Happy publisher and a question for you.

Mark 41 Comments

9781472917416I saw my commissioning editor at Bloomsbury, Jim Martin, last week. He seems delighted with me – he even bought me a cup of coffee! Inglorious must be selling well!

We talked about the paperback which will come out next July and will include a brief update on this year, 2015.

But, sensing that Jim was feeling well-inclined to me, I asked him whether Bloomsbury would make available 10 free copies of the book to spread the word – as advocacy copies if you like.

If you had 10 copies of Inglorious and wanted to spread the word about driven grouse shooting, and perhaps get more signatures on the e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting, then what would you do with them?

I have a few ideas but I would be interested in yours – you are such a bright bunch of readers!

Please post suggestions as comments here or if you prefer then email me directly at [email protected]

 

[registration_form]

41 Replies to “Happy publisher and a question for you.”

    1. Alan – thanks for your thoughts. I thought Mark Steel for similar reasons – although he’s funnier too!

  3. I would like to have 2 Hen Harrier and Ban the Burn Open Days on a Saturday,in the Town Centres,1 in Hebden Bridge ,and 1 in Halifax West Yorkshire with 5 Copies of Inglorious being Raffle Prizes in Hebden Bridge and 5 in Halifax.with hopefully Yourself and others maybe a member of N W R P G to Attend there to Spread the Word !! That would be the Perfect way to get to the Local People who we are Missing from this Picture .ie how many Local People read Raptor Politics and the like ! We are really missing a Trick here ! Regards Brian Leecy.

  4. Hi Mark,

    I think I’d use one as a starter to open a dialogue with restaurant critic Jay Rayner. We’ve corresponded in the past, and he’s an intelligent guy who cares about the ethics by which the meat on his table are sourced. Providence appears to matter greatly to him.

    And, of course, he has a wide readership not to mention a platform on BBC R4. It would be fascinating to see how he felt about the far-reaching consequences of restaurants serving grouse.

    Best wishes,

    J

  5. Here’s a left field suggestion: Russell Brand

    He has over ten million twitter followers, has shown an interest in political activism and could reach a new audience if he endorsed the petition for a ban.

  6. – Jeremy Corbyn
    – Banksy
    – Zanny Minton Beddoes
    – Ian Hislop
    – Jim Broadbent (in the hope it would inspire him to write a ‘Sense of History’ type satire about driven grouse shooting)
    – Hugh Fearnley-Whatshisname
    – Stephen Fry
    – Caitlin Moran
    – Joey Barton
    – Gerald Grosvenor (he needs to read it but would be too tight to buy his own)

  7. I would make them available to the various excellent speakers that provide talks to the myriad of naturalist societies up and down the country. They should be donated by the speakers to these groups as “library copies” to be passed around the groups members. That way the message of what’s happening to our Hen Harriers can be delivered by experienced and knowledgeable people and group members can be made aware of what’s going on.
    After last months talk at my local group I asked for a few minutes to be able to address our members and ask them if any of them had signed the government e-petition. I was a little alarmed to discover that none of them had signed the e-petition (apart from the 4 of us who had attended Hen Harrier Day), and amazed that the majority had not even heard about it. From the blank faces staring back at me I would say that most were not even aware of the plight of Hen Harrier’s in this country. I have since emailed our members with details of the e-petition, your blog for information about driven grouse shooting, and with a recommendation to buy your book. I have started a PowerPoint to present to our members with a my own personal view of this abhorrent situation, although I confess that I have pinched some of your data! Hope you don’t mind. I will be once again recommending the purchase of your book, but will also donate mine and my friends copies for the groups use.

  8. Mark Thomas would be an excellent choice. He has history with the issue and did a programme on shooting and hunting where he posed as a toff and uncovered quite a few thoughts on what the shooting fraternity really think.

    2. I didn’t know that either. But perhaps not a complete surprise given that one of his core themes is the rich and powerful writing (or as the case may be breaking) the law according to their own selfish interests.

  9. Harry Syles, his statement to his audience about Sea World has damaged the corporation . Ok, maybe not a totally serious question but he uses social media and 25m followers on Twitter.

    1. Lorraine – all suggestions gratefully accepted. Good ones and others that spark new thinking. It’s a brain storm.

  10. Lots of good suggestions of folk with high profiles and aren’t afraid to champion a righteous cause. Adding my 2 cents I’d suggest Ozzie comedian Adam Hills (presenter of the Last Leg), though I’d certainly add to the voices suggesting Mark Thomas.

  11. Identify 10 water companies and insurance companies and send a copy to the CEOs with a covering letter explaining how they can reduce bills for their customers by reading this book. With lots of follow up social media to name and shame them if they don’t follow up/respond.

  12. I would support Mark Thomas and Jay Rayner and would add:

    Dan Jarvis – one Labour man that may even get me voting for them.
    Nicola Sturgeon – let’s not forget the damage to Scotland’s peat.
    Mariella Frostrup – is that spelt right?
    Prince William

    and on reflection, Harry Styles could be worth a punt as already suggested.

  13. Hi,

    What about a libraries? or Schools?

    They (libraries) tend to be full of caring liberal types. It could even be worth starting a donation page to fund a few more and get the word out. I’ve seen this work very well with other campaigns to get the word out.

