Authors OnLine -

Gaynor Johnson
Sadly after nearly 10 years, our submissions manager, Gaynor Johnson, who has been a huge part of the development of the company has decided to move on to pastures new. Her contribution to Authors On Line can not be overstated and we are extremely grateful to her for her hard work and unfailing support over many years. Without her the company would not be where it is today. We would like to wish her all the best with her new career and are deeply sad to lose her. But life moves on. So we have closed our Welsh office and are bringing all our submissions back into head office in Gamlingay. So those of you who use the Welsh office's direct telephone number please note you now need to dial our Head Office instead on 01767 652005.

Claire Johnson
Gaynor's daughter, Claire Johnson who assisted her mother with all things admin, has, with the closure of the Welsh office, also had to move on. Claire contribution working in the background has also been immense and she also will be sorely missed. Thank you ladies, please keep in touch and please come and see us on a regular basis.

Penny Ridler - Our New Submissions Manager
Gaynor's place has been taken by a new member of staff, Penny Ridler, whom we welcome to the company and wish her a long and happy career with us. Penny joins us from the world of retail so is very experienced in dealing with people and enquires. Whilst Penny gets her feet under the table and learns the complexities of self-publishing she will be working closely with our Editor and founder, Richard Fitt. So your enquiries are still in good hands and hopefully the change of staff will be as smooth as possible.

Jamie Day
Also this month, one of our production team, Jamie Day has also left us. After being made redundant with the closure of his previous company, Jamie joined us from the world of advertising on a 'temporary' basis nearly 2½ years ago, to cover for our production manager James Fitt whilst he went on his honeymoon, and has been with us ever since. Although he tells us he has enjoyed his time with us, delving into the world of book formatting and cover design, his real love lies with the cut and thrust of corporate advertising. An opportunity has now presented itself within a top advertising agency and Jamie has returned to the world of designing corporate adverts for FTSE 100 companies. We once again thank him for his immense contribution, teaching us many tricks of the graphic's world and helping to improve our skills set, to the highest level. We will miss his sense of humour (but probably not his time keeping!), his artist prowess and his ability to conjure up fantastic cover designs from the, sometimes vague, briefs given by the authors. Thank you Jamie for everything you have done, but as James' best man at his wedding I doubt you will lose touch with us, so we look forward to hearing how you are doing back in the 'Big Smoke'.

We have already hired a replacement for Jamie, but unfortunately she is unable to start with us until the end of November, so we will make a full announcement about that nearer the time.