Wow, can you believe it’s 2020!
Firstly, Happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed the Christmas and New Year festivities. Probably, if you’re like everyone else, there were lovely moments and more difficult times. Trials are part of life, and as Mr Bronzovi says to Luke in Nobody’s Dog (see below!) “…we’ll get through, with God’s help. Learning to trust him, a bit more each time.”
It’s our aim to help you reach more children than ever this year, so children know that even as they face trials of their own, God is with them.
Exciting New Projects!
This year we are planning some BIG NEW THINGS to help you reach the children on your heart:
1. BOOKS FOR 6-8s.
You have been asking for books for younger readers, so we are providing! These will still be chapter books, but they will be shorter, simpler, and have black and white illustrations. The first will be Nobody’s Dog, by the wonderfully talented Eleanor Watkins. Nobody’s Dog was first published by Scripture Union, but is now out of print. We have updated a few small things and will be making it available to inspire a whole new generation of children! This is a lovely story. We do not yet have an illustrator for this book, so if you know someone (they must have experience in the field) please contact me.
2. HISTORICAL FICTION FOR 8-11s.
We have signed a contract with brand new author Pam Daunton, for a book called The Dove Stone, which is set in post-Roman Britain. We are delighted to be adding historical fiction to our list! 🙂 There’s some work to do on the manuscript yet. We hope to bring this book out by Christmas, but no promises! I am meeting up with Pam soon, so will bring you some pictures. Are you on Instagram? If so, find me on janetfromdernierpublishing to keep up with news. 🙂
3. LARGER BOOKS
This year we are starting a project to bring out our books IN A LARGER FORMAT. The smaller format is much less popular than it used to be, so we need to keep up with trends. As books go out of print, we will replace them with a larger version… that’s the plan, anyway! Please pray with us to keep as many books in print as possible.
4 PRINTING IN KENYA
If possible, we would love to start PRINTING OUR BOOKS ON DEMAND IN KENYA, so we can more easily reach needy children in East Africa with our books. As my friend Joan pointed out to me yesterday while we were having coffee, many children in Africa are desperate to read. The need there is huge and we have lots of requests… this would mean we don’t have to ship the books, which would be a huge plus! This has been a dream for a long time – maybe this year it will be a dream come true! We would value your prayers.
5. BOOKS FOR SCHOOLS
Later this year we hope to begin a CAMPAIGN TO UK CHURCH SCHOOLS. Having our books in church school libraries would mean the stories would be available to children from every background. We hope you will be thinking of which schools you will be able to put forward for a free pack of books with all our information!
Please pray for all these wonderful projects. We would value your prayers for wisdom, strength and all the resources we need… and if you have any ideas, please do get in touch. It’s always lovely to hear from you. 🙂
Conferences
I am booked to speak at two conferences this year, so far. Next month I will be running a seminar at the Hand in Hand Children’s Ministry Conference in Eastbourne. If you are involved in children’s ministry in any capacity, do check out the link. The title of my seminar is ‘Discussing Faith at Home though Children’s Books‘. Such a vital topic!
I have also been invited to speak at the MAI Europe Mediafest 2020 in Prague in April. Details to come, but I will probably be sharing something of the Dernier story to encourage other small publishing houses from countries across Europe who do not have a tradition of Christian publishing, and maybe offer some training in story writing for children, too.
I’m very much looking forward to both! Please pray for me as I try to fit everything in… eek!
Angel Tree
Please can I ask you to pray, lastly, for all the prisoners’ children who received a copy of Under the Tamarind Tree for Christmas through Angel Tree (Prison Fellowship)? Who knows what the Lord might do through these 500 books? But we need to pray.
Thanks once again for your support, encouragement and prayers.
We are here to help you reach out to the children on your heart through story, so if there’s anything we can do, please let us know.
May the Lord’s grace and peace rest upon you now and always!
Janet