Alison Wonderland

[Helen Smith]

Hello, my book Alison Wonderland is now available at Amazon and Mobipocket, and on the Tyger Books website in mobi and epub formats., DRM-free.

It's a quirky comedy that was first published by Gollancz in the UK about ten years ago and was picked up by the BBC to be made into a series a few years later (although nothing much as come of that so far!). It was reviewed very favourably in the national press at the time although it has since gone out of print which is why I'm now releasing it as an ebook.

Here's the blurb:
Alison’s job as a private detective with Mrs Fitzgerald’s Bureau of Investigation takes her on a series of loosely linked adventures involving an abandoned baby, a transgenic animal and secret tunnels under The Thames. She travels from London to the seaside town of Weymouth and back again with her new best friend Taron, a girl with a hundred candle smile. But someone is betraying her. Is it Taron? Is it Jeff, the sweet-natured inventor who writes her poetry? Or are there darker forces at play?

Excerpts from reviews:
Only occasionally does a piece of fiction leap out and demand immediate cult status. Alison Wonderland is one… Smith is at the very least a minor phenomenon. THE TIMES

Made me sigh and throw it to the floor in a fit of envious pique. JULIE BURCHILL, GUARDIAN

This is a story that can be devoured whole or nibbled in small bites, but is guaranteed to brighten your day. MORNING STAR

A fantastical Thelma and Louise meets Agatha Christie adventure story. The dialogue is smart and the deadpan humour is perfectly judged. THE LIST

Smith's strength comes to the fore when she's drifting, observing the incidentals of life… this clean, seemingly effortless voice gives Alison Wonderland an impressive edge. AMAZON.CO.UK

I have had some great customer reviews on Amazon.com but I'd love some more - and lots more readers! With that in mind, the book is available for a limited time for $1.99. [Edit: now $2.99 - but still a bargain!]

Please take a look - thank you.
Helen

[Helen Smith]

Thanks to everyone who has read this and bought my book since I posted here just over a week ago. It's still priced at $1.99 for a couple more days. After that, the price is going up slightly to $2.99 - still a good deal.

In other news, I have been commissioned to write a short play that will be on in London in June, so I'm delighted about that.

Helen

[zelda_pinwheel]

hi Helen, your book looks quite interesting. just a question : i see that you've got a UK version and a US version. are there any differences between the two ?

[Billjr13]

Congratulations and welcome to MR

[Helen Smith]

Thanks, Billy and Zelda

Zelda, the only difference is the spelling - the UK version uses anglicized spelling; the US version uses American spelling. Other than that, I thought people might like the choice of paying in UK or US currency - though that doesn't help anyone who lives in Paris or elsewhere in Europe.

Do you really live in Paris, Zelda? I'm jealous! I always talk about how easy it is to reach from London on the Eurostar, and how cheap if you get one of the £59 fares - and yet I never go there. A friend of mine has just moved there from Hong Kong, so maybe I'll make the effort soon.

Anyway if you or anyone else reading this buys a copy of the book, I hope you like it - whichever version you read.

Best wishes
Helen

[zelda_pinwheel]

thanks for the information, Helen. i guess i would prefer the UK version then ; i like to read the original text whenever possible.

i really do live in london, and you're right, it's not far by eurostar. you should definitely make the trip to see your friend.

[dadioflex]

Edit.

[neilmarr]

Good to have your company, Helen.

My own wee house has covered our treebook titles with ebook versions for the past eight years and we've just signed our first ebook-only deal with an established UK author who hung onto her didital rights last time around. It's an interesting experiment for everyone involved.

Did you go it alone with Alison or is your ebook actually published by Tyger? And -- without wishing to be let in on any close secrets -- if you released through a publisher, did your editor work from your original raw ms or from the Golancz published version?

Either way, very best of luck, Helen. And here's to the new play. Cheers. Neil

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

i really do live in london,...

What!

You don't Zelda - you're in Paris; Paris, France!! Look out your window.

[animedude01]

Hi Helen, and thanks. I've purchased and queued your books. We'll have to see when I actually get to it

[Helen Smith]

Oh hello everyone, hello Sparrow and Dadioflex, thanks for the interest. Thanks for buying the book, thanks for your kind words about the play, Neil, and good luck to you, too. Aww, disappointed you don't live in Paris, Zelda.

The story behind this book and my second novel, Being Light, is that the first was originally published by Victor Gollancz before it was taken over by Orion and began to specialise in fantasy/sci fi. George Orwell's publisher! I nearly died of happiness. The second was published by Orion but shortly afterwards my editor left, the books went out of print and I doubt that another publisher would be interested in making the investment required to re-publish them.

I spent the intervening years working on other projects (theatre and various TV projects that are in development) but I am working on another novel which my agent will send to mainstream traditional publishers.

