Spalding's Racket

Places where you can pre-order Love... And Sleepless Nights in paperback

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:50:37 PDT

Hi folks,

Love... And Sleepless Nights is out on Thursday June 6th, so I thought I'd give you a rundown of where you can pre-order a copy of the paperback online right now... if it takes your fancy.

Here - in no particular order - are links to the retailers I've found that are stocking the book for pre-order:

AMAZON

SAINSBURYS

WH SMITH

WATERSTONES

Get Max Bloom In... The Cornerstone FREE at Amazon during Easter

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 05:49:38 PDT

Until Easter Monday you can download my comedy fantasy adventure 'Max Bloom In... The Cornerstone' for absolutely free at Amazon.

Just click the link here in the UK:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bloom-Cornerstone-selling-fantasy-ebook/dp/B00520I8V6

Or here for the USA and other countries:

http://www.amazon.com/Bloom-Cornerstone-selling-fantasy-ebook/dp/B00520I8V6

A fast-paced, hilarious fantasy adventure from Nick Spalding, the best selling author of the smash hit romantic comedy Love... From Both Sides and its sequels Love... And Sleepless Nights & Love... Under Different Skies - all available now.

A great book will transport you to another world... literally, if you're not careful.

On a gloomy Thursday afternoon, Max Bloom enters his local library in a last ditch attempt to stave off an epic case of teenage boredom. Among the hushed stacks he discovers The Cornerstone, an ancient book tucked away on a dusty, forgotten shelf. Opening the cover, Max is instantly transported to an alternate dimension full of things intent on killing him - thus avoiding boredom with remarkable success.

He meets a beautiful girl called Merelie (brilliant), who tells him he could be a Wordsmith, a sorcerer able to craft magic from the written word itself, one strong enough to save both their worlds from the Dwellers - hideous monsters from beyond the universe (not so brilliant).

This all sounds completely unbelievable. The kind of thing you'd read in a fantasy novel. But The Cornerstone doesn't lie... and the danger is very real.

In a world threatened by monsters, where books are worshipped and powerful magic exists, Max Bloom must make a choice: close The Cornerstone and run home - or trust Merelie, become a Wordsmith, and save two worlds from certain destruction...

Nick Spalding speaking at the London Book Fair 2013... whether you like it or not.

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 04:34:59 PST

Are you a writer?

Are you planning on self publishing?

Would you like to come and meet a best selling author, who can provide you with wise and effective advice that will assist you to a successful career in the publishing industry?

Sorry, can't help you with that one.

If, on the other hand, you want to meet a complete twat in a badly fitting shirt and tie, who will spout bullshit at you for an hour, between cracking bad jokes and going on about how much he likes boobs, then by all means come and meet Nick Spalding at the London Book Fair on Tuesday, April 16th.

Yes, it's your chance to berate me in person for any spelling or grammatical errors you may have come across while reading one of my books.

I'll be doing an interview and a Q&A session in The Author Lounge's Seminar Room at 2pm on Tuesday, April 16th. Then I will hang around like a bad smell outside for a while afterwards, talking to to anyone who manages to successfully corner me by the pot plants.

I'll also be the referee in a wresting cage match between the representatives from Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing and the team from Kobo's Writing Life platform. It will be a no holds barred / no disqualification match, with a win by pinfall or submission. The winner will go on to face the Apple iBooks team at the Frankfurt Book Fair in the autumn.*

So, if you are a writer, or just fancy surrounding yourself with book industry types for the day, why not come along to the fair and meet yours truly?

Here's some links in the form of images culled from the internet without seeking copyright permissions. Give 'em a click:

*This may not be entirely true. I may have just dreamt it.

Can I ask you a favour? Price-matching at Amazon.

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 05:58:34 PST

Hi folks,

Got a favour to ask if you have a minute and wouldn't mind helping me out...

The Love... From Both Sides paperback is currently priced £4.89 at Amazon UK. I'd like it to be the same price as it is in store at Tesco - £3.85, so everyone pays the same price for it, if they buy it in a shop or online.

Amazon will probably price-match, but to do this they need to know from customers that the book is priced cheaper at Tesco.

