The Facebook Favours Contest

In August we announced a contest on Facebook.  All of our authors entered; some with more than one novel.

The first round entailed "liking" and "sharing" the novels on Facebook and Twitter.

A certain minimum threshold of shares and likes had to be achieved for the novels to make it through to Round 2.  Four novels survived the first round, which unfortunately eliminated "Mercury Silver" with all our short-story authors.

The four novels below:

  

(Find the details here: http://www.pkaboo.net/fbcontest.php)

Round 2 entailed downloads of the winning novels within a certain window of time / to a certain maximum number of copies.  

Why so vague, P'kaboo?  Because we are pioneering.  We agreed with the authors on a maximum number of books, and a cut-off date.  

I can say that the downloads were a huge success.  And the window on Round 2 closed in due course.

Round 3: Review and win.

This round will be open until 1 February.  

Readers who wish to write a review of the story they have read, can do so and stand a chance to win.

Post your review on Goodreads; then send us the link, and we'll look.  If you win, you can take your pick of one paperback book out of our shop - including the music books and multimedia DVDs and CDs!  The book or item will be mailed to you.

This is of particular interest to people who e.g. read "Lupa" and now wish to order an "Everywhen Angels", or "Tabika 1" and wish to order a "Tabika 2", etc.  

Other news:

"The Everywhen Angels" (Marie Marshall) and "Raider" (Lyz Russo) will come out in paperback not too far in the future.  The books will have to be pre-ordered though.  

 If you wish to pre-order a paperback copy of Marie Marshall's "The Everywhen Angels" or Lyz Russo's "Raider", please

  contact us at this link.

NEW RELEASE: The Everywhen Angels

Late last night we completed everything for the first release of 

The Everywhen Angels.

Another intriguing novel by our talented Marie Marshall!

Below an introduction to the YA novel by our partners in Scotland, the Bookseeker Agency. 

This precedes another YA novel from the same author, for lovers of paranormal and vampire fiction; we are hoping to bring out "From My Cold Dead Hand" early next year.

Read and enjoy:

News, 10th December 2013

December 10, 2013 by bookseekeragency

With a fanfare, we can announce that Marie Marshall‘s new novel aimed at older children and teenagers, The Everywhen Angels, is now published. It tells a story of kids in a comprehensive school on the outskirts of London, who find themselves with strange powers. Perhaps they are the first skirmishers in the great battle of Armageddon – but how would they know? Despite their visions and their adventures, they have to deal with the normal stuff of teenage life – homework, parents, bullying, dating, not talking to strangers, bereavement and so on. But do they really know what is going on? Angela, the poet with the questioning mind believes they don’t; hers is the first pair of eyes through which we see the story. Charlie, her boyfriend, is a young man with a vision – but does he really appreciate the trouble he’s in? He tells his story backwards, from the last scene to the first and makes the reader question what is good and what is evil. Ashe is the youngest and smallest of the group – diagnosed with Asperger’s, he is in fact the key to everything. But that isn’t to say his path is easy. The novel is not just a fantasy adventure. It’s action breaks the rules of time, encompassing murder, a bomb outrage, a flood which engulfs London, and the Battle of Waterloo; it’s themes include guilt, courage, cowardice, and delusion. The author says of it: “I believe children can handle difficult philosophical questions. They can handle stories told in a strange way. Young readers are much more intelligent than adults give them credit for.”
The Everywhen Angels is available direct from P’kaboo publishers in eBook form, with possibly more formats becoming available in due course.


(... Excerpt from the Bookseeker Blog)


The Everywhen Angels is available at the P'kaboo shop in epub and pdf ebook format, and will also be available on Amazon shortly, in Kindle and paperback.

Updates from our "forn" partner in Scotland: The Bookseeker

http://bookseekeragency.com/2013/11/24/news-items-24th-november-2013/

Our client Marie Marshall reports that The Phoenix Rising from the Ashes, the first major anthology of sonnets of the early third millennium is now published. Marie is Deputy Editor of thismagnum opus; details can be found here, and will be up-dated as often as necessary. There are still some eBook copies of Marie’s novel Lupa available for free download at P’kaboo Publishers; look for the link which says ‘Winning Title! Limited Free Download’.

