Sunday 23 August 2015

New anthology A CERTAIN PERSUASION open for submissions!

We are delighted to announce that we have a new anthology open for submissions.

Our Great War charity anthology A PRIDE OF POPPIES has been very happily received, and there has been a call for more of the same - which did not fall on deaf ears. We decided, however, to alternate the war-based anthologies with (perhaps!) somewhat lighter fare.

This time we are visiting the Austenverse with A CERTAIN PERSUASION. We are seeking stories set in and around Jane Austen’s novels and other writings, featuring GLBTQIA people as the main characters. Think Death at Pemberley only more fabulous, or Lost in Austen only queerer.

Please do follow the link to our website if you want to know more!

Friday 21 August 2015

New review of A PRIDE OF POPPIES

We're delighted to find that our Great War charity anthology A PRIDE OF POPPIES is continuing to make good friends. Prism Book Alliance has just posted a thoughtful and supportive review by Feliz.

My favorites were “Lena and the Swan” by Julie Bozza which was just delicious, like a picaresque novel, only with a female protagonist, and “Per Ardua at Astra” by Lou Faulkner because it reminded me so much of my grandpa. ... It’s high-quality writing throughout, not to be consumed as a whole, but best enjoyed one story at a time.

I trust that the other eight authors will forgive me for quoting Feliz's responses to two specific stories, but I felt this perfectly illustrated how many readers respond to this anthology: they find a few or more stories which resonate with them personally, whether due to style or character or a recognition of our fellow human beings. And that is great praise indeed.

Tuesday 11 August 2015

New review of SMOOTHIE

We're pleased to find that our new releases are making friends around the world! Narrelle M Harris enjoyed Jane's SMOOTHIE, the Press's first lesbian romance novel - and she posted a review to her blog Mortal Words.

Heather is great, the supporting cast are mostly huge fun, and Smoothie is a rollicking good adventure of a love story.

A 'rollicking good adventure' sounds about right to us! We also appreciated what Narrelle had to say about how Jane handles Heather's first-person narrative. We hope you, dear Reader, might give Heather and Natalie's story a try as well!

Sunday 9 August 2015

The All Romance App - Celebrate with a 50% Rebate

Our good friends at All Romance are celebrating a new Android App with a 50% rebate! You can't say fairer than that.


 

All Romance Celebrates Release of New Android App with 50% eBook Rebate
 
The All Romance Reader Android App comes with a library pre-loaded with six free ebooks, courtesy of AllRomance.com, the largest and oldest independent seller of Romance eBooks in the world.
 
With the All Romance Reader App for Android, readers can browse sixty categories or focus their search by specifying a particular title, author, series, publisher or keyword. Search returns can then be further sorted by best selling, top rated, recently added, heat level, length, title, or price—including discounted ebooks and freebies. They can also access ARe’s bestseller list, discover what's trending, or peruse picks selected especially for them. Highlander warriors, spaceship captains, pack leaders, vampires, doms, bad boy bikers, billionaires, Navy SEALs… ARe has them all.
 
Those with the App will easily be able to take advantage of special rebates, discounts, sales and promotions. They’ll be able to use the wish list feature to help plan for a nd manage future purchases. Then rate and review the books they’ve already read to help others make selections. “The best part is that we’re celebrating the release by offering a 50% rebate on thousands of titles on Sunday, August 9th (US/Central),” said Lori James, CEO of All Romance. “For the first time our Customers will be able to download and read their purchases using the App's robust reading features, or tap on our nifty gift icon to send it to a friend. And, our multi-format files are easy to share and read across platforms. An iOS version will be coming soon.”
 
Download the All Romance Reader for Android to:
• Browse, buy, and read seamlessly.
• Read EPub, PDF, and Adobe® Content Server protected ebooks on your Android phone or tablet (version 2.3 and higher).
• Side load for use on your Kindle Fire/HD.
• Browse over 130,000 ebooks from more than 9,000 publishers.
• Search by title, author, series name, publisher, keyword, or category—we have sixty.
• Sort search returns by best selling, top rated, recently added, heat level, length, title, or price—including discounted and freebies.
• Discover what's trending.
• Download thousands of free ebooks.
• Access tools to personalize your reading experience by tapping the bottom of the screen while reading. Set bookmarks, highlight, add notes, search the text, or adjust settings such as text size, line spacing, text color and background, orientation, and page turn.

Friday 7 August 2015

Blog Tour: Liam Livings for WRONG ROOM, RIGHT GUY

Liam Livings is currently on a blog tour promoting his latest novel with Manifold Press, WRONG ROOM, RIGHT GUY. We are delighted by this tale, and I think if you follow Liam through these many fine blogs, you'll soon see why! (And not only that, there are giveaways to win!)
The Press is very grateful for the support of these fine people! Thank you kindly, one and all.

You can find Liam's book at Amazon UK, Amazon US, Smashwords and AllRomance.

Sunday 2 August 2015

Historical Novel Society review of A PRIDE OF POPPIES


Dear Readers, we are absolutely delighted to find that our GLBTQI WWI anthology A PRIDE OF POPPIES has been particularly well received by the good people at the Historical Novel Society (HNS).

It's a short review, but every word of it is a gem. It's tempting to quote the whole thing here, but we'll restrain ourselves to the conclusion:

Entertaining, emotional and thought provoking this not only fills a gap in WWI literature, it is also a very moving and stimulating read with plenty of original ideas.

Not only that, but the book has been selected as Editor's Choice, and is long-listed for the HNS Indie Award 2016!


Anyone choosing to give this volume a try will of course not only be putting broad smiles on our faces, but will also be benefiting the military charity the Royal British Legion, to which we are donating all proceeds.

Thank you to Christoph Fischer, Helen Hollick and the HNS for such a thoughtful appraisal!

Saturday 1 August 2015

Two new books released today!

It's the first of August already!  How does that keep on happening with such amazing regularity?!

Casting hysteria aside, once more we're proud to bring you two new books by two of our favourite authors:

In SMOOTHIE by Jane Elliot, the first in what we hope will be a new line of female-female adventures, we meet Heather, not the sort of girl you’d really look at twice, who reveals some unexpected qualities when she’s kidnapped and bundled into a series of high-octane adventures in the Florida Keys at the side of the mysterious - and devastatingly attractive - Natalie;

Over in Liam Livings‘ new title WRONG ROOM, RIGHT GUY we’re introduced to Simon, who’s struggling to be something he isn’t – conventional, boring, and an English teacher – when inside he knows he’s really a writer.  Blundering into the wrong room at his local Village Hall, he ends up with a group of recovering cocaine addicts rather than the creative writing group he was looking for – and that leads on to a whole series of misunderstandings which threaten to undermine the start of what could be a very promising new relationship…

These books both have a delightfully light-hearted quality, without skirting some of the more serious issues they both raise, and they each have leading characters who are flawed and struggling to overcome challenges life has thrown at them.  Watching them deal with their separate troubles will keep you thoroughly entertained and amused!

- - - - -

MANIFOLD PRESS is once again in the throes of moving to a new - and this time, we hope, permanent - home; our delicious year of exile at the sea-side is coming to an end, and we'll shortly be relocating to our new premises in sunny Ellesmere Port.  If we're a little quiet for a while, therefore, we hope you'll understand why; normal service will be resumed as soon as humanly possible!