One Sixth of a Gill goes live!

Publication Date 1st November 2014 

On pre-release order now.

For once, amazon is waving its magic wand to get Jean Gill's new book to the ball, all dressed up and ready to dance. With previous books, I felt like I was relegated to the kitchen half the time, eating the scraps left by the big publishers - and grateful for the crumbs. As a non-US citizen, I could never get to the ball on time and had to press my face against the window,watching, until the tickets - kindle publishing - came to Europe.

The opportunity to pre-release books is so important that amazon has withheld this in what I think of as their Axe-Murder Attempt, also known as the Hachette War. Not only is amazon denying pre-publication to a big publisher but it's giving it for the first time to thousands of small and self-publishers. All right, amazon - you have 90 days to show me what you can do for One Sixth of a Gill with KDP, your exclusive programme.

I will let all my blog-readers know how this new adventure in publishing goes. And - fanfare - here's the belle of the ball. One Sixth of a Gill, my book of shorts. Publication Date 1st November. I'm hoping everyone will get into my shorts for Christmas. Did I really just say that?

Order your copy here and let's see if we can get my 17th book showing up in the charts and staying there. The first reviews and book details are below...

Pre-Release reviews so far

Unputdownable

‘It is like having a conversation with a group of friends over dinner, where the topics wander and morph quite organically as occasions and images are recalled by the guests. The result is an eclectic mix which is quite unputdownable.

More than anything I liked the way it was put together in a way which allowed for grazing or an all-out feast. I expect folk will keep returning to the table for a while after the final course.’

B.A. Morton, author of prize-winning crime novel ‘Mrs Jones’

A rare treat.

'I dipped into your One Sixth of a Gill at the breakfast table, during siesta and sometimes before night-time sleep, which is how I think many readers will ‘use’ your book. And I do think it is a book to be ‘used’ – for its thought-provoking content, for some of its images that require scrutiny and interpretation. Some days I opted for a more superficial reading because daily life had its own measure of minor stresses and I needed no extra. On those days I loved the photographs, the dog tales, the knowing sub-text about marriage and parenthood.'

J.G. Harlond, author of ‘The Empress Emerald’

A superb collection – so much variation in style and all equally brilliant. Thank you.

'What leapt out at me was the strong sense of colour in all your writing, especially the poems and stories. I wonder if that is because you are a photographer; you are very aware of it, pick up the nuances and you use this to brilliant effect in shading the writing with feeling. Your collection reminded me of a box of scarves we had in ballet class when I was young, all different shades and hues. I loved hunting through them and I guess that's what I'm trying to say about your collection. There is something for whatever mood you find yourself in.'

Karen Maitland, author of ‘The Vanishing Witch’