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Author leads own publishing team

Successful children’s writer Rosalind Kerven, author of more than 50 children's books for publishers as diverse as Dorling Kindersley, British Museum Press and Frances Lincoln, has set up a publishing house called Talking Stone to produce her own seven-part historical fiction series, The Grim Gruesome Stories. She is side-stepping the big publishing houses to produce her new series with her own freelance team of editor, designer and illustrator.

‘Like an actor moving into directing films, this offers the perfect opportunity to produce and market this project in exactly the way I want,’ Kerven says. ‘I know there are many other experienced authors out there who will be watching closely to see if the 'author-led publishing team' model is one they could successfully follow.’


The first title, The Cursed Sword, will publish in February 2008 with a launch at the Jorvik Viking Festival in York, England. The cycle of seven character-led books is set in the Viking age and based on an evil, child-hating villain. Rosalind’s imprint, Talking Stone, is named after a Native American myth about the origin of stories.