Pre-order The Flood now at Amazon for just 99p!

Sex, Love & Dating Disasters: The Flood is finally on Amazon and you can pre-order your copy today for just 99p. I know, I know - I said it would be available in March, but I am trying to meet you halfway here!

The manuscript is now sitting with the publisher about to go through the proofreading stage, but by ordering the book now you can rest easy safe in the knowledge that it will delivered to your device on April 30.

The Flood is the hilarious follow-up to The Drought by lad lit author Steven Scaffardi, chronicling the adventures of unlucky-in-love Dan Hilles. Check out the official book trailer:

If you haven't read the first book you can download The Drought for just 99p by clicking the link. However, you do not need to have read The Drought in order to pick up The Flood - it has been written in a way that new readers will be able to follow the story quite easily without reading the first installment.

Early preview reviews on Goodreads have been very positive with an average 4.33 star rating out of 5. Check out what readers have been saying already:

"Oh My Gosh, Laugh Out LOUD funny! my roommate ran in the room asking what was so funny and when I told her, she laughed so hard she could no longer walk!"

 Goodreads reader

"I was nearly dying of laughter most of the time while reading this book."

My Book File 

"The bittersweet escapades of Dan Hilles just makes the reader cry with laughter."

Goodreads reader

"Funniest bar fight scene in the history of literature. I laughed so hard I woke up my snoring girlfriend."
Clint Forgy, author

"There a couple of scenes on a train which contain some of the funniest writing that I have read in a long time."

Goodreads reader

So there you go! You can read a sample chapter by clicking here and after that why not click the link below and go ahead and pre-order yourself a copy. Go on, you know you want to!

Manuscript for The Flood submitted to the publisher!

Finally, at long last I have completed the final, final draft of the manuscript for Sex, Love & Dating Disasters: The Flood and submitted it to Acorn Independent Press. I expect both versions of the book to be available this month!

The eBook version will be available first on Amazon as soon as the proofreading stage is complete, followed by the paperback available at all good online book retailers.

To everyone who has been asking when the follow-up to The Drought would be available, thank you for your patience. It only took me four years, five months and nine days to get to this stage :)

But I hope it will be worth the wait! The first few reviews from the preview copies I sent out to readers on Goodreads have been really positive so far. You can check them out by clicking here but here are a couple of samples from those reviews:

"Oh My Gosh, Laugh Out LOUD funny! my roommate ran in the room asking what was so funny and when I told her, she laughed so hard she could no longer walk!"

"The Flood made me laugh, it made me laugh aloud and often. There are a couple of scenes on a train which contain some of the funniest writing that I have read in a long time and that's where this novel is a major success, it is just damn funny."

So hopefully it will be worth the wait. Keep checking back for official publication date and for other uploads on character bios, reader reviews and a few more surprises!

Dating disaster comedy eBook The Drought is available for FREE download this weekend on Amazon!

This weekend only you can download my dating disaster comedy eBook The Drought for absolutely free at Amazon (details and links at the bottom of this blog). The hilarious tale of Dan Hilles desperately trying to overcome his sexual dry spell has been a huge hit with readers and online book reviewers as well as scoring an average 4-star rating on social reading website Goodreads.

This promotion is part of the upcoming release of my second novel The Flood which I am hoping to put out within the next couple of months. The Drought is often described as lad lit or chick let for men and has been compared to the work of Mike Gayle, Danny Wallace, Nick Spalding and lad lit king Nick Hornby.

The type of comedy has been compared to that of The Inbetweeners as it focuses on four lads and their commitment to try and help their good friend Dan overcome the type of hurdle that would only seem important to a 20-something man - and often it is all done with side-splitting consequences!

