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Leslie Noble – a professional editor for your manuscript

Les 3This post has been edited on the 24th of March 2020. We have just learned of the death of Les Noble, with whom we have worked very closely for several years. We would like to keep this post as it stands, as a tribute to Les.

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P’kaboo Publishers make it a principle not to publish an un-edited manuscript, and Les Noble is their chief editor. Since his schooldays, Les has had an interest and a skill in language, and at the University of South Africa he gained a BA with English and Communication as majors. Apart from a career in banking, he has been a freelance writer for various publications, a part-time lecturer at three colleges, and is the author of five published fantasy novels with one more on the way. His novels have been acquired by libraries and universities, and one of them is featured in the Journal of Commonwealth Literature.

Les also makes his editorial services available to writers independently of P’kaboo. So what could he offer you? In his own words:

I can offer fully professional services in proofreading (highlighting of errors for correction by the writer), copyediting (effecting corrections with the option to accept, reject or modify), or rewriting (presenting the given material more accurately and efficiently).

I can also offer layout and formatting services, for technical or advertising documents, general books and novels, or for eBooks.

Endorsements are not freely given to editors, unfortunately.  I wish I had recorded some of the many complimentary remarks, in emails from writers or in the margins of books or documents I have worked on, but I can fall back on a few of the ‘Acknowledgements’ printed in some of the novels and other books I have edited:

‘… I would also like to thank my editor, Les, for his input …’

‘… Leslie Noble for many valuable edits and corrections …’

‘… especially Les Noble for his patience and professionalism during editing …’

‘…my editor Leslie Noble for his amazing patience and commitment, the generosity with which he shares his first-hand knowledge of sailing, and wonderful sense of humour …’

Agency client Marie Marshall told us recently:

‘Les Noble has edited two of my books and is about to edit a third… He has the eye of a hawk and a mind like a steel trap, but what was remarkable was the way he involved me in the process, so that at the end of the day each book felt as much mine as it ever did.’

That sensitivity to the author’s ‘voice’ is typical of Les’s editorial work, and it is his policy to keep his fees at a low and competitive level. If you would like his professional services, please get in touch via this agency.

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Any advertisements below are the responsibility of the platform, and should not be taken as an endorsement by this agency.


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Luke Bitmead Bursary

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The Luke Bitmead Bursary is an annual award set up to support and encourage the work of fledgling novel writers. The award, now in it’s 7th year, is the UK’s biggest prize for unpublished authors. Read all about it at the Legend Press blog. Submissions are now open for the 2014 award. 

Luke Bitmead 300dpiThe bursary was set up by Luke’s family shortly after Luke’s sudden and tragic death in 2006, aged just 34. Luke was the first novelist to be published by Legend Press, who are delighted to work with Luke’s family each year on the award to honour his memory and help reduce the stigma attached to mental health issues. The top prize is a publishing contract with Legend Press, as well as a £2500 cash bursary.

Luke is the author of the brilliant White Summer, and also two novels published posthumously: The Body is a Temple and Heading South (co-authored by Catherine Richards). Information about Luke can be found at his web site.

If any of you do enter into correspondence with Legend, please don’t forget to mention where you heard of this. Thanks.


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‘Pub Talk’ by David Tich Ennis – launch date!

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If you can make it to Wicklow, Ireland, on 12th April, be sure to do so, and drop in to Bridge Street Books where Pub Talk, the new book by poet David Tich Ennis, will be launched. It all kicks off at 3pm sharp, and the advanced publicity says ‘All welcome – Hear a song, a poem, a reading – Bring friends!’ Or, as David himself puts it:

When yesterday is two weeks

Come one, come all,
come everyone,
you’re welcome,
do drop in

Wine and words are waiting there,
drink up,
it is no sin.

Some of you are far away,
you cannot make the scene,
be there in spirit, anyway,
welcome to a dream.

What kind of poet is David Ennis. Well, the jingle above shows a touch of his sense of humour. He has a simple approach, writes for the person in the street, in the pub, on the bus, on the hill; he has a sense of mockery that is a bit hard on himself but gentle on others. If you’re lucky, he might bring the bloke with the gong…


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‘The Everywhen Angels’ by Marie Marshall – now available worldwide!

