WHAT Is Tickety Boo Press? 

Tickety Boo Press is a forward thinking publisher of fiction in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres. We started in the UK just over eighteen months ago and have expanded into the US with our distribution center. We only accept the very best stories/novels and all our titles are extensively edited by our editorial team, which includes Teresa Edgerton, author of eleven traditionally published books, Jennifer L. Carson who has worked for several major US publishers, and Jeff Richards, a published author and superb editor. Sam Primeau and Chris Penycate take care of copyediting.

Currently, we have thirteen titles for sale on Amazon (several of which are or have been on Amazon Top 100 lists) and our own Web site with six or seven more debuting by the end of this year.

WHY Was Tickety Boo Press Started? 

For many years, I’ve been a member of an online science fiction and fantasy writers’ community watching talented writers struggle to be noticed by the larger traditional publishing companies, not for lack of talent, but because they don’t check the right corporate tick box for that day. Or I’ve watched them fall prey to publishing mills that talk a good game but do nothing more than grab rights and provide sloppy editing and bad covers in exchange for 70% of an income that never manifests because no one in the publishing mill concerns themselves with quality, brand, reputation, or marketing. Still others struggle with the responsibilities of self-publishing from production to marketing. It broke my heart to see so many writers work so hard and get nowhere in the confusing field of modern publishing.

Tickety Boo Press was established as a place to help and promote talented authors in the fields of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Our fair approach and attention to quality have brought many talented authors to Tickety Boo, included traditional and multi-published authors, agented authors from esteemed places such as the John Jarrold Literary Agency and the Bent Agency, and debut authors that are garnering attention.

Tickety Boo Press is getting a good name in the industry for quality books, fairness to authors with excellent royalty rates, superb covers, and professional production and editing. We stay connected and responsive to the community through such places at the Chronicles Science Fiction and Fantasy Community where we maintain discussion forums. In keeping with Tickety Boo Press’s ethical practices, authors will receive standard royalties on the cover price of any e-book we supply in the rewards. It’s only fair.

WHERE Is Tickety Boo Press Going? 

Tickety Boo Press provides full publishing services, but starting up is an expensive endeavour with delayed income. Not only are production costs paid up front, but the resellers retain monies collected for the sales for longer than a start-up can easily absorb. The good news is Tickety Boo Press is selling in some major bookstores, some of which have even sold out. We need to get more stock into bookstores and available to you faster than we can currently afford to. So the answer to where is Tickety Boo Press going? With your help, into major bookstores and online booksellers.

Tickety Boo Catalog through 2015 

• Abendau’s Heir, by Jo Zebadee 
• Oracle, by Susan Boulton 
• A Prospect of War, by Ian Sales 
• Endeavour, by Ralph Kern 
• Goblin Moon, by Teresa Edgerton 
• Hobgoblin Night, by Teresa Edgerton 
• Indigo Heartfire, by Jo Marryat 
• After Midnight, by Joseph Rubas
• Biblia Longcrofta, by Simon Marshall-Jones 
• The Last War, by Alex Davis 
• Malevolence: Tales from Beyond the Veil, edited by J. Scott-Marryat 
• Prince of Demons, by Christian Nash 
• Space—Houston We Have a Problem, edited by Alex Davis 

All the above are on sale on our Web site and Amazon as well as a few others which are not included in this campaign. Not because they dont deserve it, but because we don’t want to be too greedy. Check them all out.

CROWDFUNDER GOALS

We need the £2300/$3500 per book (13 books – £29,900) to enable us to get our paperbacks printed in China and shipped to the UK where we will distribute to Gardner’s (who supply the bookshops), to Easons (70 shops in Ireland and Northern Ireland), to Waterstones (the largest bookseller chain in the UK), and to the Amazon fulfillment warehouse so we will cease to use the overly expensive print-on-demand model. We will also stock our new US distribution center to save expensive postage from the UK.

