Lightborne Update: A Sunday Times Book of the Month!

I have only a few words, and most of them are gibberish. Lightborne has been given this brief but amazing review from Nick Rennison, author of 1922: Scenes From A Turbulent Year and Sherlock Holmes: The Unauthorized Biography.

Screenshot of a review on the Sunday Times' website which reads, in part: "Book of the Month: Lightborne by Hesse Phillips. Other works of fiction have been written about the turbulent life and still not fully understood death of the Elizabethan dramatist Christopher Marlowe... Probably none has demonstrated the erudition and the intensity of Hesse Phillips's debut novel, 20 years in the making... Told in vivid, punchy prose, Lightborne is a brilliantly original take on a familiar story."

Obtaining reviews in mainstream papers requires a monumental effort mixed with pure dumb luck, and is a resource many authors are shut out from, whether for lack of connections or industry bias against indie published writers. I feel incredibly fortunate to have managed to worm my way in, thanks entirely to the hard work of my publicist at Atlantic Books.

Good press can certainly help sell books, but this is a fickle business, so we’re still in “wait and see” mode. Reviews from readers are naturally one of the best, if not the best determinant of a book’s success, so to anyone out there who has bought and read the book, please do leave your review on sites like Goodreads, Amazon, and Bookshop.org. (Even if it wasn’t for you – reviews are to help other readers decide whether the book is right for them. So help your fellow readers out!)

As for me, I’m going to take a short break from biting my nails, and throw myself into the best cure for debut author anxiety – working on the Next Book….!

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