Muddle Puddle and the Whistling Shell

[Stuart John Evison]

At present I'm just waiting for an ISBN to come through and Muddle Puddle will be available from Apple's bookstore that is if bureaucracy doesn't give me yet more hoops to jump through.
It is an illustrated novel with illuminated prose, over 300 pages with 30 colour and 60 black and white illustrations, a concept that literary agents don't seem to be too fond of.
Set in the Cambridgeshire fens about a family of druithin (druids) who through the centuries have guarded a pictish spiral carved monolith that is a gatestone to the world of Faerie. Its characters include a "gay" leprechaun, a British wildcat and a five thousand year old Tawny owl and as to the adventure, well read it and get introduced.
A first chapter can be viewed:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stuart_John_Evison_AKA_Stuart_of_Ely/175920489109244
Don't forget the "likes"

 

[Stuart John Evison]

The ISBN arrived today so a wee bit of tweeking and it's away.

 

[robertbevan]

congratulations. i saw this in the showcase forum a while back. i didn't comment because it was heavy with visual art and i don't feel qualified to critique that sort of thing. but it looks cool and i wish you the best of luck with it.

 

[Stuart John Evison]

Spoke too soon now Apple wants an I tunes account, which we had but they also want an EIN from the IRS. US tax offices are as unresponsive as British ones but filled the form in and faxed it off after spending hours getting through to them. How does the world keep going round with all this bureaucracy slowing it down ....... (hair getting pulled out) a-a-r-r-g-g-h-h-h!

 

[Stuart John Evison]

EIN (US tax code) arrived today so cross fingers that soon the complete book will be in the market place and finally people can see the concept that I've been trying so hard to get out there.

 

[Stuart John Evison]

Three cheers, it's been a story of it's own in getting there but "Muddle Puddle" is available for download from Apple's bookstore at last. I know that many fellow scribes do not have a high opinion of Apple but if anyone does me the honour of downloading onto their ipad reviews and or opinions would be gratefully received. To say that I am over the moon does not truly describe how I feel, twice round the solar system and back again would be much nearer.
iTunes - Books - Muddle Puddle & the Whistling Shell by Stuart Evison

 

[Stuart John Evison]

It's been a while since I posted anything and I do not really have an excuse except the common one of being busy. I post now to inform that my publisher is going to print with the first of the Muddle Puddle series. We investigated numerous ways of getting there including Amazon's nascent publishing monopoly Createspace (they took one look at the books file and the way I wanted it printing then stopped answering my emails) but in the end we decided to go for a limited print run with Printondemand-worldwide. As it happens their office is only just up the road and for quantity we have a brilliant deal on the table. The next stage is to use that and fine art prints of the paintings used as illustrations to gain our own distribution deals, the company has done it before with new magazines we produced so it's just more if slightly different food for the directors to work with.
There are probably all sorts of voices saying it should not be done like that but should be done like this, If there is one thing I have discovered on this journey it is that especially today with ebooks changing the industry the rules are best broken. There is no normal accepted way of getting published anymore, only determination and self belief remain the same and if success is the result then what matter how it is achieved. Besides this way I keep artistic control and a larger personal profit without numerous faceless middlemen having overbearing opinions and taking an undeserved percentage.
I have to admit though that giving the work to the editors was a bit like going to the dentist, I did not want to go in and I was groggy when I came out.