Old & New

Sad start to the weekend; we had to go to a funeral. The chap was a relatively new member of our church. I had just got to know him. His wife, Jess spoke to me about four weeks ago and asked if she could buy one of my books for her husband to read. I gave her HELL’S GATE. I don’t even know if he had a chance to read it because he was quite ill before he went into hospital. I’m sure Jess will let me know when she gets some semblance of normality back into her life.
I knuckled down as promised and got stuck into my manuscript. But today we have friends coming over (in about one hour!) and because of the funeral and getting things ready for our guests, I’m afraid there’s no time to spend on my writing.
I’ve been asked to give a talk about e-books on local, English language television out here in Spain next month. I expect they think I’m an expert on Kindle and Nook, etc., but in truth I only know what I know by owning a Kindle and formatting a document for my own books. That’s hard work too! But with the help of a preloaded Q & A from the studio, I should be OK.
If any of you have had a look at my web page lately, my son has updated it to include my latest book, THE BOY FROM BERLIN. He has told me that later in the year (?) he will update the website and make it more ‘swish’. Its great having a family member who is a lot cleverer than yourself and who does these things for no payment.
Tomorrow is the end of the year and the time to think about resolutions. I never make them. Been around too long to believe that I can change habits of a lifetime simply by resolving not to do something I’ve been doing a long time. But, I tell a lie: I always make a resolution to make a million pounds. Haven’t done it yet, but I keep trying.
So, Happy New Year to all my readers and I do hope you keep those resolutions you so earnestly and honestly make.

Christmas & Friends

Well, Christmas is over for another year, your guests have gone home, there’s a lot of tidying up/cleaning to do in the house before you can get back into the routines that you are so used to. Our friends went back home this morning. They came up from Andalucia on Christmas Eve with their little dog. We’ve known them for about fourteen years. Met them out here on the Costa Blanca when they lived just round the corner from us. The husband had a tragedy in his life which he never talks about (this is his second marriage by the way): his daughter and her son were murdered about fifteen years ago. It happened in America and was on all the main TV channels. His son-in-law shot them on one of the big bridges across a busy water-way. The police had closed the bridge off and were trying desperately to persuade the man to release his wife and son. But he wouldn’t listen and shot them. I didn’t know my friend then, but do remember seeing the tragedy unfolding on TV in UK. For a few years after that, my friend would find a church on the anniversary of his daughter and son’s death and sit quietly. I’ve no idea what went through his mind during those moments of quiet and solitude. He doesn’t do it now. Perhaps he has come to terms with it and doesn’t need to find comfort in the church.
So what now? For me I have promised myself that I will knuckle down with my writing and set a target for finishing my next book. I will also try to promote my paperbacks and Kindle books, and see if I can make sense of the amazon sales rankings. My books have been going up and down on the Amazon graph like a fiddler’s elbow. One day I’m somewhere near the bottom, and the next I’ve shot up about 100,000 places. There are peaks and troughs on my charts like spikes on Neptune’s trident. Am I selling well? I’ve no idea because I can’t access my true sales figures; that is done for me by Acclaimed Books. I get an update about every two months, so for now I have to be content with Amazon’s fairy land figures.
So, no more now, lots to do and already it’s past mid-day. See you soon…..

Nearly Christmas

Just a couple of days to go and Christmas will be upon us. I enjoy this time of the year like most people, and I get a kick out of seeing my wife, Pat open her presents. I’m sure she feels the same when she sees me acting like a young kid as I open mine. But it’s more about what we give or receive, it’s about remembering the reason we celebrate our Lord’s birthday. It’s probably also the only time of the year when governments let their guard slip and they show a hint of Christian heart and allow the public to indulge their joy at the annual festivities without the politically correct brigade interfering. No doubt the ‘diminutive functionaries’ in our town halls would stop it all if they had their way. My wife and I have been to three carol services and know of several others that have been celebrated locally here in Spain. And to cap it all, the sun’s shining.
I ordered a couple of my paperbacks today (Roselli’s Gold) from Amazon. Well, from the Book Depository as a matter of fact. But I can’t understand their pricing policy. I paid less by ordering from the Book Depository through Amazon’s web page than I would have paid had I ordered direct from the BD. If I had ordered from Amazon, the books would have cost me 70% more for each copy to cover p&p. Doesn’t make sense: Amazon is willingly pricing itself out of the market this way, and the BD is competing against itself and allowing its profit margin to be cut by using Amazon as a selling place.
Like most of us I presume, we (me and Pat) are now at the point where we are totting up whether or not we have bought enough food and drink to see us through a weekend. There’s probably enough in the cupboard to last until the New Year and that’s without the amount of food our guests for Christmas will bring with them when they arrive on Saturday. And for good measure we are eating out on Saturday. So all that remains for me is to wish all my readers (?) a happy Christmas. Don’t eat too much. Make sure you have a copy of one of my books to read and I’ll be back here sometime next week.

