One of the great things about books is that everyone has an opinion on them. What one person loves, another can’t abide. (Someone out there likes Fifty Shades Of Grey, for starters). But anyone who – even for a moment – confuses the enthusiasm we may express for one of Ignite’s publications with an inference that another one is somehow second-rate is sadly mistaken. We’re hugely proud of all our books, we believe the writing in all of them is top-notch, and we’d recommend any of them as a tonic to the grey, wet January days that stretch out in front of us.*
Enthusiasm, you see, is what has helped propel Ignite forward over the past few years. Yes, it’s gone hand-in-hand with a fair measure of bloody-mindedness, but without boundless enthusiasm, we’d never have got to where we are now. And where we are now is a place we wouldn’t have dared dream we’d get to when we first dipped our tentative toes into the choppy publishing waters. This past year has seen some notable firsts for us. So we’d like to use this final blog of 2013 to celebrate both the milestones we’ve passed, and the ones that are coming into view.
Top of the list isCity Baby, which became the first of our books to completely sell out its initial print run (bothMud SharksandWild Thinghave come close, but neither of them have quite made it – yet). Thankfully, the 2nd edition arrived at the start of December, just in time for Xmas, and since then we’ve been sending it out to readers across the UK, Europe, USA, and over twenty countries round the world, so far.
We also took out our first ever advert in a magazine. Up till now, all our advertising has been by word of mouth, or social media. Anything which doesn’t cost money. We’ve always needed that elsewhere. Finally, all the hard work we’ve put in meant we were ready to take this next step in raising our game and our profile, so this December we took out a half-page ad in the excellentVive Le Rock(they also reviewedMud Sharksin the same issue, and did a feature onGBH, so we’d have been mad not to). As with everything we do, it’s been a learning curve – there are things we got right, and things we’ll change next time – but it’s been worth it.
Two other milestones are approaching fast. At the time of writing, we’re inching towards 500 likes onFacebookwhich – despite all our reservations about it since their owners monetised everything – remains a valuable way of letting you all know what we’re doing. Far, far more excitingly, we’re also coming up on 500 sales through the online shop on this website. While sales through bookshops (oronline retailers with dodgy employment practices) remain important, our shop allows us to connect directly with you, and we’re chuffed to bits to see it do so well. So we’ll be celebrating reaching this milestone at Ignite Villas by going crazy as only we know how – with another cup of tea and a couple of chocolate biscuits.
Most importantly of all, we’ll be sharing the joy with one lucky customer, who’ll get a whole bunch of extra goodies with their order. That seems like the best possible way to start 2014. The idea is putting a smile on our faces already. Hopefully it’ll put a smile on yours. Or someone you know will strike lucky – so best let them know, eh?
Wishing you all the very best for the coming year. May it be good to us all.
*If you’re reading this in Hawaii, our books are equally comfortable slumming it on the beach. They’re good like that.