Greetings!
I’m appearing on Iain Hume’s radio show tonight, where I’ll be talking about comedy and Boldly Going Nowhere and probably other stuff too, depending on what he asks me!
Tune into Stirling City Radio from 6 – 8pm and get it listened to! It’ll be brilliant!
Boldly Going Nowhere‘s term in Kindle Unlimited ends tomorrow (28th April 2016), which means it’ll be back on iBooks, Google Play and Kobo soon. But first, I need to possibly explain/apologise/vent my paranoia that a cancelled free promo was actually live at some point without my knowing.
I enrolled it in KU to test the waters and see how a creative non-fiction book would fare. I had a couple of ‘free’ promo days left so I’d scheduled them for the 26th and 27th of April, intending on releasing a video of me talking about the publication journey etc.
Unfortunately I was bogged down with quinsy, which is an evolved, sentient, and much more bastardly form of tonsillitis. This effectively KO’d my voice (if you imagine a fatality from Mortal Kombat happening to a voice, then you’re in the ballpark), so I cancelled the free promotion and decided to wait until my throat was fighting fit again. Like Scorpion. From Mortal Kombat.
A spike in sales occurred over the would-be free period — not by a huge number, but enough to get me worried that the free promo was listed without the book actually being free. Additionally, a ‘free unit’ was downloaded on the US Amazon site, meaning despite me cancelling the promo at least 24 hours previously, it went live for a brief period of time. Not that I’m remotely concerned about the actual free ‘sale’ – I hope whoever bagged it is enjoying it! No, I’m worried that the people who paid for the book yesterday did so because they believed it to be free when it wasn’t (given that someone in the US did get it for free) and accidentally paid £2.99 for a copy.
I know it’s unlikely that several (i.e., 11. Told you it wasn’t a huge number) people all clicked ‘buy now’ during what must have been a very brief free listing (if indeed it occurred at all — certainly it wasn’t listed as free when I checked in the morning, afternoon and early evening, which is what I do when I should be writing…) but it’s still possible.
So if you’re one of the Golden Eleven, please accept my apologies for what I think must have been a technical hitch. Feel free to return the book to Amazon for a refund and contact me for a free .mobi/PDF copy (with a screengrab of your confirmation email from Amazon showing the date of your purchase).
I reached out to Amazon to see if it was possible that the promo was activated. Their email read:
“Since the Free promotion for the book was canceled on KDP, I can assure there is no free copies of book downloaded by the customers from our Kindle store. Hence, as the book sales are not due to mistakes from customer nor any technical error, In this case, there is no need for you to issue refund to the customers for the normal sales of your Kindle book on KDP. ” [Emboldening mine]
So, Amazon assures me that no mistakes have slipped through, but I’d rather be upfront in the unlikely event that an error slipped through and customers were charged when they thought they were getting something for free.
Thanks for listening. You deserve a biscuit.
I’m thrilled, humbled, excited and quite frankly baffled to at last reveal that one of my stories will be featured in an anthology being produced in memory of my favourite writer – the wonderful, fantastical and majestic Sir Terry Pratchett.
Set loose upon the world on October 31st, and with all proceeds going to Alzheimer’s Research UK, “In Memory” is a labour of love forged and formulated by the immensely talented Sorin Suciu and Laura May. Comprised of 16 hilarious, emotional, insightful and downright entertaining pieces of fiction (and one further story which belongs to me and one I’m still convinced has been left in by accident), the anthology promises to be a worthy addition to anyone’s bookshelf – even if you’re not normally keen on things like sci-fi, fantasy and laughing. And you can buy this lovely little bundle of joy right here.
On a personal note, I’d like to express how proud I am to be counted alongside authors such as Sorin, Laura, Scott A. Butler, DK Mok and others. They’re a fantastic and gifted bunch. You can find out more about the project and the authors involved with a flourish of your clickity finger here and follow it closely by allowing updates to be beamed directly into your brain here.
On an even more personal note, here’s a quick blog post with some of my thoughts on Sir Terry, the project, the theme of memories – and some insight into The Vividarium…
Steven has written a new book! Check it out:
The dating game was going well… Until she found out he was a virgin.
Steven McKinnon is in a rut. He’s tired of being a burden to his friends. He feels like life is passing him by. Nothing is going his way.
When a friend convinces him to try speed dating, things start to look up… initially. As soon as Bachelorette Number One discovers that he’s a virgin, she unceremoniously dumps him. What follows is a quest across Europe in search of happiness, companionship, and an answer to the age-old question: Why is sex such a big deal?
But much like other aspects of Steven’s life, things don’t go as planned. Soon, he discovers the dark side of putting himself out there. Brash-talking strippers, treacherous friendships and an unexpected encounter with the police leave him wondering if his old, boring, solo life was really so bad after all.
Told with painful honesty, raw emotion, British humour and wit, Boldly Going Nowhere is the true story of what happens when one man takes a stand against his own insecurities and societal pressures — and somehow manages to find himself in the process.
Boldly Going Nowhere is available from Amazon, Google Play, Apple iBooks, Kobo and Barnes & Noble.