Good and not so Good

The weekend got off to a good start for me and Pat. Last Friday we went along to our local shopping centre (mall) in Torrevieja. It’s called Habañeras. Our church members were singing carols there at mid-day. It was chilly, but we managed to raise some money for the homeless in the town. Saturday afternoon we were round at our neighbours’ place swapping Christmas presents because they are off to UK this week. During the evening, for those who watch UK TV we watched the final of Strictly Come Dancing. It isn’t a TV programme that I watch normally, but I gave it a shot and it wasn’t so bad. Pat was happy because her favourite, Harry won the competition.
Yesterday, Sunday we had our carol service at church which was followed by Christmas lunch over at Ché’s restaurant in Villa Martin. Christmas crackers and party hats. There was about eighty of us there and we all had a good time.
But now I have to come to the ‘not so good’ part: our cat! We had to take him back to the vet this morning for his final check. There’s nothing wrong with him now but he still disgraced himself the moment I got him into the car. He needed a good wash when we got him back to the house. And you know how much cats like water! Anyway, it’s finished. No more trips to the vet unless something unexpected happens.
Despite all the distractions that go on in my life, I still find myself writing short scenarios for my next book in my head. Any time throughout the day I can be caught with my mind elsewhere because I’ve latched on to something that I can use. I have a digital voice recorder on my desk, and it’s handy if something comes into my head during the day. I record my thought and get it on to paper later. Sometimes though I come up with a good idea but I’m nowhere near my recorder. And when I am, I’ve forgotten what it was that came into my head. But then I suppose most writers are like that.
Today I have to get on with house maintenance and then maybe, just maybe I’ll put some more work into my MS. Oh, and I might have a tickle at the keyboard; the musical kind. See you later.

Cats!

How can a cat interfere with your best laid plans? We had to take ours to the vet earlier on in the week. Trouble is; our cat doesn’t like travelling. Ten minutes in the cat box and he’s having a bad day. He moans all the way to the vet, empties his bowels and stomach and doesn’t shut up. Then, when he has had all the TLC he can get from the hands of the specialist, and pills and potions to make him better, he continues to moan all the way home. And just when you think he really did empty himself on the way to the surgery, he lets you know that you’re mistaken and he has saved some for the return journey. It just so happens that my grand-daughter travelled up to Scotland from London by train during the week with TWO cats in separate boxes and had no trouble at all. I’d like to wring my cat’s neck, but my wife loves him, so he’s safe. We’ve had him over twelve years, so maybe it’s his age.
But while all this was happening I wanted to get back to my latest book and read it. It’s like I’ve said elsewhere; I’m like a kid with a new toy when my books arrive. There’s nothing quite like handling a brand new, hardback book fresh from the publisher with your own name on it. I read and enjoyed the book (THE BOY FROM BERLIN) even though I’ve read through it a dozen times with the creation, re-writing, editing, proof reading etc., etc. My wife is going to read it now, and she’s my greatest critic. But she loves me and I’m sure she won’t be too harsh on me; she has the cat’s livelihood to think of! See you next week.

Great Day Today

Great day today; my books turned up. I finally have THE BOY FROM BERLIN in my hands. It’s my latest hardback novel and my eighth so far. I get so excited when the courier turns up with the package. I’m like a kid with a new toy. I know there are some authors who can’t bear to look at their own, published work, but me? I can’t wait to open the parcel and start reading. That’s what I wanted to do today, but I had to help Pat put the Christmas decorations up. She could tell I was champing at the bit, wanting to get to my brand new book. Naturally I have other things to do like walking the dog, writing up my blog, eating, breathing, sleeping etc., but right now I just want to read. I’ve read the story that many times it’s a wonder I am still excited. But there’s something about opening a book, flicking through the pages, seeing your name and your work in print, knowing that people have laboured simply to get it out to the reading public. They believe in you, and show that belief by the end product you hold in your hands. It’s not self-published. It’s not Kindle or another e-reader. This is a bone fide novel published by a reputable London publisher of long standing. Great stuff. Have a look at it on my website. If you’re in UK it’s available at a generous discount from www.halebooks.com if ordered before December 30th. Go on; you know you want to.

