Shirley You Jest results are in!

Today the good people over at Shirley You Jest announced the winners in the fiction category for their book awards and unfortunately The Drought wasn't a winner this time.

Congratulations to Amy Sprenger who got first place with her book Baby Bumps, and to runner-up Billie Thomas and her novel Murder on the First Day of Christmas.

Shirley You Jest will be back in May 2014 and with a bit of luck I'll have pulled my finger out and finished The Flood by then (I know, I know - I keep saying that...!).

Press coverage in the Sutton Guardian

My favourite local reporter Sophia Sleigh was kind enough to give me a little mention on the Local Guardian website today. I have posted the article below but you can also read the original article by clicking here.

Carshalton author celebrates comedy book award nomination
by Sophia Sleigh

A book about a man's dating disasters has been shortlisted for a comedy book award.

The Drought, by Carshalton author Steven Scaffardi, has made the final four in the Shirley You Jest book awards.

The book tells the story of one man’s quest to overcome a period of "sexual drought".

Mr Scaffardi is celebrating by giving people free downloads of the book until November 1.

He said: "I’m absolutely thrilled that The Drought has made the final four in the Shirley You Jest book awards.

"The feedback from readers and reviewers over the last 12 months has been incredible so a free download seemed like a nice way of celebrating."

Visit Smashwords using the code LF63C.

The Drought makes the Shirley You Jest Book Awards final four!

Just got some pretty awesome news - The Drought has been shortlisted in the fiction category for the Shirley You Jest Book Awards!

Four books made the cut after weeks of judging and the winner will be announced on November 1st.

The other books include Murder on the First Day of Christmas by Billie Thomas, Baby Bumps by Amy Sprenger, and In Need of Therapy by Tracie Banister.

Good luck to all the finalists and may the funniest book win! 

The Drought enters the Shirley You Jest Book Awards!

This evening I entered The Drought into the second annual Shirley You Jest Book Awards! The eBook version of the book qualifies as an updated version of The Drought was uploaded to Smashwords in November 2012.

About Shirley You Jest Book Awards!
Shirley You Jest! Book Awards reprises its role as the only indie comedy and humor book contest to offer publicity-based prizes. Presented by Liz D Publicity & Promotions, SYJ! honors books by self-published and traditionally published independent authors that "deliver the funny.” The contest is open to fiction and non-fiction e-book and print titles released between 2012 and 2013. Entries are accepted May 20, 2013 – July 22, 2013.

Since its premiere last year, Shirley You Jest! Book Awards has received accolades from the indie book community. Shirley Award-winning author Robin O’Bryant credits the contest with having helped with the sales of her self-published motherhood memoir, Ketchup is a Vegetable and Other Lies Moms Tell Themselves. “One of the greatest obstacles facing indie publishers is the high cost of marketing and advertising . . . SYJ! helped [me] with all of this . . . by expanding my audience and helping me find new readers,” says O’Bryant.

On November 1, 2013, National Author’s Day, Shirley Awards will be presented to the two funniest entries in the fiction and non-fiction categories. Winning authors will receive media exposure from SYJ! sponsors that include author interviews, book reviews, special blog features and social media mentions. The list of participating US, Canadian and UK prize sponsors include: Underground Book Reviews, Book Guys podcast, Morgen Bailey’s Writing Blog, Author Groupie, The Paperback Pursuer, The Humor Columnist, The Bunny’s Review, Humor Times, Conversations LIVE Radio, Conversations Magazine, Lisa Haselton’s Reviews and Interviews, Reading Addiction Blog Tour, Dudes and Stuff Podcast, Humor Writers of America, Tiffany Talks Books, TeamNerd Reviews, Doing Dewey and Indie Minded Radio Show.

Wish me luck!