Short Stuff by Jim Bates

How we came to publish this one

Author Jim Bates has been one of our regular writers, particularly on CafeLit, so we were pleased to produce this collection for him.

The title

The title was Jim’s idea. And it’s short and to the point, isn’t it? This is Jim’s “short stuff”.  

Some notes about the process

As ever the stories went through the three stages of revision. Jim worked with the same editor on this as he did for his short story collection Resilience. It’s good when an editor builds up a relationship with a writer.  

The cover

Our covers usually come about as a result of a conversation between the author and the editor and then the author and our designer. Jim found this lovely picture of a humming bird. People often now refer to the book as “the one with the humming bird on the cover.”

Some notes about style

As ever flash fiction needs to tell a story succinctly . These do that beautifully and in rich poetic language.   

Who we think the reader is

These stories are ideal for the reader who has only a little time but like to be asked to think deeply as they read.

What else

As ever, we’re pleased to get out another collection of lovely pieces. Form Friday 27 May 2022 there are offers on all of our collections of flash fiction, on what we call our “little square books”.     

 

Review copies

It’s always great if you can buy the book and give us a review. Just click on the image to be taken to Amazon. If you would like to review and you are strapped for cash, just get in touch for a free PDF or mobi-file.       

See in our bookshop for otehr options of buying. 

 

 

Wishful Thinking

 

See in our bookshop

How we came to publish this one

Author Derek Corbett has been one of our regular writers so we were pleased to produce this collection for him.

The title

The title was Derek’s idea. Stories, anyway are in the realms of dreams and what if’s so ‘wishful; thinking’ is also very appropriate.

Some notes about the process

As ever the stories went through the three stages of revision. There’s always a balance in editing between producing a polished script and retaining the writer’s style. See my previous post.  

The cover

Our covers usually come about as result of a conversation between the author and the editor and then the author and our designer. Obviously this one screams “justice” and some of the stories deal with this theme. In a sense, anyway, don’t we tell stories in order to find out what’s going on, to measure the balance between good and evil?

Some notes about style

Clearly, Derek is a good story-teller and engages his readers. .

Who we think the reader is

These stories are ideal for the reader who like to be absorbed by a good plot and rounded characters.  

Finances

This book as not yet covered all of its costs but is selling steadily.

What else

As ever, we’re pleased to get out another collection of lovely stories.  

 

Review copies

It’s always great if you can buy the book and give us a review. Just click on the image to be taken to Amazon. If you would like to review and you are strapped for cash, just get in touch for a free PDF or mobi-file.       

Grab your copy here 

Your ultimate guide for practical submissions

 

We thought it would be a good idea this month to look at what from our point of view makes a submission that is easy to publish. We’re not talking here about the content of your text but how it’s presented.  

Most people know about double spacing, using a regular 10 or 12 font and indenting paragraphs but how you format your work can make a big difference to how easy it is for us to turn your Word document into a book.

Word docx is our favourite format. Not everyone can use that but most systems allow you to emulate it.

We’ll never reject a text because of the software that’s been used to create it but our design time can be much longer if you don’t follow best practice, and that delays the time it takes for your book to clear its set up costs and your profit share to convert from 50% to 75%.   

So here are five tips that may be helpful:

1.      Use the paragraph tool in Word set your paragraphs rather than the tab key or typing in extra spaces.   

 

2.      Click the little arrow at the bottom right.    

3.      Set your paragraph  like this:

 

4.       However, your first paragraph and the opening paragraph of any new section should always be “full-out” so set your paragraph thus: 

 

5.      For new sections us the “full-out” above and insert an extra line before the paragraph. 

This really makes big difference to how easily your book can be published. What’s more, we’re more likely to understand exactly how you meant your work to look.