Building and making progress

More in the ho-hum life of being a writer.

March 28, 2015

The clocks go forward tonight in the Northern Hemisphere
which means very little to retirees like me who probably only get about five or
six hours a night. I often find myself lying awake during the night thinking up
plot lines or trying to figure out where I went wrong with planning my last
promotion. Questions like: how do I get more readers and where are they? Seem
to filter through my mind until I realise I don’t know why I’m asking myself
that question because if I had the answer…… Well, you get my drift. I often
tell myself that I mustn’t forget so and so, and in the morning have completely
forgotten what it was I had to remember. So where do authors get their ideas
and when? I have been giving some thought lately to the prospect of writing a
series with one character permanently in each book. Something like Jack
Reacher, the creation of Lee Child. I don’t mean to recreate him: nothing could
be further from the truth, but to have a series which readers will follow. And
there’s the rub: authors are generally instinctive. They hit upon an idea and
build a story around it. That’s the way I write. I can’t sit down and chew the
end of my pencil trying to think of a new idea. It has to drop into my mental
lap like a seedling where it can germinate. A year later and the seedling has
blossomed into a mature plant: another book. So why am I thinking of writing
(trying to) a self-imposed style of authorship that is alien to me? Probably
because I can see how successful those types of books are; whether they are
historical, romance, crime or dystopian: readers seem to be waiting, and
positively encouraging the author, until the next book in the series is published.
I recently described myself as a “dinosaur” in the book world. I’m gradually
becoming extinct. I’m from the old school of traditionally published writers
who are finding themselves left behind in the new world of Amazon et al.

During the last week I managed to complete the uploading
of two of my titles to Amazon and one title to Kobo. I also have a paperback in
review with Ingram Spark, having successfully purchased ten ISBN numbers to
cover my titles as they become available in paperback and registered with
Nielsen Book Scan. This is something I have never had to do before, but it’s
fun and I’m looking forward to seeing all my titles — those of which I have the
rights to — being published with my name as publisher.

Part of my success during the week was to start my
e-mailing list. It has grown to 20, and it is up to me to keep those subscribers
on board and interested in what I’m up to. Hopefully the list will grow to much
higher numbers, but the object will be the same: to encourage them to stick
with me and buy my books. None of my subscribers will be pestered or plagued
with e-mails from me, and from time to time I hope I can offer them something
free, and also an opportunity to become part of a launch team which will have
an opportunity to read any new books I complete before they are published.
Sounds good? Then why not add your name to my list? Just click the link (http://eepurl.com/bgYKMj) and you will receive a free copy of The Devil’s Trinity.

Next week I hope to see a growth in my subscribers list
and some progress with my next book. Wish me luck!

Getting over hurdles

March 21, 2015

As each week passes, I
find myself thinking what an eventful week it has been. But I suppose we can
all say that about our week. I did manage to pass one milestone in my promotion
and marketing efforts; and that was the opening of an e-mailing list. I always
assumed (stupidly) that subscription lists were for the prolific authors: those
who knocked out several books a year, but I have learned a great deal more
about the way forward. My biggest problem was setting up an e-mail list with
MailChimp and putting in place something to attract readers to my list. After
several doomed efforts and staring vacantly at my screen, I was able,
eventually, to put a service into place. I used two of my sons as guinea pigs;
just to ensure I had everything right, and I can now boast of actually having
people signing up. It’s a great feeling, and I need to make sure that I don’t
spoil everything by going overboard and bombarding my subscribers with e-mails.
One of the first steps I have taken is to include a page at the front and back
of my permafree book, The Eagle’s
Covenant, asking readers to subscribe. In return for this I am offering a
free copy of another of my books, The
Devil’s Trinity. Anyone can download the book and unsubscribe immediately
if they want, but I’m hoping they will wait and see what other offers I come up
with. At the moment I am in the process of securing seven of my titles. These
will all eventually be on-line under my name (as publisher), which will give me
control over pricing etc. I intend, from time to time, to drop the prices and
offer them to my subscribers. There will be other tid-bits of course, but what
I will not do is plague the lives out of people. I will also be posting the
subscription link wherever I can in the hope that I can build my list. And for
anyone reading this blog who might be interested, here’s the link: http://eepurl.com/bgYKMj

The important thing for
me is to persuade potential readers that I have a genuine talent for writing
thrillers and action stories. But no-one is going to believe the self-hype of a
writer, and the only way I can convince people is to offer them a chance to
read some of my stuff for free.

I will also let my
readers know how close I am to completing my next book. At the moment I have
had to shelve it so that I could establish a route into the marketing world;
something that has been beyond me. I hope to pick up my novel again fairly
soon, and, providing I don’t find any other excuses, I will do my level best to
have it ready before the end of summer. And one thing is certain: I will be
giving my subscribers an opportunity to purchase the book at an introductory
low price.

One of the biggest
hurdles for a writer like me is cracking the American market. I’ve seen reviews
of my books (not too many, I must admit) where the complaint is that I’m an
English writer writing about things American. I can understand that, but then
the review is about me rather than the content of the book. I never have a
problem reading American authors and their colloquialisms, the American
spelling etc. Let’s face it: we’ve been brought up on a diet of Hollywood and
American writers, so it doesn’t faze us. But not all my books are set in
America. Anyone looking at my author page on Amazon (http://amzn.to/1FTqgOx) will see there is quite a
variety.

