Welcome to the SPF Weekly Write-Up, where each Wednesday we collect together the self-publishing news of the week so you don’t have to.

This week: the shortlist for the Man Booker Prize is revealed, Bruce Campbell chooses to self-publish, and the Florida SPF drinks date is confirmed.

The Man Booker Prize Shortlist

Down from the whopping 13-strong longlist (and an insane 151 submitted titles), we now know which six novels are up for the most prestigious award in literature. They are:

The Testaments, by Margaret Atwood

Quichotte, by Salman Rushdie

An Orchestra of Minorities, by Chigozie Obioma

Ducks, Newbury Port, by Lucy Ellmann

Girl, Woman, Other, by Bernardine Evaristo

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World, by Elif Shafak

The favourite to win is Rushdie, but we’ll know for sure when the prize is awarded on 14th October. You can read more about the entries here.

Bruce Campbell Chooses to Self-Publish

That’s right – cult actor and star of the Evil Dead movies, Bruce Campbell, is choosing to self-publish his next book. When asked by random website 1428 Elm why he’d chosen not to go down the traditional route (as he has with previous books), he replied, “If I’m doing most of the leg work, writing and promoting, I should get most of the money. It doesn’t work that way in publishing.”

So there you go. Everyone’s getting in on it these days. You can read more about Bruce’s book (as well as his movie work) here.

SPF Drinks at NINC 2019

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that SPF would be holding a drinks event in Tampa Bay, Florida in the coming weeks. Well, we have not just a date, but a venue too!

Join Mark, John, James and me (Young Tom) on Thursday 26th September from 19:00 at the Shark Tooth Tavern (5500 Gulf Blvd) for some free drinks and free chat.

Don’t blame us if we’re already sunburned by then.

Tom Ashford

Tom Ashford is a professional copywriter, author of numerous dark fantasy and sci-fi novels, and the Head of Content at the Self Publishing Formula Blog. His books include the Blackwater trilogy and the Checking Out series.

He lives in London with his wife, in an apartment that doesn’t allow pets. Find out more about Tom here.