The Lives & Times book is raising funds for the Beating Bowel Cancer charity. Over the course of 18 months I met and photographed people from all walks of life to form the chapters of Lives & Times. Every single person taking part gave up their own time to do it and ALL proceeds are donated to the charity. Over £3750 raised so far and every sale counts. www.bowelcancerfundraising.co.uk
Lorraine Kelly sporting the Beating Bowel Cancer tie
One of the final photographs I took for the book was of ITV daytime TV presenter Lorraine Kelly. It was a glorious crisp and sunny morning last September, and I ended up meeting Lorraine in the studio right after her daily morning show had finished.
The chapter in the book describes the experience in full, and it was fascinating spending time watching a live show from the back of the studio behind the cameras. I wasn't expecting to be able to take Loraine's photo in the studio, so that was a real bonus. She was lovely and couldn't have been more helpful and accommodating, and the studio set was even kept in place for a few extra minutes to enable to do the photography.
Lorraine Kelly with the Lives & Times book
I received a photo from Lorraine with her copy of the book after publication. When I met her she also very kindly did me a short video message to help with the book's promotion which you can view on youtube.
My mother successfully had surgery in February 2014 to remove a cancerous nodule from her left lung, which as expected was a secondary cancer related to her bowel cancer of 2012. This was her fourth cancer operation in two and a half years. She made a great recovery, but unfortunately last October another cancerous nodule was detected on her left lung following her regular CT scan. The plan was for Mum to have surgery to have the nodule removed, but unfortunately in November Mum had a seizure and after tests we discovered that the cancer had spread to her brain, so that operation was postponed. In January she had "CyberKnife" treatment over three consecutive days for the brain cancer. Attention was then turned back to the lung, and she was operated on in early March and they removed the lower lob of her left lung as more nodules had appeared. Although Mum made a good recovery from the operation, unfortunately the brain cancer recently returned with a vengeance and a recent seizure put mum in hospital for 6 weeks unable to move her right hand, right leg and badly affecting her speech. Devastatingly and very sadly the cancer is now terminal, and Mum has been moved into a nursing home where she can receive 24/7 care that she needs for the time she has left.
If anything the whole point of doing the book has been even more reinforced by this recent turn of events. Please support this fundraising book as every sale counts both in raising money and raising awareness about bowel cancer.
To read how you can order the Lives & Times fundraising book for Beating Bowel Cancer click here.
As we head into the middle of August the Lives & Timesbook has raised over £2350.00 for the Beating Bowel Cancer charity. which is totally down to the fantastic and generous support of everyone who has bought the book so far. What would be absolutely brilliant is for the book to raise as much as possible, and I am sure there is much more to come. However I still really need everyone's help. Marketing is a massive challenge when you are self publishing and every bit of extra help makes a big difference.
There are a number of ways people can help. I am asking everyone who buys the book the to send me a photo of themselves with the book for the gallery I have created. This also includes some of the people who are featured in the book. In the photo above there is Horace Panter from The Specials, Olympian Katherine Grainger, Lorraine Kelly from ITV, and vocal coach and from The One Show, Carrie Grant.
Sharing posts on Facebook generates interest or better still writing something original about the book and posting on Facebook which adds that extra personal touch that just might resonate with someone. The same goes for Twitter, and the potential to reach a much bigger audience on Twitter is massive, but to do this I need the help of my fellow Tweeters! :)
Publicity which is kind of like the Holy Grail... I have worked very hard and trying to get the book publicity. I have some success so far. It was featured in the Maidenhead Advertiser a few weeks after publication, and also in the Henley Herald which is an online paper. There was also a brilliant feature in the Maidenhead United football programme on December 28th for the home match against Hemel Hempstead, which sadly ended in a 3-2 home defeat. All these are local to Mum, who lives in Maidenhead and was born in Henley. To date coverage on local radio and TV has eluded me. As far as national media goes I have tried contacting Sunday supplements, book magazines, health magazines for some coverage. I am sure that the more people who come on board and talk about the book the better my chances are of getting some coverage.
I have used videos to promote the book. Some of the people featured in the book have sent me videos to help with this process, and I have been busy creating my own videos which I post on YouTube. It would be fantastic to have a professional video trailer made, but I recently was quoted £500-£1000 for the most basic option which is sadly way out of reach for me. If there is anyone out there who can help with this I would naturally be very grateful.
One of the more recent developements has been contacting independent bookshops to see if they will sell the book for me, and this has been pretty successful with some positive response. Two bookshops are already selling the book, Book Bean & Ice Cream in Kirkham near Preston, Lancs and The Big Green Bookshop in Wood Green, North London. So why not support these bookshops and pick up a copy of the book from them direct?
