This is a plug

I made a thing!

 

So here it is: my debut novel, shiny and new on the Kindle store (or at least, the UK one. The US one needs another couple of days).

I’ve set up a page to talk about it without filling the entire front page of this site, but put it this way: it’s a scientific fact that people who buy Coffin Dodgers are better dancers, better lovers, better drivers and better all-round human beings than the rest of the population. If you fancy telling other people about that, I’d be very grateful.икони


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0 responses to “This is a plug”

  1. Am I being really daft? How do you get the cover to display full screen on your Kindle?

  2. Gary

    That’s the same ePub I uploaded to Amazon last night. Earlier versions had space at the footer, I think. Want me to email it?

  3. No, I mean on the Kindle. I can’t remember how to view the book cover; I only see it like this.

    On a side note, you’re right about the bottom of the cover; I had to move things about when completing the larger resolution and don’t think it’s placed quite as nicely as the original one. I can redo, if you like?

  4. gary

    Ah, ok, it’s a bit weird – you go to the beginning then hit the page-back button two or three times. That takes you to the contents and then to the cover. I have no idea why.

    I did a quick crop last night that seems to have got rid of the bars. Ta for the offer though.

  5. Perfect!

    I knew it wasn’t straightforward, but couldn’t remember how I’d done it before.

  6. MupwaNgle

    That seems normal behaviour for kindle books. It seems to jump past the cover most times.

    Does look good in BW too.

  7. Gary

    It does.

  8. Hunnymonster

    So.. since this came out I’ve bought a Kindle (well not with actual money… more a case of diverting Clubcard vouchers really), downloaded the sample and now bought the eBook.

    Jeez Gary, would have been cheaper to just buy you a pint really.

  9. Gary

    Haha, you’re not wrong :)

  10. hunnymonster

    My other half is asking when the audiobook version is coming out…

  11. Gary

    I have thought about it – I’ve got the kit – but I’m not sure I could do a decent job of it. I worry about doing characters’ voices, and fear the idea of doing ten million takes of every paragraph.

    Am I being unnecessarily doomy?

  12. Hunnymonster

    Give it a go with one chapter… not sure the character voices are entirely necessary – Martin Jarvis reads zillions of audiobooks and he’s Martin Jarvis for every character. (I’d say other audiobook readers are available but I think he’s actually cornered the non-Harry Potter market in reading audiobooks)

    audiobook != radio play

  13. Gary

    Yeah, that’s true, but it’s still an incredibly time-consuming process. I’ve toyed with it in the past – I’ve had some half-arsed ideas about podcasting at various times – but even after getting over the “feeling like a dick” vibe of talking to yourself, I make so many mistakes that just getting a paragraph out takes the best part of a fortnight :)

    It’s also quite hard to get the necessary peace and quiet: I don’t really have time during the day, the wee one’s bouncing around from late afternoon and when she’s asleep I can’t record because the office is next door to her room. It’s not an ideal recording setup.

  14. Hunnymonster

    Ok – better book Martin Jarvis then :D

  15. Use speech synthhesis on the Mac. Then the noise isn’t an issue. And your book sounds that little bit more futuristic.

  16. Gary

    Heh. I *have* enabled text-to-speech on the Kindle edition. Does that count?

  17. hunnymonster

    A brainwave… a nice jazz intro, then a lady well-known to you can read it :)

  18. Gary

    Behold the power of blogs and social networking: as of this morning, I’ve sold fifty copies in the UK. In the US, where nobody has the slightest idea who I am, I’ve sold three :)

  19. Gary

    Haha. Noooooo!

  20. hunnymonster

    Well obviously the jazz bit can fail to make the final cut, but we both know how much she loves the idea of jazz :D

  21. That must have given you a chart position of, what, minus 15?

  22. Gary

    Heh. Something like that :)

  23. Gary

    I’ve just had an update from Smashwords: the various ebook versions are starting to go out to Barnes and Noble, Apple, etc. Timescale looks like this:

    B&N – about 2 weeks
    Sony – 3 weeks
    Kobo – 3 weeks
    Apple – about a week
    Diesel – couple of days
    Scrollmotion – no idea, never heard of it

  24. Gary

    Come to think of it, given that at one point it was number 40 in Amazon’s fiction > humour chart, I could legitimately brand it THE AMAZON BESTSELLER.

    Like a dick :-D