Building blocks

July 25^th.

The interview on Angel radio went well. I don’t know when it will be
live on air, but it will be shared around on my blog and other social media.
Monday evening was a photo shoot with the CHINDI group. It was quite an event
in a way. The shoot was supposed to be organised in such a way that we all knew
when we were due to have our pictures taken. In the end it was a glorious kind
of melee where we all had individual shots, then a cluster of group shots. The
event lasted about an hour or so and, had we not all been responsible adults,
it could have turned out to be quite an evening considering we were in a pub. I
told the photographer that my facial shots often show up my dodgy, front tooth
(it’s getting old!). He told me not to worry; he would sort that with Photoshop.
By the way: have you noticed how ‘Photoshop’ is now a verb? I’m practising my
skills with it, but more later.

The only medical appointments me and Pat had this week were at the
dentist, so a little more free time than usual. I managed to get my lawn cut in
between the rainy spells, and Pat found more stuff to plant in the garden. We
paid my younger brother a visit. He is virtually housebound, so it helps to pop
over there for a chat. His wife is always pleased to see us.

Another visit, but this time two of our friends, Ray and Lynn, from
Spain. They came over on the ferry, landing at Portsmouth late evening. We gave
them a bed for the night so they could continue their journey to Manchester the
following day. It was nice to see them and it gave me an opportunity to chat
about my books. Not too much though; just enough.

But visits and seminars wasn’t the only thing that took up my time;
battling with Photoshop consumed a large part of it. Having completed the edit
on my book, Past Imperfect, the next
task was to create a jacket. To say I’ve been tearing my hair out would be an
understatement: but it is such a complicated piece of software, it is very
difficult to understand everything it can do and how to do it. I have used
several, You Tube videos to learn about working with layers etc., but the
biggest problem is the actual design. Not being terribly artistic in that
department, I am dipping my toe in the water and hoping for the best. I could
employ a professional, but I have another seven jackets waiting in the wings,
so the overall expense could be quite prohibitive. The reason for this, by the
way, is because I am re-publishing my back-lists, using my name as publisher. I
have completed two so far (didn’t need PS for those), and have the rest to do. And
because I have just received the UK paperback rights to my last two books from
my publisher, it has added to my workload. I’m not complaining though: at least
I have plenty to keep me out of mischief.

My Mail Chimp subscription list grows daily, which is a positive. I
haven’t reached enormous numbers but have gone past the 300 mark. Next month I
will have to send them all something. I don’t know what yet, but I do want to
keep them onside. If any of you reading this want to add your name to my list,
please click the link: http://eepurl.com/bgYKMj And sometime this year I might even get
back to working on my latest novel. Wish me luck!

Stepping Stones

July 19^th.

 

Good week last week: I’m actually making progress! Received
confirmation from my publisher that I now have the UK paperback rights to my
last two novels, Past Imperfect and The Boy from Berlin. I have completed
the edit on the first of these, and now have to embark on the daunting task of
creating a presentable book jacket. The promotion I ran for A Covert War yielded reasonable results.
I managed to sell 42 books last week, which is a huge increase for me.  Naturally it’s all about getting my name out
into the market place at the moment; not just selling books.

Our week began with a trip to Bath in Somerset to meet up
with our grandson, Sam, who is over from America on an internship for six
weeks. It was great to spend time with him, take him out to lunch and just be
in his company. We haven’t seen him for about six years. Monday was taken up
with a hospital appointment for me. Tuesday was the promotion day. Thursday was
different: I went along to a drop-in centre called CancerWise. This wasn’t
because of my on-going treatment, but because it was suggested to our writer
group, CHINDI, that we might be able to do something for the charity. I spoke
to the manageress and explained that essentially, we want to sell books, and it
would be a bit churlish of me to pretend that we could offer them something
when the truth is that there is an ulterior motive. So I offered to come along
to the group on my own and give a talk on the writing process, the value of
spending time doing this, using it as a therapy and anything else that might
crop up during the talk. And I would come as a writer, not as a snake oil
salesman trying to flog the CHINDI group to them. Naturally I would be happy to
do more than one chat, but then it might be reasonable of me to hope they will
buy my books.

