The good and bad of editing.

September 29^th.

Nothing last week, which was deliberate because I had little to say.
This time there’s more but then no more for a while because we are off to Spain
for a couple of weeks. The promotion for Roselli’s Gold with ENT went well. I
sold 87 copies on the day of the promotion, and a few more after that. Not a
huge amount, but at least the royalties will cover the cost of the promo. I
shall be going quiet while in Spain, but when I get back, there will be some
catching up needed. My permafree novel, The Eagle’s Covenant is still
attracting downloads, but the average is around sixteen a day. Still OK, but
could be better.

Last week I downloaded AutoCrit: a software editing programme. I find
it very useful and annoying at the same time because it points out all the
places in my narrative where I could improve. So far I am about one third of
the way through and have edited something like 30,000 words. The statistic
showing on the AutoCrit record says that I have examined over one million words
so far. It looks a lot, but imagine what figure it will have reached by the
time I finish the edit. Once that is done, I will print the manuscript off for
my lovely wife to read through. She will use her red pen to point out my errors
and I will then go through a final edit. Should be finished before Christmas.

I have had to jog the ear of Ingram Spark because they forgot to process
the file I uploaded to them. It is now in ‘premedia’ and I should know by the
end of the week that it’s ready for printing. I’ll be in Spain, but at least I
can order a copy so that it is here when we get back home. Once I’m happy, I’ll
order about twenty copies for the CHINDI’s One Big Launch in November.

I’ve been delivering brochures for our ‘Words for the Wounded’ event in
October. I’m looking forward to that because it will be a good opportunity to
be in a place where I can meet people who want to be there, listening to
authors and, hopefully, buying their books. Mine too! It will be helpful as
well, because if I sell more than just one book, it could give me an indication
of how many I will need in the run-up to Christmas.

For those of you who haven’t already done so, why not have a look at my
permafree book, The Eagle’s Covenant? http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LZRKJ4O/?tag There’s another
freebie inside. See you all when I come back from Spain.

A Good Week

September 12^th.

It has been a good week on both sides of the coin for me, both domestically
and literally (book-wise). Medical stuff started the week off for me on Monday:
dentist for a small filling in the morning, and in the afternoon my bi-monthly
visit to the hospital for my cancer maintenance jab. That evening I was at my
book writers group, CHINDI for a pretty full meeting. Two more new faces to
remember now and at least one of them will be joining the group permanently.

On Wednesday I went across to Petersfield for a book launch. The writer
was a local man, Ron Jameson, 93 years of age and proudly launching his second
novel. I met Ron a couple of months ago to talk about his experiences in Kenya.
He had written a novel set there, called Whistling Thorn, and I had written
Hell’s Gate which was set in the same place: the Rift Valley. It gave us common
ground and much to talk about. I also met two people who had been at the Monday
meeting. But one fairly important chat I had was with the owner of the bookshop
where the book launch party took place. He gave me an insight into the other
side of marketing and promotion from a book seller’s point of view.

Friday was an opportunity to spend a day at Goodwood in West Sussex. It
was the Goodwood Festival. It goes on for three days and is all about the
forties and fifties, classic motor racing, aeroplanes from World War Two, Rock
n Roll, and dressing up in the fashions of that era. It was a terrific day out
and good weather to boot. We will go again next year.

I made progress with my current WIP: actually finishing the first,
80,000 word draft. Next step is to complete the re-write, which I have started.
I made an important decision about that too. I have been giving a lot of
thought to the cost of proof reading, editing and jacket design, and wondering
if it really is worth the outlay. I would probably never recover the costs
anyway, and I’m basing that honestly on my track record as a self-published
writer. To produce a paperback book would cost about £1000. The sales return on
that would probably earn me a tenth in royalties. As for eBook sales, I would have
to pay promotion costs to achieve significant sales, so it wouldn’t be cost
effective either. You might say this means I have no faith in my ability, but
that isn’t true: I know I am a good writer, but so are hundreds of writers out
there competing against the likes of me! It’s all down to luck. And if I did
hit the big time, I wouldn’t give a second thought to the publication costs; I
would hand it over to the professionals straight away.