Unexpected Changes

Just when things seemed to be ticking along nicely, one of our friends was rushed into hospital after suffering a mild stroke. Tony has been married to Liz for over fifty years. Liz has Multiple Sclerosis and Tony is her carer. Then this happens: Tony collapses. Their neighbours all rallied round and eventually the immediate emergency was dealt with. That was three days ago. Today, Tony is sitting up in bed looking almost normal. Pat and I went in to see him and came home relieved to know that he will almost certainly have a full recovery. He needs to so he can continue looking after Liz. The church has been praying for him and so have me and Pat. We thank God for his recovery.
This morning we had a church house group at our house. It’s usually held at Liz and Tony’s house. One of the women who had never been to our home before was sitting in her chair looking at the small row of my books taking pride of place on the unit in our lounge. After a while she said, ‘Who is Michael Parker?’ I said, ‘That’s me.’ She did a kind of double take and for a while was lost for words. I told her I was a real, live author. I must admit I got a kick out of that. Naturally I would liked to have talked about me and my books (what writer doesn’t?), but we weren’t gathered here to talk about me.
My self-publishing group, Acclaimed Books (not my publishers) have an interesting offer on our website at www.acclaimedbooks.com under the heading ‘NEWS’. It’s a free gift available until the 15th of this month. Well worth taking a look.
I’m beginning to make a change in direction with my latest manuscript. I am now convinced that I will be re-writing it all once the New Year is upon us. I’ve changed the main character, introduced another feminine interest and considered an element of computer hacking as a kind of ‘tasty morsel’ in the story. I feel that I’m edging towards a complete synopsis that will finally encourage me to get my head down and put pen to paper. Still a long way to go though but my experience tells me that I will get there. Whether it will be good enough for my publisher is a different story. We’ll see. Wish me luck!

Enforced Block

My manuscript is taking a back seat now, seeing as it’s that time of the year when we turn our thoughts to other things. Getting the family Christmas cards written out and posted is just one of the many jobs that interfere with serious writing time. Having got the family’s cards away in the post, I now have to set about writing cards out for our friends in UK. After that it will be our local friends and neighbours here in Spain. Then the present buying. Not too difficult because our grandchildren are taken care of by cheque (those who are not working), which lightens the load a little. Our immediate friends are always a challenge because it’s a case of ‘what can you get for people who have everything?’ They might dispute that of course. And finally the main present: something for my wife. What was it I was saying about someone who has everything? She wants a body cream that will make her skin look fifty years younger, but miracles are not in ready supply at the moment. And all this interferes with my writing time, but all for a good cause.
My paperback, ROSELLI’S GOLD is now available on Amazon.co.uk and in Kindle format. Hopefully my own promotion and that of the Acclaimed Books website will help drive traffic to my page giving me a big, big smile over Christmas as my sales figures reach ever upwards. Dreaming again, see? But what else can a writer do but put his work out there in the public domain and hope the buying public are buying. Wish me luck!

Goodread Giveaway

Yesterday I gave away three copies of my latest Amazon POD novel, ROSELLI’S GOLD. I also gave away three best sellers as an added gift to the winners of my Goodreads Giveaway competition. By purchasing a best-selling novel with Roselli’s Gold, I was indulging in slipstream marketing. It’s not a 100% guaranteed approach to promoting and selling my books, but it helps when potential readers searching through the Amazon list see that someone has purchased my book alongside a best seller. It is supposed to encourage them to have a look at what my book offers. Because the three winners were all from the USA, it gave me the added advantage of not having to pay postage, so my promotion costs were reduced. And I will get the royalties from the three copies I gave away, which reduces the cost even further.
Well, December is back and we are only three weeks or so away from Christmas, and it’s
time to think of buying something for my wife Pat. She says she would like silk pyjamas, but the trouble with buying an item of clothing (or make-up) for her is a problem in itself; how will I know what suits her when she is always telling me that I have no idea of colours, fashion etc. Am I the only man who doesn’t have a clue? No doubt I’ll think of something and she’ll love it, even if it finds its way into the back of the wardrobe, never to see the light of day again.
This morning at our Housegroup meeting, we filled the time with Christmas carols and food! Couple of our members are going back to UK for a few months, so we thought we would have the Christmas celebration early. I can’t understand why they are going back to UK for the winter and leaving the Spanish sunshine behind. No doubt they have their reasons.
Nothing else to say now, except that I will be interviewing the best-selling crime writer, Peter James later on this month for publication on the Acclaimed Books website. I’m looking forward to that. Keep an eye out for it. I’ll give everyone plenty of warning. Hasta la Vista!