Marie also reports that her novel for older children, The Everywhen Angels, is still in the preparation stage. She has finished her new teen-vampire novella, and is in talks not only with her publisher, but also with an illustrator with a view to presenting it as a graphic novel. More news as it is available.

The Aval-Ballan Poetry Competition is long over, but occasionally their web site receives selfies from the prizewinners with their prizes. Here’s one from Sam Smith.

There is a new concern that hosts selected books with an adult content. It goes under the name of HoneyMead Books, and you can find its web site by clicking the logo at the bottom of this update. It is by no means a come-as-you-please self-publishing site. Iain Rossouw of HoneyMead says that each book  they publish as an eBook will be carefully vetted for strong story-lines that must take the forefront. Also all books that go through HoneyMead Books still undergo editing etc. as with every traditional publisher and unlike self-publishing sites. Worth keeping an eye on this publisher if you write adult-themed fiction.

Updates

The Download Zone is open.  4 books are available as free ebooks for a limited window; visit the Contest page to find them.  But hurry.  People are already downloading.  Get your copy before they are all gone!

The Bookshop has been refreshed; now you can find a link at every book for writing a review.  The shop has also been made marginally more user-friendly.

Please note that the "News" page will be discontinued.  Smaller updates are posted on the Facebook Page; more significant ones, on this blog.

   

Round 2 of the Share Contest: Downloads andReviews

With the 1st of October, Round 1 of the Facebook Share contest has closed and Round 2 opened.

Now there are 4 books available for a limited number of free downloads:

http://www.pkaboo.net/bookshop.html#lupa

Lupa by Marie MArshall

http://www.pkaboo.net/bookshop.html#solarwind

The Mystery of the Solar Wind by Lyz Russo

http://www.pkaboo.net/bookshop.html#almostdead

Almost Dead in Suburbia by Douglas Pearce

http://www.pkaboo.net/bookshop.html#tabika1

Tabika by Leslie Hyla Winton Noble

In the second round, you can win a P'kaboo paperback (any one of your choice) by submitting a review of a book from the 4 that you have read.  The paperback doesn't have to be the same as the book you reviewed or even downloaded.  Write a good review or bad - the 3 winners are determined by lucky draw.  Certain standards will be applied though - reviews must not be shorter than a paragraph to qualify, and pls no sms lngage.

Third book moves into "The Zone"

Almost Dead in Suburbia

has just moved into “The Zone”.

Well done Douglas Pearce!

The books that have made it into second round so far are:

Lupa by Marie Marshall

The Mystery of the Solar Wind by Lyz Russo

Almost Dead in Suburbia by Douglas Pearce

Please visit this page to find out what other books there are in the contest.

A Winner!

Lupa by Marie Marshall

is the first of our Facebook Share contestants to move into the “Free Downloads Zone”.

The “Zone” will open on the 1st of October, so stay tuned…  A limited number of copies is going to become available for free download, from the P’kaboo website.

There is something immensely satisfying in being the first in something.  Well done, Marie!

Please boost the other books, too:

Visit this page and share books to move more into the “Zone”.

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Thank you for participating!

The Immy Series

One of our authors, Leslie Hyla Winton Noble, completed this beautiful series for children:

These DVDs contain the story of Immy, a little girl who encounters a dragon.

(Pls excuse the graininess in some of the photos, especially “Immy goes Flying” – it’s the angle of the light.  Will have to retake the pics at some point.)

Music:

The stories have musical backings, with Peter-and-the-Wolf style themes for the characters.  The themes adjust to the mood of the character and the story.

Options:

You can play the DVD and watch the slides with images and text, to read to your children or allow them to read themselves; or you can select the voice-over option, in which the author reads the story to the listener, timed with the slides (and with early readers being able to follow the sentences on the screen).  The DVD insert is actually a booklet containing the complete story, just the right size for small hands as they page and listen to the author’s voice (or read the stories themselves).

