Saturday 27 December 2014

Looking Ahead

As the old year succumbs to Father Time, so we all look
forward to what the following year might hold for us all. I’m no different and
tend to feel a sense of optimism as the New Year approaches. This time last
year I was in the middle of chemo therapy, living in Spain and wondering what
the future held for me. Now we are living in England and I have no worries
about my condition. We are settled into our new life and I have great hopes for
my continuing progress in the book world. I have a 30 day promotion with IBD
(Independent Book Authors) for my title, The Eagle’s Covenant, beginning on
January 3rd. This is a low key, low budget promotion, but it’s a
promotion at least. Second week in January I will be meeting up with the Chindi
Authors (www.chindi-authors.co.uk) who I hope will teach me a lot about
promoting and marketing my books. I also have plans to continue publishing my
titles on Amazon under my name as publisher. At the moment they are published
by www.acclaimedbooks.com.
This is a ‘collective’: a small group of writers from all over the world
publishing under one heading. We are all “directors” of this group but in
reality the bulk of the work is done by Peter Lihou, the CEO of the outfit. (He
pays our royalties!). Although I will be removing my books from Acclaimed Books,
I will still remain a member of the group. But although I will be fully
independent, I still have a publisher at www.halebooks.com (Robert Hale Ltd) and
Harlequin Books in Canada www.harlequin.com. So I have a lot going
for me and titles out there over which I have no control.
My current work in progress (WIP) is back on the shelf
again, but simply because of the Christmas period and all that it entails. I
have been learning Scrivener and have been putting my WIP there. I’m a long way
from being competent at it, but once I get back into some sort of groove in the
New Year, I’m sure things will take off. I am also learning Photoshop with a
view to buying the software. This is something I need to do if I am to
republish my own titles as an Indie on Amazon. It’s more for CreateSpace than
the e-books. I’m using the 30 day trial at the moment. I also want to trim my
social networking and rationalise it somewhat. By that I mean the use of
Twitter, Goodreads and other associated network forums and sites. It can be complicated,
time consuming and pointless sometimes, but I do need to understand the why and
wherefore of web marketing etc. Pinterest is another which I am told is the
No.1 site for promotion (Free). If I could afford it, I would use BookBub: it
does what it says on the tin and is a great source for writers.


Well, I knew what I was doing this time last year and I
wonder what I’ll be doing this time next year. With luck I will have established
myself as a favourite among readers of my genre,
and have a better grasp of how to manage myself. But we are all in God’s hands
and only He knows what’s in store for us. I do hope that all the readers of my
blog, and my books, whatever your beliefs, have a wonderful, happy 2015. See
you all next year!

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