2007 has got off to a jolly wonderful start with the news that the Arts Council London has very kindly awarded us a £25,000 grant. Wow!

It is to support our "Snowbooks 2.0" plan, so-named with a nod to "Web 2.0", the catchall phrase for the increased interactivity and growing elegance and professionalism in web development. We will use it to upgrade our IT hardware and software, and to support the publication of our 2007 contemporary fiction titles. These include Lint by Steve Aylett ("the most original voice in the literary scene" - Michael Moorcock) (publication March 2007); Memphis Underground by Stewart Home (June 2007) and The Human War by Noah Cicero (April 2007) - but of course there will be a knock on effect on all our books.

I feel very touched, because it's a lot of public money that they're entrusting us with. I promise to make good use of it and to make sure it benefits you directly by publishing wonderful books that you'll enjoy. Which, you know, we'd do anyway but this should result in our books reaching a wider audience. As it was reported in The Bookseller this morning, I've already had emails from various software consultants hoping to relieve me of the burden of all that money - thanks, boys, but I think we'll just about struggle through...

Lovely Arts Council - demonstrating once again that they underpin so much in the independent publishing arena. Gawd bless 'em.