Competition to win a Millie the Detective book

Since I've a few paperback copies left of Millie the Detective and the Diamond Ring with the original cover - the 12-year-old detective's first case - I'm offering five signed copies in a draw (UK only). This is it:

Readership is around 7+ to 11; the other main characters are Millie's younger brother and his best mate, as well as Badger the bully, and of course Boris the dog. Deadline is end of Tuesday December 8th. 

To enter (one entry per person), please provide the subtitle of Millie's second case (see the side of this page!) in one of these ways:

(a) tweet to @JacquelinePye 

(b) message me on facebook (Jacqueline Pye)

(c) comment at the bottom of this blog with your name, and twitter or facebook

        contact details if you have them.

Winners will be drawn randomly, and I'll post names on this blog shortly after the Tuesday, with a link to it on twitter and facebook.

October Round-Up: Ups and Downs

Further to  the previous post, some things came off well, others less so ...

The Portswood Library centenary celebrations went very well, with some staff in vintage clothing, lots of exhibits, and the mayor cutting the cake. Penny Legg and I each did a short turn about our books; small audience with one chap rapidly falling asleep but the rest giving their attention.

Then Southampton's Festival of Words SOToSpeak15 began!

Authors on the water Southampton-Isle of Wight was entertaining, although my pitch in the family lounge was surrounded by very vocal preschoolers so a talk was not possible. Even so, had some very nice chats with children about reading and writing, and sold some books. The Solent was slightly choppy but not enough to bother us.

Very small audience at the Boutique Village, but even the children who were too young for my Millie the Detective books watched and listened as I hammed it up with the actions of the school bully and the fretting of the goodie characters. And again I sold books. Maybe should consider a late career on the stage instead.

The writing group of which I've been a member for about 6 years was given our own competition with prizes in each of the four categories. At a very lively awards ceremony in local bar/restaurant The Stage Door, I learned that I had come first in both of the categories entered - flash fiction and non-fiction. This was a shock, but very heartening as during the weeks beforehand I had seriously considered giving up writing. Some of the prize money will go towards raffle prizes to be won at our fab group Christmas tea at the Grand Harbour Hotel in Southampton.

The one-day writers' conference sadly had to be cancelled. I had collected loads of books and leaflets for our writing group trade stand, sorted them into categories, and made a plan of how the table would look. However, it was worse for those who were booked as speakers.

Made the longlist but not the shortlist for the Bath Flash Fiction Award, again honestly unexpectedly. This rolling award has just restarted, and I think it's worth entering again and working even harder this time.

So it's been quite a month, which also saw self-publication of Millie the Detective's second case, The Thief Unmasked. Details are at http://tinyurl.com/p4n7soq - a five-star review already - and info about the first book is not far away from that.

Happy November, all, whether or not your plunging into NaNoWriMo!

  

Target Reached!

It was the online short story course early last year that showed me how to break out into different genres, and that has been the root of what's happened since.

My climb up the greasy pole began with some short stories being accepted for several anthologies. Then last summer I began collecting together some of my short stories from earlier months and writing more - mainly dark stories and flash fiction - and put together a collection. While this was in progress, I entered two stories for the open competition held by the Winchester Writers' Conference 2013. A writing pal from Southampton Writing Buddies won first prize with a terrific piece full of colour and some quite understated violence, and we were all delighted. Then, to my surprise, I had my two stories back with kind critiques, one marked 'third place' and one 'commended'. 

After that I set about finishing and self-publishing the collection as Bottles and Pots* (ebook and paperback) and this has sold reasonably well and received five-star reviews. At the same time I converted my ebook novel for children of 8-10 years, Millie the Detective and the Diamond Ring**, to a paperback, and that has done well too, again with five-star reviews. Millie mark 2 is in progress. I arranged book-signings in various places locally, which was great fun, and judged a children's book-themed cake competition. Currently awaiting entries from Southampton Writers' Circle for an article competition which I'm to judge and award the trophy - I have twice been to their meetings to talk on the subject.

