Mixed bag for Michael

So, what’s been happening during the last week for me?
Low book sales; struggle with Amazon; dash to see the specialist and grappling
with my current novel. I believe there is a traditional slump in on-line book sales
after the Christmas period because so many people have received iPads, Kindles etc.
from their loved ones, and have downloaded more than their average weekly dose
of books. Some, perhaps the majority would have gone for best-sellers, while
others may have taken advantage of the many free books on offer. Whatever the
reason, my sales have nosedived. But I’m not too disheartened because there is
always the chance they will go up again. I have a promotion coming up at the
beginning of March which could help.

My struggle with Amazon is trying to get them to put
right what they have admitted to getting wrong; and that is the ‘Look inside
the Book’ facility on my latest publication: A WORD IN YOUR EAR. They say it
will take a week to put right, but they said this a month ago and still it
didn’t happen. They also failed to change the interior file I re-submitted, and
offered to download my title to me for free in compensation. Considering it
only costs $0.99, I would much sooner have them get it right in the first
place. I will wait until later in the week (they said about six days) and check
again. Yesterday nothing had changed. I managed to complete the file and jacket
for CreateSpace. It took a while with a few hiccups along the way. I have read
the digital proof and put it up for publication. I’m now waiting for
CreateSpace to let me know it’s on line.

My dash to see my specialist was because I developed a
chest infection. This would be the second one in a month. The antibiotics
worked OK, but it came back and needed treating. My next chemo is due Tuesday,
so with luck there will be no need to postpone it for a week.

As for grappling with my current novel; isn’t that the
life of a writer? My thriller is set on the Mexican/USA border. I have an
outline plan, some good scenes, but like many of us who do this kind of thing;
I have a problem with the middle: I don’t know what I’m going to write. No
doubt it will come to me but it’s got to happen soon otherwise I’ll still be
sitting in front of my laptop scratching my head. Wish me luck!

Website, Plans and Schemes

My latest website is almost complete. My son took it upon himself to get me out of a jam and has built a new site for me. It isn’t finished yet; still a ‘work in progress’. Thankfully he will be over here in Spain in a few weeks, so we can do some work on it together. What I really mean is that he will show me what to do. I’ve been on the site and thought how good it looks. If I do manage to get to grips with it; I should be able to change it as I go along, developing my creative skills as a web designer (who am I kidding?). But it’s there and it will happen. I will then begin to add my titles which are currently available on Amazon through Acclaimed Books Ltd. and eventually enjoy a ‘hands on’ control to changing prices and offers etc. I have no problem with Acclaimed Books (AB.c), but because we are moving back to UK, and in view of my age, I decided the time was right to manage my own affairs. I have been involved from the beginning with AB.c, a small group set up by Peter Lihou, and his stewardship has seen the group potential increase dramatically. It has more or less evolved into THE BOOK AWARDS, and you can learn more at www.acclaimedbooks.com. It’s worth taking a look, particularly if you are an author looking for an opportunity to find professional services, an chance to help with getting your books published, and even voting for your own titles in the monthly books awards. AB.c already has publishers interested in the awards scheme.
The first book that will appear on my new website will in fact be a work of non-fiction. My anecdotal story of how God changed my retirement plans. It’s called A WORD IN YOUR EAR, but before I ask readers of this blog to check it out, I am still having a problem with Amazon. Last month they ruined the ‘Look Inside’ sample on their book page. They admitted their error and said that they had put it right, which they hadn’t. Anyway, I went ahead and began preparing the book for CreateSpace; Amazon’s paperback publishing arm. The digital proof showed that I needed to re-edit. I done this and uploaded the re-edited file. I should know within a few days if that has come through the mill without any problems. Once I’m happy with that, I’ll do battle with Amazon again. Then I’ll buy a few copies and hand them out to the people I have on my (secret) list. They don’t know what they are in for. I will probably promote the e-book on Amazon’s KDP Select programme, but at its current price of $0,99 (£0,75), it’s a steal anyway.
On the health front, I am still battling with my cancer treatment, but it shouldn’t be long now and I’ll be clear. Our house move is developing slowly, and the packing is being done mostly by Pat because I get exhausted too quickly as a result of the chemo. We have secured a rental property and will be taking ‘ownership’ of it within a couple of weeks. We have a good contract which will cover any unseen eventuality with my treatment, including having UK TV and broadband installed. So, by and large, we have our plan and hope to see it all through and get back to UK permanently later this year. Maybe I’ll sell a few more books too! Wish me luck.

Another Learning curve

It has been quite a week one way or another. I
successfully uploaded a non-fiction book to Amazon Kindle (more later), secured
a property to rent for our forthcoming “homeless” period in Spain and endured
another chemo session. Oh, and failed spectacularly to upload a decent cover of
my non-fiction work to CreateSpace. The process of uploading a word document to
Amazon is fairly straightforward using their free guide. The conversion was
effortless, and apart from a glitch in the final product, which was Amazon’s
fault, it now resides proudly in the religious section. Oh, it even went to #81
in the top 100 in that category. But there’s a story there too. I had planned
to keep this new project of mine a secret until I had a decent paperback
available on Amazon (CreateSpace); then I was going to send my non-Christian
sons a copy each. But an on-line author acquaintance bought a copy as soon as I
announced it on the forum. I thought that was lovely of her, and that’s why it
shot up to #81. But she posted my announcement on FB, Twitter and elsewhere. I
couldn’t help smiling to myself; talk about the best laid plans. But
ironically, that’s what my book was about: how God changes your plans when you
least expect it.

Another venture I embarked on was a new website, but my
complete lack of technical ability, and being able to interpret the language of
web designers, meant I was doomed to failure. However, my son who maintains my main
website has jumped into the breach to save me. You may ask why I need another
site when I already have one. The reason is that I want to have a hands-on
control of the content. This has been done by my son over the years, and I
really appreciate it, but he’s a busy boy (he’s an airline pilot), and often
finds it time consuming to deal with my requests for changes when he has his
own site to manage (plus getting on with life). So, in about two or three weeks’
time I should be master and commander of my own ship! I also plan to put my own
titles on the site and manage them myself in the fullness of time. They are currently
overseen by Acclaimed Books Ltd.

As for the chemo; well, that’s life: I have to deal with
it. My projects continue and I hope to make more progress with my current
thriller, set in Mexico. Wish me luck!