I know that my new book, Captain Sillyvoice and his Pirate Band, is selling but I don’t know who to! 

If you have bought it, then please do post your review; either on Amazon, or on my Facebook Author page. 

Reviews are really important to authors for so many reasons, besides which I really want to know what you think!

Copies of my other titles have been disappearing from the virtual online shelf recently too, so once again please do post your reviews on those also.

You may be interested to know that Amazon (UK and US) are currently offering discounts on some of my titles in various formats at the moment.

Here is the link to my Amazon page if you would like to take a look.

Thank you!

I have noticed that Amazon are currently offering the Kindle Fire HD Tablet at £99, a saving of £60 on their previous price. I have added the link at the end of this post in case you are interested in checking it out.  Anyway, this got me thinking about whether  a Kindle is a good idea as a Christmas gift for young children as well as teens and adults?

Children’s picture books in ebook format have certainly been much slower to take off than other book genres but I think this is set to change. There are loads of fantastic ebooks available these days and the electronic format does offer a number of advantages over the traditional print books.

For example;

• Kindle books can normally be purchased much more cheaply than print books so you can build up your collection at a lower cost.

• A kindle is a much more convenient way to take a large selection books away on holiday, or with you when travelling in the car or just waiting in a queue somewhere (at the doctor’s etc).

• Interactive touch books (ITB) are becoming more prevalent now. I have created ITB versions of two of my books for iPad use (available here) and they really do offer so much more to the reader – animations, sound effects and narration all in one package. A traditional print book is far less flexible. I have included my YouTube promotional video below which illustrates the ITB app.

Personally, I do still love print books. It feels more special, somehow, to sit down with a child and open up a real book. So perhaps the way forward to is to combine the two; Build up an ebook collection but purchase the child’s favourite books in print format too for the special bedtime reading routine. Amazon certainly seem to see this as being the way to go. They have a Matchbook program where they allow publishers to offer the Kindle version of a book at a low (or free) cost to those who have purchased a print version.

You may be interested to note that the ebook for Kindle version of my first book, My Crazy Purple Pen, will be selling at the special price of £0.99 (or $0.99 for American customers) during the period 2-9 December! 

I have also enrolled all of my books in the Amazon Matchbook program, so they should be available for free to anyone who has bought the print version!

I would be really interested to hear people's views on this subject!

Here is a sample page from my new book - Captain Sillyvoice and his Pirate Band. 

See if your children can follow the instructions and speak with a squeak like the Captain. Of course, any adults wishing to give it a go too should not feel silly about doing so, not at all, not in the slightest. Well perhaps a little, but I say go for it anyway!

With my daughter, the result is normally some squeakiness but mostly a lot of giggling. 

Please post to let me know how if you've tried it and whether it worked!  I'd love to hear from you.

The book is available on Amazon in Paperback and for Kindle. Here are some more sample pages:

I am currently running a free prize draw competition on my Facebook page. All you need to do is Like my page to enter. A winner will be chosen at random on Wednesday 11 December 2013.

Here is the link: https://a.pgtb.me/lSzJVR

To create an interesting prize I wanted to combine a couple of my hardback books with some branded accessories. In the end I opted for a mug and kid-size t-shirt. The mug is lovely (even if I say so myself) and I was sorely tempted to keep it! The t-shirt has worked well too. I have kept it hidden from my daughter as I am sure she will want one if she spots it.

The prize draw is to win the following:

• A hardback copy of My Crazy Purple Pen - Signed with a personalised message on request
• A hardback copy of The Day My Teacher Came to Tea - Signed with a personalised message on request
• My Crazy Purple Pen Mug
• My Crazy Purple Pen T-shirt (age 5-6 yrs)

Further Captain Sillyvoice adventures to follow...