Learning benefits:

This is a very versatile, multimedia children’s book, which by not being an ordinary video stimulates the imagination of preschoolers.  The themed music teaches them to recognize different instruments and musical themes, even when they come overlaid or modulated.   And for the parents:  The stories are especially cute, Immy is a sassy youngster with a lot of sparkle and character.

Easy to read, large print; endearing characters with which children can associate.  The multimedia combination encourages young children to read.

For those who like moralinic acid as an essential supplement to childhood literature:  There are hidden life lessons in each of the stories.  Immy learns something every time, and sometimes, so does the dragon.

Author, illustrator:

The enchanting illustrations are done by Amanda Fieldgate, a very promising young artist.

Story and music are by Leslie Hyla Winton Noble.

Leslie & Amanda: You’ve (to put this in English) supplied us with a fresh consignment of pride.  Well done!

Literacy Month Celebration

Glenstantia Library, Wednesday 11 September:

The Glenstantia Library is holding Literacy Month celebrations this coming Wednesday, from 15h to 18h.  Features include a young South African author speaking about his latest release; and P’kaboo Publishers speaking to an audience of school children and teachers about what we do, how we go about e-publishing and what paperback publishing entails; our books and our authors; and the competitions we have running currently.

Thank you to Therese Els for organising this!

(Image:  Library User Group, and audience at the launch in December)

Glenstantia Library and Literacy Month

Glenstantia Library, who hosted our launch in December, contacted me to see if we can't do something together for Literacy Month.  They are launching a new author and it was suggested I join forces and bring our books.  I'm off to discuss with them this morning.

This is like an answered prayer.  I can use every bit of logistic and practical help I can get, with promotions.

As I was picking up kids from school yesterday I noticed a headline, along the lines that "South Africa barely reads any books".  I had to smile.  It's no amazing new revelation; but the timing is great.  Someone is creating awareness for books.  This falls right into the time frame for our Facebook contest, our Teen writing contest and our ebooks schools giveaway.

A spacious, modern library - and so is their attitude.  (Img from launch in December)

The P'kaboo Share Contest is LIVE!

Inviting all friends and fen of P'kaboo and its authors to a share-extravaganza.

The contest works like this:

1) Go to this page

2) Click on one of the books to go to its feature page

3) If you click on the book's cover you can read a preview; optional.  Clearly people who have already read the books will know if they want to share them.

4)  Click the "FB SHARE" button!  (And while you're at it, the Tweet button and the Like button, and...)

-->  Every one of the 7 titles in the contest is trying to collect 50 shares - at 50 shares, the actual ebook becomes available for 100 (and only 100) free downloads.  

This means, everyone wins!  But once an ebook is open for downloading, you may want to hurry and get your copy - before they are gone.

The first round closes on 1 October - if a book hasn't made 50 shares by then, sorry...  no free downloads of that book.

Second round:

For those who love to write something:  

Submit a reader's review of any of the books you've read during the contest (you are of course not limited to one title!).  

3 lucky reviewing readers get to win an author-signed paperback copy of the book of their choice. 

P'kaboo has a Facebook Page

It's finally up.    Here it is:

https://www.facebook.com/pkaboo.net

And many many thanks to Marie, from Kvenna Rad, for putting content up there.  She's been busy as a bee, doing everything from updating the header pic and avatar to keeping the flow of ideas happening.  And Paul from Bookseeker Agency, our partner in UK, created the collage of titles that is now the page header.  (Image above)

We did already have the P'kaboo Book Club going, for quite a while.  That was once I had enough titles; before which there was (and is still) the Solar Wind fan club group.  I like groups better as people can interact better (and they do).

Well, those of you who enjoy Facebook, come and play!  :)  There are books to be discussed in the Book Club, and very cute posts on the Page.