So, if you have an Amazon account and wouldn't mind giving Spalding a helping hand, could you navigate to the Love... From Both Sides paperback page at Amazon UK:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-Both-Sides-Nick-Spalding/dp/1444768174

Scroll down to the Product Details section:

Click on 'tell us about a lower price' and fill in the form as below before clicking Submit Feedback.

Thanks very much and have a lovely rest of the weekend, whatever you're doing with it :)

Nick.

A new cover for Max Bloom In... The Cornerstone.

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 13:17:30 PST

For the plain and simple reason that the old one doesn't really work as a thumbnail when you look at it online. It's a nice cover, but when it's small it's a bit hard to make out what the hell is going on, and isn't as eye-catching or descriptive as it could be:

Hence the change to the following:

Now, I'm not claiming this new version is wildly original. In fact, the picture of a magic book could be considered something of a cliche. However, when you get right down to it a cover should be as simple, descriptive and eye-catching as possible.

Max Bloom In... The Cornerstone is essentially a book about a magic book, so the cover of the book is now a magic book.

Book. Book. Bookity. Book.

It's also more brightly coloured than the old one, which will hopefully catch the eye of the browsing reader.

I have no idea whether this is a worthwhile experiment or not, but I like to have a change every now and again, so why not do it with a book that's currently not blowing the doors off sales-wise?

Only time will tell if the alteration was a good idea or not...

Nick Spalding: experimenting with self-publishing so you don't have to.

Advice for authors

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 04:41:31 PST

I've added a new page to the site for any self-published writers out there who are looking for a bit of advice:

http://spaldings-racket.blogspot.co.uk/p/advice-for-authors.html

Rather than risk giving bad advice, the page is full of links to forums and blogs that feature people better able to offer constructive and helpful insights into self publishing than I am :)

Love... From Both Sides at number 33 in Tesco book chart

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 02:34:52 PST

Walked in to Tesco Saturday and had to take a picture of this:

It's not every day you outsell a Lee Child novel. Especially one with Tom Cruise looking constipated on the cover.

The first few days after a book launch...

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 00:45:51 PST

Hi folks,

Sorry it's been a wee bit quiet on the Spalding front in the past few days. After all the fun and games of launch day last week I've taken a few days off to chill out and let my nerves return to some semblance of normality.

It turns out launching two books on the same day amounts to quite the recipe for stress - what with driving to every local Tesco and WH Smith to hunt for copies of the paperback*, and relentlessly checking my Amazon rankings on a minute by minute basis. It's a wonder I didn't suffer a prolapse of some kind.

I may have sold a fair few books last year, but that by no means guaranteed that anyone was going to like my latest effort. And launching the first book to the paperback crowd was never going to be a sure fire thing, no matter how many copies I manage to flog on the Kindle.

But happily for my neuroses, bank balance and continued career as a writer, the launches both seem to have gone very well.

Love... Under Different Skies has eleven five star reviews as I speak at Amazon, and is selling well at the various online ebook stores. Love... From Both Sides has done swimmingly in paperback as well. It's got some terrific reviews from The Daily Mail, Closer & New magazines, and various respected book bloggers on the Internet. It also appears to be selling well, though paperback sales are a little harder to track than ebook sales. The various branches of Tesco and WH Smith I've seen it in certainly seem to have shifted a few copies, and Amazon appear to have temporarily sold out... so not too shabby thus far :)

So what's next?

This coming week I fully intend to start the next Spalding book. This one will be a completely new concept. I'm going to give Jamie and Laura a bit of a break... they need it, quite frankly.

You'll be introduced to a brand new couple soon, who have some of their own hurdles to get over. Unlike Jamie and Laura, they've been together for years, and this new book will partly be about what being a good decade into a relationship is like. (Clue: less effort, more calories).

So there you go... six books on release, with another one coming this summer (...with any luck. I haven't experienced writer's block yet, but that doesn't guarantee the bugger isn't lurking upstream somewhere).

In the meantime, hope you enjoy the books that are out (you can pick up Cornerstone for just 77p at the moment) and hope you'll like the new one when it eventually gets done.

All the best,

Nick.