I have just approved the latest upload of my paperback, Past Imperfect,
to CreateSpace. I received a copy of my earlier attempt, and although I couldn’t
fault CS, I wasn’t happy with the finished product: hence the upload. That
should be available in about four days’ time. I’ll order a copy, see what it
looks like and, if I’m satisfied, I’ll order another twenty copies or so for my
book launch party in November with the CHINDI group.

And to finish off a good week, I e-mailed all my subscribers to let
them know Roselli’s Gold was available at a low price for a promotion, and sold
seventeen copies. When I see an average of two a day, that figure of seventeen
is like a huge leap. It certainly put a smile on my face. Hopefully the
promotion on eReaderNews tomorrow will bring me an even bigger result. Wish me
luck!

Down to the Roots

September 5^th.

I look at my diary for the past week, and the pages are
blank. I sit here and wonder what exactly I did during those blank days. Well,
the truth isn’t always revealed in the empty pages of a journal; my week was
full and, in some way, successful. My sales continue to hold up on Amazon, and
the downloads for my permafree title continue averaging around 30 per day, and
my subscribers list increases daily. I finished my paperback, Past Imperfect and uploaded it to
CreateSpace. Today I ordered a copy
and, hopefully, I will be happy with it. I was also able to make great strides
with my WIP. I’m inching closer to finishing the first draft. Once that’s done
I can do a complete edit, re-write and have the manuscript ready for Pat to do
the first read through. I wish I could do that as quickly as I wrote those
words, but it’s likely to take me very close to Christmas before I can say I’m
happy with the finished article. Oh, are we ever
happy with the finished article?

On the domestic front I was able to get out into the garden
and cut the lawn because the rain had held off for a day. We had two friends;
Sandra and Ken, from Spain visit us on Wednesday evening. Had a lovely time talking
about all sorts of things, including Jesus and Christian fellowship. They left
about midnight. I told Pat I would wash the dishes before we went to bed. She
stayed up with me and it took us about half an hour before we were done. I
suppose we should have sat down and had a glass of wine then, but the evidence
of the empty bottles and the lateness of the hour made us decide against that.
Lovely evening though.

Back on the book front, I have spent a few more dollars on a
book promotion. This time it’s for Roselli’s
Gold. It’s always something of a dilemma for me: choosing which book to
promote. But I should look at all my titles with the same view: they are all
worth promoting. Being a member of about three writing groups on-line, I see
all sorts of advice about promotion and marketing. Some
are spurious while some appear to achieve seriously good results. And
then you consider the minutiae and realise that the success is generally in the one or two per cent of the group, while the
rest of us still struggle to get our heads above the parapet.

I began watching a video on how to sell, promote and market
your indie book, and make money. Everything I see and read is like wandering
over old ground: I’ve done it all and am still doing it, but my results pale
into insignificance compared to the statistics published by some of these
successful writers. I don’t doubt the claims because often they are backed up
with total sales figures, but the implication is always there that you can do
exactly the same. How I wish that was true, but it won’t stop me from trying.

Back to another kind of reality: my wife has just asked me to help her
with the weeding; so I’ve spent the last hour out in the garden.

One dilemma I have is what to do with the book I’m writing at the
moment. I’m not contracted to my publisher now, but I do have direct access to
her, and can send her the MS for her consideration. If she is happy with it, it
will go into hardback and I won’t have to bear the cost of jacket design, proof
reading and editing. But I won’t have the rights to the e-book either, and it
will take about fifteen months before it is published and reaches the on-line
outlets. On the other hand; if I publish the book myself, I can have it on-line
within a matter of weeks once I am happy with the finished article, and
possibly start earning royalties. But then I would have bear the cost of
editing etc. My gut feeling is to go with the latter, so whatever I do: wish me
luck!