So I am trying to cover all the bases, but I am sure there will be people who read this who might have some new thoughts and suggestions on what I could try? Please drop me a line timdarv@googlemail.com
So who are the people featured in the book...
Sir Steve Redgrave CBE
Katherine Grainger CBE
Phil Parkes
Jonathan Agnew
Lorraine Kelly
Christopher Biggins
Matthew Wright
Freya North
Ben Richards
Carrie Grant
Gail Porter
Alan Davies
Shaun Keaveny
Mike Read
John Shuttleworth
Tom Rosenathal
Antonia Mariconda
Status Quo
The Stranglers
The Alarm
Clare Grogan
Mikes Hunt& Erica Nockalls
Horace Panter
My Mum!
And so very much more.... Over 100 photos and about 45,000 words.
So many fascinating experiences all put together in one book. Available in paperback, hardback and digital eBook. The Lives & Times can be bought in three different formats. Here is the breakdown on how you can order your copy. Please support this book and every penny I receive is donated to the charity.
Hardback Edition
Bowel Cancer Fundraising Website. This is the website I have set up. The book costs £26.50 + P&P of which the £8-£10 I receive will be donated to Beating Bowel Cancer.
Amazon. The book costs £35.00 of which the approx £4.80 I receive will be donated to Beating Bowel Cancer.
Paperback Edition
Bowel Cancer Fundraising Website. My website. The book costs £10.25 + P&P of which the £5 I receive will be donated to Beating Bowel Cancer.
Amazon. The book costs £10.25 of which the approx £2.50 I receive will be donated to Beating Bowel Cancer.
Ebook Edition
Amazon. The digital edition for the kindle is only available on Amazon at the moment. There are free kindle apps that can run on your iPads and laptops. The book costs £5 of which the approx £2.50 I receive will be donated to Beating Bowel Cancer.
Worldwide (outside the UK)
Amazon. Search "Lives & Times Tim Darvell" and you won't go too far wrong.
Book Depository. Offers free shipping to anywhere in the world so is a brilliant way for buyers living outside the UK to buy the book.
Finally I am quite happy to sell physical copies of the hardback and paperback editions directly bypassing the websites. Please contact me on email me at timdarv@googlemail.com and we can arrange it on there.
In April I had a very successful day at the Beating Bowel Cancer Patient Day 2016 selling copies of the book on stand generously supplied to me by the charity. About £130 was raised on the day with over 20 copies of the book sold. I also got to meet Baroness Floella Benjamin, OBE who is the charity's patron. I would love to try selling the book at a few more events like this.
The Kiss by Horace Panter
I was also recently sent a very limited signed screenprint of The Kiss by artist Horace Panter, who kindly donated the print to help raise funds raising £200 for the charity.
The art news kept getting better as artist Adam Green created an original print based on Lives & Times limited to just 25 selling for just £125 with all proceeds donated to the charity. Not forgetting there is already a lovely painting donated by Cathi Simpson of Mike Peters from The Alarm for sale on the website too.
Lives & Times screen print by Adam Green
I have been supporting Beating Bowel Cancer since 2012, as it was then that my mother was diagnosed with bowel cancer. In September 2012 she had a section of her bowel removed and then at the start of 2013 she underwent two further operations on her lungs where she had a cancerous nodule ,which was a secondary bowel cancer. Mum remained in remission for about 18 months, but unfortunately in November 2014 another cancerous nodule appeared on one of her lungs. She underwent surgery in February 2015 which was successful, and made a fantastic recovery. Unfortunately her CT scan last October revealed that the cancer had come back on her left lung and more bad news followed in November following a seizure when she found out that the cancer had spread to her brain. Mum had "CyberKnife" treatment in January for the brain cancer. In March she had more lung surgery, this time to remove the lower lob of her left lung where the cancer keeps returning to. Sadly the cancer once again has returned to her brain and a recent seizure has virtually paralysed her right side and severely affected her speech. There is no more medical treatment available and the devastating news is that Mum's cancer is now terminal. Following the seizure she spent almost 6 weeks in hospital and has recently moved into a nursing home where she will have the 24/7 care she needs and have the best quality of life possible for the time she has left.
I would like to thank everyone for the encouragement and support given so far. I am hoping people will decide to buy the hardback and paperback editions through me or my website to maximize the profits, but every purchase makes a difference. Please support me on this venture. It took over 18 months to put this book together and it's been fantastic to finally see it come to its fruition.
