Tag Archives: amazon

Miami Cocktail – The Conscious Cocktail Company

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We’re officially in spring and things are heating up this week, so to celebrate the extra long weekend we wanted to introduce a touch of Miami to Britain. Introducing; Miami Cocktail and their selection of the most delicious organic pre-mixed craft cocktails on the market. The foundations of the company are built on using honest ingredients which make up authentic cocktails crafted to perfection, and tasty.

The proof really is in the tasting with three delicious cocktails to choose from; Margarita, Sangria and Blood Orange Mimosa. This has been the most authentic and honest pre-mixed cocktail we’ve tried and trust me…we’ve tried a lot. The packaging, the flavour and the low cal, additive free ingredients are only some of the reasons why you HAVE to try Miami Cocktail. The first thing that sets them apart from many other companies is that not only is the flavour refreshing and heavenly, there is no tacky aftertaste, a far cry from the batch made sticky pre-mixers we have tried. The same points can be awarded for the following day with no nasty hangover, (this came from a number of trustworthy testimonies.) The brand screams chic and this would be a tip top gift to bring to a party, the bottle comes in a beautiful recyclable glass and will look iconic on your table top counter.  

We love the serving suggestions they have offered us; so cheers to a Bank Holiday made better by Miami Cocktail;

Copper Pot Margarita

The quintessential three ingredient organic margarita:

-100% pure organic blue agave wine
– Organic key lime juice
– Organic Valencia orange juice 

12% abv

The Copper Pot Margarita is perfectly balanced and delivers a wonderfully “more-ish margarita” 

Blood Orange Mimosa 

The “Sunday Funday Everyday” organic mimosa. Organic Sicilian blood oranges and tangerine juice. A touch of organic Florida grapefruit juice lightly infused with organic sparkling wine. 

We call our Blood Orange Mimosa “dangerously delicious” as we have yet to leave any in the bottle once it is opened. Admittedly, a good problem to have…until you run out. 

 8.5% abv

Sunset Sangria 

The keeping it real organic sangria. Organic tropical juices of mango, pineapple, lime, and orange, all delicately infused with organic craft red wine. 

8.5% abv

The moment the Sunset Sangria touches your lips, you will be whisked away to the last summer you spent in Spain. While heating it up in winter time, makes for a wonderful alternative to your favourite mulled wine. 

Miami Cocktail have hit the ground running and are already available to buy in Harvey Nichols stores in the UK and online RRP £16.95 per bottle. You can also find them on thedrinkshop.com and amazon.co.uk priced at £14.95 and are hoping to hit the festivals this summer. We couldn’t think of a more perfect place for these sexy little cocktails. 

Miami Cocktail also have a line of Organic Spritz which is set to come out soon featuring two more cocktails, Bellini Spritz and Paloma Spritz. These will be available in 250ml cans and at only 110 cals per can and no added sugar you can definitely indulge in a few Miami Cocktails. #DrinkClean

 

Amazon’s Kindle Storyteller Award celebrates independent writing talent with £20,000 prize

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An exciting new writing competition is here!

Kindle Storyteller Award returns to the UK for third year, recognising the best talent
in independent publishing

Amazon today announced that the Kindle Storyteller Award, recognising outstanding work by independent authors with a £20,000 cash prize, will return for its third year in 2019. The award is open to all authors who publish their book through Kindle Direct Publishing on Amazon.co.uk from 1st May 2019 to 31st August 2019.

The prize will be awarded to the work that garners praise not just from the judging panel of book and publishing industry experts, but also from readers. The shortlist will be compiled on the basis of a number of factors, including reviews, sales and pages read in Kindle Unlimited.

The winner will be announced at a ceremony in London this Autumn, and awarded the cash prize of £20,000, a marketing campaign to support the book on Amazon.co.uk, and the opportunity to have their book translated for readers around the world.

The award has been won previously by contemporary fiction author Hannah Lynn and action thriller writer David Leadbeater. Since winning the Prize, Leadbeater has sold more than 165,000 books, and Lynn has gone on to publish three further novels.

