If you’ve ever bought one of the books in the Girls’ Night In series, or its companion collection, Kids’ Night In, then thank you.
You have helped to raise well over $3 million in 20 years (and counting) for young people helped by our two charities,War Child and No Strings.
The Beat Goes On
The latest book in our series, Funny Bones, arrived in Australia in time for Christmas 2019 and so, the beat goes on.
Editors and authors donate their royalties, as they have done since we began, and our agent Tara Wynne at Curtis Brown in Sydney keeps on counting the bestsellers. That’s her, below, in the London War Child office with some of the books.
The people who made it happen, against deadlines and against the odds (short stories were never supposed to work) include: Maggie Alderson, Helen Basini, Imogen Edwards-Jones, Nick Earls, Anna Fienberg, Sara Foster, Julie Gibbs, Laura Harris, Lauren Henderson, Jonathan Lloyd, Chris Manby, Carole Matthews, Anna McFarlane, Sarah Mlynowski, Juliet Partridge, Oliver Phommavanh, Justin Tabari, Kate Temple, Jol Temple, Fiona Walker, James Williams, Tara Wynne.
Create Your Own Audiobooks in 2020
In 2020, we’re exploring DIY audiobooks for you – compiled every month, with some of your favourite authors and stories. These will be free to subscribers, so I hope you’ll join us for that. It’s one way of thanking you, for our 20th anniversary.
In time, we hope to find the same fundraising success with audiobooks as we’ve done with paperbacks. And…there’s a reason for that.
No Strings
My old friends like Johnie McGlade at No Strings, the Muppet-inspired education charity, have let us know that they are funding a new handwashing film campaign for children in countries at risk from COVID-19. It helps that they are working with some of the people behind the Muppets (too much fun) but they still need our help.
So, our 20th anniversary is here and charities like Johnie’s
www.warchild.org.au need us more than ever.
Thus, the new website. And can I just say that Girls’ Night In (the ebook) is on special at the moment? There, I thought I’d get a quick plug in.
Books by Friends, Shared by Friends
I know these books have been passed around friends for years, because I see them in charity shop. The silver writing on the front has worn off and there may also be bubble bath stains.
The Girls’ Night In series in particular was created by friends, for their friends. In fact it began at the bar of The Groucho Club.
I was recently sorting through my memories from the last 20 years, while stuck at home with nothing to do, except go through an old suitcase.
Imogen Edwards-Jones and Candace Bushnell
I found Imogen Edwards-Jones and Candace Bushnell (both involved with The Great Big Book Club, easily the world’s most glamorous new reading group). They live at [email protected] if you want to get in touch.
The Ab Fab Helen Lederer and Chris Manby
Sorting through my old suitcases in Tasmania, in this stay-at-home year, I also found a newspaper clipping of Helen Lederer and Chris Manby, with Tony Hadley from Spandau Ballet (fancy!) and an old invitation to a studio screening of Absolutely Fabulous, for good measure.
I also found all of Freya North’s signed books, to me, with a few red wine stains for good measure. It’s amazing how we’ve both ended up living in the countryside, after running around London in the Chick Lit/Ladette years. I love this photograph of Freya with all those logs she just chopped herself (!)
These Books Are Not Like Other Books
This must be the only book series I have ever worked on, where the publisher wants to be a contributor as well. That’s Laura Harris from Puffin (pictured) who looked after three stunning books for children in the Kids’ Night In series but also managed to end up writing for us, too.
If you’re on GoodReads or looking for something new to do, at home, with people like us (and your friends, and your friends or friends) then please join us.
Bring the children in your life too, as there is a special club for them. You can also find me @jessicacadams. Contributors are especially welcome to Tweet me, too, particularly if we need to fix a missing name or photograph. Please get in touch.
As we were finishing this website, James asked me how many stories we’d edited over the years. The answer is 542.
To every single one of the 542 and all the agents, publishers and editors – cheers. Let’s make it 1000 one day, shall we?
