Ben & Books

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Ben Gilman Portfolio

This is a portfolio of my work from the MA Publishing course at the University of Central Lancashire.

Audio Editing

Tamsin Mori-Gargoyles Chapter 3 (With Music)

Music Credit: Spooky piano tune by Victor_Natas — https://freesound.org/s/544911/ — License: Attribution 4.0

Tamsin Mori-Gargoyles Chapter 3 (Without Music)

Tamsin Mori-Gargoyles Chapter 9 (With Music)

Music Credit: inister Rose by ViraMiller — https://freesound.org/s/744878/ — License: Attribution 4.0

Tamsin Mori-Gargoyles Chapter 9 (Without Music)

Macro Environment

Robots Vs Writers The Growing AI Threat To The Publishing IndustryDownload

Social Media Audit

Social Media AuditDownload

Book Proposals

Book Proposal Future ProofDownload
Book Proposal Horsing AroundDownload
Book Proposal the voicelessDownload

POS Material

Court of the Dead POSDownload
Gargoyles POSDownload
The Voiceless POSDownload

Cover Design

Social Media: Instagram

How to Sell a Haunted House is a chilling ghost story with a hidden heart that will terrify you and warm your heart in equal measure. Set in a house haunted by ghosts, memories, and secrets, Grady Hendrix plays with horror tropes wonderfully to blend beautifully written character moments and tense horror sequences to create an unputdownable story of grief and forgiveness that even follows the stages of grief as you read along. Louise and Mark have a fascinating dynamic, as the estranged siblings grow closer throughout the story through shared trauma and grief. How to Sell a Haunted House is one of the creepiest horror stories I have ever read, with terrifying ghosts and ghouls that change the way you see puppets forever, and I cannot wait to read more of Hendrix's horror stories. #bookstagram #bookreview #booklover #horror #puppets #ghoststory The Second Chance Cinema is a cosy romance, following a couple as they find a magical cinema that shows them the highlights of their lives. Following a structure that is titled like the acts of a movie (Opening credits, Act one-three, end credits), The Second Chance Cinema follows Ellie and Drakes lives from childhood to the present as their traumas, their past loves, their secrets are revealed through the screen. The theatre itself provides a magical and mysterious setting, and the past sections are an undeniable highlight of the story as a timely reminder that the past is not something to be avoided, but something that shapes us into the people we are today. #bookstagram #bookreview #booklover #book1of2026 December 2025 was a fun month for me. I found a couple of new favourite authors that i will no doubt read more in the future, I read some books from authors I had found earlier in the year, and I finally caught up on some of the short stories from the Percy Jackson universe. Adding a very fun festive read to this helped me to end the year on a high, and I am looking forward to whatever reads are to come in 2026. #bookstagram #readingrecap #booklover #december #bookreview Over Christmas, I finally got the chance to read some of the supplementary works in the Percy Jackson universe that I have previously missed out on, and naturally I found them all to be very entertaining and fun short reads during a busy Christmas week. The Demigod Files mixes interesting and funny interviews with major characters with three very entertaining stories which give a lot of depth to minor characters like Clarisse and Beckendorf, whilst also introducing concepts that become more important in future books. The Demigod Diaries follows a similar theme, with interviews and a few shorts stories, this time including characters from the Heroes of Olympus in the stories. Demigods and Magicians is a full crossover between the Percy Jackson and Kane Chronicles series, and it is absolutely fantastic. Following a few loose ends from the end of the Kane Chronicles, these three short stories are entertaining and very funny, with extremely entertaining action and brilliantly hilarious banter between the characters as they interact and work together against dangerous foes across both Greek and Egyptian mythology. #bookstagram #bookreview #booklover #percyjackson 2025 has been an interesting year for me. I finally graduated with MA in Publishing, I started writing reviews of books both on my blog and on Instagram, and most importantly, I read more books in 2025 than in any year previously. For the first time in my life, I allowed myself to try different genres, having been mostly interested in epic fantasy and gothic horror. Although I still read plenty of books from those genres, my expanded interest in reading this year allowed me to take in stories that I would have normally missed out on, and many of them stuck with me for a long time after finishing them. Hilarious satires, emotional love stories, and devastating character dramas surprised me throughout the year, and I found many new authors who I cannot wait to read more from in 2026 and beyond. So, as the final thing I will post in 2025, here are my top 10 reads of the year: Here are some of the books that I have read in 2025, but which of them are my favourites. Ben & Books Top 10 of 2025, coming soon. #bookstagram #booklover #2025 #newyear #booklist The Doll Factory is a stunningly deep gothic historical novel, set in Victorian London. Stitched together with brilliant research and a vivid, enticing prose, London feels truly alive in the Doll Factory, with every sight, sound, and smell jumping off the pages as the city breathes around the reader. Following three wildly different characters, the shy and aspiring painter, Iris, the cheeky and endearing urchin, Albie, and the increasingly delusional and dangerous collector of curiosities, Silas, the story takes a frantic pace as the three characters lives intersect and as the book barrels towards its thrillingly dark conclusion. The Doll Factory is an absolutely delightful read for any fan of gothic historical fiction, a tale of love, loss, and loneliness with a wickedly terrifying villain that reminds us that the greatest evil we could face is isolation. #bookstagram #bookreview #booklover #gothicfiction #victorianlondon Unsurprisingly, I got a few new books for Christmas this year, so here's my Christmas 2025 book haul. #bookstagram #booklover #bookhaul #reader #xmas I think Bailey likes his Christmas presents this year. #christmas #dogsofinstagram
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