The New Californian Gold Rush

I’m so happy to announce that my very first offering for the Amazon Kindle is now live on their site – mostly because formatting it took so bloody long.  It’s my zombie novella, The Undead Alliance.  

Want a blurb?

A new novella from the author of Dunraven Road.

He’s a stinking, undead, rotting carcass with unfortunate brain activity. She’s a human captive, kept alive so that her vital organs can one day help sustain her rotting zombie masters. Romeo and Juliet they ain’t.

Gabriel thought that waking up as a zombie was the end of the world. In fact, a new world was just beginning – a world of dark, creeping horror overseen by a decomposing eccentric in a pirate costume calling himself Captain James.

Five short years later and the dead have risen up to claim the UK. Gabriel finds himself in charge of the North Sector Harvesting Plant, watching the daily influx of the living with a weary eye. Having become increasingly disillusioned with The Undead Alliance and its practices, the arrival of the very human Daisy seems to be his salvation – but who would ever love a zombie? If he wants to convince her he’s more than just the sum of his maggot infested parts, he’ll have to break her out of the harvesting plant and defy everything the Alliance stands for. All of which is easier said than done, especially when he has to deal with the unwanted attentions of Princess – the icy paramour of Captain James himself.

Is Gabriel strong enough to turn against his charismatic yet ultimately evil leader? Or will he watch Daisy die?

I’m getting ahead of myself though, perhaps I should explain how I came to the decision to self-publish (which will henceforth be known as indie publishing, because it sounds sooo much cooler)…

For those of you who’ve been listening to my radio show, you’ll know I’ve been talking about e-publishing and the Kindle in particular, especially since Amazon recorded astronomical Kindle sales over the Christmas period. So many sales in fact, that at one point the Kindle was outselling the latest Harry Potter book. I’ve always been interested in digital publishing, although back in 2008 I was lamenting the fact that “In the early days… ebooks also suffered from the same snobbery used to demean print-on-demand services. If you had to resort to publishing through an ebook publisher, your book wasn’t worth jack.” Well, I think I can safely say that things have now changed. The Kindle and other major ebook readers such as Barnes & Noble’s Nook steadily grew in popularity over the course of last year, meaning of course that ebooks did too – particularly those published by indie authors who unlike the traditional publishers were putting out their work at a decent price. Paranormal romance author and indie publishing’s current heroine Amanda Hocking has sold over 185, 000 books since April 2010. E-publishing has suddenly become interesting.

Now, of course you’ll always be able to find self-published novels of the same calibre as some of the drek that often stinks up the place over at Lulu; but authors such as J.A. Konrath and H.P. Mallory are proof that this is no longer the norm. J.A. Konrath in particular propounds upon the benefits of hiring professional book designers and cover artists. It seems there really is nothing a traditional publisher can do that an author can’t do for themselves. Social networking even makes promotion easier (and cheaper), often bypassing the need for the sort of large scale advertising campaigns employed by the traditional print publishers (campaigns which have become infrequent to non-existent in recent years anyway, giving new authors about as much support as a cheap sports bra).

Perhaps what has really spurred me on to try my hand at indie publishing though is the amount of control you retain; not only over the content of your work, but over the royalties you can accrue. Many authors claim they’re not indie publishing simply because the traditional publishers rejected them, they’re indie publishing because they get a better deal. All of which is starting to make the traditional publishers and agents sweat into their designer suits.

In the wise words of J.A. Konrath:

“This is the California Gold Rush of 1849. Will everyone get rich? No. But damn near everyone who tries will make more money than they would if they try the traditional publishing route.”

Why wouldn’t you mark out a spot and start sifting for gold?

So, The Undead Alliance is my trial run. I’m planning to do similar things with my latest novel, Jinn Nation and I’m excited

