Altitude: 24 hours to publication

I’m a bit excited! Tomorrow is Publication Day for my third book, Altitude. Tomorrow the e-book goes live, and the paperback is already available to order, so this is your last chance to get 25% off the e-book price. On Thursday the price will go up, so if you’re thinking about getting Altitude (and why wouldn’t you? You’re a person of obvious charm and taste) then today really is the day to do it. Don’t delay any more, just click this link and wallow in your good judgement:

Buy Altitude ebook edition now!

And thank you all for your support during this entire process, it’s great to have so many of you on board for this.

Here’s a short video where I babble about my new book:

One week to go!

Yes, it’s almost here. Altitude comes out next Thursday the 6th of July. Right now you can get 25% off until publication day, so do jump in now and save on the launch day price. Don’t miss out.

Buy Altitude ebook edition now!
And if you’re a paperback person you can buy Altitude in physical form right now from your favourite online or physical bookshop!

 

Want to read the first three chapters for free? Click here for a PDF version. Or click here for other options.

13 months

Yesterday I completed my final edit of Altitude. I made my last few small changes and stepped away from the book, declaring it finished. This is always a bittersweet moment for any author, it’s exciting to finally finish your novel, to put it to bed and move on to the next project, but it’s also a sad moment when you walk away from the playground that has been your metal home for an age. You cheer at your achievement, but you worry that it’s no good, that you could make it better, that you should give it just one more read through…

There’s that famous saying by Leonardo da Vinci: “Art is never finished, only abandoned.” It’s so true. We’re never fully happy with our work, we just run out of time, or enthusiasm and step away. Or we tinker until the project rots.

Looking back over Altitude I realised that, even though it feels like I’ve been working on it for ages, it’s been just over a year from start to finish: 13 months, give or take a week. The idea dates further back, maybe another year, but I started jotting down my initial ideas in June 2016. That first file contains a rough synopsis, which I’m surprised to discover is very close to the finished book. I wrote the first draft over the summer, finishing it in mid September 2016. The rest of the time between now and then has been taken up with editing and re-writes, although I’ve also been working on other projects at the same time.

Now the book is done and out of my hands, ready for readers to discover in just over a week’s time. It’s the fastest project I’ve done so far, and that’s probably because it’s my first venture into self-publishing. I’ve not turned my back on traditional publishing, I just wanted to give this a go. The faster timeline is very appealing. Sorrowline took three and a half years from that first page to publication. Timesmith was about the same. It’s a long time to live with a project. 13 months is like travelling at light-speed in comparison! I like the challenge of the quick turn-around. The question is, can I do it faster? It seems the key to a prosperous career as a novelist is productivity – the reader wants the next book NOW, not in a year’s time. So, I’m about to start on my next project and see if I can get it out there this side of Christmas. Watch this space…

Click here to pre-order Altitude from Amazon now!

Plus Four Years

It’s hard to believe it’s been four years since my first book came out. Sorrowline was published in the UK on the 3rd of January 2013, following later in other countries around the world. It’s been an exciting four years; I’ve visited schools, libraries and festivals across Europe, and been shortlisted for several book awards.

The sequel to Sorrowline – Timesmith – came out over two years ago, so where is the third in the series? That’s a very good question, one I hope to answer in the next few days. Stay tuned.

Timesmith Brazil

My copies of the Brazilian Portuguese translated edition of Timesmith have finally arrived! Called O Artifice Do Tempo the book was released in July last year, so I’ve been waiting with anticipation for my copies to arrive for some time.

Publication T-Plus 3 Years

It’s three years to the day since Sorrowline came out and I became an official author. In some ways it feel like a long time ago, in other it’s just like yesterday.

Sorrowline towerI can clearly remember the excitement and anticipation in the run up to publication, I can still recall everything we did on that day. I even had a proper official launch event in a bookshop, like a real author does! It was a giddy time. Then, in the weeks that followed excitement gave way to an odd mix of satisfaction and disappointment. The world didn’t stop, more books came out, people moved on, as they should, and life returned to normal.

But with the advantage of three-year’s hindsight I can appreciate the moment more now than I did at the time. Fear and anxiety got in the way (as it often does) stopping me really enjoying the sense of achievement that goes with publication. But I was already focused on the next book, trying to cement my career as a writer. The last thing I wanted was this to be just a one-off.  Three year later I have two books in the wild and two more completed and in the long sausage-making machine that leads to publication. It’s a long game all right. But it’s nice to look back down the road on days like this and appreciate the adventure, and where it’s taken me.

Sorrowline Brazil unwrapping

This happened today!

Timesmith Publication Day! World Book Day!

It’s here at last! My second book is officially published today and it feel so much different to when my first book, Sorrowline, came out.