However I can't bear to think of my first two novels going out of print so I have set up my own imprint, Tyger Books, to publish them as ebooks and print editions.

In the UK we have to pay/charge VAT of 17.5% on ebooks, hence the odd pricing. Having said that, the price will change on the Tyger Books site in the next couple of days so the books are priced at £1.99 and $2.99. It's now $2.99 on Amazon but will go up. The list price for other retail outlets will be something like £2.99 and $5.99 but they have scope to discount by up to 50% (which they usually do).

The new print edition will be out shortly but there are still copies floating around from those companies who specialise in remaindered books - they charge 1p or whatever for the book so they don't have to pay royalties or sellers' fees to Amazon, and £2.50 postage for a 90p stamp. Still, so long as people are reading the book, I'm happy. Thanks for buying it, dadioflex. You're getting one of the few remaining originals!

I'm interested in what you say about reading the original text, Zelda. I have been dithering over this. My plan is to have a version with US text available on Kindle as I believe most buyers are still Americans and might prefer familiar spelling. But the print version will be the UK text just because that's the original text. It seems daft to bring out a special US edition if I only sell a few copies. I'm going to see how it goes after a couple of months.

I am writing in haste because I'm just heading out to the other side of London for a mentoring session with a lovely Iranian poet - I'm helping her get her work into print - and I'm aware that I have written too much!

Thanks
Helen

[neilmarr]

A brave move, Helen -- kudos and karma to you. I asked about your working text because in our first ebook-only deal, I worked on the principle that rights to anything beyond the author's raw ms were held by the treebook publisher: editorial input, design, art, etc.

That's stipulated in our own contracts. Though we would always waive these rights and pass everything we have to an author and offer all help possible, other houses might not be quite so altruistic, and I thought it better to play safe by startting from scratch.

Actually, it's worked out well because our resulting edit for the ebook is better by far than the hardback according to the author and all who've compared the two versions so far. And it looks as though the internal artwork we commissioned is also superior. Hope your own hands-on approach will provide a similar result.

Hoots. Neil

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

thanks for the information, Helen. i guess i would prefer the UK version then ; i like to read the original text whenever possible.

i really do live in london, and you're right, it's not far by eurostar. you should definitely make the trip to see your friend.

Originally Posted by Sparrow

What!

You don't Zelda - you're in Paris; Paris, France!! Look out your window.

ALERT - ALERT - breaking news .... Zelda lives in London ..... shock - .....

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

thanks for the information, Helen. i guess i would prefer the UK version then ; i like to read the original text whenever possible.

i really do live in london, and you're right, it's not far by eurostar. you should definitely make the trip to see your friend.

Originally Posted by Sparrow

What!

You don't Zelda - you're in Paris; Paris, France!! Look out your window.

blimey (), what a lapsus. i just had looked at Helen's location to confirm the UK version would be the original text and i guess "london" went in my eyes and came directly out my fingers...

Helen, i'll try to avoid mistyping here : i live in PARIS (sparrow's got it right). and just in case my fingers have once again put in some random city (Copenhagen ?) which looks like paris to me, just check my location in my profile to the left here (or ask sparrow)... (sheesh, this is a lot more embarassing than not remembering what day of the week it is !)

Originally Posted by Helen Smith

Aww, disappointed you don't live in Paris, Zelda.

heh, don't be.

The story behind this book and my second novel, Being Light, is that the first was originally published by Victor Gollancz before it was taken over by Orion and began to specialise in fantasy/sci fi. George Orwell's publisher! I nearly died of happiness.

i can easily understand your joy !

I'm interested in what you say about reading the original text, Zelda. I have been dithering over this. My plan is to have a version with US text available on Kindle as I believe most buyers are still Americans and might prefer familiar spelling. But the print version will be the UK text just because that's the original text. It seems daft to bring out a special US edition if I only sell a few copies. I'm going to see how it goes after a couple of months.

well, personally, i think that language is important, an integral part of the story in fact (i realise that may sound like a tautology, but it's really not, i promise ) ; i think the original language adds a colour or a tone (this is partly to do with sonority and partly to do with ambiance) to the narrative which is important. after all, a good writer will choose specific words for a reason. this is why i prefer to read original texts whenever possible ; i'm forced to read translations when the original has been written in a language i don't understand, but even then, i try to choose the translation based on similary of language "colour" ; for example, i will prefer to read an italian or spanish book translated into french, however i'd choose the english translation of a book originally written in german. personally i have a strong aversion to "US versions" of a british book with spelling changes (even worse if some vocabularly is changed, like "parking lot" for "car park") and would never want to read one, but that may just be one of my personal oddities. i hope that answers your question (and i've not inadvertently typed the opposite of what i actually mean again ).

[Joebill]

forget what day of the week it is ?

There have been a few times I forgot which millenium it is... in the Gregorian calendar. And I use that calendar every day.