Other Kindle Direct Publishing success stories include LJ Ross, who has had seven Kindle number one bestsellers and five books go to number one on pre-orders alone, and Rachel Abbott, who has sold over three million books to date.

Alessio Santarelli, Director, Kindle Content said: “Following the enthusiasm and huge number of entries in 2018, we are delighted to bring the Kindle Storyteller Award back for its third year. The encouragement and support of aspiring authors is an endeavour we continue to champion at Amazon. Publishing a book has never been easier and we are proud to provide a service that allows for a breadth of diverse stories to be told.”

Hannah Lynn, winner of the 2018 UK Kindle Storyteller Award said: “Hearing my name called out last October for The Afterlife of Walter Augustus was incredible. To receive such recognition for only my second book was such a fantastic confidence boost that has made me all the more determined to keep writing. I wish the best of luck to the 2019 entrants and urge any writers who are on the fence to enter – you never know what might happen!”

The Kindle Storyteller Award will be open to submissions of new books in the English language, published using Kindle Direct Publishing. Titles must be previously unpublished, with a minimum of 24 pages in paperback. Readers can access all titles entered into the prize in print or on the Kindle store on any device with the free Kindle app for iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets, PC and Mac, and on Kindle e-readers and Fire Tablets.

The Kindle Storyteller Award 2019 opens for entries on 1st May 2019, and titles must be enrolled in KDP Select while they are in the competition. For further information, authors can visit www.amazon.co.uk/storyteller.

A PUBLISHER’S YEAR: JANUARY – HIRING, GENRES, AMAZON

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It is an exciting start to the year for Sapere Books. We have decided to hire our first full-time staff member. Up until now Sapere Books had been solely run by its three co-founders – myself as Editorial Director, Caoimhe O’Brien as Marketing Director and Richard Simpson as Operations Director. We were also using freelancers last year to help with cover design and proofreading, but we have decided we are at a stage where we need a full-time extra pair of hands as well! So, in a couple of months I’ll have a new Editorial Assistant to introduce to everybody. It is our first time hiring so we are currently brainstorming what tests to set candidates and exactly what we want to ask them at the interview stage. More news on that in a few weeks!

We have also put a call out for ‘nautical fiction’, as that is a genre which is underrepresented in the market and which we know readers love, and we’ll be looking for other niche genres to sign up throughout the year. We are having a lot of success with our first ‘timeslip’ novel – The Catherine Howard Conspiracy by Alexandra Walsh, which alternates between the Tudor court and the modern day, so that may be an area we’ll expand into more in the coming months. Other than that, my inbox is full to bursting with submissions, which is fantastic, but I always find it slightly heartbreaking when I have to turn authors down. We are getting such a fantastic quality of submissions coming through that I am turning down lots of novels which are certainly good enough to be published, but we can’t say yes to all of them because we don’t want to flood our list, and end up not being able to give our books the attention they deserve.

The publication schedule for this month focussed largely on historical fiction. At the start of the year I published the fourth book in Elizabeth Bailey’s brilliant Regency mystery series and M J Logue’s first romantic thriller featuring Major Thankful Russell and his wife Thomazine, set during the Restoration. They were followed by a Medieval novel; the first part of a saga trilogy set at the time of the American Civil War; a crime novel featuring Charles Dickens as the investigator; and the final book in the eight-part Victorian mystery series we launched last year, featuring a husband and wife detective partnership. Next month will be more crime and thriller focussed – with a bit of romance thrown in in time for Valentine’s Day!

We have just had a catch up meeting at Amazon HQ to let them know what we will be publishing this year. The Amazon team have given us lots of ‘Kindle Daily Deal’ and ‘Kindle Monthly Deal’ slots over the past few months in the UK, US, Australia, Canada and even India, which can really give books a boost, so we are keen to keep the team over there up-to-date with our plans and the books we are publishing. I am also sorting out the diary for London Book Fair, which promises to be a crazily intense three days as always, but a brilliant time to catch up with literary agents, meet with authors – and indulge in a drink or two!