Passion

Passion. What are you passionate about? Or is that too strong a word for whatever it is you have a deep, keenly held interest in? I am passionate about my writing and books in general. Through the years I have discovered new authors, new genres, new mysteries, and so on. I’ve no doubt that most, if not all of you who read this blog will feel the same kind of passion that I do. But because of that feeling, and because I have experienced the ups and downs of writing, I get exasperated when I come across a best-selling author who has had to credit a veritable army of people for practically writing his or her book. When you’ve spent hour after hour at the desk, or the kitchen table, or wherever it is that you do your writing, you end up with a wonderful sense of achievement once the manuscript is finished. Then no-one is interested. Or if they are, the book is published and then disappears without trace. Meanwhile, at the top of the tree, a whole literary army is involved in turning out a ‘best seller’. It’s disheartening, but it’s a fact of life; something we have to live with. So perhaps I should now credit the unsung people who work for my publisher, Robert Hale Ltd., of London. Whoever you are, whatever your names are and whatever effort you have put in to producing my latest novel, THE BOY FROM BERLIN, I want to thank you, sincerely.
Had a busy weekend, mainly because it was our Christian Fellowship’s 20th. birthday. The church began in a small house about twenty three years ago, moved from place to place as it grew and became officially registered as a church 20 years ago. We had a party on Saturday night, and a welcome acknowledgment to the originators followed on the Sunday at the main service. Good time had by all. You could see God’s footprints everywhere.
Sad news indeed to hear of the death of Gary Speed yesterday. For those of you who are unaware of this man, he was a famous footballer who graced the playing field for a good number of years. Well loved by his fans and others who had no reason to follow the teams he played for. He took his own life at the age of 42.
Now I have to get back on to the promotion and marketing trail, and in doing so direct people to my website and also to www.acclaimedbooks.com. Things are beginning to look up, and I sense that a lot will be happening in the coming months. Wish me luck!

Busy, Busy

Busy day again. I’m squeezing this post in between outings. This morning my wife and I were at a house group. It’s a weekly meeting for about ten of us from our local Christian Fellowship here in Torrevieja. I take my keyboard and play a hymn or two, and we spend about an hour discussing a particular topic and drifting away and talking of all manner of things. It’s amazing how people open up once they have become relaxed and know that what they say will not go beyond the group. Back home for lunch and then out again visiting a sick friend. She has cancer, and has been battling the disease for about three years now. She gets a reprieve and then another crisis develops. We can only keep praying for her and hope the Lord heals. This afternoon we will spend about an hour with our friend and her husband, not much more than that because of her frailty. So, rather hurriedly really, I’m writing my blog post now so I can get it out today, Thursday.
My son sent me a breakdown of my web statistics this morning. I’m not in the big league, but since we updated the web, my hits went from an average over seven months of about 11000 to 22738 in November. They say that one swallow doesn’t make a summer, but I’m chuffed to bits with that increase.
It is now possible to order copies of my hardback, THE BOY FROM BERLIN. Publication date in December 30th. from the publisher, Robert Hale Ltd. They sell at a generous discount, about 30% and will send the book post free in UK. For those who might want to buy a copy, log on to Hale’s website at www.halebooks.com. I’m looking forward to seeing the book in print. I’m like a kid with a new toy when I open up my parcel with the books inside. I always read my books through, beginning to end. Makes me feel good knowing that this is all my own work, edited and published at no cost to me. Lovely.
The Kindle version of ROSELLI’S GOLD is now available. Shouldn’t be too long before it’s available in paperback in UK. There’s so much going on for me right now, what with my work coming out and everything else. Next week I’ll be giving away three copies of Roselli’s Gold through the Goodreads giveaway promotion. If you haven’t signed up for it yet, why not pop over to Goodreads and check it out? You never know, you might win. See you all next week.

On Safari

When I began writing blogs, I was all over the place. Eventually I decided to cut it down to twice a week, writing on Monday and Thursday. But life gets in the way and the best laid plans etc. Mind you, yesterday I had a good reason not to post to my blog; my wife and I went on a coach trip. We headed up to the Aitana Safari Park. It’s in the Aitana mountain range, right at the top, about 33kms from the popular resort of Benidorm on the Costa Blanca here in Spain. Terrific place. The coach follows the park ranger round as he drops hay etc. for the various animals at feed time (3pm). This is simply a ‘snack’ for them, but it’s wonderful to see the different species of goat, deer, pony, gazelle, long horned cows that look more like buffaloes. The lions and tiger roam free, but of course the ranger doesn’t get out of his 4x4 to feed them. The coach drives through the enclosure and this gives the tourist the chance to see them up real close. There were also elephants, camels and hippos. Great day.
Now, back in the saddle again I am catching up with my inbox and getting this post written up before shooting off out again during the afternoon. I now know that my next hardback, THE BOY FROM BERLIN is available from my publisher at a 33% discount if purchased before publication day (December 30th). It is post free in UK. I’m also happy to say that ROSELLI’S GOLD is with Amazon in UK and it shouldn’t be too long before it’s available. The Kindle version should be on-line soon, hopefully. All in time for Christmas.
I haven’t any further news about the agreement reached with Moston Author Promotions about marketing my novels. It shouldn’t be too long. I know that the Acclaimed Books group of writers is waiting to see how this agreement unfolds. With luck, and the promotional skills of MAP, I could be climbing out of the mass of writers inhabiting the bottom of the pool and drifting slowly upwards. That would be nice. Wish me luck!