*Yes, tragically sad, I know. But it's the done thing when you publish your first book, and I'm not one to go against tradition. Besides, it really was quite an emotional moment seeing my book on display in the branch of WH Smith I've been shopping in for decades. I would have rolled a tear, were it not for the slightly strange looking gentleman standing next to me in an ill fitting suit, who was examining a copy of Fifty Shades Freed with what I considered to be an unwholesome degree of concentration.

Here's a picture (of the book, not the weird bloke. If I'd have snapped him I might have ended up in a fight, or worse... with an invite back to his place).

OUT NOW! Love... From Both Sides & Love... Under Different Skies

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 01:52:15 PST

Well, the day has finally come. My two new books are unleashed to the world today (in paperback and ebook respectively).

Love... From Both Sides is available to buy at all good book shops.

Love... Under Different Skies is available to buy as an ebook at all online retailers.

If you do decide to buy either one, both, or all three books in the trilogy, I very much hope you enjoy reading them.

Thanks to all the Coronet team at my publishers Hodder & Stoughton for getting the books to print, thanks to my friends and family for all their love and support, and (most importantly) thanks to each and every one of you for buying the books and liking my work. I wouldn't be here without you folks and your support is very, very much appreciated!

Best wishes and happy reading,

Nick.

My Amazon Page
My Kobo Page
My iTunes Page
My WH Smith Page
My Waterstones Page

Only a week to go!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 06:17:56 PST

It's just seven days now until the paperback of Love... From Both Sides is released in all good bookshops (real and online) and Love... Under Different Skies is released as an ebook.

Thursday January 31st is Nick Spalding Day!

...well, in my household anyway.

If you happen to be in your local shopping precinct next Thursday and you keep seeing a shifty looking individual going into every book store and taking discreet photos of apparently random shelves, that'll probably be me. Please don't call the police.

The final and official Love... trilogy book covers

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 04:12:49 PST

All three covers for the Love... trilogy have now been completed and I think they look rather lovely when put together:

I now have something of a dilemma though...

I'm tempted to get prints done of the covers, frame them, and mount them on the living room wall, in a hideous display of egotism that will annoy everyone who comes round for a coffee. 'Have you seen my book covers?' I will say and casually flap my hand in the general direction of the prints. 'Yes Spalding, we have,' they will reply, 'and you're an utter tosser for slapping them up on the wall like that.'

Super.

But this presents a bit of a problem. If I decide to put the covers on the wall, then I'll have nowhere decent to put this:

So, would I rather people consider me an egotistical pillock? Or a sad fucking nerd who thinks a Batman bookshelf is actually a good thing to have pride of place on your wall?

Either way I'm likely to get insulted down the pub - it's just a matter of deciding in what manner...

A call from my mother that reminded me of Stephen King

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 07:20:57 PST

Some might complain about the British postal service being not quite the efficient animal it was twenty years ago, thanks to successive governments trying their level best to destroy it through privatisation (as far as I can tell), but I have to say I am currently delighted with their service.

You see, I posted copies of the paperback of Love... From Both Sides to my mother yesterday, thinking the parcel would take at least three or four days to reach her. Colour me all shades of surprised then when I get a phone call from her today telling me the books had arrived less than twenty four hours after posting.

Kudos to you Royal Mail.

You may be wondering what the hell this has to do with Stephen King, but bear with me, I'm getting to the point, I assure you.

On the first page of a copy of the book I wrote my mum a little note. I won't go into the details, but it basically thanked her for bringing me up the way she did - and making me the type of man capable of writing a popular novel like Love... From Both Sides.

Needless to say, the phone call with her today was a little emotional.

...

And here's where Stephen King comes in...

He's always been my favourite author. Partly because I love scary stories, epic tales and novels featuring talking mutant raccoons (one for you Tower folk, there) - and partly because there are some parallels between his early life and mine.

...most notably that we were both brought up by single mothers after our useless 'fathers' did a runner when we were both two years old.

When I found this out about King, it only helped to strengthen my love of his work. In a weird way I also felt like to brought me closer to him as a person, given that we shared an unlovely aspect of our pasts.

