Behind the scenes

Books that provide an escape by Sue Moorcroft

I love books that carry me away. Some provide armchair travel, which is something I’ve valued more than usual in the past couple of years, but others take me to a different time or headspace. Here are five that have stayed with me. Tempted by the Runes by Christina Courtney… Read More

A look ahead: Avon’s 2022

A look ahead: Avon’s 2022  Another year has come and gone, and what a year it has been. 2021 has been fantastic for Avon and 2022 is already shaping up to be a year of firsts for our award-winning imprint.  Million-copy bestseller C.L. Taylor returns in January with the paperback… Read More

21 Highlights of 2021

It’s that time of the year when we look back on all that we achieved in the last 12 months and look forward to the next. 2021 was a fantastic year of Avon.  In 2021, we published 55 books We read seven books for our Team Avon… Read More

Going to the Flicks in 1941

Pam Lecky, author of Her Secret War, discusses film in 1941. Like most young people in the forties, my heroine, Sarah Gillespie, in Her Secret War, is obsessed with cinema and spends all of her hard-earned, but meagre wages, on film tickets and cinema… Read More

Writing tips from a debut author

Being called a debut author is a funny old thing. It’s delightful, thrilling, and just a wee bit daunting. In 2019, I won the Big Issue x Avon Books Crime Writing Competition, for which the prize was a two-book publishing deal. To say I was excited would be a gross… Read More

Hannah Sunderland’s Bookshelf Tour

  Hannah Sunderland’s Bookshelf Tour My bookshelves have always been a sacred space and I’m pretty sure that I spend more time reorganising them to look pretty than I do actually reading the books on there. I do struggle to read when I’m writing, as my own stories tend to… Read More

Exclusive Extract of The Lake by Louise Sharland

1 The small patch of sand and scrubland that borders the lake is nearly empty; just a woman and her young son skipping stones. A few metres out, a paddleboarder has paused his journey to take in the view. I try my best to appreciate the beauty, but everything about… Read More

Exclusive Extract from Love in Lockdown

Read an exclusive extract from Love in Lockdown by Chloe James ‘I’ve had an idea.’ This sounds ominous. ‘Mmm,’ I say noncommittally. Jess is fab and I adore her, but I can tell this is her I’m-about-to-start-trying-to-manage-your-life tone. ‘I happened to come across this app the other day that could… Read More

An interview with Louise Sharland

An interview with the Avon x Big Issue competition winner, Louise Sharland: How did you find out about the Avon x Big Issue writing competition? One of my previous roles was working for the homelessness charity Crisis UK as a Work and Learning Coach, so I have a deep connection… Read More

The Lucky Escape | Celebrating our Partners

Now more than ever, we feel it’s important to promote small businesses – and so we’ve teamed up with two independent, online shops to create a bespoke mailer filled with gorgeous items in celebration of Laura Jane Williams’s new book The Lucky Escape. Please join us… Read More

Extract Share: The Shadow Man by Helen Fields

Chapter One A sleeping woman watched over by the stranger who had hidden for hours in the shadowed bay of her bedroom curtains. That’s all there was to the scene. He was a spider, patient and unmoving, poised to drop and stun his prey. There was no malice to it. Read More

20 Highlights of 2020

It’s that time of the year when we look back over everything we’ve achieved in the last 12 months. This year has been very strange (to say the least!) and it’s had many ups and downs, but at Avon we’re always looking for the positives, so here are… Read More

How to Write a Pitch

What is a book pitch? A pitch is a short, enticing description of your work that focuses on its USP (unique selling point) or the key thing that makes your book so special – this is what publishers will often refer to as the ‘hook’. Why does it matter? As… Read More

Unravelling the last twist in Little Bones

I love a good audio book, I’ve listened to them for years. They can make mundane housework interesting, long car journeys shorter, and wet rainy days brighter. When I was a little girl and felt low, I would build a fort with my bed sheets, curl up with the family… Read More

How to Write a Synopsis

Summarising your story in a short synopsis can feel almost as difficult as writing the book in the first place! Never fear – here are Avon’s top five tips to help you craft a synopsis before you submit… Keep it short and sweet – by which we mean 500 words… Read More

Playlists for Little Bones

Music has always meant a lot to me as a person and a writer. Great songs can be inspiring and I always have a set play list when writing my books. Lyrics and melodies that evoke characters and situations, while allowing you to concentrate on the ebb and… Read More