Finally, I have some exciting news to share to do with the Romantic Novelists’ Association but I have to wait until the official press release goes out next month so you’ll have to wait until then to hear more!

Amy Durant

 

Köld Unveil Single Cocktail Pouches – Just in Time for Picnic Season

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We love a good lunch al fresco and this summer, Köld have given us a good reason to chill out and enjoy the sunshine with their genius frozen cocktail pouches. With four different cocktails to choose from, Köld pouches are a game changer using only the finest natural ingredients. We think that this is going to be your number one picnic item this summer!

The range of cocktails currently include; Cosmopolitan, Mojito, Lychee Martini and Elderflower Martini which are sold in double measure pouches (8% abv), ready to pop in your freeze and enjoy wherever you like.

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Out of all the ready-to-serve cocktails we have tried, Köld have really gone above expectations to ensure that they are serving up a really authentic and delicious, cocktail. You would be fooled into thinking a bartender had mixed these up in a flash as the cocktails retain their flavour and freshness and we enjoy the generous serving. The ingredients are undoubtedly premium as you can taste the quality flavours of the triple-distilled grain vodka and barrel aged rum on the first sip. Personally, the fact that a ready-to-serve can retain such a high quality as Köld have, makes it a top product.

Our favourite was Lychee Martini and it’s no surprise having won the great taste award. Köld have outdone themselves bringing your cocktail favourites into these handy pouches perfect for parties, picnics and BBQ’s and it’s no surprise that they are already in high demand. We’re sure to hear more wonderful things from Köld soon and here’s hoping for some more tasty cocktails from Köld in the future, (hints massively at Margarita?)

Köld is available now from Whole Foods Market, Ocado and Amazon and are sold as a pack of 2 for £6.99 or 1 for £3.00.

For more info visit www.koldcocktails.com

The Business of Books: Giving it all Away

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the-business-of-books-interviewswithjanecableJane Cable’s Another You goes on free download on Amazon…

Two weeks ago I wrote about trying to be empirical in judging the results of marketing – and also that Another You would be on free promotion. While an ideal opportunity to see if I could actually learn what worked and what didn’t, it felt a nerve-wracking and risky time, because if you can’t give your book away, what hope do you have of actually selling it?

Another You proved in spades that it could be given away. The entire week of the promotion it stayed in the Kindle UK top 200, most of that time in the top 100, rising to a highest position of number 20 and topping the free women’s historical fiction chart. Far, far, beyond my wildest dreams. So what did I do to achieve this?

First, the day before the promotion I sent round robin emails and used lead generation software for linkedin to all my friends and contacts who have shown an interest in my books. It was flattering that many of them had already bought it but I am sure there were a few who downloaded during offer week.

It was also a case of extending my network to people I used to know and I used Facebook and Linkedin to reach the alumni pages of both my secondary schools and the large accounting firm I trained with. From my former sixth form in particular the response was most enthusiastic, but then we always were a rather bookish lot.

I devised a number of campaign graphics on Canva, some with review quotes from other authors, another pushing reviews in aid of Words for the Wounded. I used a different one each day on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin. I also did some paid advertising and post boosts on Facebook. This included a ‘shop now’ promotion with a link to the Kindle UK download page which received 42 click throughs and cost £18. I messed up another boost later in the week by not noticing I’d reach the spend limit on my account, but by that time the book was flying and it didn’t seem to matter very much.

publishing, Jane Cable, writing

I also spent a little money (around £10-£15 each) on three free book promotion sites. For the UK market I tried Book Bongo but I have to say I was disappointed with the amount of coverage on social media and the book didn’t appear in their newsletter until after the free period was over. There was also a free listing on Book Angel.

For the US market I tried Awesome Gang and Pretty Hot on different days. The jump up the free chart was far more impressive on Awesome Gang day when Another You rose to number 671. The main Amazon.com marketing came from my publisher, Endeavour Press, who sent out hourly promotional tweets with a link to the site throughout US book buying hours. I can only think this was hugely successful because at the end of the week the book reached the dizzy heights of number 68. Amazing – as a quintessentially British author I never expected to have such appeal in the USA.

