YouCaxton

Publishing Memoirs and Biographies

You’ve decided to write a memoir or the biography of a family member, or perhaps an autobiography. Where to start?

1 Consider your source material
Perhaps you were inspired to write by coming across some old diaries in the attic, or perhaps a collection of letters, or perhaps it was some old calendars – or perhaps just memories of an interesting life? Whatever your source, it’s sensible to back it up with as much contextual research as you can manage. So you saw the Beatles in Liverpool in the 1960s but when was that in relation to their return from Germany? How big was the hall they were playing in? What record was Number 1 at that time? So you were fighting in Afghanistan in 2010 but what were the reasons for Britain’s intervention?  What other foreign forces were there? What had Pakistan and Iran to do with it? Contextual information will help your readers to position themselves in relation to the central theme of the book and will add to its interest. It’s worth spending time on additional research.

2 Decide on a structure
It’s amazing how many people start to write  without first considering the structure of the book they’re about to write – as if they never went to school and the teacher never told them to divide their essay into three or more paragraphs with a beginning, a middle and a conclusion. Once you’ve completed the background research, it’s vital to think hard about the structure of the book before you start writing it. It can be helpful to sketch out a possible list of contents, listing the various chapters, or divide the book into parts containing chapters. Without such subdivisions, the book will be indigestible. Also, from your own point of view as the writer, even a short book is a major undertaking. As with all large undertakings, it helps to break it down into smaller parts otherwise the work can become overwhelming and lose balance.

3 Choose an editor
So at last you’ve written the book. The next thing is to get it copy-edited. We do this for you at YouCaxton Publications but you may know someone who’s willing to undertake the work for you. Either way, it’s important to have it done. Even the most experienced writers can’t see their own mistakes otherwise they wouldn’t make them. Copy-editing involves careful line-by-line inspection of your manuscript, looking for errors of grammar, spelling and consistency, also any factual errors that are easily apparent to the editor.

4 Decide how to publish
Most memoirs and biographies are written for the benefit of friends and family but quite a number appeal to a larger potential audience. Nowadays, with digital and print-on-demand printing, it’s easy to produce a limited edition for family and friends and also to make the book available to the public online via Amazon and other online retailers, and perhaps also to publish an eBook version. Online availability can be especially useful if some of the potential readership is overseas. How you want to publish or print should dictate who you commission to do the work.

5 Choosing a publisher
Nowadays it’s possible to do everything concerned with publishing yourself but this is usually a false economy given the amount of time taken to write the book in the first place. If you have the budget it’s worth commissioning the services of a company such as YouCaxton Publications to ensure that the book is professionally produced and published. There are a number of us to choose from. One should never forget that a book will still be around in a hundred years’ time so the investment is justified.

5 Steps to publication with YouCaxton
Publication breaks down into a number of fairly distinct stages and these are costed in detail on the Publishing Page of this website:
*Editing –  which we’ve already dealt with.
*Design and layout – once you and your editor have agreed on the final manuscript, the next stage is for YouCaxton’s designer to produce print-ready PDFs for your approval. This can take some to-ing and fro-ing between you, and we never upload to the printer for a bound proof until we have your approval of the design of both the cover and the interior.
* Bound proof – the next stage is to order a bound, printed proof from the printer. It’s important to check that the book is correct physically before proceeding
* Final stage – once you’ve approved the bound proof, we’re ready for the final stage: printing and producing any bulk order of copies for circulation to friends and family (and possibly reviewers); registering the ISBN, uploading to Amazon; making the book available through other online retailers.

 

history

Hinkshay Rows
Heather Duckett

Published: Feb 2025
Paperback: 250 pages
Price: £15.00
ISBN: 9781915972545
Available from
The Great British Bookshop

Hinkshay Rows
a Shropshire industrial community

by Heather Duckett

On a remote piece of agricultural land at Hinkshay Farm in Dawley parish, Shropshire, three rows of houses were built in the 1820s, first 48 back-to-back dwellings called ‘Double Row’, then ‘Single Row’ and ‘New Row’, bringing the total to 78 houses. They were built by the Botfield family to house workers for a new ironworks, Stirchley Forge and Mill. Families moved there from the iron-making areas of the Midlands, from small rural hamlets, and some from Dawley itself. The settlement was in existence for 144 years and, at its height, the population of the Rows reached almost 500.

A close-knit community developed with many finding a marriage partner from neighbours. Large families were the norm and work was plentiful, including for women and girls – the Shropshire pit girls. The nearby White Hart Inn together with Hinkshay Mission Church provided a focus for community activities.

