Competition: Self-published Authors
* Dear all,*
Vote for your favourite:
Welcome to this self-published and indie press author newsletter where all of you (whether you've just started to write, are submitting to the trade, or intending to self-publish) will be the judges of which book you'd most like to pick off the shelf.
How to choose:
Please click into each link and email us the author's name and title of the book you found most eye-catching, based on the jacket cover and the blurb, using the subject heading 'Vote'. Closing date Wednesday, 30th November.
The book with the most votes will receive:
A copy of Alison Baverstock's, The Naked Author, a Guide to Self-publishing, A & C Black, along with our book, Write a Blockbuster and Get it Published, by Lee Weatherly and Helen Corner, Hodder, which is full of self-editing and submission tips. We'll also be alerting agents and publishers to this list, so watch this space.
Self-publishing/indie publishing:
This is increasingly becoming a viable alternative for authors whose books appeal to a niche market, who prefer to bypass traditional avenues, or who are market savvy enough to go it alone.
You may notice that we've shortened most links using bitly.com and cut down some blurbs to fit it all in. These are in no particular order other than shorter blurbs through to longer ones. There are some cracking reads right up to the end, so grab a cup of tea, kick back and see how professional these authors are.
*And now, here's the list:*
The Root of all Evil by Simon Forward. Villains are the new Heroes in this epic Sci-Fi adventure.
When the Mountains are Scattered as Dust by Fatima Martin, winner of the Muslim New Writer award. Sometimes you have to travel a long way to find your home.
A Killing Reprisal by Adeline Bolton. How an old crime impinges on the present.
Paper Chain by Graham Mole. A bug from space turns America into a third world country...
A Life Less Lost by K B Walker, Richard Netherwood Ltd. My son's decision, but will he choose life?
The Olympian by Peter Templeton Neale. Imagine discovering your dad runs a time travel tourist agency!
Stags by Mike Madden. Drinking; Football; Women. A hilarious window into the world of blokes being blokes.
The Monodreme by Ian Moore. When four ordinary British school kids have an encounter with a fallen angel from the stars, one of them becomes as powerful as God. 'One of the best unpublished novels I've read.' Martin Lewis, judge for the Arthur C Clarke Award.
Peter's Escape by Simon Barnes. Life is hard for Peter and it's about to get much harder as he's convicted of a murder he didn't commit.
Family Secrets by Gail Jones. Fifteen-year-old Rachel Brooks discovers she is adopted, but why have her parents kept it a secret and what are they still hiding from her?
Trilogy: Burkwoodii by Edward Parrott. Eleven-year-old Colin, disabled in his left leg, seeks out a meteorite that enables him to fulfil his dream. The Dream of Man is to Harness the Force...
Desert Rose by Chris Bain. Soldier-turned-mercenary Johnny Baron returns to the desert to hunt out terrorists, make his fortune and settle some deadly old scores...
The Eden Paradox by Barry Kirwan, Ampichellis Books. A murder. A thousand-year-old conspiracy. A new planet seen as mankind's salvation. What really lies in wait for us on Eden?
Becoming Lola by Harriet Steel, YWO. Dare you take this rollercoaster ride to find out the secrets of the Victorian era's most notorious adventuress?
Bringing Light Into The World by Debbie Kaatz. A fascinating journey into ghost clearing, reading the stars, talking with angels and transforming our lives and the world around us.
St Patrick's Day by James Toner. Okay, this is Ireland, but shouldn't the cops be trying to put the criminals behind bars and not the other way around?
The Unseen by James McKenna. When you switch on your computer, are the unseen ready to enter your mind, or are they already there?
In The Blood by Steve Robinson. A genealogical crime mystery: a dark secret locked in the past; a family historian trying against the odds to unlock it.
The Dream by Maria Savva, Lulu. If you could go back in time and change one thing, how many other aspects of your life and other people's lives would be altered because of that one change?
