Origin Story
Actually, I need a little help this month.
Hey, this isn’t my regular kind of newsletter.
I’ve joined the StoryOrigin community and now, like the quirky girl who moved to a new school in a Netflix movie that probably ends in an unexpectedly gruesome revenge plot, I need help to impress my new friends.
This means I’ve got some new promos for you before we dive into the usual whimsy and nonsense. Make sure you scroll to the end and please do check everything out.
(The Village Council require your clicks)
Horror Bundle Promo
First of all, if you like horror stories (and why the hell would you be here if you didn’t?) then you should check out the Story Origin Horror Readers List August Sale.
All of the books on this list have limited-time deals running until October 1st including Welcome to Neverbury. I was delighted to receive an email from Amazon this month to let me know that they had selected my book for a Kindle Deal in September and it is now on sale for 99p!
If you know someone who would enjoy the book then this would be the perfect time to recommend it to them (please!).
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Welcome-Neverbury-Chris-Lynch-ebook/dp/B0C9SMSYBQ/
And if they aren’t ready to part with their 99p, they can always download a free sample to see what Neverbury has to offer.
So, what on Earth is StoryOrigin?
If you’ve read Welcome to Neverbury, then you’ll be familiar with the book’s quirky “origin story” of being written in one month as a challenge and then, somehow, taking over my entire (writing) life. Nevebury was the book that shouldn’t exist, the book that insisted on being published, and now seems to be the book that will not die/gracefully fade into my back catalogue.
Indie publishing is full of highs and lows. One of the things that makes the highs higher and stops the lows from being too low is the sense of community amongst indies. Most of us seem to have fled to the sunlit uplands of Threads from X/Twitter now and there is a huge amount of mutual support and goodwill there.
It was on Threads that I first heard people talking about StoryOrigin, a web app that can help you build your reader community. It offers a range of useful tools including Reader Magnets (free downloads where you join a mailing list/sell your eternal soul for a free book), easy ways to manage reviewer copies (free downloads for reviewers where you sell your soul to them in the hope of a few stars on Amazon), and options to handle audiobooks and even sell downloads directly to your readers.
There’s a lot of readers too - if you’re a keen reader interested in getting hold of “ARCs” (Advance Reviewer Copies) but you’re struggling to get traction on sites like NetGalley, then StoryOrigin is a great place to find new books.
You can check out StoryOrigin here.
And, speaking of new books…
The provisional release date for Return to Neverbury has now been set. If all things go well, the book will be released this October, right in the heart of SPOOKY SEASON.
If you were on this mailing list when we celebrated one year since the publication of the original book you will have already received a sneak peek of the book. If not don’t worry… there will be an opportunity to grab your own copy of the preview in the next newsletter.
Editing of the new book is now very much underway (I had the good sense to marry an English teacher) and the book is shaping up to be slightly longer than the first with ten brand new stories further exploring the “Neververse”. The town, and its population, are growing and I feel dangerously close to needing some kind of pinboard covered in photographs and red-string to keep track of them all.
(I’m very lucky that normally the team at Candy Jar take care of this sort of thing for me when I’m writing Lucy Wilson books. When it comes to Neverbury, I’m on my own!)
And, also speaking of new books and previews…
One of the other things that you can do on StoryOrigin is find other writers and promote each other in your respective newsletters. It takes me back a little to the old-school days of the “web ring” before Google made everyone think that linking to something that you liked was something you needed to get paid for. It was a simpler time…
With that in mind, I’m very excited to introduce my first newsletter swap with Steampunk Western author Jonathan Fesmire.
Jonathan has a free download at StoryOrigin you can download now to get a taste of his work.
Seriously, Steampunk Western… how can you not love that?
Miscellany
What I’m Watching: I’ve just finished binge-watching KAOS on Netflix, which I definitely recommend. Deadloch has also been a recent favourite (probably the best Tazmanian queer detective show I’ve seen). Mrs L. and I have also just started a rewatch of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with the kids…
What I’m Reading: I finished The Festival sometime between my last newsletter and this one. If you’re not quite ready to leave the summer festival vibe behind and like a bit of witchy folklore in your thriller cocktail, this could be the book for you. Last time I checked it was also in a 99p sale as well.
I’m currently reading Angels of Venice and developing a slight man-crush on the main character, Nathan Sutherland, who is a delightfully angst-free protagonist and seems to enjoy Italian food as much as I do.
XOXO
Well, that’s me. The newsletter might get a bit more frequent for a few weeks as there’s going to be a lot more happening with Return to Neverbury and more promos and indie book freebies to share as well.
Until next time…