Last year we marked the day with a trip to York and champagne in First Class –  I even bought myself a ukulele! That was January last year. This time round publication has landed on World Book Day and it’s a busy week! I’ve been doing lots of visits to libraries and schools this week and today I’m travelling to Leeds to The Morley Academy! I’m really looking forward to it, I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the launch of Timesmith and celebrate World Book Day all in one go!

If, like me, you live in the North East of England you might want to come along to my book signing event in Waterstones Middlesbrough. It’s happening on Saturday 15th March between 11 and 2. It’d be great to see you there!

Enjoy World Book Day!

30 Days!

You know, when I started doing these blog countdowns at 100 days it felt like I’d never get there. Now its 30 days to go, which is nothing! All I have to do is get the big messy hump of Christmas and New Year out of the way and there it is: January the 3rd, publication day!

This is my copy! Go buy your own!!

In the last week Sorrowline has been to WAR! War, I tell you! Or at least the cover has. Sorrowline has been competing with three other covers in Mr Ripley’s Book Cover Wars. Its proved to be a fierce battle, with Sorrowline and Alexander Gordon Smith‘s book, Execution: Escape from Furnace, swapping places more than once! And Barry Hutchison‘s book, Afterworlds: The Book of Doom lovely cover has been climbing steadily as well. This race is far from over!  More than 200 people have voted for Sorrowline’s cover art, designed by James Fraser! I’m thrilled by so much support for an yet-to-be published book. If you haven’t already you can cast your vote here. There are four great covers to choose from, and a signed copy of Unrest by Michelle Harrison up for grabs!

But the big news for me (bigger than a WAR!) was the arrival of my very own copy, hot off the press. Finally Sorrowline is a real book, with a cover and pages and words! It’s not just a bunch of ideas, or a document on a computer, or even a pile of printed pages with notes scribbled on them. Its a book, just like those ones you see in the shops! But its got my name on the front, and my ideas inside, which makes it the most surreal experience of my life so far! In just a few short weeks there will be more copies out there, sitting on other people’s shelves. Those ideas will be resting in other minds, giving them headaches! Something that was personal and private is about to go public! And its already happening – I’m having strange conversations with friends who have just found out about Sorrowline. “Really? You wrote a book? You?”, “Are you publishing it yourself?”, “Has it got pictures?”, “Can I have a free copy?”,  “Are you loaded now?” “What’s the book about?”, “Will I like it?”.

The easiest way to answer that last question is to let you have a peek and you can make up your own mind – the online equivalent of browsing in the book store. So, with just a few short weeks left here is a little taster to get you in the mood – the prologue and first chapter of Sorrowline – http://www.nielbushnell.com/writing/Sorrowline_extract.pdf 

Let me know what you think. And if you like it you can order it from any bookshop, or online:

Buy Sorrowline in the UK

  Amazon.co.uk

  Blackwell.co.uk

  Bookdepository.co.uk

  Play.com

  Waterstones.com

40 Days!

It’s getting close now! Really close! Just 40 Earth days till the 3rd of January and the publication of Sorrowline.

But the truth is it’s been published already! On the 13th of November, somewhere in a  factory unit in Croydon the presses rolled on the first edition of Sorrowline. Right now I imagine there are pallets full of copies of Sorrowline getting ready to be sent out to various locations throughout the country. In my megalomaniac mind it looks something like the image above, but maybe a bit bigger. Of course the reality will be something more modest, but its fun to dream. I can’t wait to get my hands on an actual copy of the book, it’ll be like the completion of a very long journey that I started on over three years ago, or three decades ago if you count all the previous attempts to write a book.

And then, like buses, another one comes along immediately after it! I’ve completed draft two of Sorrowline’s sequel, Timesmith. I’m finishing a third draft before it goes to my agent and publisher in the next few days. Then the process of editing begins again, and, hopefully, it won’t be long before I start on book three.

I took part in my first proper interview last week. It’s for the Newcastle Journal’s Culture magazine and is out on the 4th of December. It was surprisingly enjoyable to chat about the book and my hopes for it, I only hope I didn’t say anything too stupid. This happens often. The article will also include details of a launch event happening in Newcastle at the end of January – more on that next time.

Another exciting development was Sorrowline appearing on the Love Reading 4 Kids website. They ran a competition for review copies of the book, so I’m expecting to see some opinions on the site soon from it’s target audience. The site is also hosting a preview of the book. If you register (it’s free) you can download a PDF document of the prologue and first chapter. Just click the link here: http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/book/8271/Sorrowline-by-Niel-Bushnell.html

Finally, here is an image I made to help explain how Jack can be in the same place twice!

 

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