The Mind that Father Made by Uzor Chinukwue. Influenced by strong African storytelling traditions this is a collection of seven sci-fi short stories that range from alternate realities and space exploration to vampires and demons.
High Heels and Alphas by Verity Farrell. Mix pain, heartache and betrayal with lashings of confidence and designer clothes, and the perfect alpha female is ready to take on the world: the male world.
Men Dancing by Cherry Radford, Indepenpress. A chance meeting with a performer you admire is an exciting story to tell your family and friends - but not if that excitement turns into the chronic ache of obsession...
Sweet Offerings by Chan Ling Yap, Penpress. Set in Malaysia, this is the story of a thirteen-year old Chinese girl, Mei Yin, sent off to become the first wife of a man ten years her senior who is already in a relationship with another woman.
A Streak of Sandalwood by Anand Nair. Set in the Southern coast of India, where they say the rain was born, this is the story of one woman's efforts to live by her own rules and not allow her community and family to stifle her in the name of love.
Unravelling by Lindsay Stanberry-Flynn, Troubador. A novel about the complexity and contradictions of love and sexual attraction: their ability to make us betray people and things we care about, and their power to redeem.
An Old Spy Story by Terry Morgan. Eighty-six-year-old Ollie Thomas reverts to his old ways as an international businessman and part-time agent for British Intelligence and finds that it is never too late to track down and confront an enemy from the past.
Jake West by M J Webb. Praying for deliverance, the living will cling to the faintest of hopes; that an ordinary boy from a small city in the heart of England can fulfil his destiny, complete the prophecies, and become all that he can be.
Time Breaking by Barbara Spencer. Love and Time: the best of friends, the bitterest of enemies... Molly, a disenchanted teenager, slips back through time to 1648, discovering love amidst the turmoil of the English Civil War.
But I'm Not Sleepy by Anne Stephenson. When Lucy can't sleep she tries counting sheep, but what will she do about all the sheep running around her bedroom when even Downboy the sheepdog can't round them up?
Cruel as the Grave by A B Hayter. Murder in theatrical circles! Did Murray Romano, famous star of stage and screen attack his wife Clarissa and leave her for dead? Clarissa's daughter is convinced that he did...
From Bad to Wurst by Denise Barnes. It's 1973 and Denise shivers ankle-deep in snow outside a sanatorium in the Bavarian mountains clutching her letter confirming her job as a vegetarian cook. But there are two problems: she doesn't speak a word of German, and she can't cook.
Highland Justice by Larry Stuart, Indepenpress. Set in the aftermath of the Highland Clearances, this novel of adventure and romance takes place against the backdrop of a society that will be changed forever by the advent of the railroads; a society where, even in the New World, the brutality of 'Highland justice' still prevails...
Sparrowlegs by Paul Delaney, YWO. Malcolm Thomas is a struggling young footballer who is dismayed when an old man moves in next door. But 'Joe Schiaffino' is far from boring; he's an old footballer with an incredible secret. 'A thrilling story', Michael Morpurgo
The Healer's Stone by Paula Alty. Everybody has something extra special about them; but most people never realise what that is. Approaching her 14th birthday, Gwen Barlow, who has a history of witchcraft in the family, is about to find out!
Stockings and Cellulite by Debbie Viggiano. As the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve, Cassandra Cherry's life takes a turn for the worse when she stumbles upon husband Stevie lying naked, except for his socks, on a coat-strewn bed with a 45-year-old divorcee called Cynthia...
The Chronicles of Joya by Liane Carter, YWO. Teal, a stubborn rabbit from the red and purple planet Joya, defies her dad to undergo a commando-style course and become the first rabbit on the Switcher Team - Joya's MI6. But when she lands on Earth, she must fight for her life and the survival of her planet.
Out of Time by Gill Jepson, Troubador. Exploring their favourite place, Furness Abbey, 3 young friends become embroiled in an exciting quest. To find the abbey treasure they must battle against sinister foes, get help from a 14th century monk and travel through time with the help of a boy who is "Out of Time" from 1934.
