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The Magic of Grace Pilkington: In the manner of a beguiling sorceress, Grace Pilkington gave life to my book. Marked Cards, a lighthearted memoir of a more glamorous time, was published by Quartet Books in September 2020. Its audience would be limited, I was no household name, and there would be no media interest. My publisher laughed.
Grace waved her wand. A three page feature entered Tatler’s October issue. I was stunned. The wand flicked again. A lengthy article in the Mail Online, a double page spread in the Daily Express, a favourable review in Spears magazine were conjured up. Now I was entranced. Then the wand summoned forth interviews on BBC Wiltshire (my local), on Talk Radio Europe, an amusing mention in the Hardcastle column of the Daily Mail. The High Life column of the Spectator recommended the book, Spears Magazine chose Marked Cards as one of its ‘four best autumn reads’. Along with the autumn leaves I was blown away.
The wand’s work was not quite done. Major features in both the Gentleman’s Journal and Wiltshire Life suddenly appeared.
Marked Cards has registered with the reading public through Grace’s expertise, reputation, and humour. Now that she is starting her own independent book PR firm, no one could better promote self-publishing authors , or those writers who feel neglected by their own publisher’s promotional team. Or indeed help a small publisher that has no such team.
So enter the magic circle of Grace Pilkington Publicity. Close your eyes tight, let it happen ...and have fun.’
Emmanuel Olympitis
AUTHOR OF MARKED CARDS (QUARTET BOOKS)
‘On completion of ‘Doctors Dissected’ in 2014 my co-author Jane Haynes and I had the good fortune to fall into the hands of Quartet Books and publication loomed. What I needed - and had the great good fortune to achieve - was a skilled and experienced midwife to help deliver this baby. Jane was already a published author and highly acknowledged editor, but I, a newcomer, welcomed the professionalism of Grace Pilkington in navigating the stormy process of publication. Grace has all the calm savoir faire that made what otherwise might have been a tempestuous time seem easy and I am eternally grateful to her for being there, saying the right things, and for being the catalyst that made our publication happen. Once the book arrived, Grace facilitated a strong promotion across the media and the launch of the book was a rapid success welcomed both within the realm of medicine and in particular the wider public, with sales continuing to this day. Have confidence and place yourself in her hands, you will not be disappointed.’
Dr Martin Scurr
DAILY MAIL COLUMNIST AND CO-AUTHOR OF DOCTORS DISSECTED
(QUARTET BOOKS)
‘Grace has been publicising my books published with Quartet since 2014 and when ‘If I chance to talk a little wild’ was published she achieved excellent coverage for the book including a controversial review in the Spectator, as well as TLS and several others, including a sold out gig with the How To Academy. Since then we have worked on two further ventures and I am always in awe of Grace’s ability to combine persistence and insistence with an ability to charm editors rather than pester. Working with Grace is dynamic but challenging because she makes it clear that the author needs to be as committed to the quicksilver demands of the media as her publicist. I enjoy the collaboration so much, it is an incentive to write another book or article. Her social skills and experience in organising media events and Naim Attallah’s infamous book launches are legendary.’
Jane Haynes
CO-AUTHOR OF DOCTORS DISSECTED AND AUTHOR OF IF I CHANCE TO TALK A LITTLE WILD (QUARTET BOOKS)
EBOOK EXCLUSIVE IN THE CONSULTING ZOOM: A PSYCHOTHERAPIST'S JOURNAL OF LOCKDOWN'
‘I worked with Grace Pilkington for many years and believe her to be one of the best PR practitioners I have ever known; intelligent, discreet, courteous, imaginative, reliable, successful and hard-working. I have no hesitation in recommending her and her considerable talents.’
David Elliott
LONG TERM EDITORIAL DIRECTOR OF QUARTET BOOKS
‘I loved working with Grace when Quartet reissued all my six novels as rediscovered classics in a dazzling uniform set in 2017. They were brilliantly presented and promoted. Grace is highly intelligent, thoughtful, with the charm that comes from such intelligence. Her promotional copy was always first class and her range of contacts impressive. Tenacious and imaginative, she was always thorough about making sure that anything that could be done to help promote the books was done. She will listen to an author, advise honestly and support and inspire. Everyone I know who has worked with her has spoken highly of her and of course likes her. I would recommend her as a publicist 100 per cent’
Sally Emerson
AUTHOR OF FIRE CHILD, BROKEN BODIES, HEAT, SECOND SIGHT, SEPARATION AND LISTENERS
‘Grace created a distinctive, successful campaign to promote Far To Go and Many To Love: People and Places by Lesley Blanch, the sequel to On The Wilder Shores of Love: A Bohemian Life. She came up with multiple angles and a clear strategy to generate press coverage, create a blog tour and secure appearances at leading book festivals around England. Her ethos was wonderfully collaborative and she followed up with charm and diplomacy. It’d be a delight to work with her again.’
Georgia de Chamberet
FOUNDER OF BOOKBLAST®
‘Grace Pilkington helped me with the press and publicity for my new book Covid Thoughts to be published 6th March 2021. This book contains forty people writing a short text on their Covid thoughts and I attached photographs for each. Thirty of these personalities are famous in the UK. I provided a press release and Grace immediately contacted all the relevant people suited to my type of book. Her list grew, as it snowballed. The very first piece of publicity was a double page spread in The Daily Express. Since, she has arranged three magazine spreads and several interviews for radio and press. In the short time I have known Grace, I was astounded by her efficiency and dedication. She has always been so courteous and solicitous and never flustered through misunderstandings of my own making. To summarise, I could not have been more delighted with working with Grace and would highly recommend her. There wasn’t a moment when I had to remind her of some point, she was always one step ahead.’
Gemma Levine
AUTHOR OF COVID THOUGHTS
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