Life in a Sweat Box

I think I’m having a strange summer. The weather was beautiful until July (yes, I know us Brits are obsessed with the weather) and then it clouded over, trapping all the heat beneath and turning my little corner of the world into a clammy sweat box. I’m terrible when the climate is like this: I’m constantly uncomfortable and my brain turns to mush. I’m sure that knitting like a mad woman for the last two weeks to prepare for the upcoming street market I’ve signed on to do hasn’t made matters any better. Perhaps sitting for hours with a rapidly growing length of knitted fabric pooling on my lap isn’t the best way to cool down. I’m really looking forward to this market though. It’s in a village outside Exeter called Silverton on Saturday August 7 – Gates open at 10am (more details can be found on their website). I’ve actually attended this market before with a poorly thought out jewelry venture (basically, it was boxes of cheaply made costume jewelry gleaned from Ebay), but that was another lifetime ago. There’s always a theme at the Silverton Streetmarket and the locals dress up and compete in a fancy dress competition. This year the theme is musicals, so I’m hoping to see some Phantoms! (though I suppose the black cape would be a tad heavy for August…)

At least all the knitting has made me eager to start writing something new. I finished the first draft of Jinn Nation about two months ago; and I felt so drained when it was done I’ve barely started to edit it. Now though, a delicious kernel of a new idea is slowly turning and brewing in my overheated mind… I’m also planning to do something exciting with my zombie novella, The Undead Alliance – More details soon! I think knitting and crafting is a good excuse to let my mind wander and refresh itself, returning with new story ideas. I’ve been talking to some really interesting people through my radio show, Write Around Devon (every Thursday from 2-3pm UK! – www.riviera.fm) and last week I interviewed Susan Young, author of The Ultimate Defiance and creator of the Two Stories photographic exhibition. She’s also a keen wildlife photographer and she was telling me how waiting for hours, camera poised, for the perfect animal shot gave her plenty of time to plan her writing. I think this ‘planning’ time is important. Other people take a walk every morning and think about what they’re going to write that day. It all seems like quality procrastination to me and that’s where I am right now, entrenched in some high quality procrastination

I already have more local writers lined up to interview on the radio show and even more in the pipeline. Here’s a rundown:

22 July – Patricia Oxley – Creator and editor of the Acumen Literary Journal and organiser of the annual Torbay Poetry Festival.
29 July – Zion Lights – Author of More Things Should Be Thought Out Thus.
12 August – Graham Sclater – Author of Hatred is the Key.

I’m still looking for guests to interview and books to review, so if you’re a writer of anything in the South Devon area – fiction, non-fiction, poetry, even blogs – or if you have a new book out that you’d like to promote, send me an email and I’ll get you on the air

And finally… An old irritant has reared its ugly, botoxed head. Back in October, I pondered the question of why people buy glamour model Katie Price’s fiction when she openly admits to hiring a ghost-writer for every turd of a novel that has ever had the misfortune of having her name splashed across the cover. I never did get an answer. Well, she’s about to unleash more literary nonsense upon the world, prompting these search terms to pop up in my incoming links doo-dah on WordPress – “when is katie price next novel out” and “katie price new novel”. People!! If you’re so enamoured by novels to which the only contribution the so-called author has made is her name (and her signature on the hefty contracts), at least put me out of my misery and tell me why you read them. Please? Anyway… If you have come here from Google after following my ‘Katie Price’ tags, at least click this turgid link and send some Amazon Associates pennies my way (does this make me a two-faced, bandwagon-humping fool? Quite possibly).

Paradise (Hardcover) by ‘Katie Price’ – released July 22, 2010 (available for pre-order).

Blurb
When vacuous model Angel was forced to make a life-changing decision and choose between Ethan, the rich and famous Californian baseball player, and giving her marriage to poor-as-dirt, failing football player Cal another go, many were stunned when she picked Ethan. But life in LA is good: Ethan uses her and Honey to get his mug in all the celebrity magazines, making huge sums of cash; and their life could not be more glamorous. But nothing is perfect, and after a year together problems are beginning to surface: a stalker seems to have singled out Angel, her silicone implants have begun to sag; and when Ethan faces financial ruin the couple are ‘forced’ to star in a reality TV show about their life together, sickening the country and causing thousands to turn off their TVs in disgust. Despite everything, though, Angel is convinced that Ethan is the man for her. So why does she always feel breathless when Cal is around? (especially once he signs a new football contract and is able to buy a pink-painted mansion with a paddock out the back?) And why can’t she stop thinking about him and his new younger, even larger breasted girlfriend? But as the tabloid headlines have always been quick to point out, the path of true love for our moronic celebrity has not always been smooth (nor have the huge offers from OK Magazine for the exclusive rights to print pictures of her emergency bowel investigation always been forthcoming).

Sounds like a page turner!