When I read King's biography one thing that made me sad was that his mother Nellie died just as his writing career was taking off. She knew that Carrie had been accepted by a publisher, but she lost her battle with cancer before the book was actually published.

This unhappy fact always kinda stuck with me. Therefore, I always hoped that if I ever managed to get a book published I would be able to celebrate it properly with my mum - and write a note at the front of the paperback telling her how I couldn't have done it without her.

And now I have. Which gives me an extremely content feeling inside.

The icing on the cake?

I'm published in the UK by the same company that publishes Stephen King: Hodder & Stoughton. Funny how these things work out, isn't it?

I'm hoping that one day I might get to meet Mr King. If I ever do, I will relay this story to him just as I have to you in this blog post.

Because stories matter. My mum taught me that.

Holding my paperback. Yeah... this is one of those moments.

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 11:23:32 PST

I received author copies of the Love... From Both Sides paperback hot off the press from my publishers Hodder & Stoughton today.

...and while I've appreciated every second of the success I've had with the ebook version, there's nothing quite like holding a proper book in your hand to give you a real, tangible sense of what you've accomplished. as a writer.

It was quite emotional, I can tell you.

Those three hundred or so pages of pulped wooden loveliness are the culmination of a lot of hard work on the part of the team at Hodder, my agent and yours truly.

It hardly seems possible that it's only been eighteen months since I first sat down at my old laptop and wrote the words: Oh God, her breath smells like the gates of hell have opened... and here I am holding the book in my hand and awkwardly trying to take a picture of it with my iPhone.

***

Love... From Both Sides will be on sale in all good book shops from Thursday January 31st.

Even if you've read the original ebook version that I self-published last year, I'd encourage you to go pick up the paperback as it contains extra and extended chapters.

Also, if there's a fly buzzing round your room, you can use it to squash the little bastard.

I'm all for the ebook revolution, but you try exterminating insectoid intruders with your Kindle like that and you're going to wind up with a really expensive grey plastic tea coaster - smeared with fly guts.

I now have the complicated and time consuming process of deciding who to hand some of the copies out to.

I've only just got over the trauma of deciding who to buy Christmas presents for, and now I have to go through the whole thing again with this sodding paperback.

In fact, it's even worse.

I only have a finite number of copies to give out, so I'm bound to end up mortally insulting someone when I don't give them one. I'm going to have to draw up a list and whittle it down to the people I can least afford to annoy.

...and then there's the copy I have to smear in excrement and post through the door of my secondary school English teacher. The one who said he didn't like my writing, the utter bastard.

...and then there's the signed copies I was going to slap up on Ebay to make a few extra quid on the side.

Maybe I should go back to Hodder and ask for another twenty copies.

...actually, there's a car boot on this Sunday, I'd better make it forty.

In memory of 'El Dente', Laura McIntyre's little red peril

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 12:16:44 PST

'twas a sad day last Friday.

I had to get rid of the car that featured in Love... From Both Sides.

Yes, Laura McIntyre's little red peril was indeed based on a real car. A 1997 Nissan Micra that my other half had been nursing around since the summer of 2011. She's the one who nicknamed it 'El Dente', so you have her to thank for that particular gag in the book.

Unfortunately, the little bugger was on its last legs. The exhaust had more holes in it than the plot of The Dark Knight Rises, if the temperature dropped below ten degrees it point blank refused to start, there was a disconcerting smell coming from the air vents (like a combination of warm porridge and Swarfega as far as I could tell) and the steering was so heavy, it needed arms like Popeye to do a three point turn.

It was well and truly fuckered.

Thank goodness for Ebay. I flogged it to two enthusiastic teenagers for £350.

They promised to take good care of it, so I confidently expect to drive past it wrapped around a lamp post at some time in the very near future.

And there you have it.

El Dente is no more.

Commiserate with me for just the briefest of moments, won't you?

I'm the best selling self published author of 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 08:45:07 PST

No I am, honestly.

http://www.thebookseller.com/news/self-published-authors-kindle-bestseller-list.html

A great 2012 all things considered... and a huge thank you!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 04:34:38 PST

It's after Christmas and just before new year, so I thought I'd enter into a bit of self indulgent navel-gazing before the clock strikes midnight in a few days and we all attempt to sing Auld Lang Syne without sounding like a herd of drunken water buffalo.

