Hello lovely supporters
Hopefully by now you have a copy of my book (virtual or physical), I hope you like it!
I'm very happy with the finished product. In fact here is me just y’know, authoring about at the largest all female wrestling event in Europe yesterday, no big deal.
At Pro Wrestling:EVE Wrestlequeendom 2 - which was 5 hours of crazy amazing womens wrestling. I did wear make up but had sweated it off before the first match even started.
First of all I just wanted to say thank you again for all of your support to get me here – when the first copies arrived at work I did a cry and then ate two Callipos to celebrate. I can confirm me, Fraser, my coach Garry Vanderhorne, my Step Mum and a plethora of wrestling peeps have all read it in one sitting. Reviews so far are good, and that I’ve fully educated three men about how gross and horrible gyancological disorders can be. Fabulous. Which means I just want to share this again. Which is me. A year ago. Cradling my giant cyst. Thanks.
OK now I've got that out the way I thought I’d chuck an FAQ at you about some of the questions that I’ve been failing to answer on twitter, because I got a new phone and I can’t really figure out how to use it.
1. Err, excuse me, this is great, where can I buy more copies?
In a hilarious turn of events, my book is available on Waterstones, Foyles, Amazon and Blackwells – I will also be selling it soon on my website (yes I have a website, I’m taking this all very seriously).
But MORE IMPORTANTLY I’ll also be selling books at two upcoming book launch events.
2. Wait, you are having launch events?
Yes!
At the Resistance Gallery on the 11th July there’s a launch party – which I would love you to come to because it’s a way of saying thank you for your support. There will be four wreslting matches from my pals at Lucha Brittannia and Burning Hearts, as well as me blundering about being emotional and happy. It’s free and won’t be a late one so come!
On the 18th of July I’ll also be doing an author Q and A, and book signing at the marvellous Riverside Bookshop in London Bridge. This will be a lot more booky, I’ll be doing a talk on women’s wrestling and violent feminity; as well as reading from the book. It’s free but it’s not a big space so tickets are available here.
Hold on, this is all very nice but when I pledged I was also promised some other items, like a zine, and a wrestler character, and a mug and a whole wrestling mask.
I KNOW don’t worry I haven’t forgotten.
If you are expecting a zine or a wrestling character (all pledges of Chyna level and above), Unbound will be contacting you soon to organise how to get these posted out to you. There will be an online form so you get the choice of which title you want and will ask for a postal address so check your emails :)
If you gave a Chigusa Nagayo or Mae Young pledge I will be contacting you separately. You will be getting a MUG (who doesn’t love a mug) and a handmade mask made by the incredible Maskal designs. You’ll also get the option of collecting at the launch or having it sent to you in post.
So my book hasn’t arrived….
Ah, sorry to hear that. A few things I’ll need you to check for me on the emails that Unbound have sent you:
1. Did you make a pledge for Sasha Banks? If you did then you pledged for an E book, which is still very much a book, just not papery. You did get told this when you pledged, and also would have received an email asking if you wanted to upgrade at some point. I’m sorry, but from this point forwards all paper copies have to be bought at full price – if this is really upsetting let me know and we can try and figure something out
2. If you pledged for Luna Vachon (or above) you would have got an email asking you to check your address was correct a few weeks ago. I know 11 of you didn’t do this as your copies got sent to me J I’ll be emailing you about this separately, but if you don’t hear from me I think it may have been sent to an old address – you can log in to your unbound account and see where it was sent.
3. If neither of the above apply you should have got a Royal Mail tracking number last week so it’s back to good old looking for post on the internet for you I’m afraid
How can I help you sell more books?
I’m so glad you asked! Any of the following will be very helpful to me:
1. REVIEW IT on goodreads.com or any other platform – this is how books stay alive
2. Tweet/Insta/Blog/Flypost about how amazing it is and leave the details of how people can order their copy online – you can tag me as @ranabitesback (twitter) @heather_honeybadger (insta)
3. If you know anyone who writes for the press in any capacity ask if they can review it or publicise it in what they do. At the moment contacting the press is like shouting in to a bin.
4. Recommend it for your book group (I KNOW SOME OF YOU HAVE BOOK GROUPS)
5. If you’re a wrestler, endorse it all over yourself (absolutely fine for it to be used as a foreign object in a match)/
That’s all from me! I will probably send you some incredibly gushy update in a few months times to give you an idea where the book has gone. I only ever wrote this book to get it out there, and you’ve helped me achieve that dream, and I am forever grateful.
Everything that follows after this point is just a big fat bonus.
Enjoy the heat and see you at the launch I hope!!!