A Newsletter

Each week I write a newsletter to send out to all the customers on our mailing list. I think there are about 3,000 recipients. This is a very useful thing and even if only 10% read it, that's a lot of people who know what's happening at the shop.
Here is this week's Newsletter. I'd be interested if you could let me know what you think? I know it's too long....

Hello,
our comedy night last week was our most popular yet. All tickets were sold out before the event and the shop was filled for a fantastic night of laughter and enjoyment. Thanks to everyone who came along. We put the tickets for next months Comedy Night, which happens on Friday April 13th, on sale on our website here. Alternatively, if you like, you can contact us directly.

This Thursday, March 22nd, it's our Monthly Quiz. Starting at 7pm, there will be six rounds of questions, ranging from books, music, films and art as well as more quirky rounds like celebrity deaths and the dreaded anagrams round. The question master is the brilliant Greg Stekelman (@themanwhofell on Twitter) and it's always a lot of fun.
Here are the rules;
£2 per team member
Maximum of 4 per team
Get there on time.
The winning team will get £25!
Please bring your own refreshments.

The following week is going to be one of our busiest ever. There is something going on every day (sometimes more than one thing).

On Sunday March 25th, it's our regular Boardgames day at the Bookshop. Running from 1pm to 5pm, just come along and join in with one of the great games that are available to play. Carcassonne and Settlers of Catan seem to be current favourites, but if you have a game you'd like to bring along and share with the group, that'd be great. You don't have to stay for the whole afternoon and there's free coffee, tea and biscuits available for everyone. 
On Monday March 26th at 7pm, Jeremy Cassidy is here to help you experience the Alexander Technique. The theme of the evening is 'Reading with Ease', and there will be 3 other Alexander Technique teachers who will be here to give you a short lesson after Jeremy's talk. This is a FREE event.

Our Photography Club meets on Tuesday March 27th at 7pm. It's open to anyone who wants to learn more about photography or who simply wants to take better photos. Each month a subject is chosen by the group to take a photo/photos of to bring to the following meeting. This mont's subject is BLUE.
There is a Flickr Group set up called The Big Green Bookshop Photo Club, which people can download their photos onto as well.
It's £3 a month and refreshments are provided.
Come along if you get the chance.

On Wednesday March 28th at 7pm, we are delighted to be hosting an evening with Merle Hoffman, a pioneer in women's health care since 1971, a staunch defender of abortion rights, an untiring activist and writer around feminist and progressive issues. Merle is over from the states for three days to coincide with the publication of her memoir Intimate Wars. She has countless interviews and radio appearances booked and we are so pleased that The Big Green Bookshop was chosen to be the venue of her only Bookshop talk. She will be talking about and reading from her book and there will be a chance to ask questions too.
This is a FREE event and refreshments wil be available.

Merle's appearance means that for one week only the Writer's Group will be meeting in another venue (to be announced). Keep an eye out on our website for more news about this.

On Thursday March 29th at 7pm, we welcome Stephanie Butland to the shop. In her book 'How I said Bah! to Cancer', Stephanie tells us how she rallied against cancer through thinking strategies, a proactive approach to treatment, and a determination to keep the rest of her life going and retain a sense of humour. Truthful, personal, funny, and above all helpful, you could find 'How I Said Bah! to Cancer' to be the ideal straight-talking best friend to help you along your cancer journey - or support a loved one on theirs.
Stephanie will be reading from her book and will also answer any questions you may have.
This is a FREE event and refreshments will be available.

Friday March 30th at 7pm sees the launch party of Keith Lowe's incredible book Savage Continent; Europe in the Aftermath of World War 2 at the bookshop. In this epic book, Keith describes a continent still racked by violence, where large sections of the population had yet to accept that the war was over. He outlines the warped morality and the insatiable urge for vengeance that were the legacy of the conflict. He describes the ethnic cleansing and civil wars that tore apart the lives of ordinary people from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean, and the establishment of a new world order that finally brought stability to a shattered generation.
Please feel free to join him and his friends as he celebrates publication of this important new title. Refreshments will be served and it is FREE entry.

There's more??
Yes...

Overnight from 6.30pm on Saturday March 31st until 6.30am on Sunday 1st April, there will be a Writer All-Nighter at the Bookshop. The aim of this is to provide you some quiet time to get some writing done and also to meet other writers. We hosted a similar event last November and it was a huge success.
There'll be periods of time dedicated purely to writing and these'll be broken up by some fun activities, to allow you a chance to refresh and take a break from what you're doing.
Things to consider bringing;
Cushions or a blanket. We have a limited supply at the bookshop.
A sleeping bag, if you think you'll want a nap.
Multiplug. We do have some, but it might be worth bringing one along too.
Refreshments. We will be providing some, but bring some along too if you like.
Tickets are £4, which will cover the use of the bookshop and also refreshments. These can be purchased online here or you can get them direct from the bookshop.
You don't have to stay the whole night, nor do you have to turn up when it starts, but we'd appreciate it if you could tell us when you think you'll be getting there. 

We will also be selling books at the North London Literary Festival in Hendon from Tuesday 27th March until Thursday 29th March. Details can be found here, http://www.mdx.ac.uk/aboutus/news-events/literary-festival.aspx and authors appearing include Mark Billingham, Jan Pienkowski (Meg and Mog), Laura Dockrill and Alex Wheatle. If you can't make it but would like signed copies any of the authors' books, please let us know.

So, we'll be quite busy then. But not too busy to say hello if you come to the shop. Which we hope you will.
Have a great week,
Simon, Tim and Katie

London Tales (postcard offer)

We've almost sold out of the brilliant, gorgeous, and extremely tactile London Tales by Greg Stekelman, the book that I published last year. As it's our 4th birthday tomorrow, I persuaded Greg to draw some exclusive postcards to give away with copies of the book. The next five people who buy the book will each get one of these.
They're signed by Greg and are each totally unique.

 Here's an example or two.

This is an example

This is another example.

You can buy the book here or alternatively, from our website.

For those of you who are interested, i'm in negotiation with an author now about my next publishing project, which i'm really excited about. More about that later though.