New book announcement/statistics for June

MANIFOLD PRESS is on its travels again today, so we're bringing you both the new book announcements and the month-end statistics a fraction early. Our two books for 1 August publication are Julie Bozza's BUTTERFLY HUNTER and Jane Elliot's ABOVE ALL. Julie is absolutely indefatigable and is turning out new work at a truly phenomenal speed; BUTTERFLY HUNTER is the tale of two young men brought together by chance - or is it? - by a gentle but nonetheless life-changing adventure in the Australian outback. Jane is returning to us after a taking break to deal with other matters, and ABOVE ALL, her book this time, focuses on a clash of temperaments between eccentric genius Jasper and Brian, the homeless man he takes responsibility for after an accident brings them together. We are very happy once more to have two such diverse and intriguing books to present to you, and we're certain that they will both prove to be very popular! To conclude, here are the sales statistics for June; there was no overall best-seller from the website this month, with UNSPOKEN and THE WALLED GARDEN selling in precisely equal numbers - which is just as it should be! Average response time was respectable enough at three hours and 48 minutes.

First review of 'Unspoken'

The good people at Speak Its Name have done us proud with another carefully-considered review, this time by Michael Joseph who reports on R.A. Padmos's new book UNSPOKEN.

We're bound to agree with the reviewer when he says:

This is a hard book to categorize, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it makes it hard to suggest who the audience might be. It’s hard to call it romance, given the angst-ridden nature of the main character. You certainly wouldn’t call it erotica. The descriptions of the men’s many sexual encounters are as quick and furtive as the encounters themselves. It’s decidedly un-erotic. As history, much of it rings true...

It's far from a straightforward book, as the reviewer says, but we believe it provides a fascinating and valuable insight into a little-known aspect of gay history.

Statistics for May

There was no overall best-selling title in May; to our delight, UNSPOKEN and THE WALLED GARDEN sold in precisely equal numbers - and we can also report that FOX HUNT has been selling like hot cakes through our distribution partners. Average response time was a steady five hour and 39 minutes. Both the books for publication on 1 August are now back from their proof-readers and we are ready to move on to the next stage with them. Meanwhile, progress is also good on our titles for 1 November publication and we are already starting to make some tentative plans for next February - where does the time go? (Actually, we can testify that we spend at least 90% of it sitting at various keyboards ... )