Tags
Bird of Prey Centre, Duolit, Gunshot Glitter, Liam Griffin, Morgen Bailey, Ondolady, Pinterest, Tartware, Yasmin Selena Butt
. . . Or should that be I’d like you to press mine!
Because if you look at the blog menu of ‘Hello You’ you will see some *new* ones! But hang tight and read the rest of this post first before you go a-looking..
Hello you, remember me? I’m Yasmin
Sorry it’s been a while.
I’ve been excruciatingly conscious it’s been well over a month since I last blogged. Last month was a ‘black dog’ month. If you know about mental health you’ll know people who experience depression refer to theirs as a ‘black dog’.
It was not a bundle of laughs. It made stuff come to a grinding halt for a while, but despite all that I kept it together long enough to get the last blog post out for Nicky Wells, before I retreated to deal with it and the various things that kicked it off. Some of my friends were amazing, seriously, especially Jan, the Scorpio, Steve and Clare. Clare especially. She knows why. We would be nowhere and nothing without our friends when life makes us vulnerable. Depression, when you confide in someone, truly reveals who your friends are.
I am starting to feel better now, thank God, and despite some heinous food poisoning yesterday, on November 7th, I took to Facebook and Twitter to mark Liam Griffin’s birthday.
Who is Liam Griffin?
Well if you’ve read Gunshot Glitter you will know EXACTLY who he is.
And if you’ve not, then click here and meet him.
He is the boy, the man, after all he is 21, that changes everything the night he meets Cornelia Friend.
There were tweets, tweets and tweets galore, it cheered me up a lot after losing the contents of my belly and not eating a thing until 8.45pm last night I tell you!!
But this is a News post so let me give you some more News rather than regaling you with the finer details of me being sick.
UPDATE:
Well, Gunshot Glitter, the eBook, has been out for about ten weeks and considering I’ve yet to hit bloggers and media with it, I am delighted at the word of mouth driven response to it. There are 13 great reviews on Amazon and a handful on Goodreads. Thank you, if you’ve reviewed it. Thank you if you’ve bought the eBook, I hope you’ve enjoyed it and if you don’t mind, if you haven’t already please do spread the word:
*Tell peeps about it.
*Click that LIKE button on Amazon on Gunshot Glitter.
*Click the tags below the Amazon listing which point to categories it falls under.
I would really appreciate it. Here is the UK Amazon sales link but remember Gunshot Glitter is sold worldwide, which is amazing if you think about it.
When you talk books or someone asks you for a recommendation please mention it. I will roll it out to more eBook vendors. It will happen. I now have ISBNs! More ISBNs than you can shake a stick at. And I will use them, no fear. Some of you have done an amazing job spreading the word and trust me it has been noted. My friend, Geetha, knocked me for six with her enthusiasm which was a massive comfort during my rough patch.
*Update on the PRINT edition*
I plan to target the press and internet for promotion when the print copies are ready.
Celene Petrulak is designing the print cover as we speak. I’ve seen the first mock-up. It is looking good. And the very first edition, which is a special edition, will feature some exclusive content too, unavailable elsewhere. This copy is only available by mail order directly from me, each copy will be signed and numbered and published under my own imprint Venus Fiction. Yes, it will have an ISBN and everything and I’ll even send the British Library a copy if they want one. To pre-order write to me at GunshotGlitter2012@yahoo.co.uk
They will make great Christmas gifts I promise, and if you’d like me to dedicate it to the recipient I would be happy to. It would be my pleasure. I have yet to have a formal release date. But I will let you know when I do. In future, there will also be an edition available through a print on demand service, when that happens I might vanish for a bit, I haven’t decided for sure yet. But I would dearly love as many of my first readers as possible to have a copy of this special first print so I can personalise it for them. I am all about the personal.
Other News
Those buttons I mentioned at the beginning that I’d like you to press? : ) What might those be? There are a few. Firstly, I now have a Pinterest page! Go me! I’ve seen other peeps using it and enjoying the site – and being a visual soul decided to have a mooch and do the same. It is still in its infancy, but you can enjoy and gaze upon the earlier work of Celene Petrulak and some of the visual influences on Gunshot Glitter. Do enjoy.
Plus, there is a button link to my new site Tartware and also, most excitingly, a Publicity page, because despite everything, I have managed to pen some words for some great sites and also be involved with some features too. Pay them a visit. And if you’d like to interview me or feature me, contact me via GunshotGlitter2012@yahoo.co.uk
If you are a fellow writer or in the process of self-publishing, you will find the post on DuoLit especially useful. In fact I demand you READ IT NOW! It will save you a lot of headaches especially in regards to US Tax Laws. And I recently contributed to a piece on self-publishing on Ronke Adeyemi’s great site here which includes some helpful advice on marketing strategy
Any Marketing or PR professionals will find the interview with leading agency The SG Group interesting. They are awesome souls and while I was writing Gunshot Glitter enabled me to secure work and juggle the demands of both.
Lastly, fireworks, I wrote a poem titled ‘Six Seconds’ for Morgen Bailey’s blog on Guy Fawkes night. November 5th to peeps who don’t know what the deal is. (He tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament hundreds of years ago but got rumbled, the naughty man!) I should have called the poem Love and Rockets, but Six Seconds is also pretty cool. It’s been ages since I’ve written a poem ‘to order’ so to speak, where you know the topic in advance and your response has to be in poem form. I will love you and leave you now. I hope you enjoy it. Morgen released her own debut novel, ’ ‘The Serial Dater’s Shopping List on the same day it took her three years but she got there! Well done to her. You can find out more about it and Morgen Bailey here
Sweeter Things
Life has had some great, sunny bits though. I had a great time at both Affordable Art Fairs in London, reconnected with an artist called Martin Ridgwell whose work I bought and have framed in my bedroom. I flew some owls with my best friend at a Bird of Prey Centre in Befordshire (my personal celebratory Gunshot Glitter treat to me and my friend Steve) and I spent a night on this boat in Emsworth (it’s for sale!) which was exciting and cosy and witnessed a stunning sunrise. That was a unique experience and really soothing.
And erm, I managed to chip a molar, flossing, a few weeks ago and have to gear myself up for a partial filling at the dentist. Not so soothing. Somehow, I have to find the strength to get there in the next few minutes. Let’s hope that bowl of cornflakes I had an hour ago is going to be enough.
Stay warm : ) And keep spreading the word and love about Gunshot Glitter.
Very many thanks
Yasmin xx
p.s. I am participating in Nanowrimo – if this means nothing to you or you’re thinking what a funny sounding word! Click here:
If you are in the same boat as me and aspiring to write a 50,000 word novel in one month – very best of luck!
It’s my first time. I keep changing the title of my story, right now it’s ‘Diamonds and Scars,’ it is a continuation of THIS. To everyone who wanted to know what happened to Sasha and Alex in Diamond Life on that Geek Love blogpost. Well . . .