If you haven't heard of Unbound you should check it out pronto. It's a new way to get books published: rather than an author writing a book then hawking it round agents and editors, they can gauge interest in an idea by asking people to pledge to buy the book. When enough support has been gathered, the book will be published.
So if you fancy getting your hands on The Gin Lane Gazette (named for Hogarth's painting, set in St Giles), you'd better head over to Unbound and promise to buy it. It's from the brain of Adrian Teal, cartoonist who's worked for the national press and QI. He's creating a fictional tabloid covering the scandalous exploits of 18th century England — including politicians duelling it out in Hyde Park and entertainers covered in bees.
This being Unbound, though, you don't just get to buy the book. For extra money you get extra rewards: £85 gets a Georgian-style caricature of yourself, £200 nets a walking tour of Georgian London with Teal and www.georgianlondon.com author Lucy Inglis (plus invite to the launch party); add £50 on to that and Inglis and Teal will take you on a tour of London's Georgian pubs as well. Oh, and if you've got a spare grand knocking about you can be in the book itself.
The Gin Lane Gazette needs another 630 or so supporters in the next 60 days to get published. What are you waiting for?