Bookseeker Agency and Letterpress Cafe

http://bookseekeragency.com/

Our partner in UK, Bookseeker Agency

A highly creative literary agency who visits lots of book events in Scotland.  Bookseeker is the agent through whom we acquired "Lupa" and "Naked in the Sea" by Marie Marshall; apart from which, he represents our books overseas and facilitates them being channelled into libraries, book stores, reading corners and events.  

Bookseeker and P'kaboo have in common that we both aim to launch new authors and bring new books to the reader.

Letterpress Cafe

This is a young establishment that prints very beautiful things on a genuine old letterpress machine.  The machine has been revived, partially by the inclusion of custom-created parts where spares were not available.  It works like a dream.

The owner, Bernhard "Irthling", is a highly successful graphic designer (and one of our book cover designers).  In conventional printing, often things take a wrong turn between the designer and the printer.  Not so at Letterpress Cafe, where the designer also takes care of the printing, to give his client exactly what is needed.

We wish Letterpress Cafe all the best success and will be making use of them!

A few updates

Projects:

Immy:  The Immy project is by now available in Durban.  Please contact Leslie Hyla Winton Noble to purchase a high-quality copy of the multimedia story (complete with Peter-and-the-Wolf-style specifically composed background music) of a small girl's adventures with a dragon.

A new Magic Circle novel is also in process by our children's author, Leslie Hyla Winton Noble.  

A YA novel by the enigmatic Marie Marshall is under progress.  

The rest of the projects, as per our news page on the website.

Associations:

Bookseeker Agency (our associates in Scotland) have updated their site.  Have a look here.

P'kaboo Web Updates:

Our website gets updated in sporadic gusts.  Most of it is now in its new shape; however we are still conceptualizing how best to present you with author bios and book feature pages, as we want to update those too.  

The News page will mostly contain larger news items, such as launches etc.  Smaller updates are blogged here.

Still looking for Free Shortstories

Available in the Bookshop

There are still quite a number of people who try to link directly to the short-stories that were on display on our Freestuff page, last year.

The stories have been collected into the album, "Mercury Silver".  The stories that remain on Freestuff, are stories that are displayed elsewhere for free and have been on Freestuff long before the project of Mercury Silver.

If you are an author, you are welcome to submit shortstories or other items specifically for inclusion on our Freestuff page; however the stories in Mercury Silver were submitted for publication, and only displayed for free for a limited time period to raise reader interest.

If someone directed you to a short-story that is no longer on Freestuff, consider supporting its author by buying a copy of the ebook "Mercury Silver".  It is really not expensive, and you'll get your full enjoyment value out of these stories.

We'll do it again:

We are planning to run another such project, perhaps for something else than short-stories, later this year or perhaps early in 2014. Watch this space. ;)

Updating the website

We're updating the website.  Especially pleased with the little slide show on the home page!   We also have a page on which you can post a review.  

This is a long slow process (updating) and we value your patience, but we're definitely making inroads.

In the meanwhile have fun on our links page reading all those author blogs!

Note about Submissions

Anyone who wants to submit should please email info@pkaboo.net rather than the submissions email, as we are experiencing slight difficulties.

If your submission was overlooked, please accept our apologies and resubmit.

Regards
TheTeam

December 20, Launch of Lupa, Forest Circle Quest and Freedom Fighter at Glenstantia Library

Lovely daylilies brought by the librarian for the authors :)

Glenstantia is a spacious, modern library.  The atmosphere is beautiful; calm, organized. Foreground:  P'kaboo's books- with the 3 launch titles taking centre stage.

Small but bespoke audience.  Foreground:  The Library User Group leadership of the library.  Background:  Lovely guests, supporters, fans...  standing up: The Head Librarian Therese; yours truly; and avid young reader Robin.

The launch titles from another angle

Forest Circle Quest.  Note the sherry glass...

Speaking about each of the titles.  Note the laptops on the table.  Both distant authors were in the room via technology; Leslie Hyla Winton Noble by Skype video - though the storm in Pretoria as well as the storm in Durban messed with the reception and he often looked like something by Van Gogh.  Marie Marshall was present on Skype Chat.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Signing.