This self reflection is apparently a popular past time for anyone in the entertainment industry at this time of year, given the amount of TV shows and website articles I've seen floating about on that theme - and who am I to go against such an ingrained tradition?

Here we go, then...

The past twelve months have been, to put it mildly, rather enjoyable for yours truly.

I started the year by moving to the sunny climes of Australia for six months and ended it as a best selling ebook author, with the kind of paperback publishing deal most struggling writers would kill for.

...yep, I am that word you're thinking right now, aren't I?

Having spent the first three months avoiding sun burn and fatal shark bites, it was April when things really started to get going for my writing career. Up to that point I'd been bumping along making a fairly decent amount of money and gaining a nice following online, but then Love... From Both Sides exploded into the top ten in the second week of April, changing everything.

Since then it has sold over 230,000 ebooks at Amazon.

In total I've now passed 400,000 ebook sales, making me one of the most successful (and probably smug) authors of 2012.

Those sales figures in turn led to getting an agent, who thus far has done a bang up job of scoring publishing deals across the world... with more to come in 2013 with any luck.

The biggest deal was of course with Hodder & Stoughton in the UK, which will see all three of the Love... books available in major high street bookshops, starting with the release of Love... From Both Sides at the end of January.

***

Now, this is all lovely and good, but none of it has stopped the fact that my hair in thinning on the crown of my head, I can't seem to shift the mild spare tyre I've acquired over the past few months no matter how many miles I do on the treadmill, and still have to get up to pee at least once a night.

Success may bring a high degree of happiness, by you try telling my digestive system that.

***

Anyway...

Thanks of course go to you lot for ponying up the cash and buying all those books I mentioned above, before I started moaning about my malfunctioning body parts.

Without your support through-out 2012 (and years previous) Nick Spalding would not currently be sitting at his desk with a stupid smile on his face, looking forward to what he hopes will be an even better 2013.

Please continue to send me emails, Facebook messages and Tweets whenever you like. I always try to answer as many as possible. After all, you can have all the publishers, agents, editors, media organisations and PR consultants you like supporting you, but if the punters don't like the cut of your jib you're precisely fucking nowhere, aren't you?

***

Have a happy, prosperous New Year. Try not to do anything too embarrassing on New Year's Eve.

If you do, feel free to email me about it and I'll stick it in a book (it's a strategy that seems to have worked quite well so far).

Best wishes,

Nick.

Make your Christmas Day complete with a slice of Spalding!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 08:07:59 PST

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!

To commemorate this most enjoyable of days, here's a badly Photoshopped picture of me:

Feel free to print it off and terrorise the cat with it while the Queen's speech is on.

I hope you're all having a fun, happy and exciting Christmas, and that you got everything you wanted. I received a Tassimo coffee machine, which has already become the best piece of electronic wizardry in my life, judging by the delicious latte I've just made with it.

I hope, like me, that you're getting to spend the day with the people you love the most. After all, that's what Christmas is really all about isn't it?

...

Right... that's more than enough of that sentimental rubbish, let's get down to what Christmas is really all about: getting you to buy stuff.

Were you lucky enough to unwrap a lovely new e-reader or tablet this morning? Or did you buy one for somebody very special in your life?

If so, why not exponentially increase its comedy value by buying and downloading one (or more) of my books onto it?

There are currently five to choose from (six if you count a pre-order), so why not pop right over to one of the lovely ebook retailers listed below and pick up something to put a smile on your face over the rest of the holiday season?

Nick's books at Amazon

Nick's books at Hodder & Stoughton

Nick's books at Kobo

Nick's books at iTunes

Nick's books at Nook

If you hear that anyone you know has bought an e-reader, why not recommend them my books too?

...

Oh God, all this shameless self promotion is making me sick... though it could also be the half tin of Quality Street I've porked since I got up this morning.

I think I've just got chance to remind you that the paperback version of Love... From Both Sides will be released on January 31st, along with the ebook of Love... From Different Skies, before my stomach rolls over again.

