# Milrose Munce and the Den of Professional Help (from the author)



## dysmedia (Apr 29, 2010)

Well, thanks to it being free (partially), my young adult novel seems to be the number one bestseller on Kindle. (This changes from hour to hour, but it was at #1 last I checked.) It's a perverse gothic romance, called Milrose Munce and the Den of Professional Help. http://www.tinyurl.com/2w2dn9f










I like to think it's pretty good, but I'm biased, so I'll post excerpts from reviews, which someone kindly collected on amazon:

'One of the funniest books I've read this year.' - Sowetan (major
South African newspaper)

'An incredibly unique, quirky and snot-pop-out-my-nose-hilarious book!
... This book is simply brilliant and I recommend it to anyone, any
age, any time.' - Relishmagazine.com

'A laugh-riot' - BC Magazine

'Yes, the person smiling to himself in the coffee shop last week was
me. And yes, the reason was this book.' - Blogcritics

'Magnificent. . . . Rapid-fire repartee, puns, and wordplay grace almost every page. . . . Anyone who reads [Milrose Munce] is guaranteed to laugh out loud.' - Books in Canada

'Plenty of laugh-out-loud moments ... readers who enjoyed such books
as A Series of Unfortunate Events or the Pure Dead books by Debi
Gliori will love this." - Back to Books

'Absolutely flawless, a cunningly subversive young-adult novel from one of the only living writers of English who knows how to craft a sentence.' -
Joseph Suglia, author of Watch Out


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Hi, Douglas!--

welcome to KindleBoards and congratulations on your book and your first posts!

I've removed your posts from the Free and Bargain book threads as self promotion is not permitted in those threads and created a new book thread using the two posts.  We invite you to use your book cover as your avatar and have links to your book and website in your signature. Although self-promotion is limited to the Book Bazaar, most of our authors have found the best way to promote their books is to be as active throughout KindleBoards as time allows. This is your target audience--book lovers with Kindles!

Please read through the Forum Decorum, the link is below in the fine print, and let us know if you have any questions!

Thanks for being part of KindleBoards! Feel free to PM us if you have any questions.

Betsy & Ann
Book Bazaar Moderators


The fine print: 
_Please add to your existing book thread when you have news about your book rather than start a new one, it helps the members who are trying to follow you. You may have a separate thread for each of your books. We recommend you bookmark your post so that you can find it in the future.  You may respond to all posts, but if there have been no member posts, we ask that you wait a week before "bumping" the thread by posting back-to-back posts of your own. And we ask that Amazon reviews not be repeated here as they are easy to find at your book link. Also, full reviews from other sites should not be posted here, but you may post a short blurb and a link to the full review instead. All this, and more, is included in our Forum Decorum. From time to time our site rules may change; be sure to check Forum Decorum for the current guidelines and rules. _


----------



## freelantzer (Apr 28, 2010)

I downloaded  this yesterday. I read tons of young adult novels so I can recommend books to my students. This one sounds great. Looking forward to reading it.


----------



## dysmedia (Apr 29, 2010)

Thanks freelantzer!

The book seems to be part of some sort of rolling promotion:  it's occasionally a penny, but generally two dollars.  (I'm told that if you join up for a prime account, it goes back down to a penny. Or something.  I haven't quite figured this out.)

I shouldn't really be happy about this, except that the competition among two-dollar books is fierce.

(And I sincerely hope it doesn't stay at this price, or I may have to sue my publisher...)


----------



## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

Greetings and Welcome, dysmedia!! We are so glad you found KindleBoards! We have many areas that you probably will like. Have you been to The Book Corner yet? That's the area for discussions about books (naturally  ). That's also where you will find threads about books Recommended by our Members and a list of additional sites for Book Lovers.
Then there is the Book Bazaar where our member/authors post about their books and hold discussions about writing, publishing and many other topics. That is also where you will locate Bargain Books and even Free Books threads where you can get reading material at low or no cost! Here is a link to get you started: Master list of free & under $1 titles available from Amazon.
If you have a question about your Kindle or it's usage, check out the FAQ or the forum about Tips, Tricks and Trouble Shooting . Or, just ask your question. We have many helpful and knowledgeable people here at KB and we feel there is no such thing as a "dumb" question. Questions about KindleBoards may be answered at Your guide to Forum Speak! linked from Forum tips. If not, once again, ask away! *To keep everything running smoothly, we ask that everyone read Forum decorum.*
Another popular place is Let's Talk Kindle, where all things in the Kindle world are posted about. Be sure and check out the Photo Gallery, where pictures of members, pets, flowers, landscapes or just almost anything interesting can be found.
Have you been to the Accessories area? There you will see information about covers, skins, lights, bags, stands and many other items to allow you to personalize your Kindle.
Looking to just kill some time while you are waiting for your Kindle or if you have your kindle, want to try something different? Try INFINITY Game - Word Association or The "INFINITY" Thread: KEEP POSTING...Ready, Set,... GO!!! in the Not Quite Kindle area.
Sorry for the long post, but there is just so much to do, learn and like about KindleBoards that I just get carried away.