Online book reviewers have been giving it the thumbs-up (read a collection of book reviews and praise about the book here) and last year The Drought was runner-up in the Shirley You Jest book competition. Some of the feedback includes:

"A pleasantly darker alternative to the offerings of Mike Gayle. All hail the arrival of Steven Scaffardi."
Ortis Deley | Television & Radio Presenter 

"The Drought is witty, well-written, and pulls no punches!"
Angellica Bell | Television & Radio Presenter

"If you like crude, rude, and true - you will love this! I was reading this book on the train on my journey home and actually managed to spit my tea out where I was laughing so hard!"
Best Books To Read | Book Review Website

"Warning - this book will have you crying... with laughter! This has a broad appeal and would be the perfect gift for the lad in your life!"
BCF Book Reviews | Book Review Website

"Being a female, I sometimes have difficulty relating to the main characters, but not with this one. Steven Scaffardi’s first novel is absolutely hilarious and will leave every reader, male or female, laughing out loud"
Chick Lit Plus | Book Review Website

"The Drought is a hilarious, highly entertaining and completely unfiltered look into the inner workings of the typical male mind!"
Sarah Taylor | Editor of Self-Publishing Magazine

So if you are looking for that next great holiday read check then click one of the the links below and download your free eBook version of The Drought and you'll be laughing all the way to the beach!

If you download a free copy and enjoy The Drought please leave a review - thanks!

The Funniest Book Ever!

It never ceases to amaze me how humbled I am every time a reader takes the time to leave such positive comments and reviews for The Drought. Over the past couple of weeks, there have been a couple of real gems from Goodreads readers, and one reader was even kind enough to drop me a note to say it was the funniest book they had ever read!

First up was Goodreads member Andrew. You can read the full review here, but here is a quick snippet of what he had to say:

"It's a definitely recommendation from me. The book is very funny, will keep you entertained throughout - would advise to read in non-public places. Bring on the sequel... it cant come soon enough... this book has totally spoiled the next books i read and will find it very hard to compare anything close to it. 5/5"

And then a couple of days later, Maureen Reil (author of Chick Lit Saved My Life) posted a review saying how much she enjoyed The Drought. Maureen said:

"This is Lad-Lit at its finest and I loved it from start to finish and you can’t say that about many books" 

You can see Maureen's full review by clicking here and check out all of the reviews on Goodreads which now stands at 67 with an average 4 star rating (out of five) by visiting The Drought Goodreads page.

A huge thanks to all of the readers who keep posting their positive feedback! I am plugging away with the follow-up novel and hope to have it ready soon!

Amazon buys Goodreads: What does it mean for Indie Authors?

There seems to be mixed views on the news that Amazon have purchased Goodreads - the social book reading and sharing website. I can see the pros and cons of the argument, especially as an indie author. I have found Goodreads such an important tool to reach out and contact and engage with readers.

Over the last 6-12 months, The Drought has been picking up more reviews than ever before, and that is largely down to sites like Smashwords and Goodreads connecting me as an author with readers. But not just any readers, by spending a bit of desk time simply researching various members and groups on the site, I have been able to contact readers who I feel would enjoy my book based on their reading lists.

Goodreads is the largest site for readers and book recommendations in the world, with over 16m members. Most readers are happy to be contacted, especially when I use a Smshwords code to offer them a free download of The Drought in exchange for a fair and balanced review.

But on Amazon it is much more difficult to find and contact relevant reviewers to read my book. In the two years The Drought has been available on Amazon, it has only received a total of 27 reviews. In less than half that time on Goodreads, The Drought has nearly 70 reviews and has been download 500 times.

So what happens when Goodreads gets Amazonafied? Does it become increasingly more difficult for indie authors to connect with readers? Is this just another nail in the coffin for self-publishing success stories? Maybe not, but it does throw up the concern that Amazon will further increase their vice-like grip on the book selling and reading community.

Amazon put a stop on authors using their forums as a self-promoting tool, and any author who has attempted to give their books a little plug on some of the more popular independent forums will often have the door slammed shut in their face for even daring to mention their own book! I once posted a very positive review on a forum for The Book With No Name which happens to have an 'Anonymous' author and I received a rather snotty-nosed message from one of the forum's administrators accusing me of having something to do with the book.

Connecting with readers and getting reviews is just about as important to an indie author as it is to Luis Suarez having the salt and pepper within reach when he is snacking on Branislav Ivanovic's arm. Okay, it's a lot more important than that! But I could't resist a little dig...

