Illustrated Edition of ‘Silly Poems for Wee People’ Now Available

Image: Chas Stramash

Silly Poems for Wee People (Illustrated)
Yesterday saw the launch of the illustrated edition of my popular kids’ poetry book, SILLY POEMS FOR WEE PEOPLE.

Published under my pseudonym, Chas Stramash, the book is 38 pages long and illustrated throughout in dazzling colour, with all poems revised and updated. It’s the most complete edition of SILLY POEMS yet, and the most entertaining ever!

I’m delighted with how everything has gone on this project. From the original idea conception to getting the ball rolling, to the whole process of involving an illustrator, it has been a fantastic experience.

Most of thanks for this new edition goes to the illustrator, Kamila Ratajczak. Her talent and creative vision has brought to life the poems that had only ever existed in colour inside my head. Now, for the benefit of all the kids (and in some cases parents), everyone will get to see what Lazy Dad and The Man with the Head of Cheese looks like!

At the moment the book is only available in paperback, but once I get to grips with the technology, a PDF ebook version will be available for download. Kindle can’t accommodate the book as it stands because of the size of the file generated by the images, so a brand new text-only Kindle edition with all the revised poems will be available soon instead.

To coincide with the new edition, I’ve also recorded some sample poems. I’ll be making these available on the website in the next few days, and also through my Soundcloud page.

Checkout the new look SILLY POEMS FOR WEE PEOPLE here.

Scotfail
Many of you will know, particularly those who follow me on Twitter, that the service provided by the Scottish national rail body, Scotrail, has its problems.

Trains are regularly late, postponed or cancelled with short notice, carriages are often overcrowded, and in some cases, failure to have the correct ticket can result in instant dismissal, if not by the conductor, then by fellow passengers.

You will perhaps then be as amazed as me, that despite a crumbling network and shortage of trains, Scotrail has seen fit to increase its fares by 6% from January.

It’s a UK wide increase, but Scotrail is among the group of rail companies that already has overly inflated prices while delivering a shabby service a lot of the time, so it’s hardly justifiable that they are using the cap the Minister for Transport placed in fare rises to their maximum advantage.

It already costs over £11 to travel a single 50 minute journey between Glasgow and Edinburgh. I can get to Newcastle for two pounds less.

The best laugh was the Scotrail spokesman, who said:

“We are committed to meeting customer demand for high quality punctual services. This approach enables us to continue to invest in service improvements while ensuring that rail travel remains value for money.”

What he really means is:

“The people that travel on Scotrail services are gullible arseholes. This approach enables us to give ourselves pay rises, which we will then strike against in a couple of years as being too low, while allowing us to provide exactly the same piss poor service we gave you beforehand. Get it up ye, Scottish rail travellers!”

Needless to say, rail issues are a devolved power of the Scottish government. Thank you Scotrail, and thank you Alex Salmond.

Powering Up
I’ve worked out a detailed work plan in order to be able to take into account the Christmas festivities and still ensure I can get through the mountain of work I have to complete by 31st December. It’s down to the minute!

As a result, last night was a very busy night as I powered myself up for a big charge towards 2012.

I completed putting together my quarterly newsletter, which was sent out to all the subscribers with its new theme in line with the website launch and rebranding of last month. I think it looks rather cool and I’m very pleased with it.

If you want to read the newsletter online or are not subscribed (why not?), point your browsers here.

I also put the finishing touches to my e-card that I sent out to a lot of writers, friends, and organisations, that I either don’t have their address or who I have had the pleasure of conversing with or doing business with throughout the year. This is a new thing I’m doing, as the ones I get myself from people I’ve come into contact with over the Internet are nice to receive.

As I already mentioned, SILLY POEMS FOR WEE PEOPLE was released in paperback form. It’s too late for Christmas but the book will be stocked in Edinburgh, which I’m very excited about. I do, however, need to find a much cheaper printer, as the costs with this full colour edition are not sustainable for purchasing unit copies.

The 3 Ebook Deal and Free Poetry :: 11 DAYS LEFT!!
Visit my website at www.colingalbraith.co.uk and either sign up to the mailing list or ‘LIKE’ my Facebook page, as it will mean you’ll be entitled to a free copy of each of my next three novels. Get in quick though, as the window to register closes at 23:59pm 31st December!

Alternatively, just scan the QR code to the right or text 3BOOKS to 88802 or failing that, you can go direct to the 3 Ebook Deal web page!

The window to sign up for the 3 Ebook Deal will close on 31st December, 2011 at 23:59 so make sure you get in there today! It only takes a couple of minutes to sign up to qualify for 3 hot thriller novels to be released in 2012!

You’ll also find some great deals over at my poetry place www.chasstramash.com: all poetry ebooks are available for free download, 86p on the Kindle, and £3 (25% off!) for print copies.
Peace and out!