What is the Self-Publishing Spotlight?
B&NES Libraries is trialling a project to help spotlight local self-published authors. This is an opportunity for authors to have their book promoted in our libraries and added to the library catalogue, giving borrowers from across LibrariesWest access to read the book.
We’ll hold three spotlights a year, September, January and May and each will run over three months.
Why are we doing it?
We can’t always access self-published materials from our suppliers or through our standard stock purchasing procedures. We’d like to be able to include some local self-published authors to give our library borrowers as wide a choice as possible.
This Season’s Spotlight Authors
The Authors
We’re pleased to announce that the authors in our September Self-Publishing Spotlight are Melissa Arancio, Daniella Draven, Ben Gross, Paul Newsom, and HJ Reed.
Use the tabs to learn about these authors and their work. Their books will be on the shelves of Bath Central Library from November, or you can reserve them to borrow from any LibrariesWest location.
Melissa Arancio
About the Author
Melissa Arancio is a contemporary romance author based in Bath, where she lives with her husband, toddler and very large, very friendly dog. She writes escapist romances filled with humour, emotional depth and plenty of swoon-worthy tension. When she’s not writing, you’ll usually find her café-hopping around Bath, sampling as many of the city’s gorgeous coffees and cakes as possible. If This Was a Movie is her debut novel and the first book in her If Only series.
About If This Was a Movie
If This Was a Movie follows Hollywood actor Jamie Cameron and makeup artist Zara Hayes as they grow closer behind the scenes of a major film production, despite the one rule they’re not allowed to break: fall in love. It’s an addictive slow-burn love story that, at its heart, is about taking a chance on the life you really want, even when it feels easier to play it safe. Since its release, If This Was a Movie has been stocked by independent bookshops in both the UK and US and has found readers around the world.
You can find Melissa on Instagram & TikTok under @melissaarancioauthor.
Daniella Draven
About the Author
Daniella Draven is a Watty award-winning fantasy romance author for YA, NA and adult readers. Her books are full of magic, sharp-tongued girls, hard-shelled boys (with gooey centres) and HEAs. When she’s not writing she can usually be found daydreaming in the woods about her next book, taking care of a tiny toddler/tornado and drinking an unnatural amount of tea.
About Confessions of an Invisible Girl
A spell gone wrong, a life lived unseen. Could love be the magic to make the invisible visible again? Confessions of an Invisible Girl is an enchanting coming-of-age tale full of magic, first love, and swoon-worthy moments. This is the first full-length novel by YA fantasy writer Daniella Draven and is perfect for those looking for contemporary romance with a magical twist.
Ben Grose
About the Author
Ben is a novelist and screenwriter from Dartmoor. He now lives in Wiltshire with his wife and family, and works as a Client Partner for a creative technology agency in Bristol. He has written numerous short stories, novels, screenplays, and articles, and is part of the Bath Spa Creative Writing Alumni.
About The Reprobates
Ben’s debut novel, ‘The Reprobates’, a finalist in the 2023 Foreword INDIES, was inspired by his student days working in a nightclub — the legendary live music venue MOLES in Bath. It was here that he witnessed many unforgettable gigs from the likes of Mumford & Sons, Grandmaster Flash, and The Heavy, as well as being part of a lost generation at play.
A homage to the many dying grassroots music venues, and for those who remember what it is like to be suffering from a death of the soul — ‘The Reprobates’ is a black comedy that turns a tainted mirror on to some of the most accepted and corrosive problems in our society.
You can find Ben on Instagram: @bgroseauthor
Paul Newson
About the Author
Paul Newson is a local author based in Somerset who crafts narratives exploring human connection, resilience, and the bridges between very different cultures. Drawing deep inspiration from both the West Country landscape and international travels, his writing balances local, personal struggles with wider global themes of healing and redemption.
About Red Soil, Green Hills
Paul’s novel, Red Soil, Green Hills, follows Dwayne, a West Indian man who has built a new life in the Somerset countryside years after losing his brother to knife crime in Bristol. After a life-changing encounter in the Ethiopian highlands links his fate to a young woman named Deka, they return to the quiet of the West Country.
However, as Dwayne manages both his commitments abroad and his life at home, the shadows of his past return, forcing him to choose between a long-held desire for vengeance and the path of forgiveness.
HJ Reed
About the Author
H J Reed lives and writes in Bristol, where she graduated with a PhD in psychology and began a long career lecturing in psychology and criminology, both in mainstream universities and in the prison education system. Her evenings were spent writing novels and short stories in various genres and styles, and pondering on the strange workings of the criminal mind. After a number of publication successes, she gained an MA in creative writing and went on to teach literature and the arts.
Now, she is able to follow her lifelong passion and write crime/thriller fiction full time. Her short stories have been published in a number of magazines and anthologies, including Mslexia and The People’s Friend. Her DI Crow crime series, and the psychological thriller ‘A Breath of Madness’ are published by Malago Press. She is currently working on the latest novel in the popular DI Crow series, and on the next in the Ruben Quinn series of psychological thrillers.
About A Breath of Madness
A Breath of Madness: A gripping psychological thriller inspired by one of the 21st century’s strangest cases.
In Bristol, England, sisters Helene and Miriam Lebeque arrive from Paris, commit a seemingly random murder, then attempt suicide, leaping from a motorway bridge. In Beziers, southern France, a woman kills a stranger and tries to drown herself in the famous Ecluses. Miraculously, all three survive. Psychiatrist Ruben Quinn is assigned the British case.
Meanwhile, his French counterpart, Delphine Guillot, is convinced the two cases are connected. They join forces, and uncover a terrifying trail of child trafficking, mind control and illegal experiments going back decades. As they dig deeper, the evidence of corruption in the scientific community grows, but so does the danger. They need solid proof to take to the police – if they can stay alive long enough.
You can find HJ Reed on Instagram & Facebook by visiting hjreed.com
Can anyone apply?
We’re looking for adult fiction and young adult fiction only, by local authors.
How do I apply?
Email stock_team@bathnes.gov.uk for more information