The Tale of a Book's Evolution

I wrote "The Tales of Abu Nuwas" first as a series of seven stories following the adventures of a girl and her accidentally procured genie. The first few stories were published in on-line zines, then the full seven stories were combined into a single print volume published by Sam's Dot Publishing (no longer exists). In that iteration it was titled "The Seven Adventures of Cadida."

Then I decided to novelize the stories by putting them together a la Scheherazade using a frame story of an old story teller sitting in a bazaar in ancient Persia, offering his stories for whoever might pay a coin to hear. One day, a spice seller (I must resist saying Spice Girl) asks for a tale to ease her heart's woe. She has been promised to marry an older man she didn't much like. But, those were the days of forced marriages (Oh, right. We're still in the days of forced marriages some places in the world.) and the girl had no say in the matter. Her mother was very ill and only the money provided by the merchant groom would buy the medicine and care she needed.

I had the frame set up and alternated between the genie stories and the plight of the spice seller. The story teller, Abu Nuwas (named for a real 8th C. Persian poet), tells the tales providing some parallels to the spice seller's life.

I re-wrote and edited a bit, then submitted the book to MuseItUp Publishing with the title "Setara's Genie." I have my rights back for that book, then issued it myself under that title. But I wanted to return the book to Abu Nuwas' capable hands. Thus, I added the subtitle and went back to the original cover, Although the cover for "Setara's Genie" is beautiful, and I did use it with the print edition, I wanted to make it my own again. I want all of my books to belong to me, only me, and just me forever and ever, amen.

Now the book is entirely mine. All other iterations are wiped from the earth (except as sold in print by 3rd party vendors).

THE TALES OF ABU NUWAS - SETARA'S GENIE
A girl, a genie, a few demons. Would could go wrong?

Available only at Amazon until KDP Select runs out in October. Free for KindleUnlimited customers. Print is available in other stores as well as Amazon.

Abu Nuwas sits in the bazaar telling stories to the passersby he can tempt to pay. He relates the adventures of the bored daughter of a rich merchant, Setara, and her genie, Basit, as they encounter the creatures of legend and folklore: a lonely cave demon seeking a home; a flying, fire-breathing horse who has lost his mate; a dragon searching for his family; an evil genie hunting for the man who bottled him; and a merboy prince cast out of his undersea kingdom.