Zavvis BOOK OF THE WEEK - 77 Sulphate Strip

’77 Sulphate Strip, Ovolo Publishing’s flagship music title about the year of ’punk’ is ’Book of the Week’ in all Zavvi stores (formerly Virgin Megastores) week commencing 31st March 2008. Zavvi is the UK’s largest independent entertainment retailer on the high street and their focus is purely on the great products they offer. If you were reading about punk in 1977 the chances are you read some of Barry Cain’s words. As a young writer on Record Mirror he was perfectly placed to take part in, and report on, the punk scene. What makes this book truly great and stands out from the rest is how it connects the past to the present. In the words of Phil Singleton, sex-pistols.net ’The Punk Rock book of the year is yours, Mr Cain, and ours to share.’  "When I wrote ’77 Sulphate Strip I honestly never expected it would receive such wonderful reviews and comments. For some, it seems to have touched a guitar string of a nerve that hasn’t been plucked for three decades; for others, it has simply confirmed that 1977 was the most dynamic and groundbreaking year in rock ’n’ roll history. I’m particularly thrilled that so many people who were just twinkles in roving eyes thirty years ago have derived such satisfaction from wandering through the Sulphate land of the damned and the desperate, alien yet strangely familiar, like a virulent dose of déjà vu. The fact that Zavvi have made it one of their Books of the Week is a tremendous honour. It really is a dream come true and I’d like to thank The Sex Pistols, The Stranglers, The Clash, The Damned and The Jam for helping me realise it, not to mention Johnnny Thunder and his fabulous Heartbreakers. Oh, and that innate Zavvi savvy!" Says author Barry Cain. ’77 Sulphate Strip is his eyewitness account of the year and features behind-the-scenes stories of how the year unfolded – by a player at the centre of the vortex. It started for Cain when he interviewed the Sex Pistols at EMI the day before the Bill Grundy appearance on Thames TV. The book also features interviews with The Stranglers, The Clash, The Damned, The Ramones, The Vibrators, The Tubes, The Jam, Blondie, X-Ray Spex, Buzzcocks, The Boys, Sham 69, The Drones, XTC, Television, Generation X, The Heartbreakers, Alternative TV, Ian Dury, Radiators From Space. The book doesn’t end with the eyewitness account of 1977. Thirty years on, Cain re-interviewed John Lydon, Hugh Cornwell and Rat Scabies exclusively for the book. These extended interviews run for more than 100 pages and rise above being mere nostalgia. By asking Lydon, Cornwell and Scabies to comment on the original interviews Cain manages to coax unique insights from each of them. "To be ’Book of the Week’ in all Zavvi stores for our first music title is fantastic news. We have had some great reader reviews, which have led to the media and book/music shops supporting Barry in making sure the book gets out there. Alongside Zavvi’s ’Book of the Week’, Barry Cain will be holding a book reading at the ’Punk Poster Exhibition’ at Filthy Macnasty’s bar in London on 3rd April 2008. It will be a great event with live music and will be a chance to get everyone together to say thanks for supporting ’77 Sulphate Strip." Says Ovolo Publishing Ltd Marketing Manager, Michelle Thorn. ’77 Sulphate Strip is packed with insights, anecdotes and great stories. Open it at any page and start reading and we guarantee you’ll be hooked! For more information 77 Sulphate Strip log onto www.myspace.com/77sulphatestrip For more information on the Punk Poster Exhibition at Filthy MacNastys check out www.myspace.com/filthymacnastysofficial  For more information on books at Zavvi stores log on to www.zavvi.co.uk/books

Housebuilder's Bible Tops 100,000 Sales!

Independent publisher Ovolo is celebrating sales of The 

Housebuilder’s Bible surging past the 100,000 mark. “We have put

a great deal of work into improving the product with better design and

higher production values over the past four years and this is a great

reward for that effort,” says Mark Neeter, Ovolo’s Managing Director.

Now in its Seventh edition, The Housebuilder’s Bible was originally

self-published by author, Mark Brinkley,. “When Ovolo took over the

title we set about turning the book from a cottage industry into a

professional-looking publication,” says Neeter. “We had great material to

work with as the book is a fantastic read - but then there aren’t many

other housebuilder’s with a Cambridge degree who can write,” he adds.

Sales of The Housebuilder’s Bible are mainly driven by word of

mouth and personal recommendation. “We have regular buyers who

come back edition after edition,” says Neeter. The Housebuilder’s

Bible is unusual in that it appeals to public and professionals alike. Read

avidly by many selfbuilders it is also used by architects, surveyors and

even builders who fi nd the book’s extraordinary range of information

valuable. “It’s almost like a ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ for

housebuilders in that it has an informed opinion on almost every area

of construction,” says Ovolo’s marketing manager, Michelle Thorn. “We

get letters from wives who’ve bought it for husbands and end up

reading it themselves and loving it” she adds.

Initially launched by Mark Brinkley in 1994 the book was turned

down by a number of major publishers as being either too specialised

or likely to date quickly as it contains price information. Neither has

proved to be the case. The 432 page book is usually within Amazon’s

top 200 titles and is stocked as a core item by all of the UK’s major

booksellers.

This year Ovolo is concentrating on marketing the title to

independent bookshops. “This is an absolutely rock solid backlist title

which sells year-in, year-out,” says Neeter. “We recognise that it’s diffi cult

for a company our size to reach independents

but we are determined to crack this sector of the

market,” he adds.

The Housebuilder’s Bible retails at £19.95 and

is available on full trade terms from Gardners and

Bertrams

Mark Neeter, Managing Director