Emma Newman's first novel published

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An author from Shepton Mallet will see her first novel published in May thanks to social media network Twitter.

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   Emma Newman, who secured a publishing deal for her first novel on Twitter
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   The front cover of Emma Newman's new novel 20 Years Later

Emma Newman, aged 35, secured a publishing deal for her novel 20 Years Later, a post-apocalyptic novel for young adults last year. It will be published as an e-book, and available on e-readers such as the Kindle in May and published in hardback on July 5.
The new author has also this year published her first anthology of short stories, entitled From Dark Places, which was published last month and is being launched on at an event on Thursday in Shepton.
Emma was offered a contract for her first novel 20 Years Later, after she began publishing it chapter by chapter in online podcasts, and it was picked up by American publisher Dystopia Press who saw the links she had posted on Twitter.
She said: “Before I had a publishing deal for 20 Years Later I decided to pod-cast the novel a chapter at a time.
“This was partly because I wanted to get it out there to see what people thought and partly because I didn’t want to simply post the text on-line.
“After hearing about another writer’s positive experience with pod-casting, I thought I’d give it a go.
“About three quarters of the way through the book, posting one chapter a week, I got the publishing deal I’d been striving for.
“I negotiated with the publisher who kindly allowed me to keep posting as by then people were following the novel and I didn’t want to let them down.”
Emma, a psychology graduate from Oxford and mum of one, said she is delighted to have secured her first book deal, the first of a three-part trilogy.
20 Years Later follows the fortunes of four survivors struggling to make sense of the new world that is emerging twenty years after the world their parents knew was destroyed.
The author specialises in post-apocalyptic fiction and believes there is an increased interest in this genre at the moment.
She said: “With so much upheaval in terms of the economy and the uncertainty this brings it seems to give people an increased interest in contemplating what the future may hold, especially a fictional future where anything can happen.”
Emma Newman will be holding a book launch for her anthology From Dark Places in Shepton Mallet on May 5 from 7pm-9pm in Chats Cafe on the High Street.

For more details see:  www.enewman.co.uk/20yearslater

From Dark Places