Seasons greetings from English Lessons Brighton! We’re days away from Christmas and I am officially on holiday. But not before a final report and some exercises to keep you busy. (Apologies if you’ve seen this late, it seems something went wrong with the website posting this!)
It’s been a hectic few final weeks, having pushed out The English Tenses Exercise Book – in fact it’s been a hectic few final months, trying to get it finished in time for Christmas! But the book’s had a great reception, to make it all worthwhile.
Now, with the holiday, and the year’s end, it’s a good time to reflect on the past year – and it’s been a big one for ELB. At the start of 2019, we passed 10,000 total book sales, which was astounding – and at the close of the year we’re not too far off 20,000! That’s a fantastic result considering the first 10,000 took 5 years! And a fitting time to bookend my first release, The English Tenses Practical Grammar Guide, with the latest exercise book.
The books haven’t only been making great strides in sales though – Advanced Writing Skills has been taught at university level, in Belgium, and I’m delighted to say Word Order and The English Tenses have both been picked up with a university eBook provider – hopefully this will lead to an even bigger spread in 2020!
And don’t forget that you can also request the ELB books in your local libraries – the books have already been stocked in a libraries across the world; I was surprised to find out quite how many (and in some very curious locations).
But what about the website’s progress? I’ve been delighted to see a big increase in people commenting on new articles, and even more regular email correspondence from readers. I’ve managed to maintain at least one new article a month, and hope to improve on that in 2020.
Oh and I also redesigned the site this year, giving it a more modern feel!
What’s coming for 2020?
First things first, I’m in big need of a break! But once I come back, I’ll be looking at spreading word of the books, particularly across educational institutes.
I’ve got a few ideas for the next ELB book to write, and my first task there will be deciding on the best one.
Regarding the site: I intend to bring back more grammar pieces in the New Year. I’ll keep up a post a month, and subscribers to the readers’ group will continue to receive Archive emails revisiting older topics (remember, there’s over 200 articles available free on this site!). I’ll also try add extra articles wherever possible.
If you’re wondering what else I’m up to, I’m storming ahead with my fiction books – I released three new books in 2019, as well as a collected edition and a set of short stories. I’m producing my first audiobook now, which is making me consider doing the same for the ELB books. You can always learn more about my fiction here.
And some parting Christmas treats …
I’ve covered quite a few Christmas exercises and topics in the past here, so it’s a good time to revisit that collection! If you’d like some seasonal learning material to keep you busy over the holiday, check out the following articles:
The Big Christmas Vocabulary List
The Christmas Mess – tenses exercise (now featured in The English Tenses Exercise Book!)
The Gift of Time – a tenses exercise (which I now realise I forgot to include in The English Tenses Exercise Book!)
A Christmas Carol and the English Language
6 Songs For Christmas Listening Practise
Happy holidays, and have a wonderful New Year!