    1. I think getting the books into university libraries would be really good. One copy could be sent to heads of environment departments with the promise of more if the subject was to be incorporated into a degree module. The University of Leeds could be a good start.

      I think a donation fund is a great idea.

  14. Slightly off track maybe but I (among with may others I am sure) undertake regular water testing and ARMI Riverfly testing as with my local River (Thame) Conservation Trust. There are so many parallels in your book and your inspirational work with other local issues such as high levels of Nitrates/Phosphates and low range of Riverfly larvae. Similar battles are being fought on other issues with farmers and water companies etc. Your book would act as a catalyst and stimulus to other similar conservation causes – why not use your books to trigger action on some other issues?

  15. Saw Stornaway play a stonking set at Towersey Festival last weekend – all keen birders and they write and sing a lot about birding/wildlife. How about chatting to them an seeing if they might do something – write a song? play a gig at a Hen Harrier Day? They played a small tour or RSPB reserves – might be worth a try?

    1. Great idea Nick, and a great band. Sorry to be pedantic, but they’re called Stornoway, not Stornaway.

      What about Chris Packham’s fellow presenters on Springwatch? I haven’t heard much from them on the HH issue. How about a book each to them and one to the show’s producer?

      1. Thanks Giles – good correction!
        On this line Steve Backshall is President of Berks, Bucks, Oxon Wildlife Trust (and almost held in god like status with my 11 and 7 year old kids!) – could be worth an approach from two angles, firstly to energise the WT Network a bit more and secondly from a Deadly 60 angle – high profile amongst kids, stimulate the younger generation into appreciating the beauty and power of the bird and then want to understand the issue (not sure if using HHs as ‘deadly’ in this context is inflammatory/counter productive?)

  16. 1) Baroness Kathryn Parminter – Lib Dem Deputy Leader in the Lords & Spokesperson for Environment and Rural Affairs
    From 1998 to 2004 she was the Chief Executive of the conservation charity the Campaign to Protect Rural England. Between 1990 and 1998 she worked for the RSPCA, rising from public relations officer to become Head of Public Affairs. She also chaired the Campaign for the Protection of Hunted Animals, which helped to ban hunting, between 1997 and 1998
    2) Jeremy Corbyn – Labour had promised a review of the shooting industry. Could he use this Labour position to draw it to the public attention.
    3) Tim Farron – I sent him a copy but have had no thank you letter yet – I think it is worth sending him another officially. Lib Dems constituencies have the highest average signatures to the petition. You would think the Lib Dem fight back would have to feature the environment after lots of them supported the badger cull, forgot the environment for 5 years and lost lots of votes to the Green Party. I also sent a copy to my MP Alastair Carmichael who has many HH pairs in Orkney. If we all tried to a send a copy to each MP imagine how many would get one. Other Lib Dem people – Ed Davey, Chris Huhne, Norman Lamb, John Pugh MP (before the North West Bird Watching Festival)
    4) National Trust, Wildlife Trust, WWF, John Muir Trust, Friends of the Earth, Green Peace, Ramblers Trust, Hare Preservation Trust, Hunt Saboteurs & badger cull groups – I sent 2 copies to the conservation charity I supported and got a thank you email back saying lots of them were eager to read them but they didn’t despite my nagging sign up as a Hen Harrier Day supporter. 
    5) Northern Chefs – Hairy Bikers would be my first pick.
    6) JK Rowling – Intelligent and just – I think we should have a ban driven grouse shooting thunderclap.
    7) David Attenborough – He’ll be able to recognise how much better a wilder Britain would be without DGS. You should do a bit of filming with him discussing it.
    8) Prince Charles – I’m a forgiving person and would offer reconciliation. If he and sons are serious about climate change, sustainability and wildlife crime it is about time they began talking to us conservationists and addressing the practices of their shooting pals. Prince Charles obviously is willing to educate himself on the environment and if he were to take a responsible look at upland moors then if would surly get some shooters to do the same.
    9) BBC bosses – they surly can do better than a stupidly pro shooting put up job interview on Look North. Surely they should be chatting to you on the breakfast sofa, one show and Countryfile if they weren’t so anti environment (with exception of Wildlife Mag).
    10) SNP The Scottish Government is so much more accessible than the UK Government.

  18. Hi Mark , Sheila Dillon of radio 4 Food Programme might appreciate a copy of Inglorious. She is a solid food journalist who grew up in Chorley, Lancashire, which is just west of Forest of Bowland. Two reasons she will be interested.

  19. How about working with BTO Breeding Bird Survey – book acts as a prize/incentive for more volunteers to commit to surveying at 1km square on Grouse Moor areas – BTO win by getting greater survey coverage, and campaign wins by greater breeding season scientific data?

    Re Stornoway – check out a track called We Are Lost on their Bonxie album – has a sample of Red Grouse in the intro!! They played on Springwatch Unsprung too, interviewed by Chris P!

  20. Jeremy Vine, Dave Gorman and Zac Goldsmith, maybe even consider Boris?

    Bob Geldof, Kirsty Wark and Andrew Sells (the latter is chair of Natural England and is the who is really in charge).

  22. Bit late to this, but Ricky Gervaise is really pushing animal welfare issues and he could really drum up a lot of signatures.

    1. Nick – yes indeed, and they are still arriving by email. I’ll let you know what I do (don’t you worry!).

Comments are closed.