These reviews not only help make other readers aware of my book, but it also gives me a sense that all the hard work is worth it. It's one thing having your friends and family tell you they like your book, but it is totally different when someone in Germany or the Philippines post a 5-star review saying how much they laughed when reading it. And it's fantastic when they compare your work to well-known established authors.

It's these reviews and relationships with these readers that keep indie authors going in the hope that they'll become that next big self-publishing success story. For every reader who gives you a positive review, it's two fingers up to the literary agent who said no. If Amazon take this function away from us, then it's Amazon who will be holding the two fingers up at indie authors.

Goodreads reader posts YouTube review for The Drought!

Check out this video review of The Drought by Goodreads member Gaby!

A nice surprise from India!

Yesterday I turned 35. It wasn't a pleasant experience - nothing bad happened, in fact my wife went out of her way to make sure I had a great day. But as the day turned to night, I found myself lying in bed with the realisation that I was now technically closer to 40 than I was to 30... A sobering thought.

So it was with great delight today that I got a note on Goodreads from Naznin Azeez who lives in India, and had seen the review for The Drought on the Impressions of a Princess blog and had decided to give my little lad lit novel a read, and had enjoyed it so much she posted  a review up on her own blog site which you can see here and I have also copy and pasted the review below:

Book Review: The Drought
From the very beginning of reading it, I felt a warm feeling in me because I could positively see that the book was a relaxing one. It set the right mood from the moment it began. I love the way the author gave attention to little details throughout the book. He has definitely thought the whole plot through very very well!. There were certain moments I just laughed out LOUD. He plays around with words in a very hearty manner. You gotta love Steven for not messing with the actual harsh reality of life. He portrays Dan as a man who is completely unlucky when it comes to women!. However, some situations that he gets himself into is damn unbelievable while some are plain hilarious.

The book is written from a man’s point of view. Women should read this book to see how a man’s mind works!.. Men should read this book so that they can nod along and probably say, “I would have thought so too”.. Hahaha.. Frankly, there were certain times, when I thought the Dan Hilles was completely insensitive!. But there were also times when I sympathized with his complete lack of luck. Certainly getting a look inside a man’s head can be terrifying to a woman. When reading it, inevitably, the question arises in your head whether all guys in your life think the same too. That puts you in a weird position!.

It’s hilarious how Steven has described men’s hatred towards shopping. Personally that’s one thing I can never understand about men. But I know for real that not every men are like that. I personally know about two men who actually love shopping. Hahaha. Yeah, two!. Isn’t that awesome?.

It’s a nice read. Being only 274 pages, it’s a quick and relaxed read. I kept wondering throughout the book, how it would eventually end. The first chapter was titled The End. Though that chapter made it clear what the book title was about, I could predict most of the stuff like what is going to happen at a date because it was already explained in the first chapter.. That gave away certain suspense as to how things would turn out.

Towards the last set of chapters, I kinda started predicting what the end would be. That, kind of made me upset because I couldn’t believe Steven would end it with the obvious. However, he introduced a nice twist towards the end which was totally unexpected and threw my doubts about his ability to keep it entertaining, right out the window. You gotta read the book to know what it’s all about :)

The chat up/pick up lines used by Dan’s friends are absolutely brilliant. They all made me laugh. I kinda had a feeling that if a guy said that to me in real life I might actually laugh and would definitely get talking with him!.

All in all, I give the book 4/5 which by Goodreads standards mean that I ‘really liked’ it.

Collection of recent book reviews for The Drought by Steven Scaffardi

Book Review: The Drought by Steven Scaffardi
This page is continuously updated with quotes from book reviews for The Drought by Steven Scaffardi. These reviews come from readers and bloggers, and of course book reviews from websites and printed publications.

If you click on the source of each review it will take you through to a page where you can read the whole review, or you can click this link to view all of the reviews together. 

