KESWiN Publishing Newsletter March 2025 includes updates on titles and new releases, writing and publishing courses and services, plus lots more.
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Hello
Wow, it’s hard to believe it’s March already and the signs of autumn are starting to appear around the city. Not to mention the cooler nights and mornings letting us know summer is on its way out.
One highlight from my summer was seeing the historic Dutch tall ship, Oosterschelde, in Lyttelton on New Year’s Day. It got me thinking about the journey my newlywed great-great grandparents made from Ireland to the new settlement in Christchurch in 1863. You can read my reflections on this here.
I’ve been busy over the summer working on new books and supporting the bookshops who stock my titles. I’ve also had to learn how to take care of one of the KESWiN Publishing team members, who has been very unwell. This got me thinking about a book I’ve always talked about doing, but never got around to starting.
Perhaps you’ve also got an unreleased book trapped inside of you? If yes, then maybe 2025 is the year you’ll start working on it. To help you make the writing and publishing journey easy, I’m offering group mentoring courses in person, and online this year (more on this soon).
In this email:
Reprints of Sold Out Christchurch Books Titles
The final touches on the reprints of the first three volumes of the Christchurch Then and Now series are being made, with the books being printed later this month. So if you’ve ordered a copy or are interested in ordering one, they will be available for shipping in April.
There is still plenty of stock of Volume 4, which is proving very popular with locals and overseas visitors. This book (and the other three in the series) also makes a great gift for loved ones who no longer live in Christchurch, or have an interest in the changes over the years. Each volume has a different set of photos, so it’s worth owning all of them.
We received this lovely review from one of our customers
“Each book in the Christchurch Then and Now series has been thoughtfully written by Deb, as the books move through the years following the 2010/11 earthquakes, that devastated the city centre and surrounds. The introductions give the reader an insight as to what has been happening in between publications, and becomes a great reference in time when read at later dates. Having lived most of my life in Christchurch, and through the earthquakes and aftershocks, it has been good to see how the CBD has changed, and what has replaced the places and streets I used to visit. I recommend these books to everyone.”
—Sue
If you’d like to do a review of one or more of our titles, we’d very much appreciate it. You can email it to us via the contact us form.
You can order any of our Christchurch related books online here or from your local bookstore, Quake City, or the Transitional Cathedral Gift Shop.
Responders – Update
We have had a lot of interest and sales in our Responders title last month. At the time of writing, we have only one copy left in stock. Therefore we are also looking at doing a small reprint of the Responders book (new RRP $70 due to inflation).
If you are interested in pre-ordering a copy please contact us.
Memoir & Non-Fiction Book Writing Group Mentoring Options
If, like me, you know you have a memoir or non-fiction book trapped inside you, then I’m running group mentoring courses this year to help you release it. Attendees will be able to leverage off my decades of experience with writing, editing, publishing and marketing books.
Some of the benefits of group mentoring include having an experienced professional to guide you through a proven system, as well as the support of others on the journey as you take your book from first thoughts through to a published hard copy in your hands.
Attendees on my courses and workshops have gone on to publish memoirs, family histories, self-help guides, business books, and more. Generally any genre within non-fiction is suitable for these courses. (We’ve also had poetry and fiction writers attend and successfully self-publish their books),
The first course I’m offering is designed to help attendees get their first thoughts on paper. The goal is to break through writer’s blocks, and free the writer’s inner creator.
Group sizes are small (4-10 people). I’m offering an offline courses in St Albans, Christchurch, the first one starting Thursday, 20 March. There will also be online courses available this year through my online membership site https://keswin.academy.
Online and Offline Writing, Editing, Publishing & Marketing Services
Do you know we also provide services for busy individuals and businesses who don’t want to do it all themselves?
Our services include:
- Consulting and project assessment.
- Writing on behalf of the client based on Q&A interviews.
- Editing content to bring it up to a publishable standard more info here.
- Design and Production in a variety of publishing formats, from articles, blog posts, and whitepapers, to books produced as pdfs, or in digital and print formats.
- SEO Content Marketing for online and offline campaigns. We can also assist with social media campaigns to help funnel visitors to your website.
- Website, eCommerce and Membership Site design, construction, hosting and management (using WordPress as the site building tool.
We’ve been working with and training individuals, micro and small business owners, as well as mid market clients for over 15 years to help them produce quality content and non-fiction books to help them promote and grow their businesses (and also win awards along the way!).
If you’d like to know more, then contact us.
Life Lessons From Cats (New Book – Work in Progress)
Meet Marley, one of the two feline members of the KESWiN Publishing Team. His primary responsibility is the securrity of our warehouse. He specialises in ensuring no rodents nibble on the boxes or spiders cover them in cobwebs.
Unfortunately he got very very ill at the start of this year, after sneaking off to the neighbours and eating something he shouldn’t have. After some rather expensive diagnostics, his vets concluded he has food allergies which triggered irritable bowel disorder, as well as pancreas and gall bladder issues.
Thanks to incredible guidance and support from the vets at Our Vets St Albans, McMaster & Heap Veterinary Practice, and Raw Essentials raw pet foods, he is slowly returning to health, and reluctantly adjusting to life as an indoor cat, with outdoor adventures on a harness and leash.
However, he has cranked up a lot of rather expensive and unexpected bills. So we have told him he needs to figure out a way to earn extra money to cover his costs. He has therefore asked if I would help him write the book my partner and I have talked a lot about doing but never started.
This book has a working title of “Life Lessons From Cats” and includes stories, as well as tips and strategies from my having the privilege of being a cat Meowmy to six cats (plus a few more from childhood), along with having been involved with building the website and researching and writing content for a client in the companion animal industry.
There has already been some positive interest in Marley and I writing this book. And so we are going to use this as the example for the Group Mentoring courses I’m running this year. This means we should have the book completed and ready for release by the end of this year / start of next year.
If you would like to be kept updated with the progress of Marley & Co’s book, or help crowdfund Marley’s income to cover his costs (i.e. pre-order and pay for a copy once I’ve worked out pricing), please contact us.
New Book The Art of Feedback
Get tips and strategies on how to respectfully receive and give empowering feedback in all areas of your life in this downloadable PDF book by Deb Donnell.
This KESWiN Academy PQ Library Gudebook is part of Deb Donnell’s Diamond Publishing System™ and available from KESWiN Publishing.
Article: Slaying the Procrastination Dragon
Do you struggle with procrastination? Is this a dragon you wish to slay, or at least befriend so that you can get the important stuff done?
In this article Deb provides a simple strategy to help you overcome this unuseful habit that stops you from achieving your goals and dreams.
As you can see, we’ve got a lot going on at KESWiN Publishing and are very passionate about helping people develop the skills to write, edit, publish, market and sell their books.
So if you need a hand, let us know. Or if you know of someone who is always saying, “one day I’m going to write the book that’s trapped inside me,” then please forward this email onto them.
Warm regards from us all.
Deb Donnell and the KESWiN Publishing Team
