ACPR Blog

The Bexhill and Hastings Observer have been very nice about my new books:

THERE appears to be no stopping inspirational Bexhill author Antonia Chitty, who, following on from the success of her previous two books, ‘A Guide to Promoting Your Own Business’ and, ‘Family Friendly Working’, has just launched a further two books entitled, ‘What To do When Your Child Hates School’ and, ‘Special Educational Needs – A Parents Guide’; which she wrote in conjunction with Special Needs teacher Victoria Dawson.

Explaining how she and Victoria came to write the book, Antonia said: “This book arose because my friend Victoria - who is a Special Educational Needs Teacher in Rotherham - kept saying she had really good ideas for practical help books. (more…)

There was an interesting email interchange on th UKPress group today about using clippings on your website, which is useful for anyone running a small business and trying to get PR coverage. Journalist Stephen Pritchard came up with some good advice, “If you post the whole article, whether a scan, a PDF or posting the text as HTML, you need a copyright agreement with the paper. In general the nationals will grant this, as long as they in turn own the copyright or have a syndication agreement with the contributor. They will ask for a fee. This will vary according to the piece and its use, but it is usually from about £50 to a few hundred pounds. Best people to speak to are in syndication or for a smaller title, the publisher.” 

Family Friendly Working: Inspiring ideas for making money when you have kids by Antonia Chitty

Publication date 18 February 2008

Every mum makes a tough decision about returning to work after having a baby. Having a second child can make the cost of childcare outweigh what you earn. And it’s hard to combine being there for your schoolchildren with a full time job. Mother and small business advisor Antonia Chitty has put together a guide for parents which is full of case studies and ideas for finding work that fits comfortably around having kids. She advises not only on starting a business, but also on working for someone else or freelancing, with lots of advice, pros and cons and contributions from other parents who have been there before. If you have had enough of trying to do too much in too little time, and feel torn between work and spending time with your children, this book will guide you through the options. Do you make something that might be saleable? Have you got a skill you could use to earn in the evenings or while the children are asleep? What courses might help you retrain AND still be there when the kids get home from school? Whether you need to earn something just to boost the family budget or have ideas for a business that could support your family if only you knew how to get started, this is the book for you. Buy it now from www.familyfriendlyworking.co.uk, www.acpr.co.uk or www.amazon.co.uk. Order from your local bookshop, quoting ISBN 978 1 905410 26 2 

Family friendly working is officially out on 18^th Feb, but we have had some coverage in advance in Prima AND Prima Baby magazines, as well as a review in Families Magazine.

Review of Family Friendly Working from Families magazine

If you find yourself, as so many mothers do, back in the office trying to squash five days work into four, not seeing your children as much as you’d like while spending almost your entire salary on childcare, this is the book for you.

Family Friendly Working principally sets out a list of options open to the mother (or father) who intends to work but doesn’t want to miss out on her child’s early years. From turning a cake-making hobby into a thriving business, to training as an antenatal teacher or becoming a house-to-house rep for an established company, the suggestions are limitless. It also covers the basic principles of setting up your own business such as applying for patents and protecting copyrights, finding manufacturers and creating websites. A thorough list of web addresses provides back-up support and ideas, all for occupations that can fit neatly into family life. Although the book concentrates on setting up your own business in some form, whether it be selling knitted tea cosies over the internet or buying your own franchise of Monkey Music, it also offers valuable advice on negotiating a better working situation with your existing employers through flexi-time, job sharing and compressed hours, an option definitely worth considering. It’s not all rosy out there in the world of the small business, as the author points out, but with some compromises having both a family and a job – and enjoying both – can be done. FSW Rating: Four Stars

If you combine work and a family, you will enjoy Working Mothers - the Essential Guide by Denise Tyler (£8.99 Need2Know Books) I started the book expecting that there would be little new in it for me - I’d already researched plenty of information for working parents as part of my book, Family Friendly Working. The first few chapters on Flexible Working, Childcare and Starting Your Own Business were the ‘essential guide’ as advertised, full of clear facts presented in an easy to read way, perfect for someone returning to work after maternity leave and wanting to gen up.

I found the second part inspiring and interesting. And if, like me, you have been juggling conflicting demands for years, this is the part that will make the book worth buying. Denise, a working mother herself, manages to get the right level of inspiration and encouragement, gently coaching worn down working mums on subjects such as Your Health, Staying Positive and that old favourite, Guilt. I managed to read the book in stolen moments on the train: it is light enough to slip in your bag and browse when you have a chance.

I got a call from the publishers of my book, Family Friendly Working to say that they have the first copies in, which is exciting. I am looking forward to a few copies landing on my doorstep. It is still a couple of months until the official release dates, but early copies will go out to the press for reviews.

I’m enjoying reading The Greatest Freelance Writing Tips in the World by Linda Jones. It is in a lovely format – a small hardback, about 6″ by 4″ - and written in short snappy sections which makes it easy to read. It is inspiring and motivating, and reminded me how to sharpen up my pitches. However, the shortness of some of the sections can make some of the content seem a little disjointed. It can be frustrating just when you get interested to find that the book has moved onto the next topic. Jones is at her best in some of the longer sections. The chapter on Writing for the Internet is one of the best, and probably worth buying the book for by itself. I’m finally clear on exactly why blogging is such a good tool to boost your website’s profile, and what a Permalink is. Linda Jones is a prolific blogger, and this shows in this section of the book. Read her latest updates to her blog for parents of twins and more, You’ve Got Your Hands Full or find out more Freelance Writing Tips in her blog of the same name. 

The book is very practical, and you can see that Jones has years of experience in the media. She has written for local papers, worked in PR, and currently freelances for a range of newspapers and magazines. Buy the book if you want to get paid for writing, and need some pointers about the best way to achieve this. It will be £6.99 well invested.

Other useful books for aspiring writers which I’d recommend:

The Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook, The Writer’s Handbook, and the Media Directory are all handy references. Each has its strong points, they all have good information written by well informed people in the media, and will clue you in on how to get started. If you want to find a media contact the guides can be a starting place, although as they only come out once a year contacts may not be up to date.

My new book, Family Friendly Working, has its first review. The Bookseller magazine previews books so the book trade can get orders in pre-publication. Their reviewer writes:

“Many parents have to make tough decisions about returning to work after having a baby. So there is excellent potential for this guide in which a mother and small business advisor shares her ideas for finding work that fits comfortably around having kids.” The Bookseller Caroline Sanderson