----------



## LisaW. (Jun 1, 2009)

Downloaded it yesterday. It looks really good, but it may be a little while before I get to it because I have so many other unread books on my kindle.


----------



## CS (Nov 3, 2008)

It was a penny for me, but I'm on Prime. Would be extremely odd if non-Prime members had to pay two bucks. I've never heard of anything like that before.

BTW, the book looks great, so thanks for the awesome price.


----------



## dysmedia (Apr 29, 2010)

To be honest, the pricing is a mystery to me. Some friends have in fact paid two dollars; some a penny. I don't think it will stay at the sale price for long -- my guess is that it will go up to at least $9.99.

Frankly, I'm not really worried about money at the moment; it's simply great to get new readers. Doubleday has thus far published the book only in Canada and the UK, so this is a whole new (and huge) community. I've completed the sequel, _The Night of the Corpse Flower_, and it may be that I'll have to wait for that to be published before I'm actually remunerated; but this doesn't bother me too much. In fact, I'd be a hypocrite to complain, since I set this whole thing in motion in the early nineties: my second novel, Delirium, was the first ever to be serialized on the web. Time Warner published it on their web site, and made approximately no money in the process -- it was clear that this new mode of publication was going to be a complex problem in terms of writers actually making a living. The music industry has figured out how to distribute music over the web without artists being starved, however; my guess is that the publishing industry will catch up very quickly.

For now I'm just thrilled to have the series launched properly -- the reviews and publicity have been invaluable, and I'm getting an avalanche of responses from readers.


----------



## PraiseGod13 (Oct 27, 2008)

Got my copy and look forward to reading it.  Thanks and welcome to KindleBoards!!


----------



## JennaAnderson (Dec 25, 2009)

Hi Douglas - do you happen to know the reading level or lexile score of this book? I know it is considered young adult or ages 9 - 12. 

I have an eleven year old kiddo with some reading difficulties and this sounds like something he'd be interested in. I read the first couple pages in a sample and it seemed a bit beyond his reach but I'd just thought I'd ask.

I could always read it to him.


----------



## Carol Hanrahan (Mar 31, 2009)

1-clicked for a penny!


----------



## dysmedia (Apr 29, 2010)

Thanks Carol!

And Jenna:  it's funny - pegging the reading level has proved quite difficult.  I deliberately kept the vocabulary sophisticated -- I think it's patronizing to simplify things too much, and it's good practice to make kids reach for the dictionary occasionally.  That said, the story itself is easy to follow, and the sentences are not overly complex for the most part.  Your son should be fine, I think, perhaps with a little bit of help.

The humor is designed to operate on two levels -- I aimed it as much at adults as teens.  I've always admired Bugs Bunny for this:  kids find these cartoons hilarious, even if they don't get the references to Wagner, etc.  (My model in fact was Edward Gorey, who also works very much in this way.)

Let me know how he responds!


----------



## Cat (Nov 10, 2008)

This can't be d/l in the US on Amazon?


----------



## koland (Nov 24, 2008)

Doubleday has pulled the book from US sales, but Douglas is working with them to try to get it added back to the Kindle store. He has the digital rights for the US, DDC does not, but originally listed it as if they did. He has told them that he wants it back in the store and hopes it'll be back soon.


----------



## Cat (Nov 10, 2008)

Thanks, Koland. 
As if it isn't difficult enough for authors to sell books. Yikes.


----------



## freelantzer (Apr 28, 2010)

Wow, glad I picked it up when I did. Looking forward to reading it.


----------



## SimonWood (Nov 13, 2009)

I'd also like to thank my taggers....


----------



## arshield (Nov 17, 2008)

I just finished reading the book and really liked it. I posted a review on my blog http://www.mrshields.com/?p=1307

There is a newly expanded version of the book that is now available (not what I read) if anyone is interested.


----------



## DonnaFaz (Dec 5, 2009)

Welcome! 

Consider popping over to the thread called 'Tags, Tags, Tags' and start exchanging tags with your fellow authors. Tags are a way to get your books noticed by readers. The thread is located in the Writers Cafe.

~Donna~


----------

