Another Epoch-Making Moment In Publishing History

Added on 17 September 2010

Finally, the wait is over and The King Was In His Counting House is available for download on Amazon Kindle. Uploaded to the Amazon website - to coincide with the Pope's arrival in Britain, the reconciliation of Wayne and Coleen and Joe Cole's first goal for Liverpool - millions of fans worldwide can now savour the digital magic of what the New York Bagette called "the craziest comeback book ever written."

Seeing the four digital covers together, one realises there is a certain sameness about them. Individually they each work - well, not so sure about Book 1, but I wanted it in keeping with the others, and I wanted it to be different from the print version, and this was what I had to go with - but collectively they're not really testicle-grabbing. Which, of course, is what one needs. Ultimately - all proverbs and clichés notwithstanding - most people do indeed judge a book by its cover.

Nevertheless, they are probably a fair reflection of what's inside. The covers, understated and dark, with a modicum of wit about them, are pretty much what you get in the book. For two of the next three, I'm going to go with covers that are a bit more colourful. They weren't my fist choice for either of the books, but the colour leaps off the screen a bit more.

All being in order, they should come out at one a week over the next three weeks. And then, the Barney Thomson series will be complete, and all of us here at Long Midnight Publishing HQ, in downtown Singapore - that would be me and Elvis Shackleton - can move on to something else. Something new and daring and bold and delicious.

First up: Christmas With The Shackleton's - 1001 Scrumptious Festive Dishes To Eat Before Lunch

This is the cover for the forthcoming Extraordinary Digital Publishing Event, The Last Fish Supper. It's blue. See what the designer did there? The razor seems to be casting the shadow of a cross. Understated. Dark. Bit of humour.