I'm Hazel West, a self-published author of five novels including A Case of Poisons which is the novel of interest here. I'm also the author of On a Foreign Field which is 5 star rated on Amazon and Goodreads and By Blood or By Bond my last published novel about Roman Britain.
What is A Case of Poisons about?
Anthony Maxwell is a private investigator, a consultant for the mostly incompetent inspectors at Scotland Yard, on occasion a writer, and always a lover of coffee. He has been working small cases for several years to pay the bills when he’s introduced to the first multiple murder case of his career early one morning, when a witness catches a man trying to unload a body to bury in a nearby graveyard. Soon the first body is joined by three more in the course of a single morning and Anthony knows this is no ordinary serial murder case. And why is the murderer targeting beggars and urchin children? If that wasn’t cause enough to worry, all the victims are covered with horrible wounds and show signs of exotic poisoning. Anthony, along with his partners Tobias—an ex-broadsman and well-know charmer—and Scamp—a street smart and talented young woman—work to find out who is murdering the helpless beggars and children in such horrifying ways. The first book in this new Victorian steampunk series takes the three companions to the limits of their abilities as they go up against canny murderers, bruisers who appear invincible, anarchist groups, and even ancient British royalty in the biggest case Anthony Maxwell has ever worked in his career.
This campaign is to help fun the production and promotion of my newest book, the first in a Victorian steampunk mystery series chronicling the adventurous cases of my private detective Anthony Maxwell. It's an action-packed series, narrated by the witty and gentlemanly Anthony and is kind of a cross between Sherlock Holmes and The Three Musketeers with a steampunk flair added. What I'm raising money for is mostly promotional: I want to do a long blog tour to get the series out to potential readers, and other promotional things like giveaways and advertisement. Every time I publish a book, I try to do a little more to get it out, and being a self-published author is hard because I have to do all promotion myself, finding blog spots and paying for advertisement out of pocket. I'm not going to lie, indie authors are almost always starving artists, at least until we can sell enough books to make up the difference of how much we pay to produce them. What I really want at the end of the day, is for people to enjoy my books, but in order for them to be able to find them, promotional steps need to be taken so a wider audience of people will have the chance to read them.
In short, I can't do what I want without YOUR help! Even if you pledge $5, that's a huge help toward my goal. In today's social media, it's so easy to spread the word without costing people much, if anything at all.
I'm hoping to raise $800 (and in that is the cost of all perks you will receive if you donate as well!) But even if I don't make that amount, every little bit will help. This is a breakdown of where the money will go:
A long virtual book tour
Buying copies for giveaways
Printing costs for bookmarks and posters for promotion and giveaways
Advertisement
A domain for an official author website
If I end up having more money than what I planned for, everything that is left will go toward the production of the next novel I publish, so in reality, all this money will provide something for fans and potential readers even more than me. I'm looking forward to the satisfaction of people enjoying my book. Anthony Maxwell is a character I fell in love with, and everyone who has read him so far (and not just family members, mind!) have also loved him, so I'm really excited about the start of this series. To begin with, it's my first series, and on top of that, I think it's the kind of book everyone will enjoy. There's something in it for readers of all ages.
Extra money might also go to coffee if I get really desperate-can't write without that.
Now for the perks (I know this is the part you've all been waiting for)
I've got some fun thank you gifts for people who contribute. Here's a breakdown of what you'll receive for helping out:
$5- a signed bookmark
$10- an ebook copy of A Case of Poisons in your choice of format
$25- a signed paperback copy of A Case of Poisons and a bookmark
$50- signed paperback, ebook, and a signed poster with the cover art
$75- a signed paperback, ebook, poster, and (here's the exciting part) you get to name a character for the next book
$100- a signed paperback, a lovely pocket watch (http://www.gentlemansemporium.com/store/003895.php) and naming a character for the next book.
All contributers will be mentioned in the acknowledgements of the second Anthony Maxwell mystery Street Arab's Ruse which should be out in 2014.
Also as a note, every book comes with a bookmark, just in case you were wondering.
I hope you'll all consider contributing, but if you can't contribute at the time, you can still help by spreading the word. Tell your friends! Remember, the social network gets word around faster than anything, and spreading the word a little at a time still helps. Give me a tweet, or post on Facebook; if you do contribute, do the same thing! My whole goal for this fund is to get the word out, so we may as well start now! If you follow the links on my profile, you can find me on Twitter, Goodreads, my blog, and also follow Anthony's facebook page. Just remember that every little bit you do, whether it's contributing money, or just helping to spread the word, it will all be a huge help in the end, and I want to see Anthony enjoyed by other people as much as I have enjoyed writing him. And if I have a bunch of fans waiting for book two, then hey, I guess I did something right!
Thanks for your time!
Slainte, Hazel