Keeping up the averages and buying a puppy

March 26th. I held my Book Talk event last Saturday and enjoyed it immensely. About fifteen people turned up, which meant there was no over-crowding in the room, and I managed to sell a few books. That wasn’t the purpose of the event, but I took my books along just in case. I have seen both the one hour videos of the two hour event, and if I’ve learned anything, it is that questions from the floor cannot be heard when it’s only me who has the voice microphone. If I hold another event in future that’s being filmed, I will have to remember to repeat the questions for the benefit of the camera. Because I was talking from a personal experience of traditional and self-publishing, I managed to sound like an expert. I’ve no doubt that some people will, or could, challenge me on some of my statements about the book world, but I will stand by everything I said. I think most people there gained something from the talk, and quite a few of them have asked me to e-mail the notes I used to guide me through the afternoon. The notes were simply an aide memoire, but helpful to jog people’s memories. I have been asked when I will be doing another talk; it was from someone who couldn’t make it. I had to tell the lady that I am not planning on another, although if I was invited to do something along similar lines, I would probably consider it. Trouble is, what could I talk about other than my own experience as a writer; I would just be repeating myself? My book sales are still healthy following my BookBub promotion. It is now almost two weeks since the event, and I am selling about forty books a day. My Amazon rankings are dropping slowly, but that is to be expected. At the moment I am at 12000 plus. I can also see where my sales are distributed among my titles. Sometime later, I will be able to distil the figures and see which books are selling better than others. It might help me when working on another campaign. I did receive a questionnaire from BookBub asking me about the promotion and my results. At the end I was asked if I would be prepared to take part in another survey. I said yes because I want to keep my name in BookBub’s lexicon of so-called “Partners”. It might help if I try for another promotion. I am pushing ahead with my current WIP. I’m up to 10,000 words now and already changing my mind about which way the story will go. I did a small re-edit earlier, changing some of the ‘clues’ I usually drop in to confuse the reader. As the story goes on, the clues will be revealed and leave the reader thinking what a brilliant thriller writer I am! That’s the plan, anyway. Fortunately I haven’t got too far into the story to let the changes make much of a difference, but I will have to remember where I put them and not forget to use them. Scrivener helps with that. On the domestic front, we bought a Cockapoo puppy last week. It will be handed over to us in about three weeks’ time. We already have put photos up on Facebook, and will be going over to the breeder tomorrow to spend an hour of so with “Tuppence”. We’ll do this each week until we can bring her home. Then the fun begins. Wish me luck!

BookBub and Book Talk

March 20th 2016 This has been a good week for me both on the book and domestic fronts. The Kitchen fitter turned up as planned, my book promotion went out on BookBub, and on Friday I celebrated my 75th. birthday. The kitchen fitter completed the job in one day, and my promotion exceeded all my expectations. So now we have an upgraded kitchen, new tiles, work tops, cooker and hob etc. and I have a smile on my face because I have sold over 3000 books. And I’m still selling. That’s one of the great things about a successful promotion; there’s always a ‘tail’, and sales continue for some time. I’m currently averaging about forty books a day, which is a whole lot better than my usual average of about one or two. My Amazon rankings reached 302, which is quite a contrast to 200,000. The book I promoted was Roselli’s Gold. It only had sixteen reviews, which I thought would not make it attractive enough for BookBub, but as a consequence of the sales it reached No1 in two categories and No.2 in another. And now my other books are selling. I know this will slow down and eventually I’ll return to the low sales and rankings I’m used to, but I need to build on this and get back to more promotions. For my birthday, I took Pat out to Dell Quay, a small marina in Chichester Harbour. The pub there is very popular, and we enjoyed a meal overlooking the small boats, watched a few people cockling, and a couple of canoeists negotiating the channels. Yesterday, Saturday, I held my ‘Book Talk’ in the local Arts & Crafts Gift shop. Fifteen people turned up. I put a limit of twenty on the talk because of the room size, so fifteen was just about right; no-one was cramped and had plenty of room. I used an aide memoire that I had prepared so I didn’t wander off track. The point of the talk was to encourage those people who want to write, but haven’t yet made the step. It’s good to be able to talk from a position of experience, having been through the highs and lows of the book world. I was pleased with the response I had afterwards, and even managed to sell a few books — always a bonus. The event was recorded by an author friend of mine, Dan Jones, and will be on YouTube soon. I’ll provide the link in my next blog, and will be posting it on my website. So what’s next on the horizon for me and my expanding horizons? Well, I have started my next thriller and have written about 7000 words, so that’s something to crack on with. Next week seems fairly clear, so I may be able to get on and add a few more words. One thing that may put a temporary stop to it is a dog. Yes, Pat wants a dog. She’s been searching the adverts, hoping to spot the right dog, right price and right locality. We may end up having to drive a fair distance if she finds the one she believes is the right one. She wants a cockapoo. That will mean more “walkies” for me no doubt. Can’t be too bad; at least it will help get me fit. Wish me luck!

Busy Boy

March 6th. 2016 We’ve had a full week, one way or another. Saturday (eight days ago) we went to the funeral of a dear friend who succumbed to cancer. Monday we visited friends in Southampton for a meal. They are off to Spain today to their holiday home; back in May. Friday was a visit to my sister and then yesterday we were with number three son, John and his wife Bryony, so all in all a busy period. The kitchen work tops turned up Tuesday — couldn’t get them in the house, so had to leave them propped up against the house in the back garden. It will be up to the kitchen fitter to sort it out when he comes next week to upgrade the kitchen. But I did manage to make a start on my next thriller! Procrastination is the bane of a writer’s life, and I’m as guilty as the next one. So I took the plunge and e-mailed my subscribers to tell them I was about to make a start. This means I am committed to keeping my word and producing something by the end of the year. I had some encouraging replies, which put a smile on my face. Oh, and I have picked up some excellent reviews for A Dangerous Game: mostly five stars, so I must be doing something right. I decided to bring Marcus Blake in from the cold for my next book. He was the main man in A Covert War. I had to think seriously of a makeover for Marcus to add something visually brutal to his character, but at the same time necessary. I thought of Bruce Willis in the Die Hard films and how he comes across, but I am not planning to copy Willis’s character. Marcus began life in A Covert War with blond locks, which had to change. In the opening sequence he is taking part in an illegal cage fight. He has been battling with his demons after killing his friend, Rafiq Shah in the previous story, and finds the violence helps smother his anger over Rafiq’s death and the manner of it. And as a cage fighter, blond locks are a liability, so I’ve shaved them off. Isn’t it marvellous how writers can shape their characters? Often it’s the other way round and the characters leap out of the pages and demand to be taken in a different direction: a case of the tail wagging the dog. But the die has been cast, and now I have to press on. Do I have any idea where I’m going with this? Not really: the story will develop and arrive at a conclusion of which I have no idea. My books sales are maintaining a reasonable, if low, daily average. I like to think that readers are finding my books enjoyable and want more. I also believe my Facebook campaign helped. I had planned to run another campaign, but will wait now until after my Bookbub promotion on March 14th. The consequence of the promotion could send me off in a new direction, or not. We’ll see. Wish me luck!