The Evolution of Spikez

On the 1st October 2012, Spikez was published on hardback and paperback.  The first title from Burton Mayers Books, Spikez was packed full of ideas and technology, including QR codes that linked to interactive content, bonus chapters, and secret files linked to the book.

The Evolution of the Iconic British Hedgehog

Spikez taught us so much about the world of publishing and we are very much still developing and growing our portfolio of books and authors using our knowledge gained from the production of the title.  In October 2019, seven years later, we finally got round to releasing the second edition.  We took out about 20 pages, reformatted, and adjusted much of the online content - which will not just be hosted on one platform: www.animalcyborgs.com from 29th November 2019; this will coincide with the re-release of Spikez: Titanium Edition, a sleeker, faster version of the book.

Spikez: Titanium Edition is in a sleeker, silver look format and released on 29th November 2019. 

In seven years, printing costs have changed and expectations of booksellers and the wholesale discounts available to them have also forced many independent publishers to only sell their books privately.  To counter this, we've had to adjust our pricing to remain competitive.  Both books are available to buy worldwide, with Spikez (390 pages) now at £9.99 whilst Spikez: Titanium Edition (318 pages) is available to purchase for £8.99.

The look and design of each book have changed over the years with the images below showing the noticeable comparison between both books.  We're delighted with the outcomes and are sure that you will agree that they are even better than before.

Spikez: Titanium Edition comes out on the 29th November and the 2nd Edition of Spikez is back in stock on 4th December 2019 - just in time for Christmas. 

Complete Darkness is Nearly Upon Us

Burton Mayers Books are proud to announce that on 25th October, Matt Adcock's debut novel, Complete Darkness, finally goes live.

Complete Darkness - going live across the world on October 25th

It's been a busy year, preparing for the coming darkness, but author Matt has been relentless in his drive to tell as many people, and organisations, about his book, even commissioning a national survey about Christians' belief in hell.  

You can read some of the articles by organisations who reported on his research at the end of this blog post, no doubt there will be many more after the book's release.  Not only that, Matt has been a guest at comic conventions across the UK, including TitanCon, Belfast 2019, and Scotland's Comic Con 2019.  Matt also picked up some interesting fans:

Just a regular weekend for Matt and his cosplay pals (Matt's the one on the right).

The book launch event, on 25th October at The Parcel Yard Pub, Kings Cross, promises to be a blast.  Matt will be introducing his book and has invited a priest, a satanist and a theologian to talk about people's questions about the afterlife.  A perfect start to any weekend!

The book has already been favorably reviewed by authors, but also across social media networks, blogs and websites who have been attracted to Adcock's genre-defying novel. Some have even posted trigger warnings due to the content of extreme violence, speculative demonology, worrying possible future scenarios, strong language, and lots of things Christians might thoroughly disapprove of.

However, all critics are in agreement that COMPLETE DARKNESS is an 'action-packed literary shock to the senses that mixes flights of comic fantasy with bouts of brutal violence, offering readers a spiritually-charged, cyber-noir thrill ride into a bleak and dystopian, patriarchal future, ruled by Satan himself.'

The book is available from all leading bookshops, including Amazon, Waterstones and Blackwell's. There is also a Kindle version of the book which has been fighting for number 1 in the spiritual and religious fiction chart since pre-orders became available in August.
Links where you can see more of darkness linked to the book:

https://horrortree.com/can-some-of-us-sense-hell/

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/47575586-complete-darkness?from_search=true

https://christiantoday.com/article/complete-darkness-an-honest-review/133266.htm

https://www.premierchristianity.com/Blog/Most-churches-aren-t-preaching-about-hell.-But-loving-people-means-telling-them-the-truth

https://www.premier.org.uk/News/UK/Only-three-quarters-of-Christians-believe-in-hell-data-reveals?_ga=2.63461103.1115826492.1571651882-1578501195.1571651882

Adcock says there is a mystery around the concept of hell which makes it more difficult to understand and suggested more teaching on the subject was needed.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Darkness-Darkmatters-Matt-Adcock/dp/0957338775/ 

Watch out, Osmond's about!