I'd better stop this blog post now and go eat a tub of Andrews Liver Salts.

Merry Christmas everybody!!

Nick

The best and happiest Christmas story of them all...

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 11:52:01 PST

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except...

...the four assholes coming in the rear in standard two-by-two cover formation.'

Because nothing says Yuletide fun like mother f**king

Hope you're having a lovely Christmas Eve.

Nick
(and Bruce).

Here's the story of Love... Under Different Skies!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 10:47:54 PST

Here's the story for my new book Love... Under Different Skies, the third in the Love... trilogy:

Sometimes, the hardest part of staying together is keeping a straight face...

Ever wish you could leave all your problems behind and make a fresh start somewhere else? Trade the stresses and strains of everyday life for your own slice of sun-kissed paradise on the other side of the world?

Jamie and Laura Newman certainly have.

When Jamie’s spectacular meltdown at work results in him being handed his P45, and Laura finds her working days end up with her rugby tackling defenceless pensioners in the high street, a move ten thousand miles away sounds ideal. After all, it might mend some of the cracks that have appeared in their marriage over the past few months…

So when Laura is offered a new job in Australia, the Newman family think their dreams have come true. But as the old saying goes - be careful what you wish for, you just might get it. As the hapless couple soon find out, problems have a way of following you, no matter how far you go to avoid them.

Can love survive under different skies?

Love... Under Different Skies will be released in ebook format on Thursday, January 31st, and in paperback later in the year.

You can pre-order it now at Amazon and Apple iTunes.

View the book's page at Hodder

The new NEW cover for Love... From Both Sides

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 08:20:53 PST

To show that this book publishing lark is a something of an evolutionary process, here's the new cover design for Love... From Both Sides:

This is the new, new cover design, as opposed to the old new cover design that came out in October to replace the old, old cover design that I threw together all on my own last year.

The reason for the change?

My publishers spoke to the book retailers, and between them they decided on a new cover design that they both felt would look and sell better on the bookshelves.

My suggestion was roundly shouted down unfortunately:

Bloody philistines.

So there you have it. The new cover is up online now for the ebook and it's the one you'll see in the book stores next year.

Love... From Both Sides is released in paperback on Thursday 31st January.

Let me just repeat that date in a large colourful font:

THURSDAY 31ST JANUARY

Once more, this time in a delightful shade of purple:

THURSDAY 31ST JANUARY

Thanks very much.

I'm now off to prepare my defence for when Stephenie Meyers lawyers come calling.

Nick.

Buy my self-published books for 99p!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 11:12:11 PST

For a very limited time I'm offering my three self-published books for the discounted price of 99p at ebook retailers, so grab 'em while they're cheap!

LIFE... WITH NO BREAKS

Nick Spalding tried to write a book in 24 hours. Turns out that's impossible... it took 30!

Life... With No Breaks is a unique, hilarious and heartfelt look at the modern world we live in, told by a master story-teller with much to say - and only a weekend to say it in.

You'll laugh out loud reading Nick's odyssey of non-stop writing in a collection of anecdotes, asides and stories - all dredged up from an over-stimulated brain functioning on caffeine, nicotine and the occasional chocolate biscuit.

The book is a conversation with you, and with Nick you'll venture into the thorny topics of love, life, sex, horribly timed bowel movements and a deathly fear of sponges (among many other things).

After you've read Life... With No Breaks, you may never look at the world the same way again!

Amazon
Kobo
iBooks

LIFE... ON A HIGH

Nick Spalding is back... and this time he's airborne!

By popular demand (and because those counselling sessions won't pay for themselves) Nick returns in the sequel to Life... With No Breaks - with a new collection of anecdotes, stories and asides.

This time he's writing at 40,000 feet... and what better way is there to kill forty eight hours on a round trip to Australia than holding another conversation with you?

Sit back - don't worry, we're in Business Class so the seats are comfortable - put your feet up, and laugh out loud as Nick wends his merry way through a plethora of subjects, including age, hobbies, crime, dating the wrong women and pretending to be a banana (among many other things).

