Where the Wild Folk Books Are
Wild Folk, written by me, illustrated with glorious illuminations by Tamsin Abbott, born into the world on Midsummer’s Day, on Exmoor, at Simonsbath, with an amazing launch by Seven Fables, has had a bit of a storybook existence so far. You can read more about this here and see the beautiful photos taken over the weekend. Worth reading their part 2 experience, otherwise known as ‘why my copy looks a little weather worn’. It was a glorious time, though up until the day before we had no idea if we were going to have books for our book launch. Unbound have not done much of late that is good, but under pressure from Tamsin and myself, helped by our agent, they did push ahead with the printing of the Wild Folk book.
The story of Unbound is one of heroes and villains. Not a pretty story. I don’t wish to go into it here. If you want to know more, do a search under ‘Unbound’. The main heroes of the tale have been the readers. We, Tamsin and myself, had gathered such a supportive crowd behind our book, with average pledges being way above the normal. As Unbound went into administration the first time the danger was that Wild Folk would go down with it and all those who had pledged support would be left with nothing, so this is what we fought to avoid. Other heroes were bookshops who had pledged, all independents. And then there was Little Dart, a distribution company we knew nothing about until the book was printed, and Little Dart were commissioned with handling the fulfilment and delivery of the books to pledgers. As luck would have it they were 20 minutes down the road from the book launch, were amazing at keeping in touch and were nothing but helpful when it came to us doing a swift raid to free up hundreds of copies for the book launch. Heroes.
Now we face a further challenge. Unbound failed to thrive. Tamsin and I were left with a book orphaned of a publisher, with none of the usual team behind to send the book out for reviews, gather any of the media attention, no sales team, no pr… but we did and do have friends and readers. Thanks to Liz Hyder we recently did a podcast with Standard Issue, and you can listen to this here.
Meanwhile we have managed to take control of some of our stock, so, if you are an indie bookshop and want to buy some please get in touch via this email. We have a growing list of suppliers pinned to my instagram profile, so if you are a reader then take a look there for your nearest stockist. Also, this map may help:
We are currently struggling to retrieve the remaining stock and prevent it from being pulped, something that happens far too readily in the book industry. Below is a gallery of some of the places the book can be found. The painted window was made by Tamsin for Mr B’s in Bath, where we had a sell out event.
My backlist of Unbound titles is also trapped in the administrative nightmare and in USA we are waiting for hopeful news with regards to Wild Folk, but I fear that all of my backlist titles in USA will be pulped, despite the demand for the books from readers and independent shops alike. I do not have the wherewithal nor energy to fight this fight, and to be honest it really does hurt, not least the utter waste of it all….. but Wild Folk continues to rise, against the odds, to find its way, its champions.
Have a read of Tamsin’s journal post also. And if you are an indie shop, or book group get in touch to buy stock direct from Tamsin and myself. This is the first time in two years that we will have been paid for our work.
I would just like to say huge thanks to a few folk who have helped so far along the way. Hope I don’t miss anyone. Davina and Chris and all at Seven Fables for perseverance ( and all the indies who persevered to get stock when the book was first printed) Liz Hyder, Anne and Jill ( who pledged for bookclub ) Mr B’s and Jaffe and Neale for great events and the bookshop in Kirby Lonsdale. Andy and Rustie at Rossiters, for lunch, help, advice and listening. Standard Issue, Mickey, you are an amazing host. Nettie and Dougal and Hannah for help with selling and social media, and all at Little Dart for continuing to send out books for us. Jerome Flynn for speaking the mantra, and Dougal again for putting this together as a film. Jessica, for dealing with pathways less trodden. Mike Abbott for being a genius, and hopefully opening the way to a new portal. Robin, for endurance and patience. Resurgence Magazine ( more on this soon). And most of all to all who pledged to make the book a reality, who followed through, kept the faith.
One beautiful story is this: Tamsin and I were heading to London to do our event at The Stone Club. The train was cancelled so we went to The Wild Rabbit for a coffee while we were waiting. There is an amazing well in the restaurant and never one to miss a good photo I went to get a copy of the book, put it on the well, took a photo. When the beautiful waitress brought us our coffee, saw the book on the table, she said, ‘no way! How weird, I just finished reading that book last night!’ Turned out a friend had recommended it to her ( word of mouth, always the best pr) So we told her who we were and gave her a Wild Folk badge for making our day.
