12 Days of Krista May Rose

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So I finally bit the bullet yesterday and ventured into the world of e-publishing.  It's something that I'd been thinking about doing for a while but, being a bit computer stupid, I wasn't too sure where to start.  There's an informative 'how to' on Morgen Bailey's website (as well as a million and one other brilliant things that writers should read).

A couple of years ago Sky 1 showed a series of short Christmas stories written by comedians, Little Crackers.  These programmes inspired me to write my own versions, but I'm never one to do things simply, so I chose to include one element from the traditional Christmas song The Twelve Days of Christmas in each story.  And with that, I came up with 12 Days of Krista May Rose; twelve stories about important Christmases in Krista's life, from birth to old age.

Chapter 1 ~ Rings Krista is not yet born, but she is experiencing her first Christmas through the sights and thoughts of her pregnant mother.
Chapter 2 ~ Pipers It's Christmas Eve and three year old Krista is excited about the imminent arrival of Father Christmas.
Chapter 3 ~ Hens Krista's year four class at school is preparing for the end of school Christmas play.
Chapter 4 ~ Partridge & Pears It's only September, but Krista's mother is getting everything prepared for Christmas.
Chapter 5 ~ Geese Krista spends Christmas with her boyfriend, whose birthday also happens to be on Christmas day.
Chapter 6 ~ Drummers Krista and her boyfriend spend Christmas in Australia.
Chapter 7 ~ Dancers Jenny, Krista's sister, organises and executes Krista's hen night.
Chapter 8 ~ Lords Jenny drags Krista to the hospital for her ultrasound scan.
Chapter 9 ~ Swans Krista spends Christmas with her husband's very prim and proper family.
Chapter 10 ~ Milking Maids Jenny insists on heading out first thing in the morning on the first day of the sales, with Krista and Jenny's brood of babies in tow.
Chapter 11 ~ Doves Krista deals with the anniversary of her mother's death.
Chapter 12 ~ Colly Birds Alone, Krista contemplates her life.

Ideally I would like these stories to be published in a real, paper made book, but for now I'm happy for them to be e-published, somewhere in the ether.

I looked at Smashwords to start with, and found a very helpful style guide about formatting and other technical things to do with e-publishing.  After reading the guide, I left it a few days, and then went back to read it again.  I didn't trust myself to be able to do it properly, but with a bit of patience it's a pretty straightforward thing to do.  My Smashwords profile can be found here.

Click here to buy my book from Smashwords.

Finding that process pretty easy, I wandered over to KDP (kindle direct publishing) at Amazon.  A little bit more editing and formatting had to be done to my manuscript, but there was another guide to help.  Once uploaded, it took 12 hours for it to be online to buy, so this morning I was very happy to search my own name and have my book come up.  My Amazon Author profile can be found here.

Click here to buy my book from Amazon.

It's only £1.29 ($1.99) from both places, and as it's coming up to Christmas, surely you'd all enjoy snuggling up in your pyjamas, under the duvet, with a mug of hot chocolate, listening to the wind blowing outside, reading a lovely selection of festive tales on the e-reader of your choice.