Books & Baptism

All quiet at home now; no potential buyers looking at the house. Maybe tomorrow! We’ve kept on top of the kind of jobs that people do when they are selling their house, but it can become a little tedious when you are going over the same patch in the garden that you weeded just a couple of days ago. I’ve been painting parts of the house that needed it and trying not to get carried away. One job I finished today, which has nothing to do with selling the house though, was the proof reading of HELL’S GATE. I’ve been using my large print edition as a comparison to the Word doc I have on file, which makes life easy because the book has already been professionally edited. My next step is to convert the document to a format that will be the basis for the Createspace file that will be prepared by Pete at Acclaimed Books. I will also be converting the document to a Kindle file, which will also be forwarded by Pete to Amazon. But all that will have to wait until my son has completed the book jacket. He has done three of mine now and I believe the results stand up against the professionals. Another job I’m on at the moment is promoting my two e-books that are going on a free promotion this weekend; A COVERT WAR & ROSELLI’S GOLD. I have forty sites where I can promote my free books, but most of them have to be on the day the books go free. I’m thinking of pushing Roselli’s Gold next month too; maybe get some reviews from genuine book reviewers. For some reason the book isn’t selling as well as my other two e-books. The problem with promoting books is the amount of time spent on the web at different websites while not knowing if you’re at the right place or just somewhere that absorbs free review copies like blotting paper absorbs ink. I seem to end up ‘researching’ the websites as though I’m about to write a novel about them. Perhaps I should! I know I could end up paying for advertising if I’m to get anywhere with my efforts, but it might pay dividends. We went to a baptism service at our local beach on Sunday afternoon. Our church has these about three times a year. They are usually well attended and often we find that the Spanish are curious and stand and watch. Sometimes they join in the singing. We have song sheets which we hand out, and the service lasts about thirty minutes or so. It’s very laid back. We sing a couple of hymns up at the back of the beach. There is a small hummock there beneath two palm trees. Our Pastor stands there with his guitar, reads a short scripture and off we go, singing. We jokingly refer to this as the Sermon on the Mount. Then down to the water’s edge and those who have chosen to give their lives to Christ are submerged by the pastor beneath the surface. He says he has never lost one yet; they always come back up! Next week I hope to see some results from my promotion and maybe hear something from Harlequin about the books of mine they have that they are assessing. Fingers crossed.

Twice Read!

I am now entering that quiet period with my book sales, which is what I expected. After the flurry of movement following a free promotion on Amazon, the sales figures are fading away. I will be promoting A COVERT WAR & ROSELLI’S GOLD again at the end of the month and will be hoping for better, and I would like to think that my sales figures will continue on an even keel for much longer. It’s a truism that writers have to sell themselves rather than their books. Sounds like something of a contradiction but it has been advice that’s been coming at me from the web for some time now. It’s a catch 22 situation: how do I promote my books if I have to promote myself first when no-one has heard of me and has no idea what I’m like as a writer? But I’ll continue pushing to push myself and my books. Last Tuesday I met an elderly gent who has packed a lot into his life. He’s 87 and lives out here in Spain. He’s a retired architect and the builder of some amazing, model railway layouts and scale models of everything to go with them. He has two track layouts: one in his garden and the other in his shed. Judging from his work I would say he was a perfectionist. (He is also a pianist). He read my first novel, NORTH SLOPE followed by THE BOY FROM BERLIN, my latest. He read them both TWICE! He said they were so well written and enjoyable that he had to read them again. When I get unsolicited reviews like that from strangers, it lifts my spirit and gives me enormous encouragement. Incidentally, this man asked to meet me, so it wasn’t a chance meeting. We’ve had a good week on the non-literary front. Over at friends on Tuesday for a meal and a game of cards; always a good laugh. Following day it was our friend’s birthday, so a little celebration ensued. Thursday was our house group meeting. Friday we visited our sick friends at Casaverde. Saturday we went to a wedding blessing at our local fellowship here in Spain. And on Sunday I was preaching over at the small, Christian fellowship in Pilar de la Horadada. Not forgetting the football either; all in all it’s been a good week. Oh, and my book sales are averaging 37 per day at the moment. This will probably tail off as the month goes by, but hopefully my promotion slot will change that. And I am currently proof reading HELL’S GATE. Always busy! Last thing: this morning we had a lady and her young daughter round to view the house. They are from Hungary, I think. She liked what she saw and is looking at others in the area. Her husband comes over from Hungary at the end of the month, so if she comes back for another viewing hopefully she’ll like it enough to persuade her husband that he likes it enough to part with the money. We have our fingers crossed, but we’re in God’s hands.