Gradual decline in the iron and coal industries in the late 19th century meant that many Hinkshay families decided to leave. Communities of Hinkshay migrants became established in Scotland and South Wales and Durham. But others stayed at Hinkshay, some until the end of the Rows in 1968 when they were demolished and the community of Hinkshay was lost.


This unique and detailed account tells the life stories of those families who came to Hinkshay, those who migrated and those who stayed. It is the product of many years of expert research. a Shropshire industrial community. Heather Duckett was born at Charlton, a village near Wellington and after attending Wellington High School for Girls joined Shropshire County Library service. In the late 1960s and early 1970s she was librarian at Dawley where she first heard of Hinkshay. For 26 years she was librarian at New College Sixth Form College, Wellington. In 1998 she gained a Bachelor of Arts with Honours (first class) degree from the Open University.


nonfiction

East Lancashire Railways
Nigel Jepson

Published: Nov 2024
Paperback: 225 pages
Price: £12.00
ISBN: 9781915972644
Available from Amazon
and
The Great British Bookshop

The Railway Town of Ramsbottom
Past and Present
by Nigel Jepson

After George Stephenson’s ‘Rocket’ caused a sensation in 1830 by travelling at the then miraculous speed of 30 mph, “Railway Mania” took a grip on the nation.

This book focuses on East Lancashire including the meteoric growth of the original East Lancashire Railway Company which tragically though went out of business in 1859.

The phrase “survival of the fittest” - associated with Charles Darwin and his 1859 book ‘Origin of the Species’ – proves itself a telling means of accounting for how some companies survived the burst of the rail bubble and others did not.

By the mid-20th century, with steam engines becoming a threatened species themselves, the story is told of Alan Pegler and how he saved the Flying Scotsman from the breaking-yard but ended up dying virtually penniless himself.

In the wake of the Beeching Cuts of the 1960s, a brave rearguard action was mounted by the East Lancashire Railway Preservation Society (ELRPS) which ultimately bore fruit in 1987 with the opening of a heritage line from Bury to Ramsbottom.

This book contains a wealth of stimulating first-hand accounts, photos, maps and diagrams to make it a must-read for rail enthusiasts and all those keen to learn more about the fascinating human element to the railway story as a whole.



Nigel Jepson lives in Ramsbottom and is a keen supporter and member of Ramsbottom Cricket Club.

He first came to the local area in the mid-1990s when taking up post as Headteacher at nearby Haslingden High School. As far as the broader community was concerned, it didn’t take long to pick up the vibes regarding the longstanding rivalry between Haslingden and Ramsbottom, much of it existing on a cricketing front as traditional close rivals in the Lancashire League.

Nigel’s last UK Head’s post was at Kearsley Academy in Bolton from 2010 to 2014. ‘Retired’, he has though carried out interim Headteacher work in Dubai during 2016 and has also conducted teacher training programmes in New Delhi in 2018.

Although having always been keen on team sports, he developed a passion for long distance running which started with the London Marathon in 1982, moving through other events to New York in 2001. More recently, over 2017 to 2019, prior to the Covid pandemic kicking in, he ran four more marathons in Dubai, Belfast, Manchester and Liverpool.
belief

Recipe for Life
Hugh Thomson

Published: February2024
Paperback: 64 pages
Price: £5.99
ISBN: 978-1-915972-69-9
Available from
The Great British Bookshop
and
Amazon
Recipe for Life
Reflections on food in the Bible
by Hugh J Thomson

Many of the key events in the biblical narrative are pictured by different foods.

From the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden all the way to the tree of life in the final chapter of scripture, foodstuffs carry deep significance.

Items come in pairs, ranging from the thorns and thistles of the curse in Eden which blight food production, through to the milk and honey which picture the lavish blessings of the Promised Land.

We learn important theological lessons from considering these foods.

Christians will be most familiar with the bread and wine taken at the Lord’ Supper.



Hugh Thomson was born and brought up in Aberdeen, and graduated from medical school there in 1977. He subsequently worked as a doctor in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Cambridge, North Carolina and Hong Kong before being appointed as a consultant surgeon at Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham in 1994.

He was one of the founding elders of City Church in Birmingham in 1999, and stepped out of medical practice to work full time for the church in 2002.

