Michael Parker's Ramblings

 It’s all about books. 

When September dawned, I knew it would be a bleak month for my WW2 series, and I was right, but it was what I expected, and I was happy to see sales and page reads bump up the bottom line. I wasn’t advertising, so I could not expect anything else. Instead, I used the month to edit Books 1 and 2, in readiness for the new campaign starting at the beginning of October. I used Gemini AI on Google to check the files for any errors, and what it came up with was an eye-opener. Not only did it correct the usual errors like typos, punctuation, and hyphenated words, it also corrected the French and German spellings and pointed out historical timelines that needed addressing. Although it also offered a ‘polished version’ of the uploaded files, I didn’t use it because I felt it would create a subtle change in my ‘author voice’. I simply went through each correction by hand. It was slow work, but necessary in my view because of the need to offer readers a virtually error-free book, although I doubt whether that would be possible, and there would still be some readers who just want to find fault and give a low review. 

The reason for doing this was because I had a Zoom meeting with a book marketer, Lesley Sainty, on September 30th. I contacted Lesley through the online Company, Reedsy, which I have used before. However, the whole point of this was to hand over the marketing of my series to a professional and let me get on with what I do best, and that is to write. 

Lesley had already done a book audit before the Zoom meeting and highlighted several things I could do on my Amazon product pages and in my KDP pages. She also came up with several ad options for me. We discussed these, and after the meeting, Lesley produced the images she would be using for the ad campaign. It all kicked off on the 2nd of October, and although it’s early days, there is a slight increase in my sales and page reads. Oh, and the daily royalties so far have covered my costs. I know it could all crash and burn, but that’s the chance we take in the world of books. The campaign will end on October 14th, when Lesley and I will have another video call to discuss the next steps. Should be fun. 

I have also started reading through The Eagle’s Covenant, using Gemini to check the errors, etc. The reason I’m doing that is that I discovered, quite unexpectedly while checking my overall book sales, that in ten years I sold 22,000 copies of The Eagle's Covenant. It is my best-selling book so far. Now, I started a sequel a few years ago but gave up on the idea because I couldn’t think of a way to develop it. Once I’d seen the sales figures, I had a long think about it and decided to give it a try. But what I did, rather than trying to come up with some ideas, was to upload the entire book and the sequel I’d started (14000 words) to Gemini and ask it to give me some plot ideas. The speed of response was mind-blowing; it took about three minutes. It produced some incredible plot ideas, choosing individual characters to be placed as good guys or bad guys, and all the usual twist-and-turn stuff that makes a thriller enjoyable. I printed the result out and have six pages of ideas. But despite all that, I’m not completely convinced that I will complete the project. I have a few things going on in my life not related to books that might prevent it. Who knows? 

Added to this is, of course, the upcoming publication of Book 3 in the WW2 series. This will complete the trilogy, and if I am still spending money on Facebook campaigns, and they prove profitable, I may be asked to write another war story. You may wonder who it is that does the asking; it’s usually people who have no idea what it means to sit down and write an 80,000-word novel. But it’s also the little demon who sits on my shoulder and nags away at me to keep on writing. 

My life outside of books is uncomplicated, and much like a lot of people who are in a similar situation to me. I’m battling with my garden and losing, no matter what I do. My domestic duties are the usual round of chores that my lovely wife took care of. I spend my money unwisely, mostly on spur-of-the-moment ideas that often end up in my Room 101, and I keep telling myself that I have to play my piano more. But on the whole I have little to moan about at my age. 

Those of you who have got this far will be reading this on my new website. My son, Terry, built it for me, and also made the trailer for my Shadow Over Paris novel. He’s a clever boy, but what can you expect from someone who was a Harrier pilot in the RAF? He’s still flying, but at a more sedate pace. 

So, that’s it, my blog for September. Hopefully I will have more uplifting and inspiring news in my next blog. Wish me luck!

                                                                                                                               Michael