Everyone Can Write is due to be published in October. Before I can do that I have to build a Mailing List, without which a self-publishing author is dead. We all rely on our readers and other friendly souls to buy the books, spread the word and keep in contact. If you haven't got a mailing list, start building one NOW!
So, if you go to the page called, with stunning honesty - Bribes and Connections, you will find the news of this bribe, and the sign-up sheet for my mailing list. Some of you might be saying with indignation: 'But I have already signed up for your mailing list!' Sadly, that was with a Wix site that I put up. Being of little brain, I have been unable to find out how to access any responses you might have made, and, again sadly, the Wix Support team have proved of no help at all. Then I discovered Weebly. It's one of the few FREE website creators that will show your site in what is called Responsive Design, which means that your site will automatically adjust to whatever medium your readers are using - PC, Laptop, and, crucially, Mobile. Their Support team also REPLYS to emails... So, here we have a bright, shiny, new mailing list. I apologise on behalf of myself and Wix for asking you to sign up yet again. This is all, sneakily, part of the continuous teaching process that I rather boringly indulge in. Authors HAVE to have a website (and a Mailing List). You can go to the immense trouble of setting up your own, paying all that money to host it, learning how to master MailChimp (the best-known Mailing List handler), etc. Or you could let Weebly do it for you. If you object to having the Weebly ad on your page, you can pay them $9/Month for six months, or $5/month for two years (payable in a lump sum of $120) for it to vanish and the site to look like your own. Personally, I don't care - Free is Free! Then, according to all the fundi that I have consulted, it is a GOOD IDEA to offer something free in return for that valuable email address. In my case I have, once again sneakily, decided to offer you a free Pdf copy of my novella - Jelly. Sneakily, because I would like more people to read it and tell others about it so that I can sell hundreds (or maybe thousands) of copies, possibly even the film rights, etc. If you sign up you will receive the Pdf by return (if I have managed to figure out how to do it - if not send me an outraged email, and I will immediately rectify this). It can be read on any Kindle, Kindle app, Nook, Kobo, iBook, inside a web browser, etc. I think you might even be able to print it out, but that would cost more than the print copy... Just in case you think I might be selling you a dud, over the six years that Jelly has been available on Amazon it has garnered 16 Five Star reviews (and one Four Star), not all of which have come from friends of mine. To my amazement and surprise, people seem to like it. This is very gratifying, as it is very dear and personal to me. In case you're too lazy to nip over to Amazon and see, I have vainly copied all the reviews and here they are: 'This delightful story transfixed me, made me smile, made me think and was over far too soon. Everybody needs a Jelly in their life and this book will give you one, albeit for a short time, but it will make you think for longer.' 'A stunning book. This is the first book I have read on a computer screen!!! And I didn't want to leave the characters, so expertly were they written. The moral dilemmas of Apartheid South Africa that leave one of the characters so haunted, set you thinking of 'what would I do'. Brilliant book!' 'A poignant, beautifully written novella. Vivid imagery, characters that will quietly take hold of you, and a story that will give you hope. Definitely worth a read.' 'This novella is one of the most moving and beautiful short stories I've ever read. Without ever 'hitting one over the head' it has a clear, positive message about forgiveness and redemption. I would recommend this to anyone interested in South Africa or the emotional aftermath of morally unclear actions.' 'A poignant, beautifully written novella. Vivid imagery, characters that will quietly take hold of you, and a story that will give you hope. Definitely worth a read.' 'A beautifully written book where the characters jump off the page. Very moving, I cannot recommend it enough.' 'Given its brevity this is nevertheless a very rich, full and rounded story. Mr Astbury totally nails his characters and the real and genuinely funny humour of their interaction hides an emotional punch. A very evocative book which will move anybody who has a soul.' '...read this in under 24 hours on my kindle app on my phone. I accidentally dropped my phone and smashed my screen but still managed to squint through the cracks late into the night. You find yourself as intrigued as Jelly to discover the contemporary findings of London with an escapee of apartheid South Africa who carries a host of secrets probably too complex for her juvenile mind. Jelly is the daughter I think we all hope to have and her magnetic personality and youthful wisdom allows the story to open up and catapult you back to childhood and the woes and joys of learning about the reality of adult life through those that surround us.' 'Because I am conscious of Astbury's historic work at the Space - South Africa's first non-racial theatre - I wonder how much of the author is present in his sincere but troubled principal character. This story of a good man with a dark secret, who is brought to face his own truth and reconciled with himself through the honesty of an exceptional child, tingles with gentle authenticity. Astbury's voice was a vital part of South Africa's recovery, and here he shows he still adds texture to the music of the Rainbow Nation.' 'I have been meaning to read this book for a very long time. I am a great admirer of Brian's work in the theatre and was curious to see how he would tell a story in another form. What a beautiful and touching book. I do a lot of work with young children, and Jelly for me just leapt off the page. Like the narrator and everyone else in the book, I fell in love with her. And just like the narrator I felt the pain of that final scene at the station.' 'Once I started reading this novella, I didn't want to stop. Compulsive reading! I really enjoyed the character details and the relationships were carefully observed and beautifully understood. Part of me wanted a longer story - the full length novel - but it wasn't ever intended to be that. I will wait out for more material from Mr. Astbury....keep writing Brian. Please.' 'A stunning book. This is the first book I have read on a computer screen!!! And I didn't want to leave the characters, so expertly were they written. The moral dilemmas of Apartheid South Africa that leave one of the characters so haunted, set you thinking of 'what would I do'. Brilliant book. More please Mr Astbury.' 'This book is filled with beautiful imagery which is described expertly with words! I could even feel what the author was feeling when writing (or what he wanted me to feel!). In short, I didn't want this book to end!!' 'A lovely tale - reels you in gently. He writes beautifully and the story is woven together like a small delicate piece of rainbow silk. Have a read of this. I look forward to the next and the next.'
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