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Community Publishing for the community

Amazon Charges

24/10/2017

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A word to all of our customers about Amazon.

At Comely Bank Publishing we are grateful to anyone who's keen to buy any of our paperback books. But while we appreciate that Amazon is often a convenient way of buying books, we feel that you need to be aware that Amazon eats massively into our profits.

Sure, you're buying direct from us, so you'd think that by cutting out the middle man – the bookstore – you'd be doing yourselves and us a favour. Sadly, the story isn't quite so rosy.

It's been our practice in the past to try to deliver our books to you post free, but in addition to the postage (which will be £2.85 for many of our books) Amazon charges us a staggering 38%-46% transaction fee. What that means is that, if a book costs £9.99, the combination of postage and Amazon can take up more than £7.00. Your local bookshop won't be making that sort of profit margin, and they'll be offering you a much better service. 

We can't really operate at those charges, so we're going to have to start charging for postage if you order through Amazon, I suspect.

If you want to order online, why not order direct from our bookshop page? We still have to pay around 8%-10% transaction fee with PayPal or credit card, but it's a whole lot better for both you the customer and for we writers. We can absorb the postage in most cases, and we probably deliver quicker, too.

Above all, though, we hope you enjoy our books. Thank you for continuing to support us.
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The Discreet Charm of mary Maxwell-Hume, by Gordon Lawrie

23/10/2017

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Today marks the publication of the Gordon Lawrie's first print book in five years, The Discreet Charm of Mary Maxwell-Hume.

Mary Maxwell-Hume is an enigma. She earns a living as a piano teacher, but also belongs to an obscure order of nuns. Their rules appear curious: although the nuns wear red habits occasionally, the order has a peculiar dress code: nuns wear ‘only as much as is necessary to preserve due modesty’ – plus liberal doses of Chanel No.5 perfume. There’s the faintest hint that Mary might be a bit of a hustler, but she uses her sensual powers in such a way that nobody really minds – except for the odious Theodore Plews of Lamberts Auction House in Edinburgh. Anyway, who would dare suggest that a woman of God might not all be all she seems? Eventually, she engages a young police constable as her faithful ‘assistant’... This series of short stories combines into an entertaining novella with more than an occasional twist. Why not sit back and enjoy where Mary Maxwell-Hume leads you?

The Discreet Charm of Mary Maxwell-Hume by Gordon Lawrie, (ISBN 9780993026263) is available now from all good bookstores in the UK, online on Amazon, and on Kindle. It is also available direct from this website, priced £5.99.

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Review: The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connolly

14/10/2017

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Gordon Lawrie
The Gods of GuiltThe Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My son thinks the Mickey Haller lawyer series is even better Michael Connolly's Harry Bosch. I'm not sure I go with that, but I understand what he's saying: Haller is a fresher character. The Gods of Guilt in this book are the juries – both the real jury in a murder trial, and the imaginery jury associated with Haller's past.

In brief, Haller finds himself defending a potentially unsavoury pimp who's accused of murdering one of his hookers. Pretty soon, though, Haller realises that there's a lot more to the case than there seems at first, and it's bound up with another much older case. Of course there are are good guys and bad, and in books like these you never know who's who until the very end. Some are a bit of both.

I read this book in a little over 24 hours. OK, I was on holiday and that always speeds things up, but it was a real page-turner nonetheless. Can't wait for the next one.

View all my reviews
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review: Coffee, Steak and Eggs, by Eric Smith

5/10/2017

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Gordon Lawrie reviews Eric J Smith's latest collection of short stories.
Coffee, Steak, And Eggs: 101 Stories from the Wrong Side of NowhereCoffee, Steak, And Eggs: 101 Stories from the Wrong Side of Nowhere by Eric J. Smith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Eric Smith's writing is so atmospheric, you almost feel you've been transported to his world. Told in a series of short stories of varying lengths, he "unfolds" rather than "tells" his tales. Oddly enough for a Maryland resident, his "fiction world" is very much rooted somewhere in the American Mid-West, a world of small-town bars, run-down garages, red-knecks and tough women. Don't expect to find too many smart suits or city girls.

I love Coffee, Steak and Eggs. I believe I've read a handful of them before on the legendary Friday Flash Fiction site, but Smith has reworked most of them to give a freshness that makes everything seem new. As he says in the introduction, removing the somewhat artificial constraints set by flash fiction sites has allowed him to develop each story a little and control the pace more carefully. If I have to pick a favourite it would be Living Alone. Everything's there in that little tale, which almost stretches out to a full short story.

I strongly recommend Coffee, Steak and Eggs. It's just the sort of book to have at your side to while away a bus or train journey, or an hour in an airport. Or you might have it by your chair to pick up and read in an odd moment. It won't interrupt whatever else you're reading, this is stuff to dip-in to, and to savour.

View all my reviews
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Ebooks Ain't The Whole Answer

4/10/2017

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The economics of ebooks can be really confusing. In theory it's a low-risk enterprise, as anyone can upload a novel, say, onto Amazon KDP, sit back and see what happens. If nobody buys your book, you've paid nothing, so you've lost nothing. If you sell, then Amazon takes a cut, that's all. Amazon charges a kind of a no-win-no-fee, like those ambulance-chasing law firms.

But wait a moment. Everywhere you turn, you're advised to get professional help to edit your book, to proof-read it and – in particular – for a cover. Even if you're an ace with Adobe InDesign, don't trust yourself with your own cover.

In each case you get what you pay for. So for a quality result, you might end up spending hundreds of pounds. You'll not get that back selling books tucked away on the internet for 99¢ per download. So oddly enough, the best way to get your money back is to print a few copies, using the same cover and so on, because you can make a greater unit profit on each sale. You'll get your money back quicker in print; you'll make money quicker selling ebooks. I honestly think you need both, you're wasting your time just publishing ebooks.

Gordon Lawrie
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