The project continues to move along very quickly. Angela Hall, Advanced Professional Indexer and member of the Society of Indexers (and yes, there is such an organisation!) has just completed the index. It runs to some 11 pages and provides indexed page references for names, places, events, themes, people, illustrations etc featured in the book. It has now been sent off to Matador for them to incorporate it into the final draft text for the book. When that has been done, I then have to undertake the final (and necessarily very thorough) proofread.

Have been working on two main elements of the project: the upcoming website and marketing plans (and promotional items) for the launch.

First, the WEBSITE: Adam the Web has been putting together a very attractive and user-friendly/intuitive website. It’s component parts are:

Home – nice use of graphic elements from the book cover

About – an overview of the Polly Button story, almost 30 FAQs and responses, and a short biography of the author

Shop – where the book and any associated additional items or requirements can be ordered; purchased items go into a cart, which you can review/amend before making your purchase

Descendants – a section with information related to, or dedicated to, the direct descendants of Polly Button

Blog – comprising Project Updates / Walks, Talks, Murder Trails, Signings etc. / Visiting Nuneaton

Events – a listing of scheduled events relating to Polly Button. These provide all relevant details and information and are linked to Eventbrite, where appropriate, so you can book onto them.

Reviews – where you can read what people have thought about the Polly Button Project – whether that be the book, a guided walk or some other event

Contact – allows easy emailing to the Project, and where you can submit your own comments and reviews on the book, a murder trail walk or any other Polly Button-related event

Second, MARKETING PLANS

At this stage they have focused on tying in with plans for the pre-ordering and launch of the book. There are some quite innovative and exciting aspects that I hope will encourage those with an interest in Polly Button to purchase their copy of the book directly from the Polly Button website, as this maximises the benefit to the three local charities and good causes (Nuneaton women’s refuge, The Chilvers Coton Heritage Centre and Nuneaton Memories). At the moment we’re exploring ideas for items that feature or are based on graphic elements/illustrations within the book. One novel idea being developed is an individualised family tree chart showing the line of descent from Polly Button to a named person (direct descendant) alongside a quality print of the book cover.

A really great bookmark design has been done by the designer that did the book cover. There are about a dozen other items in the list being worked up – ranging from small business cards to big posters.

I’ve also been taking bookings for talks and presentations that go into March next year. They include libraries, heritage and local history societies, family history societies and Women’s Institutes. Looks like the next few months are going to be particularly busy!!