A small fry writer with a small independent publisher, I was recently charged with getting my book ‘The Long Staff’ up as an ebook online.

I did some online research and received some great advice from great fellow writers on Twitter, and decided that I would go with Kindle first. It seemed like a good place to start, and I figured that I could always go to other electronic formats later. Since its rise, I have read many articles on Kindle and Amazon, and generally find myself swaying between thinking they are the rebel alliance, helping to free poor writers kept down by the traditional publishing establishment; and thinking that they are in fact the evil empire, slowly trying to destroy the publishing industry from the inside out…

I’m sure that neither statement is actually true, but there are a lot of people on both sides of the argument, and since I sit somewhere in the middle of traditional publishing and being self published, I find it easy to sympathise with both sides… Therefore, I was slightly torn as I took this tentative step towards my majority share royalty payments… surely there’s a catch?

I put these worries aside, it would be a good way to reach new readers, especially some of the great people I have met from outside the UK through Twitter and Facebook. Also, the version of the book being uploaded is a new edition of the story, with some minor changes made and, hopefully, almost all of the technical errors picked up… Ask any author, sometimes the little buggers just hide until you see the book in print, then they jump out and shout ‘Ha, ha!’

I tried my best to read through the Kindle Terms and Conditions thoroughly and carefully tried to gauge a fair price for my work. This again, is an issue I have come across on other writer’s blog posts. Is the ‘Buy this for $0.99’ the right route, or is this simply undervaluing your work? Also, with the amount of completely self published work out there on Kindle, does the ‘$0.99’ approach simply brand you as being cheap and cheerful? I decided to go with a similar amount to some of my peers, half what the hard copy costs, but not ridiculous.

So, with bated breath, I pressed the submit button, and now my baby is available electronically for all of you lovely people out there… I hope that if you do decide to invest in a copy of the book, you enjoy it. Also, if you use this function, the book is available in the Kindle Lending Library. Feel free to post any reviews on Amazon, or send them to me directly and I can post them to my site.

Go on, you know you want to!! Order now for only £3.99!

Hi there guys,

I realised that I hadn’t put a little update on here in a while and thought it would be nice to check in.

So, since I’m steeped in the World of Staff Wielder, I thought I would write to you from my base here in Cairn Holme. I’m currently sitting in a lovely wooded clearing, listening to the birds singing in the tree tops above me. Two jolly squirrells are flitting from branch to branch having a wonderful time. (Obviously this means I’m actually sitting at my laptop in London, where the sky rather gloomy and I’m contemplating another cup of Lady Grey.)

I have had a great time lately between finishing the first draft of book two in the series, ‘The Ancient Exile’, and also visiting some more schools. I went round four Glasgow schools for ‘World Book Day’, and had an amazing time. We created some amazing characters and I was really impressed by the imaginations of the kids at: St Denis’ Primary, Haghill Park Primary, Oakgrove Primary and St Ninian’s Primary.

So, since the school holidays are now in full swing (yippee I hear you cry), I am now back to writing for a couple of weeks. It’s been fun so far, getting back to my roots so to speak.

I couldn’t write here about everything I’ve been doing, without mentioning the following blog, to which I am now completely addicted. Kristen Lamb’s blog: www.warriorwriters.wordpress.com is a must for any of you budding writers out there. A former editor and now writer, she gives us all a little insight into what publishers are looking for in a story. She also does it in a very easy going and humorous way. I now await the next installment dropping into my inbox with glee.

Whether you’re considering writing your first short story, or you’re sitting down to write your first full length masterpiece, she’s definitely worth checking out.

Anyway, toodle pip!

I must get back to my writing now. I’m working on a cool new story about a teenage girl, Portia, who’s dead. She can’t get into heaven because it’s full… Between trying to get used to life as a ghost and also trying to sneak her way into heaven, she gets up to all sorts of shenanigans. I also finally found a place to insert a character I have wanted to use for a long time. In this case, a ghost cat called, ‘Mr Fibbers.’

Keep wielding guys!

Well, I had a fantastic time at Wigtown Book Festival and I would like to thank Steve at the Creaking Shelves for all his help. He has a fabulous store and I would recommend a visit to anyone! I also got to meet the lovely Mr Ian Rankin, and he was kind enough to stand and have a lovely chat with Sam Wilding and me.

Since coming back, I ended up having to do a final pre-launch run through of ‘The Long Staff’, and this week, we’re trying to find somewhere cool for the launch.

I didn’t think when I took some time to do all of this full time, that I would struggle to find time to write, but it’s really easy to find yourself extremely busy!

I’m currently 3/4 way through the first draft of ‘The Ancient Exile’ and I have several other ideas on the side that I would love to develop… so much to write, not enough time!

Thanks for reading guys, and I will definitely let you all know as soon as we have a venue organised for the launch. We’re hoping for October 25th 2010!

Well, I’m just back from the Edinburgh International Book Festival, and it has really got me excited about things to come. It’s the only place where an author is treated like a rock n’ roll star. Ian Rankin was just swanning around Charlotte Square, it’s like a little community!

After finalising things with the old publisher, there should be a limited number of copies  of ‘The Long Staff’ available prior to the official launch, in October 2010.

Go to www.olidapublishing.com to order your copy now!

Hi there,

Welcome to my new blog page. From here I should be able to keep you up-to-date with news about the upcoming release of ‘The Long Staff’, and the Staff Wielder Series as a whole.

More news soon!

Clare Wilson