After you've read Life... On A High, you may never look at the rest of the world the same way again!

Amazon
Kobo
iBooks

MAX BLOOM IN... THE CORNERSTONE

A great book will transport you to another world... literally, if you're not careful.

On a gloomy Thursday afternoon, Max Bloom enters his local library in a last ditch attempt to stave off an epic case of teenage boredom. Among the hushed stacks he discovers The Cornerstone, an ancient book tucked away on a dusty, forgotten shelf. Opening the cover, Max is instantly transported to an alternate dimension full of things intent on killing him - thus avoiding boredom with remarkable success.

He meets a beautiful girl called Merelie (brilliant), who tells him he could be a Wordsmith, a sorcerer able to craft magic from the written word itself, one strong enough to save both their worlds from the Dwellers - hideous monsters from beyond the universe (not so brilliant).

This all sounds completely unbelievable. The kind of thing you'd read in a fantasy novel. But The Cornerstone doesn't lie... and the danger is very real.

In a world threatened by monsters, where books are worshipped and powerful magic exists, Max Bloom must make a choice: close The Cornerstone and run home - or trust Merelie, become a Wordsmith, and save two worlds from certain destruction...

Amazon
Kobo
iBooks

OUT NOW! Love... And Sleepless Nights - the brand new extended version!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 02:15:53 PST

You can now buy the brand new, extended ebook edition of Love... And Sleepless Nights at all good retailers!

This new edition is published by Coronet Books - an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton - and features over fifteen thousand extra words, two new chapters and extended sections throughout. All in all, it's almost a third again as long as the old version.

More Jamie, more Laura, more laughs, more romance, more Poppy!

...who remains resolutely not Chinese throughout.

Buy it at the following retailers by clicking the links:

AMAZON

ITUNES

KOBO

SONY READER STORE

You can also pre-order the paperback version now at

Amazon, Waterstones, WH Smith
Released June 2013.

For those who may not have read the book yet, here's the front cover and the description:

Sometimes, the hardest part of becoming a parent is keeping a straight face...

Just ask Jamie and Laura Newman, who (thanks to a rather relaxed attitude to contraception) find themselves about to have a baby. It's obviously a terrifying prospect for a newly married couple, but as long as they stick together they'll be just fine... right?

They'd better because the path between falling in love and those first few baby steps is littered with obstacles. Featuring a hilarious cast of characters including an overbearing mother-in-law, a terrifying midwife and at least one chorus of mating humpback whales, Love... And Sleepless Nights is the hilarious follow up novel all about what happens beyond the happy ever after.

Falling in love with another person is easy, making a new one is where things get complicated.

OUT NOW! The brand new, extended edition of Love... From Both Sides!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 04:59:37 PDT

You can now buy the brand new, extended ebook edition of Love... From Both Sides at all good retailers!

This new edition is published by Coronet Books - an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton - and features nearly twenty thousand extra words, four new chapters and extended sections throughout. All in all, it's almost a third again as long as the old version.

More Jamie, more Laura, more laughs, more romance!

...but thankfully no more shitting into a pedal bin.

Buy it at the following retailers by clicking the links:

AMAZON

ITUNES

KOBO

SONY READER STORE

You can also pre-order the paperback version now at

Amazon, Waterstones, WH Smith and Foyles.
Released January 17th.

For those who may not have read the book yet, here's the front cover and the description:

When Nick Spalding self-published Love... From Both Sides and Love... And Sleepless Nights he became one of the bestselling ebook authors of 2012. Now for the first time the Love... books are being published in a longer format with more of the love story, more of Laura and Jamie's ups and downs and more of the laugh-out-loud hilarious moments that fans have come to know and love.

Sometimes, the hardest part of finding love is keeping a straight face...

For Jamie Newman, being a single guy isn't proving to be much fun, especially when confronted with a sexually belligerent divorcee and a goddess so far out of his league she might as well be a different species.

Mind you, being a girl in search of love isn't a bowl of cherries either. Just ask Laura McIntyre, who's recently contended with a horny estate agent on a quest for light relief and a rabid mountain bike enthusiast with a penchant for lycra that leaves little to the imagination.

