Positive Results

Almost at the end of the month and the end of a book promotion that has achieved some positive results. I had a bargain book promo on eReaderNewsToday (ENT) for ROSELLI’S GOLD. It sold 141 copies that day. There was also a trickle follow on of sales following the promotion, but I did keep the price down to $0.99. It was put back up today. Next month I hope to promote THE EAGLE’S COVENANT with ENT, but I will only know if they have picked it up when they contact me. If I don’t hear from them, then it won’t appear on their bargain deal pages.

I have sent two copies of THE DEVIL’S TRINITY to two lucky prize winners in the ‘Momma Says Read’ book competition. Hopefully the winners, both of whom live in America, will put a review on Amazon for me. I have entered another ‘giveaway’ on the same site; this time for three eBooks. And I have offered five copies of SHADOW OF THE WOLF on Goodreads giveaway.

Overall I’m pleased with the positive effect I’m getting through these promos, and hopefully it will mean my readership will grow. One thing that comes home to me quite forcefully is the need to keep on promoting and pushing my name and books into the public domain. It isn’t easy when all this is done on a limited budget. It would be possible to spend more than I earn, which would be counterproductive of course. But I imagine that if I just relied on good fortune and did nothing for my books to sell; they would disappear without trace.

We’re off to UK tomorrow for a week, so I’ll have limited on-line time. It might do me good to stay off it for a while. The main reason for the visit is to go to Cardiff for the British Speedway Grand Prix. If you haven’t a clue what I’m on about, then there’s no point in trying to persuade you what a fantastic sporting event it is: the biggest speedway event in the world.

Oh, another promotion I’m doing next month is HELL’S GATE, but more about that nearer the date. It all means keeping busy even though I still have a book to write.

No blog next week because I’ll be in UK. Catch up with me in a couple of weeks’ time.

Price reduction

I have just persuaded my publisher to reduce the price of my book, THE BOY FROM BERLIN. This is the only title of mine on Amazon to which I do not have the rights. The price is $4,99 (£3.30). It has been released as a paperback in America by Harlequin Books, so I have great hopes for it. The link is http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009R6A26U/?tag

Short blurb: Secrets lurk around every corner as Gus Mason strides towards the Presidency of the United States of America. And from the Nazi death-camps to the steps of the White House, Gunter Haman and Jacob Demski, heir to the Jewish mafia empire, unravel a mystery that threatens the very fabric of the American way of life. However, as Lieutenant Amos, a Newark Police Officer, investigates the supposed suicide of a local senator, his investigations lead him deep into the corrupt world that inhabits the underbelly of American politics and closer to the truth. 

Indie or not?

THE EAGLE’S COVENANT is now available in paperback in Europe only. I ordered a copy for my son, Terry because he designed the book jacket. I always send him the books he’s designed so he can scrutinise the results. I have also ordered some copies for myself and will no doubt buy more at some future date. I can’t release this book in America because Harlequin Books have the English language rights over there, and will be releasing the book in November this year. This means that all my books, eight in all, are now available on-line and in paperback. Now I have to concentrate on promotion and marketing for a while. Anyone know a shortcut to success? Let me know if you do.

There has been a lot of talk on the web for some time now about the conflict between self-publishing and mainstream. No doubt the big five (or is it six?) will not be too worried. I can’t see the threat of indie publishing making a hole in the main industry, but what I do see is the huge increase in digital sales, which will force the giants to get thoroughly involved. And once they do that, they will try to dominate the market again, by hook or by crook. But the advantage that the indie writers have is price. As an example, the rights to my eBook, THE BOY FROM BERLIN belong to my publisher. The price is currently around $9. It is languishing at about 1,000,000 in the rankings. This almost certainly means that it isn’t selling. Even Dan Brown would have trouble selling an eBook at that price. My eBooks are priced at $2.99 and from time to time I drop the price or have given them away free. It’s about flexibility and trying to gauge the right time to promote with a price change. I have an author friend who managed to free herself from her publisher’s contract and is now selling about 1000 eBooks per month: something her publisher was never able to match. So for indie writers, their future is in their own hands, and if they are happy to build a readership gradually, and by that increase their sales, they will never need to consider mainstream publishing.  

