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LINGHAMS LAUNCHING NEW EVENTS THIS SUMMER !
BY SUE PORTER
Small cough and checks the microphone is working ! Hello , can you hear me ? What a year folks , yes you have heard this so many times , but honestly WHAT A YEAR !
Let me take you back ... queue music ! March 2020 Boris announces a full UK lockdown , all non essential shops are closed for the foreseeable future . Totally stunned and to be honest heartbroken ! What is going to happen ? Is this the end of Linghams , does it all go wrong on my watch ? The fear started .
I allowed myself 24 hours to put it mildly PANIC and then tried to come up with a plan . Continue selling books online and work alone in the shop ? Hmm ... it might just work ... for a bit . What about all the REAL LIVE EVENTS we usually host , how will these ever happen ? What if , just what if we could do online ? Mad idea ? OR a reality waiting to be born .
At Home With 4 Indies was born from a lunchtime of brainstorming with my other half Mike . The idea was pitched to three of my buddies in the bookselling trade with shops covering Wales , the North East and the Midlands we more or less had the country covered ! Let ’ s do ONLINE events with authors from all over the world , WHAT ! I hear you cry ? Well yes it was mad , scary , what are we doing ? But 350 online events later we are all rather proud of our little online business ! Names such as Ken Follett , Graham Norton , Stephen Fry , Ruth Jones , Amanda Owen , Oliver Jeffers to name a few we have had the pleasure of working alongside ( virtually of course !)
We were hosting events 3 to 4 nights a week and had viewing figures from 30 people to whopping 35k figures ! We are still hosting online events , details can be seen on www . linghams . co . uk . Giants such as Paula Hawkins , Ann Cleeves and Ian Rankin are coming up !
Now we are thrilled to be back , doors open , sparkling café open and bookselling full speed !
Our event season is nearly upon us and we have a plethora of authors waiting to meet you guys . From The Dressmakers of Auschwitz by Lucy Adlington to former Home Secretary Alan Johnson to one of our favourites Rick Stein . All booked in and ready ! We are also working with Peter Schmeichel for any Manchester United fans selling books at his gig in Manchester and have signed Alyn Wyn jones and indie editions of Rob Burrows also available .
If you would like to order signed copies or indie editions , please call 0151 342 7290 . We specialise in signed copies and have some whoppers coming up , real collectors items so do enquire .
One book which has moved me recently is Marcus Rashford You Are A Champion . Some of you may have heard BBC Radio Merseyside picking up on the story . The book talks about how Marcus overcame challenges in his life , how all of us are individuals , we all have our individual laugh , set of fingerprints and even our tongues are as individual as us ! Teachers are using this book as part of their curriculum as it is so inspirational .
I wanted to get this book into the hands of youngsters who maybe have had a tough time themselves and as Marcus says they are all champions they just do not know it yet .
I was lucky enough to receive a signed copy so I am using this to crowdfund a scheme to get as many children as I can from across Wirral a copy of this book who attend The Hive , Wirral Youth Zone in Birkenhead . But I do need help and hopefully dear reader you can help me . The link is on my website www . linghams . co . uk .
Just £ 5 will be enough to donate 1 copy of Marcus ’ s book to a child who attends the Hive . £ 10 , 2 books and so on . You will also be entered into a draw to WIN a signed copy yourself !
My parting gift today is to tell you about Cecily by Annie Garthwaite . History at its best , a debut author , the story of one of Britain ’ s strongest , unknown women in history . Meet Cecily . Married to a traitor ’ s son , Duke of York , mother to two future kings , a woman of steel in a man ’ s world . Cecily Neville , a woman who can be ruthless , manipulative , brutal and above all ambitious for her family . We track her story of her life and how she fights for her children , husband , and household . We grieve with her , laugh with her and champion her cause . Meet the rich characters , in her life so powerfully captured by Anne in her writing . Royalty can be a deadly enemy !
I have devoured this book and was thrilled when Anne said she would come and sign copies in the shop .
You can pre order a copy signed by calling us 0151 342 7290 . OR why not pop into Linghams Saturday 25th September , 2pm to meet Anne and talk all things War Of The Roses . That is it for now hopefully see some of you at Linghams , award winning bookshop in Heswall !
Follow us on social media : @ linghamsbooks 0151 342 7290 www . linghams . co . uk
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