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Look what the stork delivered...

edited March 2014 in Writing
I'm very pleased to announce the safe arrival of my first paperback, a short story collection called Peace and Disquiet that was previously available as an ebook.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Peace-Disquiet-Helen-Laycock/dp/1495917290/ref=sr_1_43_bnp_1_pap?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1395225600&sr=1-43&keywords=short+stories

It's priced at £3.99 and has had some wonderful reviews.

It's sibling is in the making, an altogether chubbier specimen which will make its entrance into the world simultaneously as a kindle and paperback version and will be named Minor Discord. Watch this space...

Comments

  • Well done.

    TN, have you considered a launch party on Facebook?
  • Congratulations and good luck with sales.
  • I don't know what a launch party is, Carol!

    I thought I'd write to the local press and give a copy to the library.
  • I've read the description on Amazon. It refers to "dark stories". Are they supernatural?
  • edited March 2014
    TN, you set up an event on FB for a specific date and time- like we did with the One Word Anthology.

    Send invites to your FB friends inviting them to the launch, and you can have fun, have the book as a prize in a competition- say the best scary place or something- especially if there's pictures.
    Pictures of cake and wine. You could even have pictures of hunky men who you'd ghost-hunt with- those going can post their own preferences.

    It's designed to get interest and hopefully sales, and new readers in a one day surge- which is good for the Amazon sales ratings. :)

    And if you have an e-book version you can give the details of that option.

    (If you blog, you can highlight the book launch on there, and on twitter. See if another blogger wants to interview you about the book.)
  • OLG, hmmm.

    They are a mixture of stories, some with a psychological angle, a nod to a few waifs and strays of society, a bit of death and dying here and there, a touch of abuse and a few ghosty tales. That kind of covers why they are 'dark'. No jokes. No laughs. Quite depressing, in fact...

    Oh, Carol.

    I feel I need to make lists...

    OK, let me see if I can get that sorted. Thanks, lovey!
  • TN, did you read Debbie Young's book? That would guide you through the marketing maze.

    Good luck, it looks great!
  • No, I need to bring my kindle down to the computer so that it gets sucked in. In fact, I'll do that right now.

    Hang on a sec...
  • Got it.

    Now off to read it...
  • Congratulations. Fingers crossed for a huge success.
  • Ditto.

    :)
  • Cracking reviews. Good luck with it.
  • Congratulations, Tiny Nell - hope you have lots of sales.
  • Many congratulations TN - hope it does really well.
  • The words "ghostly tales" persuaded me. It's now on my kindle.
  • Great stuff, TN, the best of luck with it.

    Ref Carol's idea of a launch party: 'Pictures of cake and wine. You could even have pictures of hunky men who you'd ghost-hunt with.'

    If you want my bibtight pics, just ask!
  • It's looking good - hope the sales are astronomical - well done
  • Well done Tiny Nell!!!!!

    The launch parties I've attended online have been similar to one of the silly - woops! sorry - light-hearted threads on here. We should all be good at that.

    *rushes out to buy a bottle*
  • Do I have to magic pictures into the comments box? Not sure how to do that!

    Has anyone got a link to a launch party that I can look at?

    How much notice do I give?

    (I'm writing quickly as t'Internet's hardly working!)
  • This was the OW Anthology page- well minus a lot of images now. But you can see the basic set up.

    https://www.facebook.com/events/516422035078733/

    You can set a launch party up by going into Events (on the side bar) and click on Create Event, and go from there, it's easy to do.
  • But if TN's internet's playing up we would be partying without her. Hardly seems fair, that.
  • Hopefully the internet will be fixed tomorrow. As soon as it is, I'll put up invitations on here, on FB, Goodreads and Twitter.

    Hope there'll be room.

    My biggest worry is that I'll be sitting on my own holding a deflated balloon.

    Do you think 7 - 8 is a good time?
  • Ah, so can other people post photos onto my FB page?
  • No, because you will have everything on an events page which you set up. This keeps everything related to the launch on just that bit, so no one is posting anything on your FB page.

    Just to reiterate. Go to the main feeds page, look at the options just below the news feed, click Events, then on the events page, top right is a little box that says Create event, click on that and go from there. Then you can choose which of your contacts you send an invite to from your friends list, and they can invite people too.

    I'd suggest a minimum of 2 hours, otherwise some may not get to it until it's over...Those invited can pop in and out, or stay.

    And have fun...
  • It's certainly a good way of making the launch feel special. You'll get a buzz from it and hopefully some sales.

    I'm quite partial to virtual party food, so I'll definitely be there.
  • OK, thanks, Carol.

    Should I put a general invite on my main FB page too? Everyone who follows will see that, won't they?

  • Yes, they should then be able to look for the event.

  • OK, found that, Carol, but it won't load at the moment.

    I've written the invitation in the form of a poem. I seem to get more comments when I leave poems on FB!

    I might wait for the internet to be fixed tomorrow before posting anything.
  • Me again...

    I shall do a book giveaway. I can't do a 'Get the question right' contest as everyone will be able to see others' answers.

    Do you think it is fair of me to ask those wishing to be eligible to write something very short, e.g. 50 words or less? Then I could send the book to the one that most appeals.

    But would people do it, do you think, esp. non-writers?
  • What seems to be popular, is you set a question- for example what was your worst (or even best) baking disaster.

    The question could be related to the theme of the book, or even one of the particular stories, answers can be posted on that post only, and you decide the winner. Say how long they have to enter and when you'll be judging and announcing the winner.

    It means writers and non-writers can enter, and it can be fun too.
  • But won't everyone read the first person's answer, and then how do I fairly pick a winner?

    I did think of a question that everyone could find out. I just wasn't sure how I could virtually pick out of a hat!
  • If you make the question something that requires an answer that is likely to be individual to them, then you can pick the best one in your personal opinion...
  • Oh, yes, I see.

    That's a shame. I liked my question...

    I shall have a think.
  • Um...

    How ab-

    No.
  • Well done TN. I have just bought the Kindle version and shall look forwarding to reading it.
  • I was expecting baby news and photos on this thread!
  • Oh, thanks, Stan. Very kind.

    Baby news? I'll see what I can do...

    Uh, no.


    Well, all my FB party plans have had to be put on hold. The man who was meant to come and install Virgin yesterday didn't turn up or telephone to say why he didn't arrive. After waiting six hours, we made various phone calls to find out why and eventually discovered that there was a 'problem' somewhere that would have affected our installation. In the meantime we had emptied a huge cupboard and moved it to expose the current cable connection. When, eventually, we switched on the computer again, having dismantled it in the move, it was dead. You wouldn't believe the trouble we had last night! At least it's working again this morning.

    So, we've still got dodgy Internet and have no idea when we'll get a new service.

    Our current Internet and phone will cease to work at the end of the month as it's been cancelled.

    I daren't host a FB party as things stand as I might not be able to attend.

    So, so annoying!
  • Don't worry, we'll help celebrate the launch once you're up and running again.

    Hope you find out what's wrong soon.

    When I had problems recently, I had internet, then lost it for a day, then got it back for a short time. That was a damaged wire in the box outside.
  • edited March 2014
    I daren't host a FB party as things stand as I might not be able to attend.
    Just stick the money behind the bar, TN, we'll manage the rest.

  • Yep. Don't you worry about us.
  • I was worrying in the night, Baggy.

    Thought everyone would be getting their glad rags ready and setting the timer to record their favourite TV programmes.

    Oh, well, more time to plan...
  • Nothing is more important than your launch party - nothing.

    *re-schedules wine and chocolate buying*
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  • Have you noticed how testy McGowan has been lately?
  • I can see a leaping frog!
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