Ebook Launch!!

After lots of soul searching and after changing my mind dozens of times, I have finally decided to publish the ‘The Gilded Cage on the Bosphorus’!

Ebook Edition

It will be available to download as an ebook from Amazon on 30th May 2020 – the 144th anniversary of Sultan Murad V’s accession to the Ottoman throne. (If I can work out how to upload the manuscript to Kindle Direct Publishing that is!) Watch this space for further details…

It has been quite a journey! The editing is done, the typesetting and formatting is done and the book cover design is done! In the last few months I have watched so many YouTube tutorials to learn how to build a website using WordPress, how to format using Vellum, and how to create visuals using Canva. It has been such a steep learning curve for me! Especially as I am the least technically-savvy person I know! But I love a challenge, and it has been fun! Setting up social media accounts and doing a little bit of self-promotion and marketing has been the final hurdle… Before launch day…

I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has followed my blog over the past six months, and who has encouraged me to share my story of Sultan Murad V and his family. Without this support there is no way that I would ever have got to this stage. So, thank you. You all know who you are…

Print Edition

I have been working on formatting the print edition while working on the ebook, and excitingly it is also ready to go to print. However, with everything that is going on in the world at the moment, I have decided to delay the launch of the print edition until 21st September 2020 – the 180th anniversary of Sultan Murad V’s birth. It seems to me to be a very appropriate date and hope that it will be possible to stick to this time frame. I will keep you all posted…

Turkish Edition

Sadly, I am not fluent in Turkish. It is perhaps my greatest regret in life. Some of you may not know this, but my family was exiled from Turkey in 1924 and my father was not allowed to visit his homeland until 1974. That was a few years after I was born! So, I grew up with my brothers in the UK – speaking English! Unfortunately my father did not teach us our language, so I need to find a good translator before I can publish my book in Turkish! But I am working on this! And as soon as ‘The Gilded Cage on the Bosphorus’ is translated, ‘Boğazdaki Altın Kafes’ will be published… İnşallah this will happen next year.

To Find out More…

If you would like to learn more about the Ottoman Dynasty, Sultan Murad V, or the other members of the Ottoman Imperial family featured in the book, please read the Historical Background or Character blogs posted under ‘Blog Topics’ on this website. To see photographs of the characters, and many other pictures from which I drew inspiration for the story, please have a look at my Pinterest board.

I have to admit that now that the ebook launch date is almost here, I am beginning to feel really anxious about my decision to release my book! If you do decide to read it, I just wanted to say that I hope you enjoy the story…