If you have found a copy of the book, leave a comment to say where. Would love to hear something of the wild life these copies are living, how people came by them.
I will pick a person from the comments now and again, to send a badge to, or a postcard.
I saw the initial pledge on Facebook and thought it would be a wonderful book to unite myself and my sister/not sister, far away in Wales. It was a long journey from initial pledge for both books to arrival, especially as her name was missed off the list. Tamsin rescued us again when I sent her the book for Jo and she personally signed it and sent it in to Jo.
My book has been to Wales, to Gloucestershire and Rutland and was enjoyed thoroughly.
Thank you to the artists for giving us such a feast for the eyes, mind and heart.
I have been a huge fan of your books since I pledged to help The Unwinding into the world. I was late to the party for Wild Folk so missed pledging, but maybe that was a blessing after all that has happened? I was lucky to get one of the last signed copies online from Seven Fables. I was so struck with your words and Tamsin’s artwork that when I saw (again late) that Eva John had produced charm bracelets from Wild Folk I got in the car rhe next day and drove the 3 hour round trip to Dulverton to Seven Fables and am now the proud owner of the charms from The Smith’s Tale, moon rise, swan rests, night falls, bird’s nest. I wear it everyday as a talisman. Thank you Jackie, and Tamsin for a beautiful book.
So glad to have my copy of this fabulous book!
I’ve shared the link with my local indie bookshop too. Fingers crossed!
When I heard you were both coming to Kirkby Longsdale I ordered the book from Amazon. I know, but I really wanted it, so I could have read some of the stories before the event. Your talk was so interesting, I loved hearing about the life of the stories and the alchemy of the art work. Thank you for everything, this book is lighting up my life. I’ve bought everything I need to sew a black fox.
I pledged and a copy was sent to me in Orkney. I was surprised to receive after hearing about the Unbound debacle. It’s a beautiful book, and I really hope you can save all the other copies!
You and the many like you are why we pressed ahead, despite the betrayals of trust. Was touch and go. But the team at Boundless did honour the printing and the pledges. Been such a time, but compared to what others are living through, well…… Would love to see photos of the book on Orkney.
I waited for this book to hatch and was pleased to see the beautiful illustrations when it arrived, my copy was damaged and I waited a while for it to be replaced. But after hearing about the problems with the publisher I decided to accept the imperfection and enjoy the contents. It is a beautiful book, the ethereal illustrations glow and provide a unique way to view Jackie’s art. I am reading the stories slowly, happy to extend the enjoyment of each carefully crafted sentence. I would like to add a wildfolk badge to my lanyard if one is available. Love from Sara
Jackie,
I am just an individual reading your blog and occasionally buying your books (the last one through Barnes & Noble but remember buying one or two books through Unbound); and so sorry that this book, which looks beautiful, has had a horrible experience for you. Glad that this was not your first book launch but sorry it had to be latest book launch.
I love your artwork and your pictures grace my journal often (you are one of the first blogs I found).
Take good care of yourself and may the sun be shining on you with the next book launch.
Thanks to your hard work, I got my copy and I love it, my mum loves it too I’ll be visiting one of the indie shops to get her one too! My commiserations to you and Tamsin over the trouble with all the Unbound problems. I’m glad you found a way to support your pledgers and I hope you find a more stable situation moving forward. I pledged to other author on Unbound and I know it’s been an immense pain for many of you.
I knew nothing of the book, or its turbulent history, but I found it in Forum Books in Corbridge, Northumberland yesterday, and had to have it. A beautiful impulse purchase that I now feel even more lucky to have!
I bought the book from George Street Community Bookshop in Glossop. Had no idea of the turbulent history! Although I do see that a couple of libraries are saying that the book will be available as an eBook from 17 March 2026, through Rizzoli Publications. Excited for more people to experience this book!
Also the physical book. We have a new publisher who are paying us!!!!!!
Received Wild Folk from my daughter fir my birthday and absolutely love it! A book to treasure, all the more so due to the efforts to publish and distribute it. Best of luck with the new publisher!