When Jamie and Laura bump into one another (quite literally) it looks like their luck may have changed - but sometimes finding the right person is only the start of your problems...

Love... From Both Sides is a warts-and-all romantic comedy for everyone who knows how tricky the quest for love can be.

______________

I have signed a three book deal with Hodder & Stoughton - including third Love... title!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 12:03:04 PDT

Hi folks,

I've got some big news I'd like to share with you.

You can read the main story by clicking this link: http://www.thebookseller.com/news/coronet-signs-self-published-hit-spalding.html Go take a look, have a read and come back here when you're done.

...

Back?
Pretty cool, eh?

Yes, the publishing industry has finally gone completely nuts and is allowing Spading into its ranks - and I couldn't be more excited about it.

Under Hodder's imprint Coronet Books, you'll soon be able to buy brand new versions of Love... From Both Sides and Love... And Sleepless Nights everywhere that sells good books (and bad ones as well, but we won't talk about them for fear of involuntary association). Both books have been extensively revised with oodles of added content over 15,000 words each - thus justifying me the opportunity to fleece you for them twice, both in ebook and paperback formats.

Ahem.

What's more, I can finally reveal that the third book in the series, called Love... Under Different Skies, will also be out in 2013 and will feature the further adventures of Jamie, Laura and Poppy.

There will simply be no escape from Spalding, people.

I'll be on your computer, in your book shops, newsagents and in your supermarkets. Soon, you won't be able to pop into Tesco to pick up some marigolds and a tube of Smarties without seeing this stupid face leering out at you from the book display next to the Krispy Kreme donut stand:

I'm delighted to be taking this next step in my career as a writer. Being self-published has been a fantastic start to my career, not least because it's given me a chance to communicate with all of you, but to take things to the next level I need the support a major publishing house like Hodder & Stoughton can provide.

I have a fantastic agent who worked to bring the Hodder deal about and is also working hard on deals for the US market and other foreign language markets across the world. I even have interest from a film production company for the film rights of Love... From Both Sides.

Now I don't want you to think all this is going to my head. I'm still the same idiot I've always been, it's just that I now have to go to London a lot more for meetings* and I can now commute to work in pyjamas. I certainly won't start thinking I'm the bees knees or the dog's bollocks. That way lies madness, and the kind of hubris that comes right before a fall of epic proportions.

Thanks to all of you who have bought my books and taken the time to get in touch over the past few months. It's you who have put me here, and I'm very grateful to each and every one of you. I hope that I can continue to entertain you with the stuff I write in the future.

Best wishes,

Nick.

*well, lunches in over-priced restaurants where someone might occasionally say something vaguely work-related.

_____________________________

RELEASE DATES:

Coronet will publish in e-book first, starting this month with the extended Love...From Both Sides released in e-book on 25th October, with its paperback release following on 17th January 2013, and Love...And Sleepless Nights following in e-book on 8th November and in paperback in June 2013. Love...Under Different Skies will be published in both e-book and paperback in 2013.

Bang. Bang. Bang. Tootle. Tootle. Tootle. 365,000 ebooks sold at Amazon

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 04:20:27 PDT

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

"...Oh Christ, what's that?"

"It's bloody Spalding banging his own drum again."

"Really? Is this blog now just dedicated to an irregular report of his flippin' book sales?"

"Seems that way. You'd think he'd come up with more than one post a month wouldn't you?"

"I know. It's pathetic."

TOOTLE TOOTLE TOOTLE TOOTLE TOOTLE

"What's that?"

"He's blowing his own trumpet."

"Surely he could have come up with a better onomatopoeia than 'tootle'?"

"You'd think so, him being a writer and all."

"Pfft. I'm frankly amazed he can sell as many as 365,000 ebooks at Amazon if that's the best he can come up with."

"It's the shitting into a pedal bin. The punters can't resist a good gross-out gag."

BANG TOOTLE BANG TOOTLE BANG TOOTLE BANG TOOTLE

"He's trying to do both at once now. It can only end in disaster."

BANG TOOTLE BANG TOOT - AAAAAARRRGGGHHH!! CRASH SMASH BASH

"See? What a numpty."