Now to targets. Last year I set myself the goal of being listed or placed in a writing competition by Christmas, and both of those were sorted, including two second places for limericks. By this summer I had ambitions to actually win a competition, and I recently heard that my short story had won first prize in a comp set by Writers' News, a magazine which I've read since the year dot but haven't entered many comps. The story is dark in its way but with some lightness and, I hope, a laugh or two. It's about a funeral, the wake and the will!

The only target that can follow these is to be listed or placed in one of the big competitions - Bath Short Story Award (just entered) followed by Bristol (April) and Bridport (May). Just have to be sure to up my game for these as they have big prizes and large numbers of entries. But faint heart never won fair writing competition, so I'm giving them my best shot.

*   Link to Bottles and Pots is http://ow.ly/pioGZ
** Millie the Detective is at http://ow.ly/pFOy8
My website is at http://www.jacpye.com

Self-publishing via CreateSpace: My Experience and Tips

Last year I published my children's novel as an ebook. However, marketing ebooks for children is not yet in full swing, I feel, so it has just appeared in paperback - see Millie's cover on the left.

At the same time (almost), I realised that since I started writing dark short stories and flash fiction a year ago, I had accumulated quite a stack of pieces. Some were already published in various anthologies, or had been listed/commended/placed in writing competitions. This gave me the idea and the impetus to publish the collection which turned out to be Bottles and Pots. After sending for quotes from various printers and publishers, and asking advice of writing colleagues, I decided on Amazon's CreateSpace (CS). So this post is intended to be helpful for anyone thinking of going down that route.

It has not been without hitches, some my fault, some I think theirs. They include page numbers, page breaks and the 'Browse' for files button not functioning. With each query there's a 24h a response which sometimes amounted to little more than 'Have you tried turning it off and on again' as per The IT Crowd. Any alteration means another 24h wait.

Eventually, though, all the problems have been solved, and on balance I would use CreateSpace again. Here are my tips for anyone thinking of using this publishing method.

1  Of course, have the text fully ready, edited and proofed, with page breaks inserted.
2  Set aside a whole weekend, if possible, to get everything uploaded for their review.
3  If there are time constraints on obtaining your own copies to sell, bear in mind that once
       your files are finally submitted, reviewed and accepted, you've accepted the proof, and
       you've ordered copies, printing can take maybe 3-4 working days, then shipping 1-3wd,
       5-8wd, or much longer depending on how much you pay. Once you order, the expected
       delivery date may be later than you thought.
3  Read everything on every instruction screen. (Said with feeling.)
4 When CS formatted my .doc file for Millie, the page numbers and some page breaks went
       all to pot, and I kept querying (another 24h wait) and altering (ditto) repeatedly.
       Eventually CS suggested I submit as PDF since they format into PDF. This worked 
       perfectly - at last. So it might always be best to submit as PDF.
5  My browser is Safari, and when I repeatedly hit a brick wall trying to click 'Browse' to
       select my text file, again after several support requests it was suggested that a
       different browser might help. Firefox did - and a colleague finds Chrome good too. So
       if I do this again, Firefox it is.
6  Once cover and 'interior' files are reviewed and accepted, you choose whether to check
       the proof on your computer, or order a copy (cost £10+ in a hurry). The first time, I
       ordered a proof copy, and was glad as there was an aspect of the cover I wanted to
       change. For Millie, I proofed digitally and that was fine (and free).
7  When looking at the proof, it's really important to check every bit of it. I was so tempted
       to just say 'go', as I need Millie p.d.q., but checked and triple checked first. 
8  Once the hard work is over, within the programme CS has some marketing tips.

My first consignment of Bottles and Pots has delivery date tomorrow, and no sign as yet. My order for copies of Millie hasn't shipped yet, and delivery date is just 2 days before I need them for an event. And so the nailbiting continues. On the other hand, not a penny need change hands if you don't want to buy any physical copies of your book (special members' rate) and if you proof digitally. Nothing to lose except your hair!