Angels Amazon coverMarie Marshall‘s stunning second novel, The Everywhen Angels, is now available worldwide in print and in Kindle format from Amazon, and direct from the publisher in eBook form. P’kaboo Publishers, for whom this agency is the UK ‘face’ is an indie publisher from South Africa. Though they might not have the clout, nor the advertising budget, of larger companies, they are in no way a ‘vanity publisher’. They offered Marie a commercial contract for her first two novels, Lupa, and The Everywhen Angels, and commissioned her to write a teen-vampire novel (From My Cold, Undead Hand – possibly to be published later in 2014). However, as a small publisher, P’kaboo acknowledges that it is in many ways a ‘first step’ for authors, and that if they can have their books taken up by one of the larger publishing houses then they should do so. P’kaboo’s blessing to them and recommendation to the other publisher can be taken for granted.

So, this agency’s next task is not only to promote the novel to readers, but also to UK publishers – starting here and now. If you’re reading this and are from a publishing house in the UK, the USA, or anywhere in the English-reading world, you have your next  YA best seller right here!

The novel was written in response to a lively discussion Marie Marshall had with friends about the merits of a series of books by a fellow Scot, set in a school for wizards. Responding to a challenge, she wrote an intriguing story, full of twists and turns, setting it in a Comprehensive school somewhere on the outskirts of London, in which groups of teenagers appear to find themselves coming together to skirmish on what might turn out to be the battlefield of Armageddon. But does this really have anything to do with the ‘End Times’? They struggle with teenage problems – relationships, bullying, parents, and each other – whilst trying to make sense of a world in which sense becomes harder to grasp. The plot twists, turns, runs backwards, contradicts itself, asks very deep philosophical questions, but still turns out to be enthralling and enjoyable. The author takes risks with it, but she says: “I believe children can handle difficult philosophical questions. They can handle stories told in a strange way. Young readers are much more intelligent than adults give them credit for.”

Publishers – get in touch, don’t let this opportunity slip by. Here are some comments about the novel.

Nikki Mason at BestChickLit.com says:
“… Three extraordinary kids. Three astounding stories. What will you believe? Angela is just an ordinary teenager until the day she falls through a fence at school into the alternative reality of the Guardian Angels, a group of twelve teens who are tasked with protecting people in the build up of the final war between good and evil. But no one will answer Angela’s question: why? Charlie knows he is special. Of course he’s a Guardian Angel. But he is also a Yellow – the GA’s rivals who try to prevent all their good work. But why is everyone suddenly ignoring him? Ashe is diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome and yet he can open doors between worlds and time. He understands what it really means to be a Guardian Angel but can he cope with the knowledge alone?

Marie Marshall tackles big subjects in The Everywhen Angels from religion and science to war and politics. All this rages on in the foreground of the lives of three teenagers who are trying to find their place in their world and be comfortable in their own skin. Action packed, full of crazy tangents, incredible ideas and stunning description, the novel is completely different to anything I have read before. It can at times be confusing, but bear with the story – the mind-boggling themes and plot diversions will be explained and will feed the curious minds of young adults…”

Other readers comment:

“… the book is something special. The characterisation is convincing. The narrative is entertaining and gripping, but at the same time shows a wealth of knowledge and research and introduces challenging food for thought on abstract matters…”

“… The Everywhen Angels by Marie Marshall is told through the eyes of three different teenagers in a school somewhere in England, as they take on the function of angels. They discover along with a small band of others that they have supernatural abilities which they are obliged to keep secret, however. How they put these abilities to use, for good or bad, that is the matter of the story. This book challenges its reader to face deep, existential questions; about life, the nature of the universe, the ‘ending times’ and what they mean (from several different perspectives); what is good and what is bad, or is there, and if so, by which right or logic do we interfere in what happens to others. The story left me feeling somewhat rattled and as though my cupboard of philosophies has received a good airing and spring-cleaning, and I now need to put things back and decide what to keep.  It is an excellent book; one of those ‘clingy’ ones that stays with you for days after because you have to think about it…”


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‘The Swan Prince’ by Mart Sander – Looking for a theatre company!

Swan Prince 231 October 1893, St Petersburg. Eight prominent men, one-time school classmates of the composer Tchaikovsky, have gathered to pass sentence on the man, summoned before their ‘court of honour’. For many of his contemporaries, the composer has been walking on thin ice for some time; his association with the shadier side of St Petersburg and his numerous affairs with teenage boys are no longer a secret in society. They threaten the composer with public exposure, disgrace to his family, and the certainty that his music will be banned. Alternatively, an escape route is offered: should Tchaikovsky agree to ‘the honourable way out’, taking arsenic in careful doses over the next three days, the brotherhood will secure his position as the greatest Russian composer for all times. So runs the theory…