A colleague has been to the printers in the Foshan City, Guangdong Province, and seen the factory. The supplier is a Gold Supplier on Alibaba.com, and the quality of their books is excellent and the costs reasonable. The current print-on-demand model does not leave much profit for the author, the booksellers, or for Tickety Boo Press. Reducing costs to $1.60 per book will put our book prices in line with major publishers. This will hopefully have three benefits: an increase in sales because of more attractive pricing, a greater penetration into bookshops for Tickety Boo Press, and more royalties to the authors. This will allow writers more time to write, and we will have more funding to continue to support new talent and bring them to you.

STRETCH GOALS UNLOCKED

As each stretch goal is unlocked (£2300 per book), supporters who have pledged £30 or more will receive a choice of one of the ebooks not included in the rewards of their choice (see below). If all goals are unlocked then from the £30 pledge “The Backlist,” and upwards you will receive an extra 12 ebooks. 

Choose from the list below:

Betrayal’s Shadow by Dave De Burgh  (Mahaelian Chronicle)

Conviction’s Pain by Dave De Burgh (Mahaelian Chronicle)

A Conflict of Orders by Ian Sales (An Age Of Discord novel)

A Want of Reason by Ian Sales (An Age Of Discord novel)

Erebus by Ralph Kern (A Sleeping Gods novel)

Uncommon Purpose by P J Strebor

Death’s Sweet Echo by Maynard and Sims

Nailbiters by Paul Kane

Sunset Over Abendau by Jo Zebedee (An Inheritance Trilogy novel)

Abendau 3 by Jo Zebedee (An Inheritance Trilogy novel)

Sir Edric’s Temple by Thaddeus White

Magic, Metal and Steam edited by Teresa Edgerton 

Why Should You Support Us? 

Don’t publishing companies come and go all the time? They do, but we are striving to beat the odds and are already doing it. We have three books on up to SEVEN Amazon Top 100 Bestseller lists in the UK and US (at the time of writing). That’s quite an accomplishment for our young publishing company.

Successes

Abendau’s Heir, by Jo Zebedee, our featured book for this Crowdfunder, is presently (at the time of writing) on three Amazon Top 100 lists in the UK. It also made the Waterstones Top Ten Bestsellers list and even sold out at some stores. Fund this campaign and Abendau’s Heir will be flying back on, and off, the shelves of Waterstones and other booksellers.

As of writing this, A Prospect of War, by Ian Sales, is #10 on Amazon Top 100 lists in the US and has been on seven Amazon Top 100 lists in the UK and US. The second book in the An Age of Discord novels has also been published.

Endeavour, by Ralph Kern, has also been on seven Amazon Top 100 Lists and has reached as high as #4 in hard science. Endeavour is doing very well in audio book, in which Tickety Boo Press has partnered Tantor Media who have acquired the rights to his second book, Erebus which will be out soon.

Malevolence, our collection of ghost stories, reached #2 in Horror when it was first released only to be outdone by Stephen King. A recent Free Kindle Countdown deal saw it rocket to #1 in the horror genre for a couple of days.

Goblin Moon and Hobgoblin Night are by Teresa Edgerton, an author with eleven books published through Ace (Penguin Books) and Harper Voyager.

We are currently working on brokering a deal with a New York Times bestselling author, but shhh….though it’s going well, it’s in the very early stages. We don’t want to jinx it! Also we have started an imprint specialising in Paranormal Romance. Venus Ascending opens for business on 1st December 2015.

Our Gift to You—Free Samples

But don’t just take our word on it. As our way of saying thank you, we are sharing two short stories and a first chapter. They appear in the order below, so just page through to get to the one you would like to read.

1. Goblin Moon, Mask and Dagger series, by Teresa Edgerton 

2. “Lucy,” by Chris Milne, from the anthology Malevolence 

3. “My City,” by Joseph Rubas, from the anthology After Midnight

Take me to the samples.

Sample of Featured Kickstarter Book

Abendau’s Heir, by Jo Zebedee

Kare’s seen planets destroyed by the relentless expansion of his mother’s empire. Children killed. His own family murdered. With her power to manipulate minds, she may be invincible. Only he has the power to stop her. Kare must either face the horrifying future his father foretold for him, or allow the sacrifice of millions of people to his mother’s ambition. But in opposing her, he risks everything: his friends, his loved ones…even his sanity.