Praise for The Drought by Steven Scaffardi 
"A pleasantly darker alternative to the offerings of Mike Gayle. All hail the arrival of Steven Scaffardi."
Ortis Deley | Television & Radio Presenter 

"The Drought is witty, well-written, and pulls no punches!"
Angellica Bell | Television & Radio Presenter

"The Drought is like an adult Inbetweeners that will have you laughing all the way through!"
Luke Dolan | Television Producer 

“The Drought is a good, entertaining read. It hits what could be a gap in the market."
David Harrison | Award Winning Journalist

"The Drought is a superior version of chick lit for men - immediately engaging, written in a really modern vernacular and he's already mastered comic timing.”
Matt Whipp | Printweek.com Editor

"This is one of the funniest books I've read in ages... this could well become a film in a couple of years!"
Amazon Reader Review | September 2011

"This is a fantastic read which doesn't just cater for the 'lads' (my wife loved it!) and I would strongly recommend this book to anyone!"
Amazon Reader Review | October 2011

"Refreshing to have a more accurate perspective on life for the modern man. The Drought is a real page turner - Highly recommend this for your next holiday read."
Amazon Reader Review | November 2011

"If you like crude, rude, and true - you will love this! I was reading this book on the train on my journey home and actually managed to spit my tea out where I was laughing so hard!"
Best Books To Read | Book Review Website

"This book is a laugh from start to finish and an excellent debut novel by Steven Scaffardi. With overtones of Men Behaving Badly, this story is full of satirical comments and observations of life in general which will amuse and entertain the reader - much recommended."
Amazon Reader Review | December 2011

"Laugh out loud' funny and a real page turner, I enjoyed this book immensely, can't wait for the next book from Steven Scaffardi." 
Amazon Reader Review | January 2012

"Well written and cleverly constructed, this is a compulsive page turner that will have you cackling with laughter the more you read. Mr. Scaffardi, I applaud you!"
Amazon Reader Review | January 2012

"I can't remember the last time I laughed so much while reading a book!"
Amazon Reader Review | January 2012

"The overall result (of The Drought) is an incredibly readable, feel good, highly amusing adventure which will have you smiling for days."
Amazon Reader Review | February 2012

"There are very few books that I've read recently that have had me laughing out loud, frequently in public places to the amusement of those around me! For a debut novel, this is a massively accomplished book, and I for one can't wait for the next one."
Amazon Reader Review | February 2012

"Warning - this book will have you crying... with laughter! This has a broad appeal and would be the perfect gift for the lad in your life!"
BCF Book Reviews | Book Review Website

"Scaffardi is an author who is going to be a household name, and he deserves to be!"
Amazon Reader Review | April 2012

"Being a female, I sometimes have difficulty relating to the main characters, but not with this one. Steven Scaffardi’s first novel is absolutely hilarious and will leave every reader, male or female, laughing out loud"
Chick Lit Plus | Book Review Website

"The Drought is a hilarious, highly entertaining and completely unfiltered look into the inner workings of the typical male mind!"
Sarah Taylor | Editor of Self-Publishing Magazine

"This book is as funny as hell, It is very rare that a book makes me laugh the way this one did which is the highest complement I can give this book."
Goodreads Reader Review | November 2012

Advice for Indie Authors: Indie authors beware! Do not feed the reviewers!

This indie author and publishing malarkey isn't always plain sailing, as I've learnt the hard way in the last 24 hours! There are more highs and lows than a 90s TV game show hosted by Bruce Forsyth! Good game? Not quite.

It was just yesterday I pranced on to Blogger with a skip and jump in my step, waxing lyrical about all the fantastic new reviews The Drought had received. Fast forward one day and my mood has dropped quicker than Luis Suarez in the penalty box!

You see, like many indie authors, it's up to me to be my publicist and marketer, with just one small problem - I don't have a Scooby Doo what I'm doing! And unfortunately this week I had a 'brainwave' and boy did I run with it!

My great plan was pretty simple: people on book reading social platform Goodreads like reading. Top reviewers on Goodreads love reading. So why not contact all 100 (yes, 100!) of those reviewers to offer them a free copy of The Drought to review? They'll be falling over themselves to read it, right? Nice to see you, to see you, nice!