For the last four weeks, the CHINDI group have been
supported by Kim’s Bookshop in Chichester by displaying several of our books in
support of the Chichester Arts Festival. It was another way of getting our name
out to the wider public. I picked up the books and was pleased to find out that
we had sold more than half of those displayed. Maybe next year, if we do the
same again, we’ll sell all the books.

Tomorrow I’m off the Angel Radio in Havant  (101.1 FM) for an interview. Being a local
lad, there should be something of interest in my life to prick somebody’s ears.
Naturally I’ll plug my books and the CHINDI group if I get the chance, and I
will also be leaving a copy of Past
Imperfect for them to give away as a gift. They will also be playing a selection
of music I’ve chosen from the 1950s. Should be fun. I don’t know if the
interview will be live, or recorded, but if I get a CD from them, I’ll post it
on my website. Wish me luck!

Meeting People

July 11^th.

It looks like I missed a week, but lots have occurred which kind of
diverted me. Hospital appointments get in the way. So essential of course, but
they do take up a lot of time. Last Monday I went into Chichester and
introduced myself to the Waterstones manager. He was very pleasant and didn’t
throw me out of the shop. I was able to talk about CHINDI, the writers group I
often mention now. He said he wouldn’t be averse to doing a book launch, but
would have to vet the book beforehand. I thought this was reasonable because I
doubt if he has any say in the matter if it’s a top-line writer with a book
launch. It’s a step forward for us, and a connection: so important too.

I also ventured into East Wittering along the coast from where we live,
and spoke to Lindsay, the owner of Kings Bookshop there. She was happy to talk
about our books and book promotions; so another contact has been made which
should help to spread the word about our writing group. I know it’s always the
aim of a writer to sell books (usually), but for the moment it’s all about
building relationships with people in the book world.

I took the plunge and asked my publisher if she could give me the
paperback rights to the last two novels she published for me: The Boy from Berlin and Past Imperfect. She has agreed to give
me the UK rights, which I am really pleased about. It means now that I can
publish those two books without having to worry about editing and
proof-reading. Well, not quite. At the moment I am going through the edited
manuscript of Past Imperfect and editing my Word doc. So I suppose it is a form
of editing. However, the book jacket will be different. I can’t use Photoshop
properly, but I have watched a training video on using Microsoft Word, and I
think I might just be able to cope. Time will tell though. With luck I can have
the book ready by the end of August and follow that up in September with The
Boy from Berlin. I’m quite excited about this development because our CHINDI
group are holding a big launch day in September, and hopefully I’ll have at
least one, new title to offer.

On the writing front; I have reached 68,000 words and changed the plot
line of my WIP. It was the only way I could see myself making progress. I still
have a mini mountain to climb, but hopefully I will get there in the end. At
the moment I am planning to offer it to my publisher. If she turns it down then
I will publish it myself. But that will incur costs: about £1000 if I’m brave
enough. Might have to give that some thought though.

I received an e-mail today from a young woman Pat and I met while we
were on our Alaskan cruise. Her name is Julia, and she was with her friend,
Mary Beth. They sat at our table and we talked for about an hour and a half.
Pat and I were really pleased to get Julia’s e-mail. Naturally we will stay in
contact through Facebook and perhaps the occasional e-mail.

I had a bit of a lift this morning with my KDP sales report. I usually
average about one sale a day, but because I e-mailed my subscribers and told
them of a forthcoming promotion for A
Covert War ($0.99), I sold nine books yesterday. Small numbers indeed
compared to a lot of Amazon authors, but it brought a big smile to my face.

Tomorrow, Sunday, we are off to Bath to see our grandson, Sam. He is in
UK on a short internship from his university in America. He lives in Australia,
and we haven’t seen him for about six years, so this is a great opportunity to
catch up with him, take him out to lunch and learn more about his hopes, his plans
and his ambitions. We are really looking forward to that. Should be fun. See
you next week.