Book Release

New Cover Design and Series Re-Launch

New Cover Design and Series Re-Launch

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Now that we are onto the third book in the series I felt it was time to stand back and have a look at the collection. Book One, Walks in Mevagissey Area was the first and something of a prototype and as such, it’s fabulous but also can be improved upon. For books 2 & 3, I realised that the back cover was a bit flat so I spoke to my wonderful designer, the incredible Sally Mitchell, and we worked on a new layout, which was perfect.  Now looking at Meva I realised it needed the same treatment as the next two.

Whilst I was reflecting on tweaks and changes I spent some time looking at the series title “Cornish Walks”  and discovered that it wasn’t a great search term. People were looking for the word “Cornwall” in conjunction with “Walks”, far more than “Cornish”.  Being self-published means that not only are you the author but you are also responsible for the production of the book and the marketing of it.  So I decided that it would be sensible to change the series title to “Walks in Cornwall”  It was a shame that I hadn’t learnt this at the beginning but it’s a learning process and I’ve got a lot to learn.

Over the next few weeks all the book covers will change to reflect the new series titles. The joy of using a POD printer means that I can do small print runs, so I can tweak and change without being lumbered waiting to sell a massive print run.

A History of Mevagissey

The Spoken Word

Over the Christmas period, I decided to experiment with an audiobook.  Being my own publisher means that I get to play with format and presentation and I have really enjoyed it.  After the physical book came the e-book, with all the new challenges that that threw up. And now I figured I’d have a look at audiobooks.  I don’t know if it will be popular or even wanted but I figured people driving down on holidays might enjoy listening about the place they are driving towards?

Writing a book requires lots of steps of collaboration;  editors, photo editors, jacket illustrators, proofreaders, page designers and so on. But an audiobook is something else again because this time the narrator is carrying the whole thing for you. But what the hell, let’s give it a go.  First steps first, I had to pick a voice and I choose a bloke. Why? Well, why I did that is a whole separate blog but basically, I don’t think it matters what gender delivers the book and I couldn’t find a female voice that couldn’t be confused for me. After all, my readers don’t know what I sound like so any female voice could be me and I didn’t fancy that.

Moving on I picked out a production company called ACX that puts authors and narrators together.  I listened to a load of voices, realised I was overwhelmed and so submitted a brief.  The first person that replied sounded perfect.  I had my voice! Steve agreed he sounded good but maybe I should exercise some caution?(1) So I waited and several more auditions came in. In fact, lots did and for a while, I felt like Simon Cowell.  Some were so bad they were funny, a broad American accent, some seemed to have just walked off the street, mumbling into their iPhone, some were great but the one that really made me laugh, was a known actor. I was really excited, there he was, a famous name, a recognisable face wanting to work with me!  The publicity would be brilliant, it could almost market itself. I sure was running ahead of myself and then I actually listened to it…Ah, Ted.(2)  He mispronounced Mevagissey. He mispronounced Mevagissey five times. He mispronounced Mevagissey in the section that explains how to properly pronounce Mevagissey. And then he continued to mispronounce Mevagissey.  He had a lovely voice but clearly, attention to details wasn’t his thing and given that it isn’t my strong suit either, I didn’t think we would be a perfect match.

Eventually, I pulled together a short list and presented it to a bunch of authors and one voice got consistently great responses.

“If you want a light sense of humour to accompany the narrative #3 sounds best.”

“I loved audition 3. He made it great listening.”

“Funny how ‘history’ seems to be linked to ‘serious’ in a way it almost sounds boring?! Of course, it’s serious but you should not fall asleep, should you? #3 made me want to listen more!”

“Three is lovely, I could listen to him all day!”

“I liked three. He read faster and yet was clear and with plenty of voice inflexion.”

“Reminded me of Robert Webb. Strike that – he’s a dead ringer for Stephen Mangan. Which is a good thing IMO!”

So that was pretty clear, #3 it was. Ad of course #3 was my first audition.(3) I got back to him and asked a few more questions.  Remarkably, he was Cornish! Born in St Austell, grew up in St Ives.  At least he would know how to pronounce all the Cornish names, a thing I had not even considered.(4) And so I decided to go for it. He’s new at this, I’m new at this but hey we all have to start somewhere and he sounded great and was going to understand Cornish intonation.  He was also going to be great when he read some of the tall tales putting on a nice Cornish burr.

I booked him and a month later he returned my book as a nice shiny sound file!  We tweaked it back and forth a bit, sorting out the odd bit and whilst the Tall Tales sound a little bit like they were told by a hobbit, all in all, it was perfect. That aside I signed it off and now I have to work out how to market it.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE> NOW AVAILABLE

 

  1. You know, never accept the first offer, x rarely marks the spot, it is you, not me and the cheque isn’t in the post.(4)
  2. Fast Show.
  3. What do I know
  4. Yep, that stupid

 

Twice as Good

Free shots and new shots!