Well, not quite. I hadn't quite thought through the whole 'spamming' issue. You see, and I'm sure other indie authors can relate, when you have a 'great' idea you don't really sit back and think if the consequences, you just go for it! Previously I had searched for readers who had read books by authors I would consider my book to be similar to (Mike Gayle, etc.) but on this occasion I just thought: "This reviewer loves supernatural thrillers - that must mean she'd love to read a comedy about a guy on a sex drought!"

I know, I know! But I just saw the positives, and never gave a thought to the potential gut-wrenching negatives!

The first reply came through last night from a female reviewer in the US who kindly pointed me towards her reviewing policy. I won't go into all the details, but the gist of it was do your homework before asking for a review and don't just spam! Reviewers are busy people too, but I will freely admit my nativity at thinking I must be the first indie author to have hatched this great plan to contact reviewers on Goodreads! My feeble attempt at a reply probably - and rightfully so - fell on deaf ears.

Next up I did a wee Google search to see if anyone out there in blog land had reviewed my book, and what do you know - I found one!

Now if my stint doing stand-up comedy has taught me anything, it's that you take the rough with the smooth. I've stood in packed rooms with people laughing at me (not literally, but at my jokes of course!). I've had audiences tell me I was the funniest comedian of the night (granted that was a private family gig in front of my parents and I was the only comedian, but that's not the point...!).

But the gigs that stick in the mind are the ones when you stink out the place and die on stage. I guess it's just human nature; praise is easy to take but criticisms stick in the back of your throat like a cracker on a hot summers day, because you take it as a personal attack.

So back to the review I found...

Two out of 10 lousy stars! Two! And the worst part about it was that it was only based on one chapter! One! (Don't worry, I'm not counting backwards towards anything...). But there is nothing I can do now. It's out there, floating around in cyber space for all to see. I then did the one thing I always tell others not to and I left a comment on the review. Nothing malicious, just that I didn't feel a whole review based on one chapter wasn't very fair, but hey-ho...

They say things come in threes, and right on queue this morning, I got a reply on Goodreads from another reviewer I had contacted. This message was perfectly nice, saying that she would be happy to review The Drought, but...

She did warn me that it was considered gauche to be promoting my own book to readers, and that spamming (that bloody word again!) will rub some people up the wrong way. In fact, she went as far as saying that there was an "evil underbelly" of people on Goodreads who like nothing more than bad-mouthing new authors. She even called them 'dangerous'! Gulp - what have I let myself in for?!

Now every time I get a message on Goodreads or an email notifying me of a purchase on Smashwords, I take a deep breath and pray! If anything, this has taught me a valuable lesson - Do not feed the reviewers!

Only kidding! What I have learned is that I've never confessed to being the best writer in the world. I'm not stupid enough to think that my book will set the literary world on fire or be heralded as the new Dickens!

But...

I would like to think that I'm not bad at comedic writing. I have to take heart from the majority of reviews who genuinely seemed to have enjoyed The Drought. But most importantly, I do need to know my audience! It sounds utterly ridiculous to say that, but sometimes you get caught up like a rabbit in the headlights.

So my final plea to reviewers everywhere - I'm sorry I spammed you! Please take pity on me and if you see my little bunny ears in front of you as you are driving around in your busy book-reading lives, try to politely swerve rather mowing me down and leaving me for road kill! I promise never to spam again.

To steal a line from Rocky Balboa - if I can change, you can change, we all can change!

Fantastic book reviews from around the world for The Drought!

In the last couple of weeks I have been getting in contact with some of the top reviewers on Goodreads - the social media book reading and sharing website - to ask them to review The Drought for me. And in the last week I am pleased to announce that I have had three postive reviews posted!

The first came from Kumara in Ireland who gave The Drought a four-star (out of five) book review and called it "funny as hell" as he admitted to laughing all the way through.

Next up came JM Hace who is currently ranked the number one reviewer from Mexico on Goodreads, and gave The Drought three stars and said it was a "male version of Helen Fielding's novels" who of course wrote the Bridget Jones Diary series.