Ups and Downs

Some people have good and bad days. Me? I have good and maybe not so good days. My week began on a good note because ENT posted my bargain book deal (ROSELLI’S GOLD), which resulted in 141 sales. There is usually a follow on effect from this, and my other title which was a bargain deal (THE DEVIL’S TRINITY) is still selling; something it was failing to do before the daily deal was posted on ENT. My not so good moment came when I realised that I was in a quandary about a decision I’d made earlier about which story to write. I’d decided that my thriller set in Mexico had to be set aside for another, totally different genre novel that had been running around in my mind for quite a while. I made some good progress on that, but pretty soon my thriller was knocking a hole in my head demanding to be put down on paper again. So I picked it up and dusted it off, but even now I’m not so sure. It’s known as ‘dithering’.

We attended a funeral later in the week which was a ‘not so good’ day. It was for an old chap from our church. We’d been visiting him and his wife for a couple of years. His wife died last year after a long battle with the big ‘C’. He succumbed eight months later. He was 89.

One of the elements of successful sales is good book reviews. But reviews do seem to be as rare as hen’s teeth. I keep putting out feelers, offering both print and kindle files but still have to see results. By that I mean people who have asked for a copy getting back to me. I don’t expect a five star review just because I have given a book away, but an e-mail to say the review has been posted would help. Trouble is I don’t like reading my reviews, but if I’ve asked for them I really have no choice.

I am about to publish THE EAGLE’S COVENANT in paperback for the European market. I can’t put this on Amazon.com because Harlequin Books have the English language rights to the book throughout The United States, the American territories and Canada. They will be releasing this in November. So the book will appear soon on Amazon.co.uk as a Createspace paperback.

Time now for other things like work around the house. Have to keep on top of it because it’s on the market and we want to sell and go back to UK. So maybe while I’m plastering, painting or weeding, I’ll be having a ‘not so good’ day. Wish me luck.

Bargain Book

ROSELLI'S GOLD a bargain book deal today on ENT. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0069TYFK2/?tag

Catching Up

Late today; should have posted this yesterday. Had some good news over the weekend: my bargain deal, THE DEVIL’S TRINITY, was picked up by ENT, and the result was 122 sales that day. Compare that to an average of one sale every two weeks and that’s a huge result. It lifted the book from about 350,000 in the rankings to 1200. It also reached #34 in the Action & Adventure category. There’s usually a follow on effect, although I’m not expecting too much. The ranking is now falling away as expected, but it was great to see it up there with the big boys.

My latest title to go on Amazon is THE EAGLE’S COVENANT. I will be getting round to some promotion later this week. I did plan a paperback giveaway, but then realised that I can’t because Harlequin Books have the paperback rights for North America. They will be publishing the book in November, so I will have to wait until then before giving copies away. However, I will be exploring the possibility of releasing the book in UK, because I still have the rights there. Just something else to think about.

I have been giving some thought to the way in which I put myself about on the various social networks, knowing that the sole reason for me using them is to promote my books. I think it’s time to consider the old saying: “less is more”. I think I need to bite the bullet and dump some of those networks that I use but never see the benefit. I believe Goodreads is probably the way to go, along with Twitter and Facebook. Trouble is I really only see family and friends on FB. And Twitter? I always feel as though it’s a complete waste of time considering the enormous number of tweets that flow through my account each day, and that’s with about 700 followers. Who reads them? Perhaps I’m doing something wrong. I have used a website called Fiverr. I was able to tweet through them to about 100,000 tweeters using someone else’s tweet account. I paid five dollars and had tweets going out about my book for a week.

I’m now working on another book. This will not be a thriller, but as I am under contract to my publisher, she will get first refusal once it’s finished. I’ll leave you all guessing as to what kind of book it will be. All I can say at the moment is that this is one that I wrote several years ago but never offered it up for publication. Even now I’m not sure I’m doing the right thing. I dropped all my latest research and 30,000 words for a thriller set in Mexico because I couldn’t get this novel out of my head. And being a writer, as most writers will know; once you get an idea stuck in your head, and it won’t go away, you have no excuse but to get it down on paper. So, maybe this time next year I will have another title to publish on Amazon. Wish me luck!

Weekend Read

Latest Release
My latest Kindle title, THE EAGLE’S COVENANT is now available on Amazon (both sites) at $2,99. Check it out at htttp://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CJZE6Y0/?tag