Dodgy outside the South Street Arts Centre in Reading
In the summer of 2014, one of my favourite bands, Dodgy played an acoustic show at the South Street Arts Centre in my hometown of Reading. This gave me a great opportunity to see the band play live for the first time in many years. I was also right in thick of doing the Lives & Timesbook so I thought I would see if I could get the band on board. Thankfully fate was on my side and Matt from the band came back with a very positive reply.
I got to the venue in good time to see the band soundcheck, and then we had the opportunity to go outside and take a few photos including this one of Andy having sunglasses issues! The gig was fantastic and the venue was the perfect setting. I was able to spend part of time in front of the stage with the band's blessing and got some excellent photos for the chapter in the book. In the lead up to publication Matt once again was lovely by sending me a video to help with promotion with an interesting runner bean slant!
One of things I asked the band at the time was about the prospects of new material. They were in the very early stages of writing new material for a new album. What Are We Fighting For whichis released on September 2nd on Cherry Red Records and I for one can't wait for it...
I have been supporting Beating Bowel Cancer since 2012, as it was then that my mother was diagnosed with bowel cancer. In September 2012 she had a section of her bowel removed and then at the start of 2013 she underwent two further operations on her lungs where she had a cancerous nodule ,which was a secondary bowel cancer. Mum remained in remission for about 18 months, but unfortunately in November 2014 another cancerous nodule appeared on one of her lungs. She underwent surgery in February 2015 which was successful, and made a fantastic recovery. Unfortunately her CT scan last October revealed that the cancer had come back on her left lung and more bad news followed in November following a seizure when she found out that the cancer had spread to her brain. Mum had "CyberKnife" treatment in January for the brain cancer. In March she had more lung surgery, this time to remove the lower lob of her left lung where the cancer keeps returning to. Sadly the cancer once again has returned to her brain and a recent seizure has virtually paralysed her right side and severely affected her speech. There is no more medical treatment available and the devastating news is that Mum's cancer is now terminal. Following the seizure she spent almost 6 weeks in hospital and has now moved into a nursing home where she will have the 24/7 care she needs and have the best quality of life possible for the time she has left.
Lives & Timeshas now raised over £2300 for Beating Bowel Cancer. All proceeds are donated to the charity so please support the book and the recent stunning screen print both of which are available on my www.bowelcancerfundraising.co.uk website.
I am really pleased to announce that the paperback edition of the Lives & Times book is on sale at the Big Green Bookshop in Wood Green, London N22 6BG. They are the first independent retailer who have come on board and agreed to sell the book for me. The book will retail at £10 and the shop has waived making any profits so £5.62 from every sale will be donated to Beating Bowel Cancer. The only overhead is the £4.38 cost I pay for printing the books. So for anyone who lives in North London and wants to get hold of the book, this is a great way to get hold of a copy.
Lives & Times on the shelves at the Big Green Bookshop
Tim West and Simon Key opened the shop in 2008 providing Wood Green with a dedicated bookshop after the big chain store they both worked at closed. Between them they have over 35 years of experience, and their aim is to make your visit as enjoyable as possible and to look forward to a return visit.
The Lives & Times book, and now screen prints, have so far raised over £2650 for Beating Bowel Cancer. My mother, who was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2012, fought a long and brave battle, but sadly passed away on August 29th, 2016. Please support the book and help raise funds and also awareness about bowel cancer.
Making contact with, John Shuttleworth, the comedy character created by Graham Fellows (also responsible for Jilted John) was an interesting experience in itself. My initial request to John was returned and I was instructed to go through his manager Ken. I gamely followed the instructions and at this point Graham did pop up as himself and readily agreed to be in the book.
I met and photographed John at his gig at the South Street Arts Centre in Reading in 2014. Graham lost his mother to bowel cancer when she was just aged 54, which was another reason for him taking an interest in the book.
I was looked after really well and Graham allowed me to go and meet him in his dressing room during the interval. What was fascinating was how he stayed in character during the interval. He started off as Graham, but such was his concentration for the evening's performance that he had to revert to being John, which was brilliant. It made for another wonderful chapter for the book.
The Lives & Times book, and now screen prints, have so far raised over £2300 for Beating Bowel Cancer. My mother who was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2012 has fought a long and brave battle, but sadly the cancer has recently spread to her brain and the cancer is now terminal. She is comfortable in a nursing home where she can receive the 24/7 care that she now needs. Please support the book and help raise funds and also awareness about bowel cancer.
