The Bookstore
Support my writing by buying my books directly from the website.
The Foreign Aide
“One of the best choices available to put on a Kindle.”
“A great read for anyone who enjoys a fast-paced yet nuanced story of shattered relationships in an absorbing foreign setting of historical importance.”
That’s how reviewers responded to my 2010 eBook, The Lebanese Troubles. Now, with conflict in Lebanon once again in the news, I’m republishing my novel, retitled as The Foreign Aide, updated, repackaged, and this time in these four different editions:
Instant delivery via Bookfunnel. Works on all major devices — Kindle, Kobo, your phone / tablet / computer.
£4.99
Printed and shipped internationally by Bookvault.
£12.99
A deluxe edition, printed and shipped internationally by Bookvault.
£19.99
Accepting pre-orders now for Aug 10 release. Newsletter subscribers, — pre-orders are FREE! (see Samples and Discounts below)
£12.98
(= £10.82 + VAT, applicable to audiobooks in the UK)
The Foreign Aide is also available on Amazon, Google Play, Apple Books and many other online platforms, as well as from bookshops — nationally and internationally — including Waterstones in the UK and Barnes & Noble in the USA. To find out more, including international pricing, follow this link.
Samples and DISCOUNTS
If you haven’t come across The Foreign Aide sample chapters on the site yet, you can find them here. (Chapter 1 – Question includes a sample of the audiobook.)
There’s a special for newsletter subscribers in July. The audiobook version of The Foreign Aide is out on August 10th – but if you place a pre-order in July, using the code in the newsletter, you’ll get the audiobook on the release date for free! (saving £12.98). All I ask in return is, if you enjoy the book, you mention it to one or two friends who might enjoy it too.
If you’re not a newsletter subscriber yet, but you’d like to take advantage of this great offer, it’s not too late. Sign up here now — and as soon as you subscribe, we’ll email you the discount code immediately.
Why buy from my store?
There are plenty of other places where you can buy the book — on Amazon, Apple Books, and Nook, for example. I’m using the wholesaler Ingram Spark to distribute to bookshops and libraries. I’m grateful to all of these for helping me to get my books into the hands of readers.
But for the writer, there’s a price to pay when we work with these agencies. They all want their share of the money our customers pay, leaving the author with a small fraction of the cover price.
Apparently, the UK publishing industry is worth £7.5 billion a year. Wonderful! But sometimes it feels that we authors are just tiny plankton feeding big whales.
That’s why, increasingly, independent authors like me are setting up their own bookstores. It cuts out the middlemen. Potentially, it creates a direct link between writers and their readers. And it gives us the flexibility to offer specials and bundles and deals — just like the discount I’ve offered above.
EBook, audio, paperback, hardback — the choice is yours!
What to expect
All orders
I’m using the e-commerce platform, Payhip, to process and facilitate orders. So don’t be surprised when you see the Payhip name on the shopping cart and email confirmation of your order.
eBooks and Audiobooks
Shortly after placing your order, you’ll get an email from my delivery partner, Bookfunnel, giving you a unique, private link to download your book to your preferred reading device (e.g. Kindle, Kobo, phone, tablet, computer) with easy-to-follow instructions. If you have any difficulty with downloading, Bookfunnel’s experts are your troubleshooters.
If you can’t see the email from Bookfunnel, first check junk/spam in case your email provider has mistakenly filtered it. If you still can’t find it, email me (— the address is at the foot of this page).
Printed books
I’m using a Print on Demand service; in other words, books are printed only as orders are received. The company I’m using, Bookvault, typically prints paperbacks in 3-5 working days, hardbacks in 5-7 working days (in both cases, slightly longer at peak times, such as Christmas).
After printing, Bookvault then ships your order directly to you. Shipping times will depend on your location and the delivery service you select at checkout. If you’ve been waiting an unreasonably long time for your order to be delivered, email me with full details of your order; I’ll find out what’s happened and report back.
I highly recommend that you choose a ‘tracked’ service when selecting a delivery option: Bookvault explains that if an untracked option is undelivered, they can have no claim against the postal or courier service, so they would not be able to offer a reprint.
Finally, what happens in the unlikely case that your book has been damaged in transit, or something appears to have gone wrong with the printing? Email me directly, no later than 7 days after your order has been delivered, with photos showing the problem, a description, and full order details, including your full name and address. On your behalf, I will then contact Bookvault, who will replace the order — provided the claim is valid and received by them within their deadline period.