He is now retired and living in Birmingham.
fiction

Beyond the Sandbar
Nick Gosman

Published: November 2024
Paperback: 288 pages
Price: £12.00
ISBN: 978-1-915972-62-0
Available from
The Great British Bookshop
and
Amazon
RISK
Peril can become an addiction
by Nick Gosman

A tale of courage and fortitude from World War II.

Based on true events, Beyond The Sandbar tells the contrasting stories of identical twin brothers.

While George rescues downed pilots during the Siege of Malta, Fred suffers deprivation as a prisoner of war in Nazi Germany.

The story follows both men through a series of intertwined snapshots in which the action unfolds in real-time to give a gripping, fast-paced narrative that captures both the horror and heroism of total war.



After a career in the high-tech world of bioscience research, Nick recently took a chance to change gear and refocus his creative energies. Working from his home in the wilds of the Norfolk-Suffolk border, Nick divides his time between writing and running workshops promoting the mental health benefits of wood carving.

fiction

The Silver Bird
Suzanne Jones

Published: Nov 2024
Paperback: 160 pages
Price: £9.99
ISBN: 978-1-915972-55-2
Available on Amazon
and
The Great British Bookshop
The Silver Bird
by Suzanne Jones

Sarah, a young Jewish woman, is on holiday in the Austrian Alps, trying to come to terms with the death of her parents.

She has an accident and her two handsome rescuers become rivals for her love. Eventually she must choose between them, but will she make the right choice?

Hans, a successful silversmith and Max, a talented violinist, both live in Vienna. Sarah has a home in London and the story moves between the two cities.

The characters are caught up in a passionate love triangle beset with overwhelming challenges: religious differences, conflicting morals, illness, betrayal, tragedy and heartbreak.

Will Sarah eventually find the love she needs?

Childrens

Callum’s Quest to Fly
Malcolm Vine

Published: Sept 2024
Paperback: 144 pages
Price: £8.00
ISBN: 978-1-915972-42-2
Available from
The Great British Bookshop

and
Amazon
Callum's Quest to Fly
From The Books of Yahxes
by Malcolm Vine

Callum has never had an opportunity to fly in an aeroplane or anything else for that matter, but he has an insatiable interest in anything to do with aeronautics.

He spends a rainy day in the loft and his interest gets peeked by being able to see into the next-door loft where an old man has left a interesting-looking box. This is the start of his adventure and soon he finds a friend to join him in his quest for the power of flight.

There are many hair-raising challenges along the way and being chased for the knowledge they gain is all part of the world they find themselves in.

Set in the Wiltshire countryside of the 1950s, this tale of two young innocent boys gives lots of fun and some sadness, all coped with as only young boys can do.



Sport

RISK – Peril can become an addiction
Nick Gosman

Published: August 2024
Paperback: 287 pages
Price: £12.00
ISBN: 978-1-915972-52-1
Available from
The Great British Bookshop

and
Amazon
RISK
Peril can become an addiction
by Nick Gosman

For the lucky few, mountaineering provides an alternate realm of experience and consciousness that frees them from the conventions and routine of everyday life.

Growing up in nineteen-sixties Edinburgh, I found solace in the mountains and in climbing that became a restorative balm for the frustrations of a stifling home life.

With the beauty and grandeur of my beloved Scotland forming an eternal backdrop, I found a soulmate in my climbing partner and we fell in love.

Our love of mountains and the intoxicating thrill of climbing became inextricably interwoven with our love for each other so that we risked both our lives and our hearts in a journey that was to take us to the very limits of our physical and emotional endurance.

In a collection of thirteen true short stories about mountaineering, RISK attempts to explain some of the motivations that drive a climber’s compulsion to test themselves in the mountains.

Filled with cultural and locational references to a forgotten Edinburgh of the nineteen sixties and seventies, RISK is as much the story of a love affair with Scotland as it is with a Scottish woman.

When the English language fails, as it often does, to convey the searing intensity of feelings I have for Scotland’s people and places, I reflect on the Celtic idiom, “cuisle mo chroi” a uniquely Irish Gaelic endearment that literally translates as ‘pulse of my heart’, a sentiment which still carries an electrifying emotional power to move me.

“In any argument, the mountain will always have the last word.” Stig the lorry driver



Born in Glasgow and brought up in Edinburgh by parents from Tyneside, Nick fell in love with mountains and rock climbing at the age of sixteen on Scout and Army cadet training camps in the Scottish Highlands. Now living in the flatlands of East Anglia, Nick still finds time to roam in the wilds of Scotland enjoying the sense of freedom in this last vestige of wilderness in our crowded British Isles.