This novella is close to my own heart because it was written by my parents and originally published through The Daily Mail.
I’m publishing it in honour of their memory and all profits will go to of The Alderney Society, who runs the Alderney Museum, Channel Islands.
Filed under Channel Islands, Historical Fiction, History of Alderney
Eventispress hopes to publish the prequel to my debut novel Riduna late on in 2024.
It was written by my parents at the same time as I wrote Riduna, and was published by The Daily Mail in one of their offers to publish a book and print half a dozen copies for the author for £50. There was no ISBN.
Mum and Dad gave out copies to close family members, but they were always concerned that they did not manage to put in any conversation. They tried, but couldn’t quite make it work. When Dad was first suffering with Dementia I thought it might be a great stimulating activity to work on it with them both, but sadly Covid came along and it was impossible to do so.
I decided a year ago to get the novella out again and work on it, as a tribute to both of my parents, who I sadly lost during Covid. Once it had been edited, I sent it over to the Alderney Society to give it a read through, just in case there were any historical bloomers, but then I thought of copyright issues.
First I wrote to The Society of Authors, of which I am a member. They have an excellent team who look into legal matters for their clients. Their response was that I needed permission from my sister, the only other beneficiary of my parents’ estate, but also from the Daily Mail.
I searched through the website of The Daily Mail to find a suitable person to write to. Having chosen the best fit, I worded my email carefully and sent it off, with no idea when I might receive a reply. To my surprise I had a lovely email within a fortnight, giving my permission to go forward for publication, with a statement to write on the copyright page of the books:
“An earlier version of the novella “Heaven on Earth” was published with the Daily Mail in 2009. Permission to republish has been given by the Daily Mail and Christine Rychlewski, Diana’s sister.”
The final step now is a cover designer and off for publication.
Eventually, I will sell the book as a tribute to my parents, Patricia and Arthur Jackson, with all profits to The Alderney Society.
Watch this space!
Filed under Author Diana Jackson, Family History, Publishing your novel, Research
MISSING Past and Present
Diana Jackson 