Forging ahead

November 11th. 2017. This is the point where I will be looking ahead with a renewed enthusiasm. I made some unexpected progress on my WIP, and I launched my first BookBub advert (two in fact). Having watched Adam Croft’s excellent video several times, I plunged in and launched two adverts. Using Adam’s advice, I advertised my thriller, The Devil’s Trinity with my name as the author to follow. The second ad., same book, was with Ty Patterson. I looked at the ‘also bought’ list on my author page to find a suitable author. The first one I chose gave me too big an audience, so I clicked through the various names until I found Ty Patterson’s name put me in the ‘Green Zone’. It means an audience reach of about 10K. This, apparently, is a sensible start. The ad. began yesterday at about 4pm. The second ad. will go today. Now comes the tricky part: I have to monitor my progress and tweak until I see an improvement. I will probably look at BookBub’s own top 100 author list to find a bunch of thriller writers who will give me a similar audience to Ty Patterson. I’ll also be going back over the videos. The unexpected progress on my WIP came by ignoring the writer’s block and jumping ahead to the latter part of the plot. I found myself writing quickly and enthusiastically, even extending the idea I had for the outcome. It means that I’ll have a beginning and an end with a word count of about 25000. Although it seems I still need to do a lot, like find another 50,000 words, it isn’t as daunting as it was a week ago. Getting back to the BookBub advert briefly, I was pleasantly surprised to receive an email from Adam Croft in response to the comments I made in my blog last week. It put a smile on my face, and it was so nice to get a comment from someone who actually reads this. I was even more surprised to think that this best-selling author (over a million sales on Amazon) actually took the trouble to write and encourage me. Good for you, Adam. Christmas isn’t far away now, and the various sales pitches are springing up everywhere, no more so than our CHINDI group. We have opened our shop for Christmas specials, so why not pop in and see what’s on offer. We have a growing membership in our group with authors who have notched up awards in their writing career. There could be something there to suit everyone’s taste. www.facebook.com/pg/chindiauthors/shop. I mentioned author cross promotions last week. Looking at my sales, I see no benefit, which means I’ll knock them on the head for a while. I am still committed to Paula Wynne’s BookHub Christmas promotion, but that is simply adding one of my books to the bundle she is giving away. http://bookhub.online/readers-news/win-a-book-bundle. So what now? With Christmas Day only six weeks away, it’s about writing out the Christmas cards, getting presents, arranging get-togethers etc. Our CHINDI group are meeting up for a Christmas meal next month. Although we meet up occasionally, and on-line daily, it’s good to get the chance to chat face to face. I’m looking forward to that. We have an on-line meeting on Monday where we’ll be able to see each other on our computer screens, but there’s nothing like the real thing. And something else I mustn’t forget: it’s Remembrance Day. There will be ceremonies all over UK and elsewhere in the world to remember those who fell during the terrible conflicts we’ve witnessed on this earth. I served in the Royal Air Force, and so did our four sons. Happily, none of us experienced the terror of real conflict. Mind you, one of our boys has a chest full of medals. He’s still serving but in the Royal Australian Air Force. He looks like a General in his best uniform. So tomorrow I’ll wear my Poppy with pride and hope the leaders of this world will see some sense. Some hope! Wish me luck!