Author Sophie Neville has a screenplay currently in the quarter finals of the Boston Screenplay Awards
Funnily Enough
A diary by Sophie Neville
Saturday 13 January 2024
Wednesday 9 August 2023
Meet author Sophie Neville at the Southampton International Boat Show this September
Sophie had a 4-page feature article in Practical Boat Owner magazine on Amazon the dinghy she captured when playing Titty in the original film 'Swallows and Amazons' made fifty years ago.
Details are on the Southampton Boat Show website
Friday 7 July 2023
10 tips on taking photos of a book you've written
Writers need a huge variety to photographs of their books and publications for publicity, illustrating blog posts and social media stories.
Ten hints:
1. Always use a spotlight - a desk lamp will do - or wait for lovely outdoor light.
2. Think about who is going to read your book, where and why. Dream up your ideas accordingly.
3. Chose a minor colour used on the cover for your background, eg gold or dark grey. A pashmina scarf works well as the fabric looks good when well lit.
4. Only use 1, 3 or 5 props with a limited palette of colours. You don't want to distract from the book.
5. Chose attractive props: sunglasses and a straw hat with a few leaves suggest summer reading. Spectacles with comparison books and a steaming cup of coffee work well for winter. Wrapping paper and ribbon suggest the book would make a good present. vintage black and white photos illustrate 20th Century historical fiction. Feature an ebook on Kindle or open a magazine showing your article.
6. Focus on the most important aspect of your book such as the title or author name.
7. Frame as closely as you dare but try to feature the spine.
8. When you take portraits of people, animals or birds compose the image with one eye in the centre of the shot.
9. If you are after a comic shot, crop the subject off at a shoulder joint.
10. Play around with filers or cropping until you get it right. Discard any that aren't perfect.
Enjoy yourself. This should be quicker than using Canva or CGI. Take three aspects of each shot: square for Instagram, landscape for Facebook and Twitter, Portrait for Facebook or Instagram Stories.
Thursday 18 May 2023
A book review by Wendy H. Jones
Thursday 9 February 2023
Launching the audiobook of 'Funnily Enough'
The audiobook of Sophie Neville's award winning book 'Funnily Enough' is now out on all the usual retail platforms.
You can listen to it on audible here:
The ebook or paperback can be found for sale on all the usual online platforms including Amazon here.
Each audiobook store should also have a copy of 'The Making of Swallows and Amazons' by Sophie Neville. You can listen to a sample here on the audiobookstore, Barnes and Noble, Downpour
The paperback is also available online:
Sunday 11 December 2022
Author Sophie Neville has been shortlisted in three writing competitions and wins the Eyelands Book Award for an unpublished historical novel.