PROLOGUE Water dripped down the rock behind Ealyn. He strained, trying to turn his head to lick the wall, but his chains prevented him, the magnetic binding on his wrists too strong to be broken. His captors knew him well enough to use subtle things to torment him: the sound of water, so blessed on the hot, dry, Abendau; the prism on its thin chain catching sunlight from a small window and sending rainbows darting; the slow build of pain in muscles held firm, a pain that went deep, full of despair.

To hell with them: he was staying where he was, aware of who he was, even if his jaw ached from gritting his teeth and his hands had blistered from gripping his chains. Whatever she sent his way, whatever temptation, he’d take it and spit in her face. He closed his eyes against the dancing light.

Footsteps sounded, clipped, not the boots of the guards. He tried to move back, but there was nowhere to go; he was already tight against the wall. He tensed at the hiss of the cell opening. The footsteps stopped, right in front of him; he could feel her watching him.

Oh, gods. He waited, head down. Please let her leave. He clenched his fists, ears alert, his breathing shallow. She was coming so often now, not giving him time to build his strength. “Tell me a vision of my future,” said the Empress.

Click here to read the rest of the prolog.

STRETCH GOALS

We will be delighted to be able to give Jo Zebedee’s book the full attention and distribution it deserves, but we have so many talented authors that deserve a chance. For every £2300/$3500 raised, another book will be brought into stock and have a paid marketing campaign to promote it. So without any further ado here are the stretch goal books:

Stretch Goal 1

Oracle, by Susan Boulton

In a time of dangerous unrest, Pugh Avinguard has been ordered to protect a member of Timeholm’s High Forum, one Joshua Calvinward. Train crashes, riots, and a terrorist shooting at the High Forum building all threaten to plunge the country into chaos. But it is the scheming of a small religious order, “The Inner Ring,” that brings Pugh’s past crashing into his present with tumultuous repercussions. At the center of the maelstrom engulfing Pugh, is Oracle. A person turned into an “it,” a Glimpser, but who was once Pugh’s wife.

 

Oracle by Susan Boulton

 

Stretch Goal 2

A Prospect of War, by Ian Sales

Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it, but those who ignore history do so at their peril. The Empire was born in civil war and now, 1,300 years later, a fresh civil war is brewing. But who is the mysterious “Serpent” who threatens the Imperial Throne? And what can the renegade naval officer known only as the Admiral, and her single battlecruiser, do to combat him? Casimir Ormuz, a young man of low birth, may be the key. Whoever controls him is most likely to win—but he is determined to be his own master. When the historical origin of the Serpent’s conspiracy abruptly intrudes into the present, the civil war becomes a battle for the Empire’s survival.

 

A Prospect of War by Ian Sales

 

Stretch Goal 3

Endeavour, by Ralph Kern

Our overall best seller as an ebook

Since we first looked at the stars, there has been a silence, no signs of alien life, no one who has tried to speak to us, a mystery that a long dead scientist called the Fermi Paradox. ‘Where are they?’ In 2118, the first daring mission to another star, Tau Ceti, twelve light years away is launched. Tom Hites and Harry Cosgrove command the Starship Endeavour on an epic journey to solve the Fermi Paradox. From the first, nearly disastrous steps on a distant world, their quest takes them further than they ever imagined. Out amidst the mysterious long abandoned worlds and ancient relics, some strange, some wonderful and some deadly, they discover that the question they sought to answer has become: “Where are they now?”

 

Endeavour by Ralph Kern

 

Stretch Goal 4

Goblin Moon, by Teresa Edgerton (sample)

Mask and Dagger Series, Book I

Coffins float down the river, hobgoblins emerge from their dens, alchemists pore over ancient texts in search of the secret of creating life, and one man fights a secret battle against cruelty and injustice with wit, ingenuity, and a lethal lack of compunction. Gunpowder and alchemy supersedes sword and sorcery in this swashbuckling tale of sorcery, witchcraft, mesmerism, animal magnetism, disguises, revenges, secret societies, and secret identities.

