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buy the anthology - about the anthology - anthology video - book launch - anthology cover
During the witching hour of All Hullow's Eve, as the banshees cackled, the bats fluttered, the wolves howled and the witches cast their spells, the To Hull And Back humorous short story competition anthology 2017 was published. It is available to buy all over the planet.
You'll find full details of how to purchase the book below.
Cover designed by Rowena Sheehan, featuring the marvellous mug of winner Crystal Jeans
The 2017 anthology can be purchased from Amazon in print or Kindle (eBook) formats. PDF versions of the book are also available, sent by email.
You can purchase Kindle eBook copies of the anthology here:
The book is available on all of Amazon's websites. To find it, simply put the Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN) for the book into Amazon's search box:
B076ZQQZB2
You can purchase printed paperback copies of the book on Amazon here:
The book's ISBNs:
Purchasing a PDF is the cheapest way to buy the 2017 To Hull And Back anthology. Pay via PayPal using the button below - I will then email you a PDF version of the book.
2017 Anthology PDF £3.99 |
The PDF will be sent to your registered PayPal email address within 48 hours.
If you want the PDF sent to a different email address, please let me know - you'll be able to do this in PayPal during the checkout process.
I’m proud to present the fourth To Hull And Back humorous short story competition anthology. It contains a collection of 27 short stories from the winning, highly commended and shortlisted entrants of the 2017 contest. The book also contains a story written by each of the judges.
The stories in the book are fun and quirky, written by writers with vivid imaginations. This means all the tales are highly original and entertaining to read. I predict that each will become a fable of mirth and legend in the future.
The authors featured in this anthology are:
Bar Danino, C L Raven, Christie Cluett, Christopher Brawn, Christopher Fielden, Christopher Stanley, Crystal Jeans, Edward Field, Grace Newman, Joe Eurell, Joma West, Karen Jones, Karl Bunyan, Katy Wimhurst, Kim Montgomery, L P Lee, Leah Strelsin, Mark Rutterford, Martin Strike, Mel Ciavucco, Mike Scott Thomson, Pete Ewing, R L Wilson, Rachel McHale, Steph Minns, Stephen Keyworth and Tracey Iceton.
You can see all their biographies on the 2017 competition results page.
The book’s cover was created by Rowena Sheehan - you can see her biography below.
The anthology was first released on Hulloween (31st October) 2017. The winner’s copy of the book will make a journey on the Highway to Hull, strapped to a two-wheeled chariot of rampant noisiness. You can learn more about the meaning of the previous sentence and the To Hull And Back competition (which offers the most awesome prize in the field of literature) on To Hull And Back short story competition page.
To Hull And Back - this is the fourth video - it was filmed in May 2018
The 2017 To Hull And Back anthology launch party took place at Left Bank, 128 Cheltenham Rd, Stokes Croft, Bristol, BS6 5RW, UK, on Saturday 9th December 2017 at 6.30pm.
From left to right: Elisabeth Mizon, Mark Lewis, Christie Cluett, Chris Stanley, Chris Fielden, Amanda Staples, Ed Field, Crystal Jeans, Martin Strike, Jo Strike, Emma Kernahan, Oliver Kennett, Mel Ciavucco and Mark Rutterford
The launch was run in conjunction with Talking Tales, a bi-monthly story telling event presented by Stokes Croft Writers. The members of SCW help me judge the competition every year.
There were short story readings from some of the winning writers featured in the anthology, alongside readings from writers who had submitted to Talking Tales.
The set list looked like this:
First Half
Emma Kernahan reading 'Every Day Is Like A Holiday'
Amanda Staples reading 'Letting Go'
Edward Field reading 'Deconstructing Me'
Mark Lewis reading 'Ten Days That Shook The World'
Christopher Stanley reading 'Leisure Sickness'
Second Half
Mark Rutterford reading 'Look4Me' by Oliver Kennett
Martin and Jo Strike reading 'The Turbothrob Triple-X'
Elisabeth Mizon reading 'Matt Essay Hemingway'd'
Crystal Jeans reading 'Bug Boy'
I'd like to say a big thank you to Christie Cluett, Mark Rutterford, Mel Ciavucco, Mike Scott Thomson, Pete Ewing and Steph Minns for helping me judge the 2017 competition.
What a splendid gaggle of writery types, all devastating delicious in the looks department
I'd also like to thank Rowena Sheehan for designing an awesome cover for the 2017 anthology.
Thanks to Mel Ciavucco, Dave Fielden and Thomas David Parker for taking the photos that litter this page.
And finally, a big thank you to all the performers who journeyed from all over the place to deliver such wonderful readings. It takes balls the size of the moon to stand before the lonely microphone and read a story to an audience - thanks to everyone who attended for creating a warm, welcoming atmosphere that supported all of the readers.
You can read more about the launch party on Martin Strike's blog.
Here are some more pictures, taken at the launch party.
Some of the Talking Tales audience, entranced by awesomeness
Me, doing some introductory waffling
Everyone looking sensible, apart from me and Crystal who look like we're... hmm, not sure... Squatting? Yes, let's go with squatting
Mark and Mary Fielden
Crystal, doing some reading
The fabulous book cover, by Rowena Sheehan
Me, waffling some more beneath fairy lights
Chris Stanley, reading
A gathering of unruly writers, celebrating how amazing we all are
Martin and Joanne Strike, reading
Elizabeth Mizon, reading
Emma Kernahan, reading
Dave, taking one of the most blurry selfies ever published
The 2017 To Hull And Back anthology cover was designed and created by Rowena Sheehan.
Rowena is an English-Irish artist currently living in Denmark where she is learning to storyboard for film and animation. She is a keen storyteller, with comics being her primary medium of choice.
You can find out more:
To Hull And Back Anthology 2017, full book cover by Rowena Sheehan
Karl B
I've splashed out on a physical copy in case it's the only fiction I ever have out there.
I guess ebooks are by far the most common sales medium, but I'm sure there's some way of linking KDP with CreateSpace that means print and Kindle versions both appear on UK listings - and with cheaper shipping. I helped someone do it a while back but I don't know if it was a beta program so you might not have that option. Apologies if you know about it already and it's just a massive faff to set up, because I remember it being quite a massive faff and apart from that can't recall how it all worked.
Also, I just wanted to say I love the cover illustration! So if it ever comes up please consider this as a contribution to the bucket of praise I'm sure Rowena will get for the artwork.
Thanks (again) for pulling everything together, and now I should really pull my finger out and try and prove to myself it wasn't a one-off to get a story on the shortlist.
Chris Fielden
Great, thanks for ordering a copy, Karl– much appreciated.
I find print is generally more popular, especially with writers featured in the books – they like to see the physical thing. I’m the same. Still, eBooks are cheaper and save the trees, so I shouldn’t be too dismissive. Plus, a lot of people do like them for convenience. I get it… but as a reader I like turning pages.
CreateSpace have a magic ‘publish on Kindle’ button that takes you to the KDP website and sets the book up on your bookshelf. Then you have to redo it all, including reformatting the innards, as it’s always riddled with formatting errors. Even the html in descriptions has to be redone.
Amazon then take an age to tie the print version of the book with the eBook, despite the fact it’s come from CreateSpace. The longest I’ve seen it take is 2 years. No idea why.
Great, I’ll let Rowena know – I’m sure she’ll be happy to hear it.
Yep, stop chatting to me and get writing!
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