Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Desperate in Dubai goes electronic...oops!

This time last year, I sat sanctimoniously on my high horse and turned my nose up at electronic books.

Electronic books? The very concept was blasphemous. Books were there to spend hours poring over in a library or bookstore. Books were there to smell, touch, thumb through, scribble notes in, bend pages, crease spines, share with friends and then finally place on a bookshelf amongst their peers.

You can't feel a downloaded book. You can't smell it. And you definitely can't put in on your bookshelf as part of your decor.

So yes, with that in mind, I loftily rejected the very notion and insisted that Desperate in Dubai, though not a classic masterpiece, would never, ever fall down the slippery slope of e-publishing.

Until I got an ipad.

One evening when the hubster was out with friends, when there was nothing decent to watch on TV and nothing appealing to read on my bookcase, I downloaded the Kindle App with guilt, fully aware that I was going against my beliefs just by entertaining the idea. I just wanted one book I could share the night with. It wasn't going to become a regular dalliance. I browsed through Amazon and with the tap of one button, there it was - instant gratification. In a region where books are horrendously expensive and often unavailable, it became the perfect, the only choice. Within seconds I had gained an entire collection of books that I could carry around in my (albeit rather large) tote bag. I could read in the dark long after the hubster fell asleep. I could get hold of books that weren't sold here. I could even get some books for free.

In one week, I had converted to e-bookism and as a result, decided to publish Desperate in Dubai in e-book format. I'm a lot of things but a hypocrite isn't one of them!

So here you go - the link to downloading DID on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008M7S7LW/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?cor=GB

Don't forget to leave a (hopefully good) review :)

Enjoy xxx

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8 comments:

Saddaf Ejaz said...

I have just read the whole book in one day. I started reading this morning, did an 8 hour shift at work whilst reading in between and finished up a while ago. Ive been following your blog since way back and was so happy when you got your publishing deal :-) I loved it and appreciated the changes you made to tie in all the major characters. A very happy reader and fan. Well done Ameera - I await your next piece!!

Anonymous said...

So I read three chapters of your book two days ago, thought it was, 'normal' I guess? Until today I had a spare time this afternoon, saw the book and decided to continue reading. 4 hours later I see myself finishing it off. I didn't want it to finish it was just beautiful the way the four characters clashed and had a different, yet relative story to many women of this time. I have to say though I didn't like Lady Luxe's ending <3

Wisdom said...

I have just read few pages of the book, while waiting in friend's drawing room. Its involving. Hope will get it soon.

Anonymous said...

It's funny how this is a book about Dubai and when you go to Amazon it tells you: "This title is not available for customers from your location in:
Middle East"

sweetlikechocolate said...

Just figured how to order from Saudi and ordered it!

Guest said...

Ha ha, i totally agree! I love the idea and smell of real books, but ebooks, oh so easy! :) Keep it up!

http://andlovewillfindyou.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-desperate-place.html

Anonymous said...

Honest to Allah and to myself then, i have no hesitation to say that, Ameera, u've done it! u r a good writer easy to go with no hustles and no bustles have i ever found in ur writing. i m not an avid reader but i try to catch up on every chapter every now & then.

Omani Princess (not Omani...yet) said...

How is your next book coming along? Updates? Teasers;)?