Profiles

Most of us who write our own profiles probably wish we could have said a lot more, but then we could end up with a potted history of ourselves. I began writing my life story about eight years ago, but only got as far as my twenties. I hope one day to be able to pick it up again and carry on, bringing it up to where I am now. Someone might say why not do it now? But ironically I’m too busy writing! I often think back to where I began and where I am now. I was born in March 1941 at the end of the London Blitz. I can truthfully say I survived the blitz because my mother carried me in her pregnancy throughout that traumatic period. I went on to survive the bombing until the end of the war. But to survive for what? To raise four sons with my lovely wife, Pat and to bring pleasure to thousands with my writing. Does that sound pretentious? Maybe, but I know I have a following in the UK public libraries as my annual loans statement testifies. And it’s a satisfying thought, knowing that people actually enjoy reading my novels.
I was always pretty good at story telling as a child. Maybe I used that skill when trying to convince my parents that it was not me that dropped mum’s precious ornament; it was my big brother (he usually got the blame anyway). So tomorrow, Friday, I need to use my story telling skills in a different way and convince two people to take me on as a client using their promotion and marketing skills to sell my books. I’m on the point of releasing ROSELLI’S GOLD in UK as a POD paperback to go with my two other POD novels, NORTH SLOPE and A COVERT WAR. It will also be available in Kindle too. All this should happen before Christmas in time hopefully for friends, family and readers of good books to buy them as stocking fillers (hidden beneath the bikes, prams and X boxes).
I’ve just had a thought that maybe I should add something of my writing career to these blogs. Maybe a snippet of how I began, who I met, the mistakes I made, but I need to get my head straight first and figure out if that’s the kind of stuff that people want to read. And just as a taster, I remember one of my stories as a junior at Tranmere Road Junior School in Wandsworth, London. It was about a submarine that came out of a cave beneath a cliff. Can’t remember the ending though. Bet it was good! See you next week, God willing.

Remembering & Looking ahead

It’s been quite a weekend for a lot of people associated with the United Kingdom, England and the Allied Forces that have lost men and women in horrendous wars. We had the argument about poppies; whether they could be worn on the England football shirts or not. An extremist Muslim group was banned because of their threat to disrupt the Cenotaph remembrance service, and the English Defence league was thwarted in its plans to see off the Muslim protestors. All in all a weekend of remembrance underwritten by argument and contention, but I suppose that’s what wars are all about. I heard over the weekend that there has been 40 minutes of peace in the world since the end of World War Two. What a crazy, lunatic bunch we are on this planet.
I’ve had little opportunity to progress on my manuscript, and I can see the inevitability of not getting much more accomplished until the New Year. But if I take that view, then I’m unlikely to find the impetus I need when the New year is upon us and suddenly January has gone and February is there. So, no excuses; I must not give up.
Those of you who do actually visit my web site will have noticed some changes. Well, if they haven’t been done yet, it’s because it’s a work in progress. My son had made a lot of changes to the way in which I can post to my blog and link out to other social networks. He is also changing the front page and moving things round a bit. I am hoping that the advent of 2012 will see me reaching out to more people and attracting them to my blog and my work. Inevitably the aim is to produce more sales of my books, and to that end I will be in discussion at the end of the week with two people who have an expertise in marketing and promotion with a view to generating sales. What with my next hardback, THE BOY FROM BERLIN due to appear on the shelves, I could be in for an interesting year. Wish me luck!

Sadness & Joy

It saddened me to hear of the second death of a Red Arrow pilot because of an ejector seat accident on the ground at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire. It was particularly poignant even though I never knew the man, but I have an association with the RAF that goes deep. I served for 16 years, and my four sons joined up at a young age. Two of them are still serving, so it goes without saying that we are an Air Force family. I had the luck and privilege to fly in the back seat of a Harrier jump jet, piloted by my son Terry. I retired at 55, and this was a ‘gift’ from the RAF bosses in recognition of the fact that my sons were still serving and I had served myself. I had to understand the ejection seat safety procedures and felt a little nervous going through them immediately before the flight. When I was serving in the RAF I attended a few seat lectures. I also worked with armourers who prepared the seats. The seats are complicated and dangerous, but the arming and disarming while in the cockpit is a very simple procedure. I shudder to think what could have happened to this poor airman, but I hope it was a genuine accident and not pilot error.
On to happier and more prosaic things now. I was pleased to see that the ‘views’ on my blog, on Goodreads, has increased suddenly over the last few posts. From a succession of zero views, I have been really pleased to see a rise from zero, to two, to ten and subsequently to sixteen. If this continues upwards like an arithmetic progression (ever do those at school?), there’s a good chance it will go off the scale. But then I would find myself thinking of that old saying: ‘be careful what you wish for’. Imagine trying to write something sensible and interesting for a shed load of people.
I have been offered a proposition to allow someone who has experience in the field of internet marketing to promote my books. The deal would be no sales, no fee. I’ve got to work out the details yet, but I’m interested. I have actually met the person who has put this offer forward, so she isn’t a stranger in that sense. I also work with her brother as a member of Acclaimed Books. I’m quite excited about having somebody handling my promotion work because I just seem to have a scattergun approach to it, never knowing the best way to go or the best targets to aim for. That’s it then. Wish me luck!

