Back to the future. Where do we go from here?

This could be my last
blog entry for a while. This time next week we will be travelling up to Bilbao
to catch the boat back to England. Technically we’ll be homeless until we have
handed over the money for our Park Home at Pagham (West Sussex). It means no
Wi-Fi for a while, but like a lot of people of our age (me and Pat), we have
travelled thousands of miles over the years without Wi-Fi, mobile phones,
tablets, laptops and all that modern paraphernalia. We will still have our mobile
phones with us of course, so we won’t be completely isolated. Something we
noticed when we travelled to Australia a couple of years ago was the fast
disappearance of public call boxes. No doubt they will become a thing of the
past. As technology moves forward and leaves the past behind, a lot of us mourn
the passing of the old days but would probably not welcome them back. I would
not like to go back to writing novels on a typewriter, even with a correction
ribbon in place. And as for carbons: God forbid! But thinking back to the
tapping rhythm of the typewriter keys and the zip of the carriage return, I
harbour a kind of masochistic desire for those days. I think it’s because it
made the acceptance of a novel by the publisher a rewarding triumph after the
drudge of bashing away in a lonely corner somewhere. Modern indie writers
cannot possibly know that feeling: they can never live the sheer joy of
receiving the acceptance letter from the publisher. Publishing a novel now is a
fact of life that turns us all into writers. Anybody can pen a story, good or
bad, and publish it in Amazon. They become instant writers. Just add water and
stir. There’s a kind of metronomic output with some of the writers I’ve come
across on various forums. They promote their next series of first time novels
that they have yet to complete and invite readers to log on to their blog and
sign up for the newsletter, behaving like established writers. And it’s all
down to modern technology. So what’s the next step? Who knows? But the fun, the
joy and, (dare I say it?) the creativity needed to produce quality will be
missing, and this can only be to the detriment of the published word. One day
youngsters will seek instant gratification through apps on their mobiles and
tablets, apps that will be produced by wizard technology that probably doesn’t
exist yet, and books will confined to the dusty shelves of old houses and
bookshops. So when me and Pat are finally settled in our new home at Pagham, I
will get on with writing and publishing on Amazon because that’s the only way
to go for so many writers today. Unless I manage to get my novel finished and
accepted by my publisher! Wish me luck.

Amazon or traditional: which way?

Two weeks today and we’re off to UK. After all the
moving around over the years this will be our last move. (I won’t include the
ultimate one that we all have to go through). We will be settled in Pagham and
looking at a change in our lifestyle after seventeen years in Spain. Apart from
the small sacrifices that are necessary when moving house, one part of my
routine that is on hold at the moment is my writing. Although I still have
times during the day when I could sit down and write, I find my creative flow
is impeded because of other things on my mind. Some writers might say that this
is a poor excuse. If I was writing for a living I would agree, but I’m not;
it’s only a hobby. So the tools are put away and the ideas will continue to
germinate in my mind until they can take shape and form once I am back into a
routine.

I’ve been giving a lot of thought lately to the prospect
of my next book — the one I am supposed to be writing — and whether I should
offer it to my publisher of go straight to Amazon. The reason I am in a bit of
a quandary over this is because my next book, Past Imperfect, is due out in
January in hardback, and I am looking forward to holding it in my hand and
giving myself a gratuitous pat on the back. Having your work published by a
traditional publisher is still no mean feat these days, and it is still nice to
think of myself as being traditionally published.

But there’s another reason (maybe a ton of them) why I
am considering this. Because I am from the old school of writers who have gone
through the mill of finding a publisher or an agent — rare as hen’s teeth for
many wannabe writers — I have a soft spot for the old way. But as pleased as I
am for what I have on Amazon (eight titles), and have sold reasonably well, I
now feel that Amazon are moving the goalposts and making it more difficult for
writers like myself who do not have a series of books to offer in box form.
They have also introduced KDP Prime service for authors whereby they can have
up to ten books available at once on a loan basis. This shift in the way they
encourage readers means it offers quantity at a low price. I could say quantity
against quality, but that has to be the opinion of the people who buy books.

I have had some fun with my books on Amazon and enjoyed
good results from time to time, but my rankings almost always sink back to the
200,000 mark after a promotion. When I see my rankings shoot up, it brings a
huge smile to my face, but I know it’s only a sale of maybe one or two books.
If I have the quality that readers want, then my rankings would be a lot
higher, and in a more permanent position. The only way to do that is to build a
readership, which is an antediluvian concept from the time before Amazon and
the closure of many public libraries. I am failing to do that and wonder why I should
add another title to my list on Amazon. Would it make a heap of difference to
my position there? Probably not. So for that reason I think I would prefer to
see another hardback of mine sitting on the bookshelf next to my other nine
titles. My immediate problem of course is to finish the book and offer it to my
publisher. She may not like it, which means I will have to resort to self-publishing.
I will continue to battle against the odds of course. I will carry on promoting
and marketing my books and looking for ways to open the flood gates, but at the
moment I am swamped, like thousands of us, by the other indie writers all
competing for the same bit of space. Wish me luck!

PC, Proofs and Publicity

I’m back with Andy MacNab after wasting time on other
‘polished’ thriller writers. MacNab’s writing is so clever that you forget that
he was basically a foot soldier who we tend to regard as brawn over brains. But
taking into consideration the considerable skills and bravery required to be a
member of the Special Forces (SAS), it makes you realise just how clever these
men are. With MacNab, he has added powerful storytelling to his CV. Imbedded in
his writing is the colloquial, non PC jargon of servicemen and women, probably
the world over; and it sits very comfortably with his style. I’ve just finished
Firewall and am now reading Aggressor. I have read two of his other titles.

