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Emma's Story

Svrtnsse

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My debut novella Emma's Story is scheduled for release on the 2nd of February, and it can now be pre-ordered from Amazon, here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B078PTKPVP

The story was originally inspired by a discussion on "strong female characters" here on the forums, and the idea was to try and write a fantasy story about a regular young woman dreaming of settling down and living a quiet life in her village. It didn't quite turn out like that, neither for her nor for the story, but that's how it started.

There will also be a print on demand version of the story available, but I'm still waiting for the final cover image before making that available.
 

Svrtnsse

Staff
Article Team
I released a sampler of the first four chapters of the story on Instafreebie. You can claim the free sample here if you're curious: Emma's Story
 
Have you considered setting up your author's page on Amazon? Readers like me click on the author's name on the product page, to check out the author's bio and image. Helps to create something of a bond between reader and author, helping to grow a stronger base of followers. You can connect your blog to your author page too, which can help bring more visitors to your blog.
 

Svrtnsse

Staff
Article Team
Have you considered setting up your author's page on Amazon? Readers like me click on the author's name on the product page, to check out the author's bio and image. Helps to create something of a bond between reader and author, helping to grow a stronger base of followers. You can connect your blog to your author page too, which can help bring more visitors to your blog.
Yeah, I keep meaning to do that, but whenever I log in to Author Central I get an error and I'm told to wait. I'm gonna giv it until after the weekend, and if it still doesn't work then I'll get in touch and ask what's up.
 

Heliotrope

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Article Team
Hey Svrt,

Just had a peek (did I spell that one right Michael? lol). LOVE the cover. The image of the trees and the snow and no path to be seen anywhere is just super symbolic (IMO). I don't know if that is what you are going for, but the write up with the cover is really lovely. I can't wait to get my copy.
 

Svrtnsse

Staff
Article Team
Hey Svrt,

Just had a peek (did I spell that one right Michael? lol). LOVE the cover. The image of the trees and the snow and no path to be seen anywhere is just super symbolic (IMO). I don't know if that is what you are going for, but the write up with the cover is really lovely. I can't wait to get my copy.
This is actually a little bit of a personal dilemma for me at the moment. I really like this cover. It captures the mood and it's got some great symbolism to go with the story. I even used the image to create an animation with falling snow, here.

Thing is, iit was really just intended to be a temporary cover.

The real cover image is done by a friend of mine. It's hand painted (not digital) and it's got Emma driving her sled and horses through the forest and it's got the bear looming in the background. It's a great image, but it's also very different from the current one.

It still fits the story, so it's going to work, but it ties in to other aspects of the story than what the current cover image does. The painting has more of a fantasy/fairytale vibe to it, while the photo hints more at a Scandinavian murder mystery/thriller. Both fit, except there are neither fairies nor murders, but the vibe matches.
 

Svrtnsse

Staff
Article Team
I joined a group giveaway on instafreebie.com - I'm not sure I'm allowed to share links to it directly from the forums, but I've linked to it from my blog in my signature in case anyone wants to have a look.

The way it works is a bunch of authors with a book to give away for free join in together and share the link to the giveaway. This effectively shares the burden of promotion among all participants and someone like me who doesn't have any newsletter subscribers can still get their book in front of readers.
My freebie is a preview and includes the first four chapters of the book, but there are several full books included in the giveaway by other authors.
 

Svrtnsse

Staff
Article Team
And done!

I made the last few edits on the book last night, and I uploaded the final versions of both the paperback and the ebook version. Then I uploaded the paperback version again because I found a mistake.
This is really it though. It's done now.

The paperback is live already, and the ebook goes live on the 2nd of February - that's Friday next week. To say I'm a little bit excited would be a gross understatement. :D

Link here: https://www.amazon.com/Emmas-Story-Nils-Odlund-ebook/dp/B078PTKPVP/

EDIT: ....and I just ordered 20 copies for myself. :D
 
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Svrtnsse

Staff
Article Team
Congrats, Svrt! I remember when Emma's Story was just an idea you were kicking around, and it's so awesome to hear that you've published it!
Yeah, it all started here on the forums years ago. There was a discussion about "strong female characters" and I had the idea of doing a fantasy story about a regular countryside girl who just wanted to live a regular everyday life with a family and kids and all that.

It feels great it's finally done, but I can't help but feel that the amount of writing I've done about the story here on the forums rivals the actual number of words in the story. :p

Kindle version pre-ordered. I expect greatness.
Thank you. I hope I'll live up to it. :)
And I hope you'll let me know how you feel about it - good or bad.
 
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