Another String to My Bow

There are days when you get so busy you forget to do the things that could be important. And writing a weekly blog is important because there is always the chance that you might strike a chord with someone, which could lead to an improvement in your name as a writer and consequently your sales. I’ve been learning to record myself reading a section from HELL’S GATE today. This is because of a plan we have at Acclaimed Books to launch a magazine next year. This will be for a trial of three months, and hopefully we will be able to serialise our books during that time. The plan is to podcast a chapter each week. In my case I will be reading from HELL’S GATE. The trouble is; I don’t like the sound of my own voice, and I don’t think I want to go through the expense of paying a ‘professional’ to do it for me. But anyway, it will be a bit of fun and I will be learning another technique and adding another string to my bow.

Last week I was pleased to see THE DEVIL’S TRINITY on Kindle, which gave me six titles on Amazon. This title though will be available on other on-line outlets. I am particularly pleased with the book jacket, which my son Terry designed for me. There is something about a design that immediately catches the eye and draws a potential reader to the book. I believe my son has a creative skill and I’ve always been well pleased with the designs he has come up with for my books, and I think this one really is the business.

I met up with Nik Morton today. Nik is a prolific author and editor. We usually meet up for a coffee about once every three months. Nik writes Western novels mainly, but also pens thrillers. All his Western titles have been published by Robert Hale of London under the name of Ross Morton. For those of you who like this genre, why not give Nik a look? You can Google him. Or catch him at www.freewebs.com/nikmorton

One thing all of us indie authors hope for of course is good sales figures. I check my rankings each day on Author Central and get a lift when I see my rankings rocket upwards. It is usually the sale of only one book that achieves this, but it always puts a smile on my face. At least my rankings aren’t in a continuous, downward spiral. I’m hoping that with six titles on Amazon now, I will be picking up more readers. And today I laid the first stone for my next title (already in hardback), SHADOW OF THE WOLF. Might have that ready by Christmas, but probably will see it out in the New Year.

And one other, small project I’m on is preparing a sermon for a small church up the coast from here at Pilar de la Horadada. I’ve preached there several times before, and I’m looking forward to November 25^th. when I’ll be there again. Wish me luck!