Hi,

NEWSFLASH

The Irish Key (Bookouture) is 99c special offer today on Amazon

Our 2024 has been exciting in the publishing arena, and crazy busy on the home front. My mother (93), who was getting too frail to live alone come to live with us, but as we have quite a small house there was much work to do before she arrived. In the spring we had a 'sun room' built onto the front of the house to provide extra living space, and renovations have been ongoing ever since: the living room has been turned into her bedroom (with a bigger window installed); We have tiled the downstairs throughout, had ceiling boards put up in the living room, installed a new log fire and a new immersion tank, and carpeted the 'new' bedroom. The mess has been indescribable. And then in late November Mom and a million or so boxes turned up... but we managed to clear a space in the new room for Christmas dinner! I will put a 'renovations' storyboard on my website when I have a chance.

DAISY O'SHEA NEWS

I now have three novels out under the pseudonym Daisy O'Shea, published by Bookouture. All are doing extremely well, maintaining a respectable overall rating on Amazon and Goodreads. The preorders for the Irish Family Secret were over 3,500, and many of those readers have chosen to follow Daisy O'Shea. Bookouture have now sold this series on to mainstream publishers in Czechoslovakia, Norway, and to Harper Collins in Belgium, who stated: We plan to introduce Daisy O’Shea as the worthy successor of our brand author Nora Roberts. Well, I never expected that!

The first three books are presently being recorded as audiobooks (in English) for 2025. The first book is also coming out in trade paperback in Ireland in the spring, testing the market in Waterstones. The fourth in series, The Irish Inheritance, is due to be published May 2025.

The Norwegian publishers Gyldendal wrote: Daisy O’Shea has created a compelling universe in and around Roone Bay – we were completely absorbed from the very beginning. The combination of suspense, emotional depth, drama, charm, and unsolved riddles is perfect. This is very well-crafted entertainment with the potential to reach a big audience of readers and listeners. We would love to publish these Irish gems!

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In November all three Bookouture novels landed in the top 20 in Women's Literary Fiction on Amazon US, and self-published Legend of the Selkie, is slowly catching up. The Irish Child is keeping a steady position in the top 4 places on Best Sellers in Historical Irish Fiction.

If you haven't already read it, HER IRISH HOME, my FREE short story in this genre, is available from Bookfunnel. Collection will sign you up to Bookouture's mailing list, from which you may unsubscribe at any time.

CHRIS LEWANDO BOOKS

The fourth in my self-published series SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN has limped to the finishing post ready for 10th January publication (it is awaiting a professional edit, and will be on sale for just a few days for Beta readers and pre-orders. I will be pleased to receive editorial comments). Meanwhile... I have had the covers re-designed (again), this time by Damonza, and I'm much happier with them. The old adage, you get what you pay for has been proven in this instance. I have also had the first book professionally edited, and the same editor is going to work her way through the series, doing number two in January. It costs around £1000 per book for this service, and it remains to be seen whether I see any of this back! I have engaged a specialist to undertake a promotional campaign, beginning February 2025, as I'm clearly no good at self-promotion.

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Thank you for being interested in my amazing publishing journey. All the best until next time.

Chris Lewando

www.chrislewando.com

www.daisyoshea.com

There's an unsubscribe button at the foot of this newsletter. I do hope you wish to continue to follow both my publishing journey and my website storyboards of life here in Ireland.