The Doll Makers: a tortuous route to publication – A Guest Blog from Penny Grubb

The Doll Makers: a tortuous route to publication – A Guest Blog from Penny Grubb

What Was Your Week Like?

I’ve had quite a full week this week. One of those when looking back says a lot about how busy but enjoyable life is for me and Pat. Played snooker with my friend Ricardo on Monday. Used to be Tuesdays but it had to change. I lost! Tuesday was a trip to the doc for prescriptions, then out for a quick shopping trip. No, that’s a lie; Pat was with me so it took forever! Wednesday was a normal day which gave me the chance to work on my sermon for Pilar church this coming Sunday (17th). Thursday was a change for us. Pat went to Benidorm with the church; took her friend with her (retail therapy). I went to the church and did an electrical job in the ladies loo that needed doing. Had the place to myself so was able to get the job done. I have another one to do but that can wait for now. Friday I met my author friend, Nik Morton for a coffee, an update and a chat. Nik gave me a copy of his latest Western, OLD GUNS, published by Robert Hale (same publisher as me). He writes Westerns under the name Ross Morton. Why not try him out if you like western novels? He’s on Amazon. We had our two friends over for the weekend (Brian & Pauline). They turned up Friday afternoon with their little dog, Casper. Good weekend too. Went down to Guardamar for a stroll along the beach and round the park. Very pleasant. Saturday we went to Cartegena. What an interesting place that is. Went round the Roman museum and walked around the excavated ampi-theatre. Bags of history there. Saturday evening out for an Indian at the Punjabi in Los Montesinos. Sunday I went to church but Pat went out with Brian and Pauline. Me and Brian even managed to watch a couple of football matches on TV, and I was also able to catch up with the Danish Speedway Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon. But I was still able to keep track of my progress in the literary world. Harlequin will be publishing THE BOY FROM BERLIN (paperback) in America and Canada in January 2013. They aren’t interested in two of the four books I sent to them because they don’t suit their imprint (wrong time periods), so I have begun preparing HELL’S GATE for POD and Kindle on Amazon. I have a particular pride in HELL’S GATE; a novel that has brought me comparison with Wilbur Smith. It is set in British East Africa in 1898, and inspired by real events there. I’m getting quite excited about the project already. And the progress of NORTH SLOPE & A COVERT WAR after the promotion has been good too. I managed to raise my average sales to 45 per day for the first nine days in May. I’ve no doubt that the average will taper off, but with more strategic promotion later in the month I may be able to get it back up. So all in all a good week. I hope it continues.

Celebrations

Good weekend for the British and the Commonwealth: the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. I can remember as far back as the Coronation (well, before that actually), but the celebration day that sticks in my mind is the Silver Jubilee. That was in 1977. I had left the Royal Air Force the year before and we had settled in the small village of Colkirk, near Fakenham, Norfolk. We had gone along to a meeting in the village hall and ended up volunteering to help with the organisation. It was our way of getting to know the villagers. It was a great day with fun and games on the village green followed by a barn dance in the evening. Great fun and happy memories. Me and Pat watched the celebrations this weekend on TV. It was a bit sad not being in UK because I know we would have got involved in something. At the moment we have the front of our house bedecked in bunting with the cross of St. George and Union Jacks. There’s something especially rewarding about being patriotic in these times of global meltdown and hardships; a kind of a sense that we are all in this together. I’ve used my free time as well to get down to some more work on my manuscript and also to keep an eye on how the book promotion was going. Although I don’t have the exact figures yet, I managed to achieve a total of 19000 free downloads for both books, NORTH SLOPE & A COVERT WAR. The sales figures that Acclaimed Books provided for the period ending in May showed that my average sales had increased from nine e-books per day to about eleven. That was the figure achieved for the three days following the end of the promotion. Both books made it into the top 100 in the Kindle store, and achieved the top end in their specific Kindle categories. The figures showing on Amazon pages indicate that the books are both holding their own although they are now slipping down the rankings. I will have a better idea when I see the sales figures on Friday. I’ve asked Pete of Acclaimed Books to put ROSELLI’S GOLD on two days free for me. Hopefully this will attract more sales and put my averages back up. Happy days!