New in Lost in a Book's online shop... only one available

New in Lost in a Book's online bookshop Only one available!

Messing around with trucks...

 

  What's behind the shed door, with the chunky button door handle?  

 Drive along the road, and into the tunnel... or is it a cave?

 There's a handy pocket...Just use your imagination - it's a new story every time... 

Book marketing, it's not all about first editions

Book marketing:

Attacking it from every angle...

The signed first edition: Yes I have first editions, some signed, some waiting to be signed and personalised. My latest book is not only first edition and signed, but it's also a small first print run of just 100 books, all of which will be numbered - so they're pretty special books all round.

And why are they such a short print run? Well, when I get inspired for a new book, practicalities don't come into it. If my idea works best  with lots of colour pictures, then I just run with it and work it out later. But at some point, as a self publisher I have to decide how my latest project is going to be financially viable. That's the point when I tell the printer all the details and hold my breath waiting for the quote to come through...

Then it's number crunching time, and my brain doesn't run well on numbers - it's a bit like putting diesel in a petrol engine, my brain runs much better on words than numbers. Anyway, it has t be done, even if it gives me a headache... and in the case of Outnumbered by Cats I decided I couldn't edit out any more colour photos of cats and kittens, so I went with the exclusive angle, cut my profit margin and went for a small print run, pricing the books at £9.99 per copy.

But it's not all about first editions

Putting books into little hands: Most of my books are for children, and the most satisfying sales are to children who choose their own book, and then get it handed to them in their pushchair, or walk away reading it, because I know that their parents understand the value of a book, it's not about keeping books pristine, it's about giving books to children of all ages and letting them enjoy them, because a shabby book is a loved book - just like a favourite teddy bear...

Monday ramblings and book marketing

Monday ramblings:

Well that was a busy, if a little maddening morning, sorting out the mess I made of my blog header on Friday night, when I would have been better employed leaving the computer well alone and reading a book instead...

My marketing team are busy taking a siesta in various sunny and shady places about the house depending on their current preference - the darker their coats, the sooner they seek shade.

So that leaves me tackling the hardest part of writing a book - namely: shouting about it and getting it out to a greater audience.

    So why should you buy my new book?

• Colour photos - if a picture is worth a thousand words, then the word count in this book is immense - with 82 colour photos of cats and kittens, from all the time when they were getting into mischief and I reached for the camera instead of lifting them down...
• Small first print run - this is a print run of just 100 books, and all the books will be hand numbered and signed
• True story - it's all there, maybe a little too much at times...
• Launch price of £7.99 till the end of May.

The Blurb:

I'd like to get a female kitten and let her have one litter," I said to my stunned family when they raised the kitten topic. Not surprisingly a suitable kitten was quickly found...  and Mitzi arrived in time for Christmas, bringing her own brand of fun and chaos, and demanding friendship from our 5 year old cat Cleo.

By summer Mitzi was quite confused, she came into season and started calling shamelessly. But when a hapless tomcat answered her call, she was far from impressed; causing more than one cat flap drama, and a hole in the door where a flap used to be. 

Eventually nature took it its course and Mitzi had kittens. The first few weeks were blissfully peaceful, watching as Mitzi took care of their every need. We had a week of heartache when one of the kittens was poorly, and then not developing properly, and was destined to challenge and inspire us in ways we could not yet imagine. 

Then they grew big enough to escape their box, and the bedlam began... 

The story that emerged from the kitten diaries, written as kittens climbed on me and chewed the edges of my note books... 

Cats and boxes... it's a cat thing

After all the hard work I'm very proud of my new book - but all Kryten wants is the box...

Help him get his wish - 4 more books and the first box is empty Outnumbered by Cats launch price £7.99 till the end of May

New book now on sale - exclusively from my website

This will have to be a quick post as I've been busy adding my new book to my website bookshop - but the stars of the book are gathering now and reminding me that it's their suppertime.

Oh wait, I can cheat and copy paste my facebook post - then I'll call the magic words that mean it's suppertime, in this house at least, and what are those magic words? it's all in the book:

Finally it's done - The story that emerged from the kitten diaries, written as kittens climbed on me and chewed the edges of my note books...

It's bursting with 82 colour photos - yes I managed to edit them down to 82!

They're currently only available from me - because I've got them all! It's a small print run of 100 books, which will all be hand numbered - how exclusive is that...?

Tell me a story please

Chapter 1

Doink! Something bounced off Eric’s head. He looked up with a start.

“What’s the matter Eric?” asked Miss Roper.

“Nothing Miss,” said Eric, rubbing his head.

“What’s wrong with your head?”

“He’s got nits Miss,” said Miranda, and everyone laughed.

“No I haven’t. Someone threw something at me. I bet it was you.”

“Eric… Stop disturbing Miranda. Bring your book here and show me what you’ve written so far.” Eric could feel every eye in the class on him as he went to the front.

“What does this say?” said Miss Roper.

“Once upon a time, Miss,” muttered Eric.

“Once begins with an ‘O’,” said Miss Roper, writing one in with red ink.

Eric stared at the page as he went back to his desk. He knew he’d written an ‘O’. It was a big capital ‘O’, he remembered writing it. He remembered going over it again while he tried to think of something to write. He might even have drawn a face on the ‘O’. So where had it gone?

Something else hit Eric on the head. He looked around angrily, getting ready to throw something back.

“Once upon a time… what?” Eric looked up to see who was talking to him.

“What’s the matter Eric?” asked Miss Roper.

“Nothing Miss.”

“Well get on with your work then.”

Eric wished he could draw a picture instead of writing a story. He had all his best ideas when he was drawing. He never had any trouble thinking of what to draw. Right now he was simply itching to draw Miss Roper; did she have any idea how funny she looked when she pulled that face?

“You haven’t written anything in the last five minutes, I’ve been watching you, and stop doodling,” Miss Roper’s voice cut into his thoughts again.

“I’m thinking Miss.”

He turned his attention back to his work, just in time to see the red capital ‘O’ being ripped off the page in front of him. Eric rubbed his eyes and looked again.

“Oh so I’ve got your attention now have I?” said a little voice. Eric looked around to see if anyone else had heard, but the rest of the class was still hard at work.

As he looked down at the little man stood on the page in front of him, he looked very familiar. From his unruly spiky hair, to his trainers, with their over long laces, trailing untied behind; he looked just like one of Eric’s doodles.

 

“Ow…” something else hit Eric. It was red, he noticed, as it rolled across the desk and onto the floor.

See the full excerpt 

Buy the book

Available on kindle