The author of self-published novel
The Farthing Mark, a story about a rural community
on the South Downs of England set at the end of the 19th
century, has a special interest in the late Victorian era
and its social conventions.
East Sussex member, Bunny Mitchell, Bexhill, has written
four novels, all set during this period, each one taking
injustice, particular to the period and often the result
of ignorance, as a theme.
She decided to take the self-publishing route after being
turned down by several agents who whilst rejecting her fourth
novel as ‘not commercial’ made encouraging comments.
‘It seemed a pity to leave it to languish in a drawer,’
says Bunny, who lived and wrote for many years in Spain
and the US.
‘
The
feedback I have received from readers has been so good that
sometimes I wonder if I should have kept trying to find
a trade publisher,’ she admits, ‘but seeing
my work from manuscript into print has been exciting.’
She
has, however, found the marketing a challenge and was pleased
when local media coverage resulted in requests for The
Farthing Mark from her local library.
‘Sales have been good, both in and out of the county,’
she says. ‘The fact that it was a regional novel helped
to generate interest that I might not otherwise have had.’
Bunny, who used a print-on-demand company she saw advertised
in the pages of WN has already sold all the original
copies and is thinking about ordering more.
