When a beloved figure in their eighties dies, family, friends and colleagues are left with a sense of loss and sadness. But when Michael O’Brien died last month, the publishing and children’s books communities in Ireland were not only bereft but were rocked by shock. Michael O’Brien simply wasn’t supposed to die. He was not so much driven by the life force like the rest of us — he seemed actually to embody the life force.
Books Create Waves: Little Island has had a (little) makeover
Dear friends and readers It’s been over a decade since Little Island first rose up out of the depths to appear on the horizon. A lot has changed since then, on the island and in the world, and so the island-dwellers started to feel that they needed a little change. So we’ve been working away Continue Reading →
The Making of the Carousel Lantern
by Lucy Kelly-Desmond In this special guest blog post, author and illustrator Lucy Kelly-Desmond shares the inspiration for her book The Horse, the Stars, and the Road (out now) and how she created the beautiful carousel lantern which we see in the story. You can see the real lantern along with Lucy’s illustration at the Continue Reading →
When books cross borders
Bonjour! Little Island aspires to expand our own perspectives and those of our readers by publishing books in translation. A look at our catalogue reveals that we have published a dozen international titles. This is not typical of publishers in the English-speaking world, however. We often hear that only 3% of the books published in Continue Reading →
A look at bookshops in Ireland and France
Bonjour! Jen Campbell’s The Bookshop Book, Roger Michell’s Notting Hill, Isabel Coixet’s The Bookshop, Jenny Colgan’s The Bookshop on the Corner … Bookstores and booksellers are not only in the streets but also on our shelves and our screens … Last week many real-life bookshops across Ireland welcomed customers into their stores for the first Continue Reading →
Special(ised) agents
Bonjour! Morton L. Janklow, Andrew Wylie, Marie Brown … These names might sound familiar: they are all well-known American literary agents who represent famous authors such as Danielle Steele, Salman Rushdie or Susan Taylor. But aren’t publishers and editors enough to bring books to life? What are literary agents for? What is a literary agent? Continue Reading →
Don’t judge a book by its size
Bonjour! If you come from an English-speaking country you might notice something when you walk into a French bookshop, or rather a lack of something… Where are the hardback novels? At home, they are usually prominently displayed in bookshop windows and on front-of-store tables; where are they in their French counterparts? Hardback vs. Paperback For Continue Reading →
Not one, but two rentrées littéraires!
Bonjour! Today, I’d like to kick off this series of blog posts with an article that will help you understand what happens in French bookshops each year. Rentrée littéraire d’automne: the traditional publishing boom Like every other country, France has its own characteristics when it comes to publishing. One of these is the rentrée littéraire, Continue Reading →
Ready for a publishing journey?
Bonjour everyone! As its collection of international books suggests, Little Island is curious about the world and believes in the benefits of travelling, getting to know different cultures and broadening one’s mind. I am living proof of this! Let me introduce myself: I am Aurélie, a French student in publishing at the University of Strasbourg. Continue Reading →
The Mother of all blog tours!
If you follow us on any of our social media channels, you’ll know that our wonderful author Patricia Forde was touring this month – without even leaving her home! Eight brilliant blogs invited Patricia for interviews and conversations, discussing everything from her writing process and finding an agent, to world building and how she created Continue Reading →
