in numbering.
In fiction, they should also check that characters haven’t changed their name or hair colour, look for sudden changes from first to third person among other things.
The Copy-editor is not a proof reader and should not be expected to find all of the errors in the text particularly if the text is badly written to start with.
This is the job of the proof reader.
The final proof should be checked by a proof reader or an experienced reader friend before going to print.
It is almost inevitable (and acceptable) to miss a few errors which can be corrected in a later edition.
Proof Reading
Proof reading is a line-by-line check that the book is ready for publication.
Proof readers will make small corrections for punctuation, grammar and spelling but they will not make significant changes to the text.
A proof reader will identify any significant issues and add comments to the text so that you can make those corrections yourself.
If you have decided to complete this stage of the process yourself, we will send a detailed check-list to help you.
We ask you to try and ensure that the book is completely ready before we start the layout.
Once the layout has started, we expect that you might want to to make a small number of amendments but
if there are a significant number, we may need to charge for the extra time it takes to change the layout
so best to discuss this with us first.
Structural Review
In fiction, the main areas that a structural editor will address are:
Plot: Does the plot make sense? Is it believable? Is it satisfying or does it leave the reader frustrated? Themes: Are the themes effectively handled? Are there so many that the book lacks focus? Do they interfere with the plot or complement it?
Characterisation: Are your characters well developed and believable? Are they cast in a role that fits their personality? Do they sometimes behave out of character? Point of view/voice: Is the voice consistent or is it sometimes confused? Is the voice authentic? Are you using too many or too few POVs? Pace: Does the plot move forward at an appropriate pace? Should you cut that preface? Should the action happen sooner or should the tension build more slowly? Dialogue: Do your characters sound real when they speak? Is your dialogue cluttered with adverbs and beats? Do you use clunky dialogue to move the plot forward? Flow: Is the narrative interrupted by dead-ends and tangents? Is there so much back story that the main plot is dwarfed? Are there missing plot points that would give the narrative greater integrity?
In non-fiction, the principle is the same, but the specific issues are slightly different:
Thesis: Is your thesis relevant? Is it clearly defined or is it lost among marginal issues? Exposition: Are your arguments clear and cogent? Are they well researched and properly supported? Do they have a clear relationship with your thesis? Content: Are all the necessary topics sufficiently dealt with? Are the chapters weighted correctly? Is there superfluous content? Organisation: Is the information organised logically? Are tables and illustrations used appropriately? How many levels of subheads do you need and how should they be arranged? Tone: Is the tone appropriate for the audience? Do you need to eliminate jargon? Is the text accessible? Pace: Are there passages that are bogged down in detail? Do you spend too long on detail irrelevant to the main thesis? Are there areas that need further exposition lest they be skipped over?
Cover Text
The quality of the text on the cover is very important as it indicates the quality of the writing in the book.
The title, sub-title and back-cover blurb are all important elements and we work with you to make sure that these are as effective as possible.
Consistency check
If you decide your book doesn’t need a full proof reading, we can run an electronic scan to search for common errors and inconsistencies.
This looks at issues such as inconsistent spelling, hyphenation and capitalisation.
It also checks for consistent formatting of numbers and dates as well as undefined abbreviations.
Subsequent Script Edit
It is very normal and generally beneficial for the script-editing process to go through at least a couple of cycles
i.e. the rewritten draft to be worked through once again by an experienced script practitioner – though this would be entirely at the discretion and behest of the writer.
Full Script Edit
The script that you deliver to us will probably constitute what the industry would classify as the ‘Initial Rough Draft’, i.e. a full screenplay written without any other professional input or advice, and probably without a great deal of rewriting. We work through your draft, line by line, scene by scene, and come back to you with a comprehensive set of notes from which you can then work towards the official ‘1st Draft’. Some of our notes will be broad and general, dealing with such areas as the overall shape and structure, pacing, plot and character development; others will be far more specific, with corrections, clarifications and suggested cuts etc. It is of course entirely up to you whether or not to take these suggestions on board, and to what extent.
Ongoing Support
We aim to make your self-publishing venture an enjoyable and rewarding experience.
Publishing is a complex business and we treat every book as a separate project.
We explain all of the stages at the outset and we manage the project schedule for you. This will include all of the expert services you have requested for editorial, design, printing, distribution and collection of royalties, keeping in close contact with you throughout the process.
You will be allocated a project-sheet on the YouCaxton website so that you can monitor progress and ensure that all stages are properly completed.
If you would like to see an example of a Project-Sheet…
go to My project on the menu and enter…
Username: Sample
Password : welcome.
