New things • 27 June 2007 • The SnowBlog

New things

          
a trumpet

I don't like to blow my own trumpet (such a lie - of course I do) but not only have I found the time to be up to date with Every Single Last Thing, I have also revamped the website. ('Up to date', by the way, does not mean 'finished': it means 'under control', which is good enough for me.) Let me show you around. So the first new thing is the catalogue.  See the little portholes? Like catching a fleeting glimpse of the deliciousness beneath. And notice the new, sleek categorisation? In line with the strategy we've been talking about, our focus in fiction is general fiction, thrillers, historical fiction and gift; in non-fiction it's sports and fitness, crafts and general non-fiction. And Lo! The catalogue now reflects this. 

Then if you click through to each title page, you can see that there is a Google button to buy direct from here. Thank you so much for your wonderful comments on the Google vs. Paypal debate. It was split pretty much down the middle, so I decided to have both a Google and a paypal button - except Paypal doesn't let you add on delivery charges in the way I wanted, so I am going to shelve that idea and just go with Google. There's only so much time I can spend on this! The Google buttons are also on selected titles on the home page. 

And last but not least, did you notice the Free Books club over on the left there? (//update// Oh, it's only on the blog's main page. I'll try to figure out how to get it to work on the full page!//) That's right! Email me your name and address, on the understanding that I will keep those details on file and use them to send you updates on Snowbooks (but never sell or pass them on to others) and I will post you a free book! Yes! Tell me which book you'd like and I'll post it to you! For free! This is a karma-based promotion: the idea is that you'll think Snowbooks is so bloomin' great that you will feel it only just and proper to actually buy another book, or two. No obligation - but it would be very nice of you. //Update// I've revised this to limit it to a list of books, as I keep going out of stock in the office! Visit the new page for more info. ///

We've also revamped the submissions page a bit. We've actually changed the submissions email address to manuscripts[@]snowbooks.com because the spam on the submissions address was getting a bit daft. We've also changed our requirements slightly: there's no need for a synopsis but if you fancied having a bash at writing a blurb it would be quite good fun; we require the full manuscript; and you are also required to use the right naming convention in the email subject line. Nothing too onerous, really. Take a look at the guidelines (well, cast-in-stone-rules, really) in full. 

That's about it, I think, for this brush-up, but there are lots more things to come, including the community pages we mentioned earlier. Ooh, so exciting! Oh, also I have to change the FAQs page later. If you have any thoughts on anything extra you'd like to see, do shout. And thanks again for all the comments - so useful. 
Emma