Monday again

I know the title says it's Monday, but for some reason, the entry didn't appear on this blog. Anyway, here it is, and now I've got to check around and make sure the links to my ohter pages are working.

Monday again and I had great plans to get stuck into my MS, but life got in the way again. There are always things that need my attention, particularly around the house, and I seem to use these as an excuse to avoid writing. Mind you, I’ve been like this since the year dot. I had to go to a church Council meeting this morning, and this afternoon, once it has stopped raining, I’ve promised my neighbour I will go in and fix her fence. I wouldn’t mind, but I sorted one panel out on Saturday, but yesterday we had strong winds and another panel became unattached from its moorings (not the one I fixed!). It’s raining still, so that means I can stay indoors and get on with some work. Just need to get my social networking out of the way, which could take up a lot of time, post this blog and maybe, just maybe get started on my MS.
I’m currently reading Michael Chrichton’s novel, PREY. I think he’s a tremendous writer. I know he died a couple of years ago, and that’s a sad loss to the literary world. I haven’t read Jurassic Park, but the others of his that I’ve read have been cracking stories. I wouldn’t mind being as clever as he was. But I do have some strings to my bow, and I believe I have every right to be acknowledged as a genuine, thriller writer. Mind you, sometimes I wonder if I am just that: a thriller writer. If you look at my web page you’ll see that my stories cover different periods, different countries and different genres. Some could be called action, some thrillers, a war story, and certainly one can be called historical adventure. But whatever they are, I trust all my readers enjoy my work.

Reaching the summit?

I finally reached the end in my efforts to convert ROSELLI’S GOLD to Kindle. It didn’t quite work out how I wanted, but compared to a lot of Kindle books I’ve seen, my results are good. The only thing I couldn’t alter was the gap between each chapter (a carriage return in old money). I had advice from friends on how to achieve this, but it didn’t work for me. However, the result is OK, and it will look fine once it’s on Kindle.
I checked my sales info on Amazon and found that ROSELLI’S GOLD (the paperback) rocketed up the sales list from 1.25 million to 230,000 over a period of two days. Now I know we all think Amazon sales ranking is a bit suspect, and I’m not going to do cartwheels thinking my book is climbing the rankings, but what a lift that would give me if that was the case. At the moment the book is the subject of a 3 book giveaway on Goodreads. This will finish at the end of the month. Hopefully it will give me further publicity and sales.
I know that the key to selling books is to sell yourself, and that can only be achieved by marketing, promotion and social networking. Eventually I might see a few more responses to my blog, which I post on Blogger, Twitter and Facebook, but I can’t help thinking of that old saying; “be careful what you wish for”. If I ended up with hundreds of people wanting a piece of me, I might regret it. Well, maybe not, especially if they are buying my books.
A couple of my friends have just turned up. They are here for a late lunch and a game on the Wii. Frisbee golf? Works well in your front room. Amazing how far I can throw a Frisbee! That’s it, more later. Wish me luck.

Kindle battles

I learned more about working with html and Kindle over the weekend, and should now have enough information to complete the Kindle conversion of ROSELLI’S GOLD. I’m quite keen to get this one out on Amazon because readers will now begin to look at their Christmas reading plans, and hopefully they will include my work. I’ve edited the keywords and tags on my three PODs on Amazon. According to a very helpful blog post I was pointed to last week, there is a way of directing potential customers on to your books by clever use of the tags and keywords. It’s all very much of a learning curve for me, but hopefully as time goes by I will see some real benefits.
I have a moan though about Amazon’s pricing. I reduced the Kindle version of A COVERT WAR to 99 cents in USA, and 85p in UK. But when I log on to Amazon’s page, it is shown as $3.45. I found out that it is because I live in Spain and my IP address is read my Amazon’s software meaning that I can’t purchase the Kindle at the low price. Something to do with income tax. What twaddle!
Had a surprise last week: an old, Merchant Navy colleague contacted me through my web page. Just to say hallo really. I had seen his name on a web page that had a history of the ship I was on, the Chusan. Saw his name there and added a comment. Once we paid off from the ship in 1959, we never saw each other again. He lived at Ongar, and Pat and I went to see him during one of my shore leaves.
Weather’s great here at the moment, but no sunbathing for me; I’ll be busy working on ROSELLI’S GOLD. Wish me luck!

