If, as the saying goes, we really do all have a novel in us,  Anthony Joyce should be our inspiration as to what we should do about it.  Anthony is a great story teller and spent many hours telling long and involved stories to his children when they were young. (He taught them well; now that they are teenagers, they are telling him long and involved stories....). Encouraged by his wife and family, and by a friend who happened to be a publisher, Anthony eventually started writing his stories down, mainly on the 7.36 am train from Tunbridge Wells to London.  When book 1 was finished, his friend tried to get it accepted by a children's publishing house, but with no success.  Not a bit put down, Anthony kept writing until by 2006 he had six finished books under his belt.  Then his friend founded Imprimata Publishers.....

When introduced to Imprimata , Anthony  was delighted to find that for a very modest sum he was able to pass over his word processed manuscript and receive back, in very short order, 3 copies of the first Billy Bonkel book - The Awakening of Billy Bonkel which was published in early 2007.

For this very affordable sum, Imprimata designed a cover, including providing original photogaphic artwork, set-out the book content, registered it with an ISBN number and with Nielsen BookData so it can be purchased via any bookshop, organised the printing on a 'print on demand' basis, and sent the author his first three copies (in one of which was a personal dedication from his friend the publsher. His dream had come true.

Anthony's next step was to give the copies to a number of children and ask them to read it and give him their honest views. Encouraged by this early feedback, Tony then ordered a few more copies 'on demand'  and distributed them to a wider circle of his friends and their children.

From this extended feedback, Anthony was pleased to learn that his story was universally popular, but recognised that the book could benefit from a little editorial input to correct a few errors and keep the language and vocabulary consistent with the age of the target audience. This Imprimata organised and a revised edition was published in the autumn of 2007.

Anthony then decided to take it to the next stage. He ordered a short run of 1,000 copies produced by a more traditional print process and again organised by Imprimata. He has now started to promote his book via his extended work contacts and his local bookshops. He even managed to get an article in one of the main journals for his industry Property Week . He can also often be seen at schools taking an English lesson, inspiring childrens creativity and teaching them to juggle (you need to read the book).

Anthony took advantage of Imprimata's Authors Website service to create a site where he could point people to 'try' the book, either reading or hearing Tony read the first chapter, communicate with Billy via the forum and read Billy's blog. They could also read the wonderful 5* rave notices that the book has attracted on Amazon. And, most importantly, visitors could also buy the book if they liked it. See www.billybonkel.com.

The second book in the series, Billy Bonkel in the Grooldome, was released in April 2008 and the author is busy finalising the other finished titles in the series (and, in between times, continuing to be a successful commercial surveyor) - and has started writing Book7.  Book 3, Biily Bonkel and the Mechanoids will be published in the first half of 2009.

Anthony retains the full publishing rights to his books and is free to move his titles to another publisher at any time. Imprimata simply charges him for services provided and for sales commission when copies are sold.