Both were written by previously-published authors who, for different reasons, were choosing to go the self-publishing route. CPM provided a complete editorial and production package for them, including cover and text design, copy-editing, proofreading and arranging the printing.
Summer of Blue, by Saumya Balsari, was a commercially minded commission with a time-sensitive publishing date. The author had decided to self-publish in order to get her book out in 2013, as the story is partly about British troops in Afghanistan, which are due to leave next year; in keeping with its title, the author was aiming to hit the shelves in the early summer. The story is primarily set in our own home town of Cambridge and has lots of local references, so it held personal relevance to the CPM team, who were delighted with the result and enjoyed the buzzing book launch at Heffers in June.
The other project, The Windsor Caper, had a very different story behind it. It was being produced partly as a personal gift by CPM's client to his cousin, the well-known US author and human rights campaigner, Gerda Weissmann Klein. The story, an amusing romp at Windsor Castle with some history and cultural lessons thrown in, is one Gerda wrote more than 20 years ago but had put aside in the attic. CPM says: "Our client had decided to put it properly in print for her, and his ambitions and ideas developed as we went along. We added in some delightful illustrations and he began to see his American family might well want to make more of the publication now it was looking so good. As we were about to send the book off to print he asked us turn a few of the illustrations into animations and to branch out into the world of animated ebooks. This was a new venture for us, but one that we were more than happy to have an excuse to embark on.
"We are delighted to have been involved in the production of these two titles and wish them both the very best of success."
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