Getting it right

Yesterday was a fairly busy day for me, what with church business, shopping and a long attempt at producing a Kindle version of my novel, ROSELLI’S GOLD. I achieved some kind of result, but not good enough to release it on Amazon. Thankfully I have some knowledgeable friends at www.acclaimedbboks.com who were happy to come to my rescue, and now I have enough information to feel confident about producing a satisfactory Kindle version. It’s an undeniable fact that a lot of Kindle books are produced badly, with no attention to detail at all. I have seen this even in Kindle versions of top authors’ novels. I believe that any writer who values his or her product must have the last view, as it were, before the book goes into production. Any mistakes are therefore down to the writer and not the production team (or software programme used in e-book publishing). I had to withdraw my last Kindle book, A COVERT WAR because of a technical problem that was down to me because I had let the file go to Amazon without checking it. In the end I had to do the conversion myself before I could let it go back on sale. That took a lot of time and trouble because I had never worked with html codes before.
I’m thinking of putting ROSELLI’S GOLD on Goodreads giveaway, but with my book I will include a best seller. This way, if I give away three books, I will have to purchase three best sellers (all different) to go with mine. The result would be seen on Amazon as two books purchased together. Hopefully this will persuade any potential buyers of said best sellers to consider my book as well. It’s called ‘slipstream marketing’. I just hope it works because it will cost me a few bob. Wish me luck!

Time to Kindle

Spent some time over the weekend learning how to convert a Word document into an HTML for conversion to Kindle. I used a three page short story and managed it after about three attempts. Later today I hope to begin on ROSELLI’S GOLD and successfully convert that. Once it’s done, I’ll send it to Acclaimed Books who will forward it to Amazon. The paperback version is now available on Amazon.com, and should soon be available in UK.
As it’s only about eight weeks to Christmas, I need to think about a campaign so I can persuade book readers to buy my novel as a present for themselves or their friends and families. I don’t need telling that promotion and marketing needs money: a lot of it. So mine has to be low profile and aimed at waking up the reading public to the potential in my work. I’ll probably start hitting the sweet spot this time next year!
My other diversions this weekend have included a swimming pool pump, which seemed determined to cause me problems and money. I think I have finally cracked it, and at the moment the pump is cooperating. I have also had problems with our alarm system at church, and today had to order a particular battery for it. It’s just another diversion away from what I really want to do, and that is to write. And read. And watch a bit of TV.
But back to the present and my blog. I’ll be posting this in three different locations, doing some more networking and then putting it all aside as I get on with my Kindle-isation (a made up word, that) of ROSELLI’S GOLD.

Now For promotion?

My third Paperback, ROSELLI'S GOLD is available on Amazon. I've ordered a copy so that I can check it for errors. I did get a proof copy, and needed to make a change to the second page where a huge chunk of text had been left out, but that was my error; nobody else's. It always pays to have a proof copy; never go straight into production. Apart from publishing it in Kindle, which I intend to do, I have to make a decision about how to promote and market the book. I have to crack the American market to make it in the literary world. I have one or two options open to me, but inevitably they cost. The question is: how much am I prepared to spend on a project that may not even pan out. Once I've recieved my copy from Amazon, I'll make a decision, but if anybody out there has any bright ideas, please let me know.
Yesterday I spent some time with a colleague who has been invaluable to me in the research I'm doing for my next manuscript. It will be set in Mexico and USA, involving some of the facets of life that we know of through the media, but some elements that we hear very little of. I picked up some useful stuff yesterday. I hope I can make good use of it. Meanwhile, let's hear it for THE BOY FROM BERLIN, soon to released on to the British public in hardback by Robert Hale of London.

Surprise, surprise!

When I got back home from our weekend away, I checked my inbox and forum posts etc., and then checked my book sales on Amazon’s Author Central. My Kindle sales are very poor, and I have no way of knowing how my paperback sales are until I receive an update from Acclaimed Books Ltd. but imagine my surprise when I saw that I had sold one copy of my hardback novel, THE THIRD SECRET. The reason for my surprise was that I had sold one just seven days earlier. I haven’t sold any of those books for over two years, and didn’t expect to sell any more. That’s the main reason why I have brought the book out in paperback. I have re-titled it ROSELLI’S GOLD, because I believe that it stands a better chance in the market place under that title. But when I saw that I had shifted two books in one week, I got quite excited. Big oak trees from little acorns grow, as the old saying goes. Not that I expect to set the world alight with my hardback, but it could augur well for the paperback. I hope so because it’s a terrific story and has been well received from almost all of the people I have met who have read it. There are some excellent reviews on Amazon too, so why not have a look? The paperback should be available any day now in USA. The UK version will take a little longer. I now have to give some thought to getting it out on Kindle.

Interview

My interview on Morgen Bailey’s blog appeared today. You can see it at http://wp.me/p18Ztn-11j. I thought it was a good interview; said a lot about me and, hopefully will spark some interest in me and my work.
I’m hoping that sometime over the next week or so, I may be able to improve my profile and connection with the reading public as a result of Morgen’s interview and one or two other things I’m hoping to try. It’s a veritable minefield out there on the web, and novices like me sometimes find themselves terribly exposed.
We’re off for the weekend so no more posts until much later.

Keeping an eye on things.

