Charon Unguarded By A H Johnstone. My Review.

I started reading this on Friday night and have nearly finished it on Monday afternoon, just a few pages left. This in itself is something of a miracle for me, as it’s rare for a book to engage me so fully. The book is fast-paced, funny in places, and shows the ancient gods and other people and creatures of folklore in a completely different modern 21st-century setting. They are here, because, a millennium before they were all banished from their various realms and made to live in the world of mankind, which, obviously pees many of them off.

The story is set around Charon, The Ferryman of ancient Greek mythology whose job was to transport the dead across the two rivers separating the land of the living to the land of the dead. Charon is now the doorkeeper at a seemingly empty office block. He’s quite happy doing this keeping his head down and getting on with things.

Then he hears about something from Ra, the ancient Egyptian sun god, that if it happens, will destroy all of them and all of mankind. Charon has no choice but to try and discover what this is and stop it.

***** I give this five stars out of five any day.

Available now from M.A Bookshop for £9.99 + £2.90 UK postage

Charon Unguarded 

News Update

I’m writing this at just after three in the morning because I usually wake up around this time. Don’t worry, I’ll go back to bed when I’ve done this. As you will see, I’ve designed a new logo, and I’ve also just applied to officially change the company name to M.A Bookshop Limited. I think having an official name and a trading name that are different, may put up red flags to some people.

One other thing I’ve done is add a live chat facility to the website. This appears to be seen a being highly important for e-commerce websites these days because it gives customers another opportunity and way of interacting with you.

This month (Feb) the site has had over 1000 page hits, which is good. I just need to start converting a few more to actual sales. Got bills and things to pay.

#bookshopsonline #keeppositive # www.maureenannegiftboutique.co.uk

Now Just Selling Books

You won’t find prices here that look low on the surface but are bumped up by an inflated price for postage once you get to checkout. Here at Maureen-Anne Books, our prices are realistic and we only charge Royal Mail National or International Standard Rate postage.

 

www.maureenannegiftboutique.co.uk

A Good Days Work

Yesterday (Wed 14th Feb 2018) I spent listing a load of old vintage Ladybird books I’d bought. I’d just finished listing them on the website when I got an offer for the lot I couldn’t refuse. I made a nice little profit on those. Hopefully the start of more nice little, (or big, big’s better), profits on other things.

Home & Work

I thought it was time I wrote something again. To be honest, sales are at the moment very slow, some might say non-existent, and yes, there are times when I get worried about this. But certainly not despondent, and the worry only lasts for a short while. The website is getting hits, which is good, but they’re not translating to sales yet. Some so-called expert said it’s because your bounce rate is too high and your home page isn’t effective enough. Then said they could solve that if I crossed their palm with about £400.00. Oh to have £400.00. The other thing, of course, is trust, that takes a long time to build, people want to sure that you’re not going to rip them off. I just have to keep plugging on social media, and I’m sure in time the sales will come.

In other more personal news, as those of you who might read this blog know, I also look after my dad who has Vascular Dementia. Lately, things have started to get worse, and it’s getting to the stage where me caring for him at home isn’t going to be practical. He’s still mobile etc at the moment, but that could change in the blink of an eye, so we’ve started the ball rolling to move towards residential care for him.

 

Antique, Vintage and Collectable Books

We’ve now expanded into antique collectible and vintage books. The first of these items is now on the website. It’s an 1889 edition of Little Lord Fauntleroy and it’s priced at £95.00 or offers. We also have some vintage Ladybird books on the way, which can often attract a premium price to collectors. Here’s the link to the Fauntleroy.

Vintage and Collectables 

We’ve Gone Global.

We are now happy to sell outside of the UK. There are a few things to note if you live outside the UK and want to buy from us, but not many.

We are now happy to sell to non United Kingdom Countries. However, because of the costs involved for you the customer, we only accept payment using Paypal, and additional postage costs will be incurred. Goods will not be dispatched until this is received. This must be paid to us using the PayPal email salesandinfo@maureenannegifts.com

To find out how much extra you will need to pay, please contact us using the form on the contact us page.  Postage will be at the standard Royal Mail rate for your country. Please allow additional delivery time for sales to non UK destinations.  Our Website

Getting On The First Page Of Search Engines.

Today I did a business deal, which is guaranteed to get Maureen-Anne Books & Gifts on the first page of Bing, Yahoo, and various other search engines and online directories. It is done by the company I’m working with Unitel Direct building a generic website around the domain name onlinebookshopuk.com, which has a link to the main  maureenannegiftboutique.co.uk site. It’s similar to what B&Q did with the generic site diy.com.

There is a cost involved in this, but it’s spread over twelve months, and will hopefully give Maureen-Anne Books & Gifts the kickstart it needs.