I mention the non PC writing because the editor of my
next novel, Past Imperfect, took exception to the descriptions I used when referring
to a black character of West Indian origin in my book. Black skin, white teeth
in the dark kind of stuff. I was told that in today’s PC climate it would
probably be better to come up with another choice of words so as not to give
offence. I had no argument against that because changing a couple of phrases didn’t
impact on the story. But if I had been one of my publisher’s top authors,
someone like Andy MacNab, would it have made any difference? I don’t think I
would have been asked to change anything.

I’ve done virtually no work on my current WIP since my
last blog, and, no, I can’t blame Andy MacNab; it’s more to do with learning to
improve my social networking skills. I am currently learning a little more about
Pinterest and how to make good use of it. I still have a problem appreciating
just how powerful it can be, and do ask myself why isn’t everybody else on it
if it’s that good. But I’ll try. At least I have learned a new skill, and that
is making bookmark sized quotes for pinning. All I need to do now is find the
right targets. Ironically, I dismissed a young lady author several months ago
who explained on her website how she had made huge sales of her books simply by
using Pinterest. She explained how and offered to help anyone who was
interested. I couldn’t be bothered: for me it was just another Amanda Hocking
success story that only happens to the few. Perhaps I should have taken more
notice.

I did play around with my website (www.michaelparkerbooks.com),
looking to see if I could improve its appearance and attractiveness. Perhaps
give it a bit of zap. But that will come in time.

As we get closer to leaving Spain (three weeks today),
so my days are getting fuller leaving me little time to work on WIPs and social
networks. My wife is very busy arranging our ‘going away party’ at church (this
Wednesday), and naturally I am involved. She is doing the bulk of the planning
and cooking, while I chauffer her around and generally act as a sounding board
and general dogs body when needed. She feeds me too! We have different lunches
planned (too many for the waistline really), appointments to keep and important
processes to remember. The calendar is just about full and that more or less
puts paid to creative pursuits like writing and social networking. But why am I
keeping up with this blog? Well, it’s in the hope that one day someone other
than a spammer will read it and make a comment. It would be inspiring to know
that there are followers out there, even if it’s only a few.

My book sales are maintaining their one a day average,
which I have to admit is promising. Maybe one day I’ll have them up to two a
day. Then I’ll get really excited. If they went stratospheric I think I’d go
pop.

Oh yes; another strange one for me. My publisher
contacted me last week to say that the proofs would be sent to my West Sussex address
(we haven’t got there yet) and could I return them reasonably quickly. I had to
remind them that we haven’t moved yet, so in the end it was agreed to send the
proofs once we are back in UK. But physical proofs? I used to get galley proofs
years ago, but for a long while now it has been digital proofs, PDF style. I
must admit I prefer the idea of a physical copy; it makes it seem nearer the
day. So, something to look forward to on my return. Wish me luck!

Which Lottery are you in?

Life is a lottery, so
they say, and there’s no question that some people draw the winning ticket and
others do not. Sadly, most do not. What we have to look at, as Eric Idle’s song
tells us, is to always look on the bright side of life. So drawing away from
the daily horrors of this world; horrors that are constantly in our newspapers
and on out TV screens, I want to talk about another kind of lottery: producing
a best-seller; a book, naturally, seeing as my blog is connected to the written
word.

Yesterday, Amanda
Hocking’s name came up in a forum post. Amanda is a self-published author and
now a wealthy woman because she cracked it: broke the million sales on Amazon.
She did that within about two years I think, but don’t quote me on that. Today I
read in the Mail on Sunday of another writer, Andy Leeks, who has cracked it.
He has sold over 40,000 e-books and is quoted as saying it was easy to publish
an e-book. And he’s dead right about that: it is. But it isn’t easy to reach
sales figures that put you near the top of the Amazon best sellers list. Andy
was soon selling 500 books a day, but he didn’t manage this by luck; it meant
hard work after the book had been published. He handed out leaflets on his
train journey to work each day because his book was about commuters. It’s
called ‘As They Slept’.  How many of you
would be authors have done that? I haven’t, but my excuse is that I live in
Spain and none of the passengers would understand my leaflet. What a poor
excuse. But there’s a simple truth in the way in which Andy went about part of
his marketing: start local! If you have a book available on Amazon, make a
start with a Press release and get yourself in the local newspapers. Have some
bookmarks printed with your details on and leave them lying around at strategic
points. Ask the local library if you can do this. There must be many ways in
which you can begin a ‘local’ campaign.

You might be formulating
a question for me: if you’re so clever, how come you haven’t done this? Well,
living in Spain doesn’t help an English language writer like me, so I’ve had to
rely on promotions through the web. But next month we will be back in England
permanently, and I hope to begin a local campaign of my own, once we have
settled in. It will cost me time and money, but the length of time and the
amount of money I spend is down to me. Meanwhile I have another promotion
purchased for the month of November. This is for my thriller, The Devil’s
Trinity.

I am making slow progress
with my current WIP (work in progress). The working title is ‘The Gatekeeper’.
Whether I’ll keep that or not remains to be seen. But I have reached 50,000
words and can’t afford to give it up. I did it last year with this WIP, and
wrote a romance instead. That will be out in January, published by Robert Hale,
my London publisher. I won’t get much done now on my WIP because we are now
into the last four weeks of our tenure in Spain, and the social diary is
filling alongside the appointments we have with bureaucracy in order to legally
extricate ourselves from the Spanish authorities. All good fun. And I’m still
on medication for my cancer, but only medication; the chemo finished five
months ago. Wish me luck!