Month: November 2013

As promised, the first chapter of A Confidence Carol is now available for free and for one week only (PDF only for the single chapter, apologies).  Enjoy!

[The week is up, but check back Monday, December 16th for the full release on Amazon!]

As you’ll see, I wanted to do more than just make a contemporary retelling of A Christmas Carol. Being a huge fan of the classic, I wanted to pay homage to it by preserving a lot of the style and more signature lines from the Dickens version. The result I think is very unique, and I would liken it to being more of a literary remix than just a modern day face-lift.

And I am sure I am breaking Product Launching 101, but the exact release date for the entire book is not yet set in stone (getting to make my own timeline is both a small curse and a blessing of independent publishing). If I were a betting man, I would expect it to be on Amazon sometime during the second week of December. Unless of course I decide that Ethan would be so much cooler as a hypochondriac with a Cajun accent and I end up having to rewrite a large portion of the text.

No matter when it lands, I will post an update here and on social media as soon as I figure that out. Be sure to subscribe so that you aren’t having to check back incessantly and distort my page views (and self-esteem).

What did you think of the first chapter? 

I am thrilled to announce that the cover for my new book, A Confidence Carol, has been finalized, and I am absolutely in love with it:

A massive thank you goes out to my designer and one of my best friends since 5th grade, Jacob Fox, for doing the design again. Like the cover for my first book, I think it captures the tone of my story perfectly.

This design is obviously completely different than the mock-up I posted at the beginning of the month. We admittedly tried to pay too much homage to A Christmas Carol at first with the chains, holly, and other holiday effects, which might have made the book appear more niche than it really is. Many that I showed the first round of concepts to also said that it felt too negative for a coming-of-age story with a [spoiler alert] happy ending.

Jake also had the suggestion to change the title to a novella, the definition of which fits my story to a T. Per Wikipedia:

The novella is generally not as formally experimental as the long story and the novel can be, and it usually lacks the subplots and the multiple points of view that are common in the novel. It is most often concerned with personal and emotional development rather than with the larger social sphere. The novella generally retains something of the unity of impression that is a hallmark of the short story, but it also contains more highly developed characterization and more luxuriant description.

And since the story weighs in at just under 30,000 words and is a fairly quick read, I am also hoping from a marketing standpoint that the word Novella will invite more potential readers that might be afraid of the ‘commitment’ required of reading a longer story to purchase it.

What do you think of the new cover?

Also, a reminder that the first chapter will be available to download for free this Friday, November 29th!

I will be releasing the first chapter for free and for one week only right here on AndrewElsass.com. As of now, look for it to land on November 29th, and let it serve as an escape from the Black Friday madness.

The full version will be available in early December wherever Kindle ebooks are sold. . .so, Amazon. Around that same time, keep an eye out for a completely overhauled site (moreso than it was for this current format).

Be sure to subscribe for more updates in the coming weeks and check it out when it lands. . .it’s like A Christmas Carol meets Perks of Being A Wallflower with cooler ghosts and an even more angsty protagonist.