Thursday, October 26, 2006

Don't Forget To Listen...

I'm live on Virgin Radio tomorrow morning at 8.00am competing for a chance to win £15,000 for U Star Novels. The investment would be a fantastic opportunity for me to get some new books commissioned and undertake a high profile marketing and PR campaign to coincide with the launch.

Fingers crossed it all goes well....

Tune in to 105.8 - Christian O'Connell breakfast show!

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Virgin Radio Competition

Today I got the opportunity to do a 30 second pitch about U Star Novels on the Christian O'Connell breakfast show on Virgin Radio. I was up against 2 other small businesses to compete for the chance to win £15,000 from Barclays.

My pitch went really well and I was selected as the finalist in the group to go through to the final, live in the studio on Friday 27 October.

You can listen again to the programme from this morning, by visiting:

www.virginradio.co.uk/djs_shows/shows/breakfast/dailybitspodcast.html

Monday, October 23, 2006

TOP KINGSTON-BASED ENTREPRENEUR WINS NATIONAL BUSINESS AWARD



- U Star Novels is named as winner in the annual Startup Awards for ‘Business Plan of the Year’ -

Kingston, Surrey – October 2006, U Star Novels, who offers the UK’s first adventure romance novels with a twist… you are the star, was announced as a winner of the ‘Business Plan of the Year’ category at the Startups Awards ceremony and luncheon on Friday 20 October, 2006.

The judges were impressed with U Star Novel’s unique concept and potential, placing the business among 52 finalists selected from over 450 entries.

The business is the UK’s first to offer any couple the chance to star in their very own romance novel. By providing U Star Novels with nearly twenty-six personal details, including names, features and traits you will co-author a 150 - 180 page romance novel that will feature you on every page.

The Startups Awards, organised by Crimson Business’ Startups.co.uk, comprised of 15 categories, each showcasing the best new businesses in the UK. The winners were unveiled at a prestigious awards ceremony and three-course luncheon held at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington and hosted by Sky News’ Adrienne Lawler.

Katie Olver, Director of U Star Novels, comments: “We are thrilled to have been bestowed with this prestigious award. Having the business recognised at such a crucial time in its startup phase is fantastic and gives us great confidence for the future growth of U Star Novels.”

The judges said: “Katie Olver is arguably the bravest of this year’s winners. She broke some rules with her plan but achieved her aim – which is what being an entrepreneur is all about.”

Endorsed by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and underlining its commitment to identifying and rewarding the UK’s best new businesses, the third annual Startups Awards was organised in conjunction with NatWest.

This year’s judging panel consists of some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs, including Trevor Baylis, inventor of the wind up radio, Sahar Hashemi of Coffee Republic and Adrian Chiles from Working Lunch.

Additional sponsors include Blackberry, BT Plc, Sage, Viking, Bartercard, Brother and National Business Register PLC.

Startups.co.uk is the UK’s largest independent online resource for budding entrepreneurs and the Startups Awards is one of the leading events on the small business calendar.

For further information about Startups Awards 2006 visit www.startupsawards.co.uk or telephone 020 8334 1648

To find out more about U Star Novels and to experience a free excerpt from one of our novels, please visit, www.ustarnovels.com

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Only 8 days until StartUp Awards...

We've had some good pick up from our press release today announcing that U Star Novels is a finalist in the StartUp Awards.

Only 8 days until the awards are announced...

www.1888pressrelease.com/ustar-novels-com-is-named-as-finalist-in-the-annual-startup-pr-ut6y8020a.html


http://www.newswiretoday.com/news/9369/


http://www.clickpress.com/releases/Detailed/19489005cp.shtml

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Start Up Awards Finalist

- U Star Novels is named as finalist in the annual Startup Awards for ‘Business Plan of the Year’ -

Kingston, Surrey – September 2006, U Star Novels, the UK’s first adventure romance novel with a twist… you are the star, has today been unveiled as one of four finalists at the Startup Awards 2006 in the ‘Business Plan of the Year’ category, handing it the chance to win the £5,000 top prize.

The judges were impressed with U Star Novel’s unique concept and placed the business among a handful of lucky finalists picked from hundreds of entries.

The business is the UK’s first to offer any couple the chance to star in their very own romance novel. By providing U Star Novels with nearly twenty personal details, including names, features and traits you will co-author a 150 - 180 page romance novel that will feature you on every page.

The Startups Awards, organised by Crimson Business’ Startups.co.uk, comprises of 15 categories, each showcasing the best new businesses in the UK. The overall winner will walk away with a £5,000 cheque.

Endorsed by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and underlining its commitment to identifying and rewarding the UK’s best new businesses, the third annual Startups Awards is organised in conjunction with NatWest.

The winners will be unveiled at a prestigious awards ceremony and three-course luncheon to be held at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington on Friday 20 October.

Katie Olver, Director of U Star Novels, comments: “We are thrilled to be a finalist in the Startup Awards and very much look forward to the event in October. It’s great that all our dedication and hard work has been recognised by Startups.co.uk, and we’re delighted to be in with a chance of not only winning the category but also the much-coveted ‘NatWest Startups Business of the Year’ prize.”

This year’s judging panel consists of some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs, including Trevor Baylis, inventor of the wind up radio, Sahar Hashemi of Coffee Republic and Adrian Chiles from Working Lunch.

Additional sponsors include Blackberry, BT Plc, Sage, Viking, Bartercard, Brother and National Business Register PLC.

For further information about Startups Awards 2006 visit www.startupsawards.co.uk or telephone 020 8334 1648

To find out more about U Star Novels and to experience a free excerpt from one of our novels, please visit, www.ustarnovels.com