One of the things we hate most about Royal Mail pricing is how they tempt you to spend more than you need, eg we could have done this with three 2nd class stamps, but it would have been 5p over the £2.50 it actually costs. We’re not giving them 5p, the ba*tards.

It may look calm, but it’s been a very busy first hour at Northern Publishers Fair. Thanks to Matthew Adamson for pic.

Priority seat on tram for our key prop for Northern Publishers’ Fair.

Ready for a bookish natter Manchester?! See you from 11 Manchester Libraries

Judging by the regal wrap I’d say that my stories from Nightjar Press have arrived. Better than chocolate.

Having to become ever more resourceful as Royal Mail prices rocket, rather than put P&P charges up.

Our contributors to issue 21 of Confingo Magazine are, for fiction, Richard Clegg, Dr. Vik Shirley, Lee Stevenson & Alice Wooledge Salmon, in the poetry corner, we welcome Marie Crook, Jo Howard & John Saddler John Saddler ❤✌🙏🤝🌷, and on reviews, it’s Alison Armstrong & Louisa Wagstaff.

A great beauty.

Laptop = closed.
Now for a g&t, and a disconcerting story by Jean Sprackland, via Nightjar Press. #DeathCookies

🔥 Super spring subscription offer 🔥Take out ten-title UK sub for £35, for next ten Nightjars, & get ten titles from current list absolutely FREE. DM for details 🌚🍻

while facing down a seemingly interminable fusillade of unsolicited submissions, even though the contact page of the website clearly states 'no unsolicited submissions'

In season 10 of the taut thriller '24', retired federal agent Jack Bauer resurfaces as a small press publisher, tasked with his most difficult mission yet: to sell a single copy of a poetry book in a 24-hour period

Also on the green side, postage costs.

Donated some Nightjars to Oxfam Bloomsbury Books for their short story promotion yesterday.

Nice little Goodreads review for my Nightjar Press story, The Judgment…

Encouraging re sales of horror novels, but business could be better for small presses specialising in short stories.

Just rejected story for containing word ‘posterior’, used as noun (in opening line). Feel bad now, but one of those words, isn’t it? We all have them, don’t we? Another would be ‘atop’. Other reasons, too, but didn’t get off to good start. Unreasonable?

My fantastic February reading (not pictured- The List of Suspicious Things). These were all first-time reads - including The Dark is Rising! I chose wisely (or my pals did, thank you). I commend all these!

Running low on all these.

Two Degrees of Freedom by Simon Okotie and The Bull by David Bevan – two great Nightjars now out of print. Stocks of some others running low. When they’re gone, they’re gone. That’s the thing with limited editions. Not to be exclusive, but keeps it just about manageable.