Simon Varwell's Blog, page 19

The quiet launch of TROTMH

Well, The Return of the Mullet Hunter is out.

It’s an odd feeling, launching a book on Kindle. You just press a button, and it’s there.

Well, you press quite a few buttons, faff around with various technicalities, wait a while and then it’s there. And not just “there”, but there in different Amazon sites across the world.

No launch event. No razzmatazz. Just quietness.

It’s a far cry from February 2010, when my first book was launched. I had a traditional publisher, there was an event, to which a...

The Hoja Project

I mentioned in my previous post how I am giving ten percent of my royalties from The Return of the Mullet Hunter to a Tanzanian charity called The Hoja Project.

With my first book, I give a cut of royalities to my friend Kieran’s charity aidconvoy.net (with both he and it appearing in the Albanian chapters), and I wanted to do something similar for another charity with my second book. The cover of The Return of the Mullet Hunter was designed by my London-based friend Phil Hatchard, who helped...

Cover story

In my previous post I reflected on some of the aspects of self-publishing. Making a good cover is obviously one of the most important ones, because it is the “public face” of a book, the thing that will draw people in and catch folks’ eyes.

The cover also has to tell a story in itself – it’s not supposed to be just a pretty face, it’s meant to convey something of the contents too so, that when you see it you can have a pretty good guess what style of story it is.

For instance, a dreamy-eyed you...

Self-publishing – a reflection

The process leading up to my (traditionally published) first book was a fascinating journey. Discussions with many people on everything from editing to marketing to the cover design, were stimulating and thought-provoking.

The whole idea of having your book – from the very broad concept to the minutiae of individual sentences – subjected to such interrogation and scrutiny is a mildly scary prospect for many. However, with that first book, Up The Creek Without a Mullet, I truly relished and enj...

The (very overdue) Return of the Mullet Hunter

The Return of the Mullet Hunter comes out on Monday 2 December, as I announced the other day. But if you’ve read my first book or followed the mullet mission over the years, you’d be entitled to ask a number of questions – like why it’s only out as an ebook, why it took so long, and what on earth have I been doing since February 2010 when the first book was launched.

The best answer is to give you a very condensed version of the very long and protracted story of the mullet mission and its jour...

Want a review copy of The Return of the Mullet Hunter?

One of the perils of self-publishing is that it is very hard to get conventional media attention for books. Mind you, it’s not exactly a walk in the park for conventionally published books either: it’s a busy marketplace and there are books being published in greater volume than ever before. That trend is of course a consequence of the internet and the rise of the ebook.

I postedthe other day about my forthcoming second book, The Return of the Mullet Hunter. Although there are a few media-rela...

The Return of the Mullet Hunter: out on Monday 2 December

I’m delighted to announce that my second book, The Return of the Mullet Hunter, will be published on Monday 2 December 2013. That’s just about a fortnight away!

The book will be available throughout the world, initially as an Kindle ebook, and for British readers it’ll be just £3.00. You’ll find iton my Amazon page from Monday 2 December, where my first book continues to be available.

The Return of the Mullet Hunter is the sequel to that first book, Up The Creek Without a Mullet, which was publ...

Night of Adventure 2013 – my presentation

You may recall me posting earlier this summer about doing a Night of Adventure in Edinburgh in September. This is the regular series of events organised by the charity Hope and Homes for Children at which adventurers, travellers and explorers share their tales and experiences in the nerve-wracking Pecha Kucha format.

The evening was great fun, with many inspiring speakers. Of course it was also a chance to find out more about the great work that Hope and Homes for Children do. Please do check...

Some photos from the south coast of England

I was away last month on the south coast of England for a cousin’s wedding. It was a chance not only to try out the First Class experience on the one direct East Coast train a day to and from London, but to explore places at the same time.

Such as the newly-revamped King’s Cross railway station in London…

…the ever fascinating Brighton, which I’d not been to since (I think) 2005, and the very pretty town of Lewes.

Although Lewes was a rather involuntary visit, as we were caught in the big storm...

The East Coast Highland Chieftain: a review of First Class

All trains south from Inverness are Scotrail and terminate in either Glasgow or Edinburgh. They’re the ones I seem to spend most of my life on and around whose seats my spine has been contorted over the years.

All except two, that is, which go to London. One is the Scotrail Caledonian Sleeper, which I’ve blogged about a number times. The other is the daytime service, the 0755 Highland Chieftain service operated by East Coast, which goes to Edinburgh and then carries on down the East Coast Main...