Cornwall Secret and Hidden Publishing Campaign

Our Story

Cornwall Writers is a community of writers based in Cornwall, UK. Writing can be a very lonely profession so Cornwall Writers was set up to help authors network with and support each other. We started with just two people in 2017 and have since grown to over 200! Below you can see some of our writers working on their novels during National Novel Writing Month in November 2019.

In January 2021, twenty-six authors got together to embark on our second Cornwall Writers Short Story Project. We started by choosing two words to combine into a theme, open to a wide interpretation, but firmly anchored in Cornwall. The theme became the title – Cornwall Secret and Hidden.

Over the following 15 months we got together to develop our stories. Some of our writerly band have MAs in Creative Writing and helped us to think about character, plot and style development. For others, it was the first time they’d received any feedback on their work.

The final touches and edits were completed in March 2022 and we are now ready to start the publishing journey.

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What We Want To Do

We set up the short story project because we want to encourage and support new writers in Cornwall and help them get published.

We also want to promote creative writing talent in Cornwall and make it easy for readers to find Cornish writers.

We have been developing a directory of Cornish Authors and Cornish Books to get the word out, but we need help to get our second book published.

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Our Book

Cornwall Secret and Hidden is our 2nd book.

Our first book, Cornwall Misfits, Curiosities and Legends was a great success and this book has twice as many authors, stories and pages. We also decided to include black and white illustrations in this book.

There are 28 stories altogether and, despite the common theme, each one is very different to the others. Each author has interpreted the theme in their own particular way, resulting in a wide range of genres, time periods and moods. We also have a play and a few experimental pieces nestling in the pages. Whatever kind of stories you are into, there is something for everyone in our short story collection.

There are ebbs and flows, surprises and entertainment throughout. If you enjoy our stories half as much as we did putting them together, you will fall in love with them!

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What Are We Doing With The Money?

So far, the project has been funded by the authors involved. Now, to bring it to life, we need everyone’s help.

• ISBNs – each book type requires a separate ISBN or barcode to enable Cornwall Writers to publish the book and make it easily available for bookstores to order.

• Book Cover – the amazingly talented Lucy Smith has illustrated our book cover for us. We are committed to creating a book people will enjoy looking at as well as reading.

• Printing – the book is just under 358 pages and will be published in paperback and as an ebook. The print version is 5.5″ x 8.5″ (14cm x 21.6cm) and will be printed to order by Ingram Sparks for wholesale. Both print and ebook versions will incur set up costs.

• Availability – after the fundraising campaign finishes, we hope to sell the book online on our website, in Cornish bookstores and any bookstore specialising in short story collections. Many bookstores sell books on sale or return, so we need to fund the books to be sold.

• Donations to Cornish libraries – we are required to send a copy to the British Library for their records, but we also hope to donate copies to each of the Cornish libraries.

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Costs

Our anticipated costs for the book cover, ISBNs and print set up are about £600. This does not cover the printing costs of the rewards, postage and packaging. These will be charged separately depending on the rewards requested.

We hope to exceed our target so we can order additional books for libraries and for sale and return at bookstores.

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Rewards

In return for a pledge of money, we’ll send you a copy of our book and/or book swag, depending on the amount pledged.