Had to visit the eye specialist today. She’s keeping an eye on me (no, it isn’t a pun). Like a lot of people my age, I’m suffering from degeneration of vital parts of the body. Today I was told my eye is now ‘Perfecto! Muy bien!’ She’s Spanish. Anyway, I soldier on.
Yesterday was traumatic because I had my e-mail address book hacked. So apologies to all those who received the scam e-mail offering to make the readers a shed load of money. I had to change my password to get back into my account. In fact I’ve just broken away from this to edit my address book and print out a hard copy.
I managed to get a little more work done on my novel last night. Although it wasn’t much, probably about 300 words, at least it was progress of a kind. I won’t be doing any more until next week because we are going away for a couple of days; see some friends.
I’m still waiting for ROSELLI’S GOLD to appear on Amazon. When it’s there, I’ll get on to transcribing it into Kindle format. Must try to do that before Christmas.

Tuesday.

Last night I managed to get some more time on my book. I’m still tossing ideas around in my head about which direction to take and which characters have earned a bigger role in the novel. Carmen keeps knocking on the door. We’ll see. This morning I got on with work of another kind: re-pointing my front wall. Oh yes, yesterday I receive my royalties statement from Hale in London. For those of you who believe writers earn a fortune, cop this: £16.00 That’s after tax. So, as they say; ‘don’t give up the day job’. Not that I have one.
My next POD novel, ROSELLI’S GOLD is now available on Amazon (well, almost). The price has been set by Createspace, and we’re ready to roll. I have great hopes for this one, but then I had great hopes for all my books. What author doesn’t?
I contacted an editor a week ago at the Mail on Sunday asking if she would be prepared to have my next book, THE BOY FROM BERLIN reviewed in her paper. No reply yet. I’m not expecting one now, but that kind of thing happens in this game. You just have to expect it and move on.
This afternoon I’m playing my mate at snooker. We’ve been meeting up once a week for about five years now. I think I have the edge over him, but he might disagree. Great fun though. Hopefully I’ll get some more work done on my manuscript. Time to go.

Monday once more.

Needed an annual blood test. Made a mistake and booked an appointment for this morning. Surgery was packed. Why is it that surgeries are extra busy on a Monday morning? I should have booked for Friday. Carried on with re-pointing my front wall. Poco a poco as they say in Spain. Now on to other things. I managed to write about 300 words last night for my next novel. Lost interest because it was late, but at least I had put something down on paper. More to do this afternoon. A member of our Acclaimed Books group lost his temper over the weekend and ‘blew up’ because of an extremely bad review for one of his novels. I’ve read the book and gave it a good review as did other people. I sent this particular colleague a reminder, in the best possible taste I hope, that if you are going to put your work into the public domain you have to be prepared for some reviewers to lambast you. Seems that this particular reviewer did more than that, which is why the man got so upset.
I’m looking forward to making progress with the book. But at the moment I’m more than looking forward to seeing ROSELLI’S GOLD become available on Amazon. And, of course I am keen to see my next novel, THE BOY FROM BERLIN here in my hands sometime within the next month or so. Publication date is set for December. Wish me luck.

Busy, busy

Had a busy day yesterday; problems at church with an alarm system, then the phones started playing up. Had to make two trips down there but unsuccessful. Next week maybe? The trouble with unexpected problems is that they interfere with your plans, right? And that is the same with characters that creep into your fledgling story and insist that you take a different direction. I’m in the process of writing THE GATEKEEPER. This is a working title by the way, and I needed to transport one of my characters a thousand miles away so that I have him somewhere that would help lead me on to another, intrinsic part of the story. So I introduced the daughter of my main character’s boss, and had him accompany her on a plane journey to Mexico City. There was to be no other reason for the two of them to be together. Now I find that this woman, this Carmen, is demanding to be part of the story. And I can find a use for her too.
I had a smile on my face yesterday when I saw that Stephen Leather is now following me on Twitter. For those of you who haven’t read any of his thrillers, I urge you to do so now. He’s a terrific writer, has written twenty five novels and is probably in the top ten in my opinion. Maybe even higher. What can a man like that learn from someone like me? Who knows, but it’s nice to think he remembers me. I interviewed him recently on-line and will be publishing that interview on Acclaimed Books soon. Keep an eye out.

Why This Blog?

I have a blog on my website, www.michaeljparker.com, as I do on Goodreads. No one comments or posts on these two blogs, so I wondered if it was because I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to 'blogging'. (Or should that be 'bloggin'?) I decided then that if I write a blog post as a word document each day, then copy and paste, I will be able to manage the three blogs and hopefully learn more about getting my name out there. I must admit I get quite confused when I see how well established some people's blogs are, particularly when they claim only to have started recently. I've been trying now for a couple of years without success. So, this is a new venture for me, but I must start enlarging my profiles on the various social networks I'm on, and point people to one of my three blogs. Wish me luck! Oh, and if you read this, just post a comment, will you? That will give me hope.