 

Goblin Moon by Teresa Edgerton

 

Stretch Goal 5

Hobgoblin Night, by Teresa Edgerton

Mask and Dagger Series, Book II

In the capital cities of Euterpe, elegant men and women lead decadent lives, but across the Atlantick Ocean in the New World, gnomes, dwarves, and Men are industriously exploring the realms of Science, Philosophie, and Magic…

In the New World town of Hobb’s Church, several mysteries need examination, such as…Is it really the fault of the town’s hobgoblins that the buildings all lean in such a peculiar way? What is the nature of the strange ancient ruins just outside town? Who are the two young ladies who have so recently come to teach at the Mothgreen Academy on the edge of the marsh? And just what is the purpose of the Gnome’s Engine?

 

Hobgoblin Night by Teresa Edgerton

 

Stretch Goal 6

Indigo Heartfire, by Jo Marryat

A new job. A new town. A new life. That’s what Robert hoped for when he came to London. But a fairy with attitude follows him home one evening, and he’s convinced he’s losing it. His shrink tells him to ignore her—she’s purely imaginary. But when Robert does listen to her, amazing things start to happen, and his heart opens in ways he couldn’t have envisioned.

 

Indigo Heartfire by Jo Marryat

 

Stretch Goal 7

Enter Joseph Rubas’ gritty world of darkness and fear, a dim, shadowy netherworld just beyond the veil, just past the threshold, just After Midnight. Master of horror, Wilum H. Pugmire, said of the collection. “One thing I want in weird fiction is that it be freaking weird. In this regard, Joseph Rubas succeeds brilliantly. From the night city of Vegas to the haunt of resurrected poets, this collection leads us to those regions of the Outsider in stories one will not easily forget.”

 

 

After Midnight by Joseph Rubas

Stretch Goal 8

Biblia Longcrofta, by Simon Marshall Jones 

 Visit the imaginary town of Longcroft, somewhere along the northern coast of Britain in this series of short stories. It exists contemporaneously and separately in a different time stream from the rest of the world, the reasons for the split lost in the mists of time. It is no ordinary town, however—here miracles happen on an everyday basis, and the numinous and marvelous sit side-by-side with the banal and mundane. Into this wonderland comes a tattooed stranger called Simeon, a man bored of his old life, but still unsure of his place in the world, who he is, or what purpose he has. Along the path of his journey of self-discovery, he meets wonders and living myths and finds his true destiny—but, it’s not what he was expecting…

 

Biblia Longcrofta by Simon Marshall-Jones

Stretch Goal 9

The Last War, by Alex Davis 

 Born from the genius of the Animex, the aliens of the Noukari seek to gain a foothold on a savage planet. But the greatest danger to their existence lies within them—a powerful gift of telepathy. As the tension grows between idolatry and admiration of their creators, and the Noukari come to understand the latent powers within their own minds, a species created for peace are about to succumb to brutal violence. In a galaxy torn by conflict, will the first battle between the Noukari also be their last war?

 

The Last War by Alex Davis

Stretch Goal 10

Malevolence—Tales from Beyond the Veil,edited by J Scott-Marryat 

(sample) 

My name is Isambard Roxton-Smyth. I am the Minister for Ghosts, and I bring you twenty-two tales of malevolence, distilled into an impure essence, reeking of wrongdoing, and ready to escape from these pages into your mind. Published authors and newcomers are channeled by me in the laboratory of ill-intent, all with one disturbing aim: to bring forth malevolence in all its forms. Don’t read this book late at night.

 

Malevolence – Tales From Beyond The Veil

Stretch Goal 11

Prince of Demons, by Christian Nash 

When Bhaal is sent to collect an undead sample from beyond the city walls, he becomes a vessel through which the undead attack the city instead. When his insane father is killed by the undead, they conspire to dominate Bhaal, and turn him into the dead tyrant, using him to complete their capture of the city. To stand against the enemy means the sacrifice of his body, his brother and his life. He becomes one with the undead parasite inside him, a destructive force of clouded allegiance that even his closest friends conspire to destroy.

 

Prince of Demons

Stretch Goal 12

Space—Houston we Have a Problem, edited by Alex Davis 

Just as NASA pushed the boundaries of space, our writers take us on journeys never before undertaken. To Mars, Saturn, and beyond. This is a collection of science fiction stories, some past, some alternate history, and some in our future—but in all, “Houston, we have a problem…”

 

Space – Houston we Have a Problem

Source: icnw