The playwright who conceived the drama of The Swan Prince, Mart Sander, is a well-known musician, artist, author, TV host, and impresario from Estonia. Sander fell in love with Tchaikovsky’s music in his early childhood and has often performed it on the stage. According to him, there is no great conflict in the life of the composer: “Sin and virtue are concepts which are not only conventional but also variable. If sin – or more particularly, the public agreement on that particular sin – fuels the element of creativity, ignites the flame where noble and valuable things are forged, then perhaps it is we who have to renew our standpoint.”

urlIn his play, Mart Sander goes a step further from the current theories about the composer’s death. He suggests that that the eight people involved were not acting merely to protect their alma mater, but rather themselves. In The Swan Prince everyone who passes sentence on Tchaikovsky has a purely selfish motive. He also suggests that real cruelty is not so much to attack your victim’s jugular and rip him apart, but to kill your friend with a smile on your lips, in an emotionless, methodical, matter-of-fact manner.

The Swan Prince, written in English, is available for performance in theatres worldwide. Please contact this agency if your theatre company would be interested in performing it.


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News, 10th December 2013

everywhen_angelsWith a fanfare, we can announce that Marie Marshall‘s new novel aimed at older children and teenagers, The Everywhen Angels, is now published. It tells a story of kids in a comprehensive school on the outskirts of London, who find themselves with strange powers. Perhaps they are the first skirmishers in the great battle of Armageddon – but how would they know? Despite their visions and their adventures, they have to deal with the normal stuff of teenage life – homework, parents, bullying, dating, not talking to strangers, bereavement and so on. But do they really know what is going on? Angela, the poet with the questioning mind believes they don’t; hers is the first pair of eyes through which we see the story. Charlie, her boyfriend, is a young man with a vision – but does he really appreciate the trouble he’s in? He tells his story backwards, from the last scene to the first and makes the reader question what is good and what is evil. Ashe is the youngest and smallest of the group – diagnosed with Asperger’s, he is in fact the key to everything. But that isn’t to say his path is easy. The novel is not just a fantasy adventure. It’s action breaks the rules of time, encompassing murder, a bomb outrage, a flood which engulfs London, and the Battle of Waterloo; it’s themes include guilt, courage, cowardice, and delusion. The author says of it: “I believe children can handle difficult philosophical questions. They can handle stories told in a strange way. Young readers are much more intelligent than adults give them credit for.”

The Everywhen Angels is available direct from P’kaboo publishers in eBook form, with possibly more formats becoming available in due course.

anairthatkills-jpgAlso newly published is a short work by erotic writer Morgana Somerville. Her An Air That Kills is available at HoneyMead Books. It traces, in four episodes, the lives of a petty aristocrat, Alicia, and a country girl, Emma from the Edwardian era to the Second World War. As a girl, Emma is taken on as maid to Alicia – they become more like playmates than mistress, eventually explore their sexuality together. Through Alicia’s marriage, cut short by the First World War, via her flirtations with a crowd of ‘intellectual’ women in the 1920s and Emma’s erotic encounter with the lovely Mrs Patel, to the Alicia’s mental disintegration under the pounding bombs of the London Blitz, the two women find, lose, and find love again – but will the story end in tragedy?

Both of these books, and maybe others, will be added to out ‘Bookshelf‘ page soon.


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News Items, 24th November 2013

phoenix22 Our client Marie Marshall reports that The Phoenix Rising from the Ashes, the first major anthology of sonnets of the early third millennium is now published. Marie is Deputy Editor of this magnum opus; details can be found here, and will be up-dated as often as necessary. There are still some eBook copies of Marie’s novel Lupa available for free download at P’kaboo Publishers; look for the link which says ‘Winning Title! Limited Free Download’.

Marie also reports that her novel for older children, The Everywhen Angels, is still in the preparation stage. She has finished her new teen-vampire novella, and is in talks not only with her publisher, but also with an illustrator with a view to presenting it as a graphic novel. More news as it is available.

The Aval-Ballan Poetry Competition is long over, but occasionally their web site receives selfies from the prizewinners with their prizes. Here’s one from Sam Smith.

There is a new concern that hosts selected books with an adult content. It goes under the name of HoneyMead Books, and you can find its wed site by clicking the logo at the bottom of this update. It is by no means a come-as-you-please self-publishing site. Ian Rossouw of HoneyMead says that each book  they publish as an eBook will be carefully vetted for strong story-lines that must take the forefront. Also all books that go through HoneyMead Books still undergo editing etc. as with every traditional publisher and unlike self-publishing sites. Worth keeping an eye on this publisher if you write adult-themed fiction.

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