How I Scored a Book Deal with Amazons Thomas Mercer (in 5 Stages)

How I Scored a Book Deal with Amazons Thomas Mercer (in 5 Stages) How I Went from Indie Author to Scoring a Book Deal with Amazon's Thomas Mercer Last year we spoke with author Natalie Barelli about striking a big item off her bucket list: writing and publishing her debut novel,  Until I Met Her. Less than 12 months later, Natalie has been signed by Amazon's thriller imprint Thomas Mercer, and her novel is undergoing a re-release. In this article, she talks the bumpy road of self-publishing - one that has been full of trials and tribulations. However, she's a true example of the saying, â€Å"If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.† In a year, Natalie has turned publishing mishaps into lessons, and, clearly, her perseverance is being rewarded.  It was during this  Kindle countdown when things started to change. I checked my sales dashboard obsessively, as you do, and was ecstatic one day when I logged in and learned that I’d sold 20 copies in one day. I wondered if this would be my sales peak, but the next day I sold 50 copies, and on the last day of the promotion I sold 200 copies.I knew th at when the price went back up, sales would soon dwindle, so I scheduled AMS ads every day once the promotion had ended. When the ads worked, resulting in clicks and sales, my novel would begin to appear in the ‘also bought’ section of books on its own due to it's rising popularity. At that point, I would remove the ad and wait until sales dwindled again before scheduling a new one. I managed to sustain the ranking for a while that way, and that’s when I got a lovely email from Thomas Mercer.Finally: Scoring a book deal and beating submission guidelinesThomas Mercer gave  Until I Met Her  a new cover and further rounds of editing  - by now that book has been edited more times than I care to admit. This was mostly due to the fact that the story is set in New York and I’m Australian, and no matter how hard we all tried the first time around, some of my language didn’t come across as authentic.It’s  been quite a process, but Thomas M ercer has kept me thoroughly involved, asking for feedback and approval every step of the way. Of course,  when a small army of professionals wants to improve your book, you’re hardly going to stop them.Until I Met Her is  still on preorder as I write this, going live on May 30th, so as of yet I have no idea what being published by Thomas Mercer will mean for the future of my novel. A lot of books under Amazon imprints like Thomas Mercer do fantastically well, but not all of them. For instance, I know that my novel will not be featured in the Kindle First monthly offerings (what surely is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow of self-published authors on Amazon), because it’s a re-published book and therefore doesn't qualify. So in a way, it’s as much of an experiment as, say, Facebook ads or Kindle Countdowns. But when you’re indie, that’s one of the luxuries and responsibilities you have: to experiment.Until I Met Her is available on Am azon.Please  share your thoughts and experiences, or any questions for Natalie, in the comments below!

Cheerful and cheap recipes for students

Cheerful and cheap recipes for students 5 Top Student Recipes Students don`t always have time to cook for themselves, but there are a lot of dishes, which are easy and quickly to cook. Moreover, you don`t have to spend a lot of money on the ingredients. We decided to write the list of the most delicious and cheap student dishes. Quick tomato soup with cheesy garlic dippers 1 tbsp caster sugar Dash each Worcestershire and Tabasco sauce 400g can cherry tomatoes Few torn basil leaves 2 tbsp mascarpone 100 ml vegetable stock 125g ball mozzarella cheese, shredded 1 garlic clove, halved 1 medium ciabatta roll, halved Preparation Put the stock, tomatoes, sugar and sauces into a medium pan. Add some pepper and salt. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5-10 minutes. Keep your pan warm while you make the dippers. Stir in the mascarpone and blend to the smooth soup. Toast the ciabatta on the grill until it is golden. Rub with season and garlic. Then, top with cheese and drill until it is golden and melted. Serve with the tomato soup and sprinkle with the basil. Sausage ragu and spinach pasta bake 1 tbsp oregano, chopped 680 jar passata with garlic and herbs 6 good-quality pork sausages, skinned 1 egg, beaten, to glaze 100g Parmesan, grated 500g pack pasta shapes 2x350 tubs ready-made cheese sauce 400g pack spinach Freshly grated nutmeg Preparation Brown the sausages in a large frying pan, breaking up the meat. Stir in the passata and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the season and add the oregano. Cook the pasta for two minutes, drain and cool under cold water. Pour the boiling water over the spinach in the colander to wilt. Then, squeeze out all the water. Mix the cheese sauce with the pasta. Mix the spinach, the meat sauce, the Parmesan, some nutmeg, the cheesy pasta, the seasoning, then wrap it and freeze. Defrost for about 8 hours. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the dish is golden. Baked mushrooms with ricotta and pesto 2 tbsp green pesto 16 medium chestnut mushroom 5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 250g tub ricotta 2 garlic clove, finely chopped 1 rounded tbsp pesto 25g freshly grated Parmesan 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, preferably flat leaf, to serve Preparation Take the mushrooms in one layer and brush them with 1 tbsp of the oil. Then, put them in the dish, rounded cap side down. Mix the garlic, ricotta and pesto and spoon into the mushrooms. Sprinkle over the Parmesan. Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6/ fan 180C. Bake for about 20 minutes. Blob a little pesto on the top of each mushroom and then, scatter with the parsley. Serve this dish hot. Quick sausage Bolognese 250g pack mushroom, sliced 1 tsp fennel seed 6 good-quality sausage, skins removed Shaved or grated Parmesan, to serve 300g penne 660g jar tomato pasta sauce 150 ml red wine Preparation Crumble the sausage and fennel seed and fry, without adding any oil. Stir well to break up the meat. Add the mushrooms and fry until they begin to soften. Stir it in the wine and then, add the tomato sauce. Heat through until bubbling. Boil the penne, drain it, and tip into the sauce. Finish your dish with a little Parmesan. Very simple Margherita pizza Small bunch basil, half chopped, half left whole 125 ml warm water Side salad, to serve 100g mozzarella, half chopped, half grated 85 ml passata Olive oil 2 tbsp grated Parmesan 7g packet easy-blend dried yeast 200g plain flour 1 tsp sugar Preparation Mix the yeast, the flour, 1/4 tsp salt and the sugar in the bowl. Stir in the water and knead until smooth. Heat oven to 240C/220C fan/gas 9. Oil a 20x24 cm baking try and press the mixture into it.   Spread the seasoned passata over the dough, sprinkle with the Parmesan, the mozzarella, and the chopped basil. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Serve with a side salad. .