Overall the key must have been to reach enough downloads early in the promotion for the Amazon algorithms to kick in. Endeavour advises getting as many people as possible to download on the first morning and I suspect this is the reason.

Although I wish I’d had more time to prepare for the free offer period I really couldn’t knock the results and in the week since it ended Another You has continued to sell well and remained in Kindle UK top 20 women’s historical fiction. Now I need to somehow launch it closer to number one and that coveted bestseller label.

 

 

Worry Dolls 4-Track EP ‘The Ride’ … Released Worldwide Today

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‘Once upon a time there was a lively bunch who were worried…

…worried that music had become bland dull and middle-class.

So they put their worries in a jar, and from their limbs they grew guitars.

Johanna’s face was made of string and Emma’s tonsils start to sing.

They collected words and whistled tunes, drunk and smoked and act like loons.

They made a record in a glass, music for the working-class.

So play it loud and dance around, its WORRY DOLLS that you’ve just found!’

THE RIDE EP ART

Feisty, energetic, highly talented and driven to write music that compares with their heroes, the song writing trio of Emma Baldry, Martin Sloyan and Jon Kearley are the creative heartbeat of Worry Dolls.
 
Formed in April 2011 the band spent their subsequent years honing their craft, writing, tirelessly gigging and creating a debut album “The Man That Time Forgot” (released in 2014) that can live up to the hype surrounding the Bournemouth band. 
The Album reached number 3 in the Amazon rock download chart and their single ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’,  a cover of the Beatles classic, went straight in at number 4! 
 
This year the band are kicking it hard with trips to Ireland and LA for live radio performances supporting their new 4-track EP ‘The Ride’,  with tales of trials and tribulations of being in a signed band,
the EP was released today on download, ITunes etc, and a special limited edition on hard copy vinyl CD. 
Worry Dolls
‘The Ride’ contains brand new recorded WORRY DOLLS music, searing vocals, crashing guitars and loads of attitude.
The EP showcases the band’s development and moves to a rawer sound and won’t disappoint.
To support the release, the band will be gigging extensively and will be doing plenty of radio/media appearances (TBC).
You can get in touch with the Worry Dolls via their facebook page www.facebook.com/worrydollsuk 

An Evening For Fashion & Lifestyle Influencers

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On Thursday I headed to Amazon HQ along with other fashion and lifestyle writers and bloggers for an Evening for Fashion & Lifestyle Influencers hosted by Amazon.co.uk. It was an entertaining evening, full of information and amazing, inspirational people. There was informative talks by fashion and blogging industry professionals, and the Amazon Fashion team also gave a great talk.

An Evening for Fashion & Lifestyle Influencers An Evening for Fashion & Lifestyle Influencers coco's tea party

I checked out the fashionable people and eat far too many biscuits and canapés. Professional Blogger, Ella Gregory (CocosTeaParty.com) was brilliant, giving amazing tips and talking endearingly about how she got started. Cosmopolitan journalist Gemma Royston-Claire was up next. Gemma gave great advice on writing engaging content and giving readers what they want. “People click for inspiration, education or entertainment.” Gemma said. Good advice indeed, and she should know as she started off with her own blog and now writes for Cosmopolitan Magazine. After food and drink we learned about Amazon Fashion. I was left very impressed with what Amazon had to offer and Frost will hopefully be doing a collaboration with them soon. I wanted to start shopping right there and then.

Freelance Fashion Stylist Rachel Story was next. She styles for HELLO! Magazine amongst others. Rachel gave some really great tips on styling. She is obviously at the top of her game and I learned a lot from her.

Lastly, Reena Rai from Fashiondaydreams.com talked about How to use Affiliate Marketing. Reena was definitely the most stylish of the evening. Head to toe in black and lace accessorised with killer shoes. She gave great tips on how to monetise with affiliate marketing.

The evening finished off with a Q&A with the Amazon team. The Q&A was great as I learned a lot of little tips to improve the SEO of Frost. Thank you to Amazon and all of the speakers for an amazing evening.