And last but not least, this weekend I was delighted to get yet another positive book for The Drought, and this time it came from 3,500 miles away from a reader in Toronto! Teena in Toronto - who is currently ranked number six reviewer in Canada gave The Drought a glowing five-star review! Teena said she found it 'hilarious' and posted the review up to her blog site.

All three reviews can be found on Goodreads, or you can read them below...

Reader Review for The Drought by Teena from Toronto (Goodreads)
When the book starts, it's September 13 and Dan has just gotten tossed out of a bar, where he was drowning his sorrows, by a female bartender. Then Dan takes us back nine months earlier, to January 1, to fill us in on how he ended up in this predicament. He and his girlfriend of three years, Stacey, had just broken up. They had grown apart since they graduated from university last year ... she'd gotten nasty and clingy. It's been a while since he's been single and his friends, Rob (the funny one), Jack (the cheating one) and Ollie (the big slow one), are more than happy to give him advice and get him back out there. As the months go by, Dan isn't looking for a girlfriend, he just wants some action and this becomes their mission. We go on many dates with Dan, all ending in various kinds of disasters. Poor Dan! Dan has a sales job and he suspects his boss ("please call me Dick") has a crush on him. What gets Dan through the day plus giving him a woman's perspective is the platonic friendship he has with his colleague, Kelly. I really enjoyed this book and liked the humorous writing style. It is hilarious! This is lad-lit (chick-lit for men) so it was interesting reading about a break-up from a male perspective. The story is based in the London area and the author is English. As such, there are phrases and expressions that are specific to being English and some I wasn't familiar with (but it wasn't hard to figure it out). The language and actions are for a mature reader. I hope Steven writes many more books like this because I'll be reading them!

Reader Review for The Drought by Kumara (Goodreads)
This book is as funny as hell, laugh out loud funny at times. The story follows the misadventures of Daniel Hiiles following his break up with his long term girlfriend and his attempts to end his drought with members of the opposite sex. This book is a lads book but never sinks as low as lads magazines like nuts tend to, only Dans friend Jack comes close to this which might be why he was the only character in the book I did not like. The one liners in the book are spot on and needed to be with a main character who tends to speak before he thinks. Dan himself is a very likeable main character although has got to be one of the unluckiest people I have come across in a novel in a long time. There are some difference between men and women cliches like women not understanding the offside rule and men hating shopping but it does not take away from what is such a funny novel. It is very rare that a book makes me laugh the way this one did which is the highest complement I can give this book.

Reader Review: for The Drought by JM Hace (Goodreads)
Lad-Lit, that male counterpart to Chick-Lit, seems not to be as well-known, but this book is a perfect example of it. It's funny, entertaining, and a quite easy read. Not so much Nick Hornby as a male version of Helen Fielding's novels or something like that. And I mean that in a good way. The male lead is funny and sympathetic, but doesn't hide from his faults. A nice suprirse is seeing on the last page that the author is working on the sequel. Count me in.

Reader review on Goodreads calls The Drought a "laugh-out loud" very funny book!

Today I spotted a new review for The Drought on Goodreads. Reviewer 'Kumara' calls The Drought 'laugh-out loud' funny and gave it a four-star rating! I have copy and pasted the review below, and you can check out all the Goodreads reviews by clicking here. 

Goodreads Reader Review #1
This book is as funny as hell, laugh out loud funny at times. The story follows the misadventures of Daniel Hiiles following his break up with his long term girlfriend and his attempts to end his drought with members of the opposite sex. This book is a lads book but never sinks as low as lads magazines like nuts tend to, only Dan's friend Jack comes close to this which might be why he was the only character in the book I did not like. The one liners in the book are spot on and needed to be with a main character who tends to speak before he thinks. Dan himself is a very likeable main character although has got to be one of the unluckiest people I have come across in a novel in a long time. There are some difference between men and women cliches like women not understanding the offside rule and men hating shopping but it does not take away from what is such a funny novel. It is very rare that a book makes me laugh the way this one did which is the highest complement I can give this book.