Dear readers,
I'll get this out of the way early: I won that award last week, so am 'Young Entrepreneur of the Year' in the Scarborough area for 2017. Perhaps the best part (besides the trophy, which you can see here) is having confirmation that I am a) an entrepreneur, and b) young, both of which have I have occasionally doubted in the last few months. In fact, with the announcement that I will become eligible for a Young Person's Railcard again in April, I feel younger than I have for some time!
Richard Askew (designer of the VP website, and last year's winner) noted that, since its inauguration, this award has almost exclusively been won by people in the creative industries, which I think bodes well for the future of Scarborough as a 'creative hotspot'. If you've never been to our part of the Yorkshire coast, you're missing out – it's got everything you could need, plus the sea and dramatic landscapes. Think of an excuse and get yourself over here! It's good enough for David Dimbleby...
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Returning to the job in hand, we have a competition running at the moment in which you could win £200 worth of Valley Press books, just in time for Christmas. It's actually a competition/offer, so everyone wins really! If you buy a book through our website before noon on December 18th, using the code HAMPER, you'll get 15% off your order and you'll be entered in a draw to win every single one of these brilliant publications:
They've been selected so there's something to appeal to every friend/family member you could possibly encounter during the festive season... assuming you don't just keep the lot for yourself, of course. You'll notice all of our hardbacks are in there, including the limited-edition, signed and numbered versions of Madame Bildungsroman and Take This One to Bed. We've also included both of our titles which are suitable for young children, if you can tear them away from whatever strange bleeping, whizzing items they acquire on the 25th.
Please note that the VP office will be closing at 5.30pm on the 21st December, so make sure any orders are placed in plenty of time for our last post trip that afternoon (but ideally, before the 18th so you can enter the prize draw mentioned above). We'll re-open on January 2nd, probably well after lunchtime I'd imagine...
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One last thing: assuming blizzards haven't frozen the city solid, we'll be in Waterstones York from 7pm today (Friday 1st) for Ian Stuart's Quantum Theory for Cats launch. Ian is presently employed as a Ghost Trail guide, and also dabbles in voiceover work, so you're guaranteed a good show and some fantastic readings; do try and make it if you can.
Bearing in mind his experience, I drafted Ian into Tom Townsend's studio (check out his new single, very groovy) on Wednesday to record an audiobook version, which will hopefully be available in the next few weeks. For a sneak preview, there's a video here of Ian reading the title poem... hope it gives you a quick laugh. Only some knowledge of quantum mechanics is required to get all the jokes, but I know you're well-versed in such things. If not, you soon will be!
Next week: our last, surprise, festive publication of 2017 will finally be revealed. *drumroll*
All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher
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