About the speakers:

 


Ella Gregory, CocosTeaParty.com

@cocosteaparty

London based, full time fashion blogger. Listed in The Independent’s Twitter 100: Top 10 Fashion.

 

 

 

Gemma Royston-Claire, Journalist

@gemfatale

Currently writes for Cosmopolitan magazine. Previously had an award winning column at Company mag, alongside her blog: www.gemfatale.co.uk

 

 

 

Rachel Story, Fashion Stylist

@Rachelstory29

Works with brands including HELLO! Magazine, Harvey Nichols & Ted Baker.

 

 

Reena Rai, Blogger

@Reena_Rai

Reena runs FashionDayDreams.com, alongside her day job in luxury retail. She’s a successful affiliate marketer.

 

 

 

THE FAERIE TREE: A Book In The Making

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book, publishing, self publishing, writing, author, Ostara: A time of rebirth and renewal. A time to celebrate the coming of spring. And the coming of new books…

By the time you read this The Faerie Tree will have been unleashed. Actually, even at the time of writing it’s creeping out there; Amazon have stopped listing it as a pre-order and I’ve had to hold Matador back from making the ebook available before its time.

A few boxes of paperbacks have arrived with me as well. Holding one for the first time was tinged with sadness; my mother, who was a huge supporter of my writing, passed away just ten days before so she never got to see the finished book. But she’d read early drafts and approved the cover – and right at this moment is sitting at my shoulder, telling me to get back to the point of this article.

The point is that it’s hard to publish a novel alone. I’ve written before about the ‘official’ team; my editor, the wonderful Margaret Graham (author, teacher and Frost contributing editor) and the folks at Matador, but in recent weeks I’ve received an enormous amount of help from people who, quite frankly, didn’t have to.

In my last article I mentioned my desire to create a faerie tree near my home city of Chichester. I also mentioned this to a few of my fellow Chindi (Chichester Independent) Authors, and children’s writers Christopher Joyce and Becky Edwards leapt in with huge enthusiasm to brainstorm ideas and open their contact books. We were joined by the administrator of the Sussex Centre for Folklore, Fairy Tales and Fantasy – acting in a personal capacity just because she loved the idea so much.

Through them I met Vicky Edwards, a local book-lover (she runs the Spirit FM book club) and PR. She not only gave me some great ideas to improve my press releases but just as importantly introduced me to a local charity with a woodland walk – the ideal home for a faerie tree. I was due to meet them in early March but had to cancel so there is another date in the diary and I hope that in the next article there will be something definite to tell you about this very special project.

I’ve also had a great deal of support from the bloggers who are taking part in the launch tour. These ladies work so hard reviewing books and helping readers make good choices about what they might enjoy. They do it for the love of it – some are retired, but most hold down day jobs as well. And I think I’m busy. Follow the tour (details below) and browse their other posts for great steers on books you might enjoy.

Finally, I’ve had the blessing of the elves, pixies and faeries who live around the real faerie tree where the book is set. You see I did what many people have done before – for over twenty years, in fact – and I put a letter into their little box. And like everyone else, I received a reply; wishing me well and giving me instructions on where to leave their copy. I hope they like it. I hope everyone likes it. It would be a really fitting thank you to all the unsung heroes who’ve helped me along the way.

The Faerie Tree blog tour…

22nd March: Random Things Through My Letterbox – author Q&A
http://randomthingsthroughmyletterbox.blogspot.co.uk/

23rd March: Rosie Amber – review
https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/

24th March: Liz Loves Books – the settings & scenery of The Faerie Tree
http://lizlovesbooks.com/

25th March: My Reading Corner – the faerie tree itself and book giveaway
http://myreading-corner.blogspot.co.uk/

26th March: Crooks on Books – author interview
http://crooksonbooks.blogspot.co.uk/

28th March: Jaffa Reads Too – the inspiration for The Faerie Tree and book giveaway
http://jaffareadstoo.blogspot.co.uk/

29th March: Being Anne – second chances
http://beingannereading.blogspot.co.uk/

31st March: Beadyjan’s Books – writing with women in mind
http://beadyjansbooks.blogspot.co.uk/