EPUBBING with NICOLA FURLONG » mystery bookstores

Nicola Furlong’s E-books Now Available at Diesel Ebook Store

Nicola — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 22:33:29 +0000

Good ol’ Smashwords.

Smashwords logo

They’ve entered into a partnership with one of the oldest and best ebook sites on the net: the Diesel Ebook Store.

Cooler still, most of my ebooks are now all available for sale through Diesel. This is amazing as I was unable to into Diesel on my own prior to joining Smashwords.

My new Diesel e-book links below:

- A Hemorrhaging of Souls

- Teed Off!

- Unnatural States

- Self Publish Your E-Book in Minutes!

- The Will of God

Hopefully, my little mystery writing primer, Youdunit Whodunit!, will soon join Diesel.

Now, if only Smashwords could get all my ebooks back into Barnes and Noble, life would truly be peachy.

After all, I’ve been waiting for months!

New Review for Teed Off!

Nicola — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:43:28 +0000

Cover for Teed Off!

Coffee Time Romance & More, just reviewed my swinging whodunit, Teed Off!.

Matilda, a reviewer for the terrific online review site, called Teed Off! “good and suspenseful” and she’s not even a golfer! You may read the whole review here.

Teed Off! reviewed by CTR

Teed Off! is available as an e-book for $2.99 US at a number of online bookstores.

To find out more (reviews, book trailer, excerpt, booksellers), please go to epubbing.com’s page for Teed Off!.

How to Publish an Ebook on the iPhone

Nicola — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:18:25 +0000

As part of my ongoing quest to list my ebooks on as many online bookselling sites as possible, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to see my work available earlier this year on the iPhone via the App Store at iTunes.com.

Though the iPhone isn’t billed as an e-reader, its screen is amazingly clear and this ‘coolest gadget on earth’ is used by many to read a vast array of books, articles and papers. A lot of folks are waiting for Apple’s entry into the ebook reading business, the so-called Apple Tablet, but until then, the iPhone does the job very nicely.

My ebooks arrived onto the iPhone after I read an interview with Tom Peck where he described how his nifty company, Appengines.com, was producing ebooks for the iPhone and iPod Touch by creating them as individual apps and selling them through the App Store.

Appengines.com logo

Tom agreed to carry my titles and with a minimum of fuss, they were up and live on iTunes. Unfortunately for the rest of you authors, Appengines’ focus is now beyond ebooks and they are creating all sorts of neat new apps.

I was fortunate and got in early and my titles continue to sell happily on iTunes.com.

A Book Signing Tale for National Bookstore Day

Nicola — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:33:13 +0000

Today is National Bookstore Day and I give thanks to the very special people who own and operate bookstores, though they might claim they are owned and operated by their bookstores!

Cover for Teed Off!

Some of my faves are Prime Crime in Ottawa, The Sleuth of Baker Street in Toronto, Greenwoods Bookshoppe in Edmonton, Whodunit in Winnipeg and Tanners in Sidney. I have signed books in most of them and they are incredibly supportive to Canadian authors.

In their honour, I offer this little tale of a book signing horror story, originally published by one of the great news/reviews sites, The Mystery Reader.

BTW, this did not happen in any of the above stores!

Book Signing: A Swing and A Miss:

Ahh, book signings — the very essence of the glamorous life of an author.

NOT!

My first mystery, Teed Off! has a pro golfer/coroner as protagonist and women’s professional golf as the backdrop. Being a shameless self-promoter, I attended a number of bookstores and trade shows (golf and women’s) to flog my swinging whodunit.

Picture this, me smiling at my booth, supported from behind by a huge, colourful banner which reads “New Murder-Mystery Novel” plus a few juicy quotes and in front by a table laden with copies of the book and promo material.

Time and time again, a visitor — sucked into the vortex of my pitch “Are you a mystery fan?” — would cautiously approach my booth, then stand, uncertainly, staring at the piles.

Finally, gaining courage, she/he would touch then pick up a paperback only to exclaim “It’s a book!” as if this were a revelation.

“Of course,” I’d reply, hiding my dismay and warming them up with a catch-all spiel, “It’s like Agatha Christie meets the Ladies Professional Golf Association.”

To which, many would reply “Who?” or slicing even deeper into a writer’s heart, “Oh…I thought it was a game.” Or “What a great idea!” In every instance, the book is gingerly replaced followed by “Sorry, I don’t read.”

It’s enough to make you wanna take a five iron to your keyboard.

So, why not visit your favourite bookstore today? And please, tell them I said “Hi”.