Welcome to the April 2015

Dernier Publishing newsletter

Dernier Publishing is a publisher of Christian children's books. All our books aim to encourage and inspire children and teens in their faith and show non-church kids what they are missing!

What can you buy for £5.99?

• A house plant
• A box of chocolates
• Have your car washed
• An Easter egg for your dog (I'm not joking!)
• A good book

For some families, these non-essentials are totally out of reach. If you know a family for whom you know (or suspect) money is tight, why not reach out with a gift of books? Books change lives – be part of it! If you would like us to send books to an address other than yours, that's not a problem, just let me know: info@dernierpublishing.com. Always glad to help!
 

Where can I buy Dernier books?

I received an encouraging email from a satisfied customer: “I have previously purchased all the Mary Weeks Milland Books via Amazon, so was very pleased to be referred by a friend to a more 'ethical' source.” Yes, please do buy our books from your local Christian bookshop or from our own website if you can – we need your support and every bit helps! Amazon does help us out in that our ebooks are instantly downloadable all over the world, even in places where we would be unable to ship our printed books, so we are grateful for this. Still, if you can support direct sales, it's a great help because it means we can put the money back into producing more books! You can find your local Christian bookshop here: http://www.christianbookshops.org.uk/ or buy from our website here: www.dernierpublishing.com/youthf.php

Could you send books to children abroad?

Many children from poor backgrounds are desperate to get an education to better themselves and help their families. I was delighted to receive this news from a supporter: “My sponsored boy in Uganda and his brothers and sisters have particularly enjoyed I want to be an Airline Pilot, Living in Hope and Under the Tamarind Tree.”

I have recently been put in touch with a shipping organisation who ship aid and goods to Christian charities and NGOs all over the world . . . so if you have an idea to get books to a school or children's home desperate for resources but don't know how it would work in practice, get in contact with me and we'll see if we can make it work. As Shema learns in I Want to Be An Airline Pilot, 'the Lord will make a way where there seems to be no way'. :-) This is the testimony of Dernier Publishing, start to finish!

How far do your books go?

Some of our books are going to be setting off for Uganda soon, and some to Gibraltar! The books to Gibraltar are going to schools with Speaking Volumes, who encourage churches to get Christian books out into their communities. You can find more about them here: http://www.speakingvolumes.org.uk/

The books going to Uganda are following my meeting with Dickens Zziwa, National Director of Scripture Union Uganda – so many thanks to all of you who prayed for the meeting! I will be shipping a box of books quite soon – if you would like to donate a book or two, let me know. The needs are great and SU do a fabulous job – you can read more here: http://suuganda.org/ Every child is precious, wherever they live – we are delighted to be able to reach a brand new audience in these places.

Is Write for a Reason still running?

The new course started 13^th April – I won't be running another one until July now, but if you know anyone who writes Christian stories for children aged 8-14-ish, please point them in the direction of www.write-for-a-reason.com. I started this initiative to encourage unpublished writers and to help them with common problems I see with manuscripts. I am also planning a monthly subscription programme for a very small cost, with teaching at a more in-depth level. This will include a 'webinar', where I will go over the teaching and anyone can ask questions on the topic. Please email me if you are interested: janet@dernierpublishing.com. The harvest is ready!

When will the new books be out?

The City Kid is moving along slowly but surely. Beech Bank Girls 4 will be with us in paperback next month! Both BBG4 and A Pennyworth of Peppermints have been nominated for the prestigious Christian Resources Awards – I will of course let you know how that goes. :-)

Anything else new?

Nothing ever stands still, least of all me! I am currently doing a course in Digital Marketing which sometimes makes my brain ache :-) and I also participated at a forum for Christian European publishers earlier in the month. Please pray that good will come from each of these – that it will help me to get our books where they are needed. It's very early days yet, but two or three publishers seemed genuinely interested in translating our books into their own languages. These included Russian and Croatian – please do pray for this, as it would be an amazing next step for us to reach non-English speaking children.

Sometimes I stand back and am totally overwhelmed how far Dernier has come. At other times I'm frustrated that sales are so slow! Thank you for standing with me in the good and the bad. Every book in a child's hands is a miracle and I'm grateful to you for your support and your prayers.

May the Lord bless you!

Janet

Janet Wilson, founder of Dernier Publishing and Write for a Reason.

PS If you haven't already clicked on something, why not come over to one of our facebook pages: www.facebook.com/writeforareason and/or www.facebook.com/dernierpublishing? Be lovely to see you there!