Attack of the Mutant Squirrels by Chris Munroe, YWO. Ten-year-old Daniel O'Rourke, wannabe spy, stumbles on a spooky plot to take over the world - by turning the human race into slaves for mutated squirrels. Can Daniel find out who is behind the evil plot and save the world from a certain nutty end?
A Thousand Glass Flowers by Prue Batten. A quest through a world hauntingly like our own, where Others lace their way in and out of the lives of mortals; a story of legend, love, and clashing ideals; of murder, regret and revenge...
The Witchtree Journals: Emily's Story by Diane Greene. Plunged into a journey through time, thirteen-year-old Emily meets mythological nymphs; battles the terrifying Magipies; experiences adventures and first romance - all whilst seeking a mysterious key which will unlock the secret to who she really is.
'Jessica Bell's String Bridge, Lucky Press, strummed the fret of my veins, thrummed my blood into a mad rush, played me taut until the final page, yet with echoes still reverberating.' Kathryn Magendie, author of Secret Graces, Publishing Editor of Rose & Thorn Journal.
Last Arrival in Time by Tim Kilgour. In a future defined by unlimited life and severe birth restrictions, Jennifer Armistice is determined to beat the system and give her planned child a start in life she never had. Supported by the sometimes unwitting men in her life, she fights against all odds to conceive.
Keep Her Safe by D M Simons, Troubador. Thirteen-year-olds, Nikki, Nathan and Lyle think they are going to be exploring the tranquil Isle of Skye, dragged around by Nathan's parents. But nothing could be further from the truth when they encounter a strange human-like being...
The Switch by Catherine Condie, Smashwords. While on a school exchange visit to Paris, Lily becomes an unexpected witness to a drugs raid. It appears that she holds the key to the crime but she's not sure why and from whom she is running. . .
Wild Water by Jan Ruth. Forty-something estate agent Jack is stressed out not only by work, bills and the approach of Christmas but by the feeling that he and his wife Patsy are growing apart. When he encounters his first love, Anna, his feelings are reawakened, but will life and family conflicts conspire to keep them apart again?
Someone to Save You by Paul Pilkington. Talented young heart surgeon Sam Becker's heroic rescue of a family during a spectacular suicide attempt mark the beginning of a nightmare that will rip open old wounds, bring him face-to-face with ghosts from the past, and endanger those he cares for the most - a nightmare linked to the brutal murder of his sister, fifteen years ago.
A Leap of Faith by Richard Hardie, 46S Publishing Ltd. Tertia, Unita and Marlene are looking for more interesting cases and better toilet facilities for the Temporal Detective Agency. Instead, they get stuck with flying statues, missing monuments and stolen diamonds, not to mention some of the most powerful knights from Camelot. The odds are stacked against them; maybe setting up a time-travelling detective agency wasn't such a good idea...
Stars of Astoria by Adam Lewis. James Parker is an ordinary twelve-year-old but in less than 24 hours he will have to fight a gladigator, rescue a princess, defeat an evil Prince and free the lands of Astoria. When James and his friends create a working computer game for a school competition they must play along and win if they are to survive...
Of Course Size Matters by Kay McKay. With the security blanket of her marriage at an end Stella is suddenly back on the dating scene. But the rules seem to have changed since the last time she was single. So how does internet dating work, and what do you do when a complete stranger invites himself to stay at your house when you're still sharing it with your husband...?
We look forward to hearing which book catches your eye: Email me, Helen@cornerstones.co.uk with the author's name and title and the subject 'Vote'. Get your friends to join in as well as every 'hit' counts; they just need to tell us if they're new to Cornerstones. That's it for now and good luck!
Warm wishes from the Cornerstones team.
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Cornerstones Literary Consultancy. Scouts for Leading Literary Agents.
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