Steve’s Comments (group member since Sep 26, 2010)

Steve’s comments from the Q&A with Steve Morris group.

The well-regarded blog from Mandy the Bookworm, who is based in Australia is about to review Jumble Tales.


http://mandythebookworm.wordpress.com...

A review of "Jumble Tales" will appear at

http://readforyourfuture.blogspot.com/

a book review site which is actively fighting childhood illiteracy in the USA via book reviews and donations
Thanks to Lora and Michelle for their help with this and for their sterling work encouraging literacy.

Yes, two libraries in my area have just installed these cold robotic self-service machines, presubambly having made a member of staff redundant. A student today asked me who's mobile phone kept pinging.

I wonder if we should ask the self-service machine if they can recommend another good book similar to the one we returned! A cold piece of science fiction itself!

I agree. That's a fair price at the moment. I suspect that ASDA are probably buying them in at large volumes and getting a big discount, but even so, they won't make much profit on the top 40 books. £10 to £15 is just too much for a paperback.
And the library where I was working this afternoon was conceringly too quiet. People should use them more in case we lose them.

What do people think is a reasonable price to pay for a new release paperback book?
I am amazed these days at the discounts available in supermarkets of all places.
I still think that new release paperback is overpriced, especially in the current climate.

Nice words last night in the reviews section of The Shropshire Star newspaper. Despite only 3 stars and hinting that it is a book for "men of a certain age" they gave Jumble Tales a really nice review.
The Star has a wide circulation even beyond the Shropshire borders, where I picked up my copy.

http://www.pneumasprings.co.uk/Shrops...

Thanks Nicolle! ....And I hope to get back onto the Can't stop reading forum as soon as students get started on all the science exams in about ten days time!

Jumble Tales is Book of the Month for January in Country & Border Life magazine.

http://www.publishedbestsellers.com/

Very true.
I hear that the same thing happens in the music industry in terms of CDs, that a CD costs about 0.5 GBP to produce, that the retailer makes the main margin and the artist collects only a small percentage. Now downloads have replaced CD sales, I hear today that HMV High Street music stores have had a poor Xmas and will close 60 stores in the UK which will include some Waterstones book stores.
Marc, are Amazon.com asking for a disproportionately big discount to stock books in the USA in the same way that Amazon.co.uk do in the UK, so as to make profits hard to obtain on small volume sales?

A brand new story entitled "Better than One" is included in the December 2010 edition of Taj Mahal Review. I'd like to think that this new story is on a quite original theme.

Taj Mahal Review is published twice a year in India and is distributed worldwide.

Jumble Tales included in Cheshire Life's January 2011 book page and an (edited) interview in Book Savvy newsletter December:
http://www.pneumasprings.co.uk/BookSa...

There are two more copies of "Jumble Tales" and a copy of "In All Probability" up for grabs on Goodreads giveaways at the moment, coupled with some postcards and bookmarks.

Hi. I'm not exactly sure. To be honest, I think I turned crimson and changed the subject quickly when I heard. Students would be the most fierce of all critics anyway!

A review of "Jumble Tales" by Marc Johnson.

http://marcjohnsonbooks.wordpress.com...

Well, three print magazines have confirmed reviews of "Jumble Tales". I shall post links as and when they materialise.

I was told today that one of my short stories was used in a school English lesson. What a compliment.
I was so taken aback, that I had to change the subject pronto.

Thanks Nicolle.
And I'm not sure if ".....Think of it as the You’ve Been Framed or the Oops TV of books: a veritable jumble of entertaining fun shorts....." is a compliment or not!

Well it is a completely fair review, but personally speaking I was chuffed with the cover and can't see much wrong with the editing!
And they call it "Jumble Tails"!

"The Truth about Books" are always very honest and forthright in their opinions....

http://www.thetruthaboutbooks.com/boo...

"Think of it as the You’ve Been Framed or the Oops TV of books: a veritable jumble of entertaining fun shorts."

Most of them bounce back, and Alegbra is always a good distraction when you are plastered up!
Hopefully there won't be any fresh accidents in this ice.

Two more interviews about "Jumble Tales" done this week and some Press reviews to follow.
Fingers crossed....

Hi Nicolle,
Wise Uni thoughts! Maths is a language of its own.

Thanks for all the support with the book. Much appreciated.

Yes, the students we teach are all long-term ill. They have all manner of illnesses and injuries but they all need to keep up-to-speed with their studies while they are away. Hospitals also now have their own teachng staff.

However it is concerning at the moment about the increase in serious mental illnesses amongst teenagers. Perhaps it is a reflection of the pressure that "the system" (and society in general) places on young people.

It is hard work being a teenager!