Burton Mayers Books are proud to announce the release of Osmond the Toad.

Liz Noble' debut children's novel is released on 27th September 2019

Liz Noble's quirky and fun debut follows the eponymous hero of the story, Osmond the toad, as he attempts to master the art of pond skating.  The book is packed full of energetic and vibrant illustrations and is a suitable length for readers between the ages of six and nine.

There are deeper messages in here rather than just following the frivolity of a creative amphibian.  Young readers will appreciate the messages about resilience and never giving up and learning not to judge a lumpy, farty, warty toad as a creature who can not bring happiness and joy to the pond inhabitants around him.

The book is available to order on Amazon, Waterstones, Barnes and Noble and all other leading bookstores.  A #Kindle version is also available.

To follow and interact with the author, you can tweet her directly @author_noble
We hope you enjoy reading the book and welcome your feedback. 
Burton Mayers Books are always on the lookout for new talent. 

A Summer of Darkness

When we took on John Michaelson's memoirs about London Vampires in 2014, we didn't anticipate attracting anything darker, but our latest author, Matt Adcock, has brought a new type of darkness to our catalogue of titles.

The debut novel blends sci-fi and theological debate together

Complete Darkness, published by Burton Mayers Books, is due for release on Friday 25th October 2019, nicely in time for Halloween.  But rather than exploring ghouls and monsters and vampires, Adcock's cyber-punk adrenaline shot of sci-fi explores the concept of dark matter and hell (set in a dystopian London future). 

Skilfully blending conventions of the genre with comic fantasy and lashings of bloody violence, Adcock's debut sets up his DarkMatters Universe in style with a good degree of humour and intertextual nods. With a background as a film and game reviewer, blog editor, head of comms at Church Urban Fund - not to mention a network of artists and theologians who share his interest in dark sci-fi - we can expect a lot more from Matt in the future (if Armageddon hasn't already arrived).

Pre-order your copy now 

also available from all other leading bookshops, including Waterstones and Foyles 

Growing into 2019 - titles update and publishing news

We ended 2018 by publishing our first children's picture book, The Hedgehog's Full Moon Party.

The five star reviews have been coming in, we recently completed an official launch in Feb 2019, and off the back of this title we now we have a jam-packed year ahead of us.

A popular addition to our children's titles.

Firstly, with channel sales up by 24% and an increase of 44% in sales compared to 2018, Burton Mayers Books are setting out plans to expand their operations.  The blog will migrate to a website as we develop our relationship with Ingram and look to release digital titles (ePUB) versions of all our existing titles and rekindle our relationship with Nielsen's enhanced services.  So you may see Spikez, October's Son, Making Trakz and Nuptial Flight coming to an ereader very soon.

Despite vanishing, John Michaelson's legacy will continue online.

Secondly, there are already two new authors about to debut with Burton Mayers Books this year.  Matt Adcock will be releasing his cyber-punk, sci-fi slice of darkness across the literary world, adding to our already dark and murky adult titles; Liz Noble joins our children's portfolio with her eponymous series of books: Osmond the Toad.  We're really excited to tell you more, so watch this space - or rather, check out the website when it's up and running.


Spikez, nearly seven years after being published, is getting a second edition revision which includes updating links, adding to the online content and also setting the way for two new welcome additions: Spikez - Titanium Version, a slicker, shortened version of the prickly cyborg superhero novel; Spikez: Red Dragon, a dark vision of what the world could be like if animal cyborgs were turned into mercenaries in a global playing field.  Again, more details to follow.

Spikez will get a facelift in 2019

We're all really excited about these upcoming developments and want to thank those who have supported us by buying our titles, sharing our books across social media, and those who take time to read our updates and share our journey with us.  Again, thank you.