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Twiceas Good

OK, so that’s the next ten shots wrapped up and published.

Shot One “The First Shot” is now available on all e-readers and is free of charge. The Amazon Kindle may still be 99p for a few days whilst Amazon tries to change the price for me.  This will be a permanent introductory offer to the series.

Click for free book

Shot Two “Twice as Good” is now available for 99p from all e-readers.

Click for “Twice as Good”

I will now start releasing the contents for the Third Shot on here for free.  When all ten are released I will remove them and bundle them up.  As with “Twice as Good”

Let me know if you are enjoying them.

A History of Mevagissey by Liz Hurley

The Launch of a New Book

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A History of Mevagissey by Liz Hurley
A History of Mevagissey by Liz Hurley

Well, all bar the sweeping up and a bit of publicity, my book is done. It is written and published and yet here I sit feeling concerned and deflated.  When it launched as a digital version over the weekend I was nervous but began to receive some lovely feedback. As nice as that was there was a large part of me that wondered if they were just being nice.  Rubbish, I know. But still.

Then the physical version arrived and as I unpacked the book I looked at it and thought. Oh. Is that it?  I knew it was only 72 pages but still, until you are holding a thing the penny doesn’t properly drop.  A year’s work for this!

You see non-fiction, real non-fiction is tough. Up until now, all I have written have been columns, essays, I just opened my brain and let the scribbles pour out, nothing was incorrect as it was simply my opinions and observations.  Admittedly I have to try to master grammar, punctuations and spellings, not my best friends, but beyond that, anything goes. But a History, well that is all about Facts and facts are the bedrock of the entire book.

I have had to go back to primary sources to verify facts and discovered that some aren’t true at all. I have confirmed until I was blue in the face, then when I discovered an error it took months to try and work out what the actual truth was and where the alternative history started.  Then, of course, there were the events where there were no records, those damn saints! So I would have to extrapolate, summon my educated opinion or in other words, guess.

Finally, after all those longs months, I had to try and put it into words that were readable and engaging without being too dry, dreary, long winded or overly chatty.  I failed on the overly chatty front.  For many years my tutors lamented on my academic voice and it would seem that I never mastered it.  Having written the book, it then had to be proofed and re-proofed (and re-proofed) and then I worked with artists, typesetters, printers and a whole array of very talented professionals that all helped turn my endeavour into an actual book.

So, I sat there holding my chatty book, my slim book and I thought, Oh. That’s  what a year of work looks like? And then I think people will look at that and not understand why £5.99 seems a reasonable price to me.

Ah well, publish and be damned.

A History of Mevagissey

Also available in Hurley Books, Mevagissey and more retailers as I get my act in gear.

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All posts are written by Liz Hurley, author of SCRIBBLES FROM THE EDGE and LOSING IT IN CORNWALL These two books are collections of her columns, written for the Cornish Guardian. They available from Amazon as e-books or paperbacks as well as from Hurley Books.

The First Shot

Launching the first collection of shots. Just 99p. I know!

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Right I have bundled the first ten shots together to get the ball rolling.

Step right up!! 99p

When everyday life is anything but everyday.
Ten short sharp columns on a range of topics. It’s a pick ‘n’ mix collection of funny takes on family life, political observations, rants and daydreams. Is Father Christmas real? Do we need a fairer deal for the old? How to hang wallpaper in a ballgown and how to survive long distant car journeys. These shots are a lovely, light-hearted collection. They will make you laugh out loud, stop and think about larger concerns or just enjoy the beautiful descriptions of a gorgeous world as seen through her eyes.

Download today and dive in!

Book Shots

Right. What's Next?

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I’ve been playing with a new idea about book deliveries. It’s going to be a bit of an experiment but here is what I have in mind.

Every week I shall release one or two of my columns, currently featured in my two books.  When I get to ten I will remove them from my website, and make them available as a mini e-book, think of it as a book shot! Download price £0.99 / 1.99 ish.  I will then continue to release the next set of columns one or two a week for free until we hit ten. And then the pattern will repeat.  The full-fat books will be available at any time on Amazon, and the shots will gradually build up along side. And you will always be able to read some freebies along the way.

I don’t know how successful this will be but it will be an interesting experiment. The fist skinny will be on its way after this post.

Ten skinnies = One Shot
Six Shots = One Full Fat

Happy dance

A History of Mevagissey – drum roll please

Edits, done. Proofs, done.  Images assembled, done. Files sent to the typesetter, done. Deep breath, done.

DONE!

Thank you so much, everyone, for your help and support. Details on printing and publication in a few weeks time but should be ready sometime in July. I will be back in touch with my advance readers closer to the time to say thank you properly.