So, why not sign up, pick
up a free book and hang in there for the ride? It could be fun. Hopefully my
e-mail list will grow. Wish me luck!

Free book

A short entry for now. My thriller, THE EAGLE'S COVENANT, (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LZRKJ4O/?tag) has been permafree for a while now, but I have added a "subscribe" link from where you can download a free copy of another thriller of mine. THE DEVIL'S TRINITY. For those of you who have already downloaded the permafree copy, the link to subscribe is http://eepurl.com/bgYKMj Enjoy!

Puzzles, posers and a piece of blue sky.

March 15, 2015

Another week where I’m learning more about myself and,
in some way, the truth about how clever I am. I wish I could say that I’m as
good as the next man and when the challenge comes to writing I’m quite happy to
throw my hat into the ring. I know I’ll never come out on top, but at least I
have hats (books) that put me in a position from where I can compete. But when
it comes to understanding so-called simple instructions on how to put together
a social marketing project, I find myself trailing way behind. Of course I’m
talking about Nick Stephenson’s remarkable project and how easy it is to be
tripped up by the simplest of things. No, Nick hasn’t set out to trip anyone
up. Everything he puts out is straight up and unequivocal. But from time to
time he uses that phrase, ‘It’s quite simple; it will only take a few minutes’
(or words to that effect). And that’s where the fun starts. It’s like trying to
put together a jigsaw and you can’t find the piece that’s missing: that vital
corner of blue sky or green leaf. It’s only a small thing but you’re lumbered
until you find it. And that’s how it is with my efforts to put together Nick’s
simple instructions. He even shows you the steps for goodness sake. Even a ten
year old child could do it. But there’s always those few words or sentence he has
omitted, and that’s where the trouble starts. But I’m getting there slowly: I
have managed to prepare a landing page with all the links necessary to download
the free offer I’m making. I have also managed to produce two of the necessary
forms on my mail service provider (MailChimp). All that remains is to join them
all up. Now, where’s that piece of blue sky?

Some of the authors on Nick’s course have gone ahead in
leaps and bounds. One guy spent all day on something like 28 books over fifteen
hours and had it all sorted before he went to bed. But there are others who are
struggling too, so I’m not alone. It’s true to say though that at times like
this, it’s important to walk away from it for a while. So last Thursday, me and
Pat went to London on a coach trip to the Imperial War Museum. It was a good
day out and kept me away from my computer. The following day I went across to
Dorset to play snooker with our son, John. I know he reads this blog and I know
he won’t mind me saying that I hammered him. But once he gets his eye in it won’t
be too long before the boots on the other foot, and I’ll be claiming that I’m
handicapped by my age. Not that he’ll care, so long as he can get his revenge.

We managed a trip to the cinema; watched The Second Best
Exotic Marigold Hotel. Good fun, complete nonsense, but loveable nonsense. It
makes such a change from all the extreme violence and swearing that litters a
lot of films these days. Bit like thriller writing in a way I suppose; so I
shouldn’t complain.

Next week means more hospital appointments. I’m due for my
bi-monthly medication. It shouldn’t take long now because I had the “port”
removed from my chest last week which means a shorter appointment because of a
different process. Pat has a trip to the eye clinic for her treatment. It’s my
birthday next week, so no doubt I’ll be swamped with birthday cards, presents,
phone calls…… Where was I? Oh yes; hospital appointments. So life goes on.
Maybe by the end of the week I’ll have cracked the DNA of Nick’s instructions
and will be on a roll. Wish me luck!

Lasers, Ports and Courses.

March 8, 2015

I’ve had quite a week of it, one way or another. It has
been busy and frustrating at times, but life can be like that, right? I’ve
wanted to get on with my grand plan of course, but other priorities got in the
way. Monday I was at the local hospital for Laser treatment on my eyes. This
meant no driving, and because it was a late afternoon appointment, I couldn’t
do anything that evening. I felt shattered. Must have been the Laser treatment!
I was back at the hospital again on Thursday to have a ‘port’ removed from my
chest. This was the device through which my chemo had been administered, and
was still in use for my medication. Now it’s gone, I only need to visit the
hospital every other month and the treatment will be administered in a
different way and will take less time. Once again I wasn’t allowed to drive,
which it quite frustrating. We’ve had furniture delivered; been to the cinema;
been to the local bathroom shop and ordered white goods for the bathroom.
Shopping of course. And, I have to confess, watched a couple of football
matches on TV. Well, maybe more than a couple.

So what should I have been doing? I should have been
working on my master plan to sell many more books than I am at present. And it
was at the beginning of this week that I signed up for a course with Nick
Stephenson (an Amazon author), and am very keen to implement it. I’d seen the
preliminary videos about the course, and was fortunate enough to meet Nick in
London (it wasn’t planned) when I attended the International Thriller Writers
Meet Up. It was good to actually chat with him, rather than know him as a
faceless salesman on the web. Nick’s coaching is spot on, meticulous and packed
with information that I would never have unearthed on my own. I’m not even a third
of the way through the course and have learned a great deal already. The course
wasn’t free and it wasn’t cheap. I won’t say how much but if I get it right it
will have paid for itself many times over.

Readers of my blog will know when I have completed the
first steps and am happy with it. I plan to give one of my books away free in
return for an agreement to subscribe to my emailing list. The beauty of that is
that any reader can sign up and then unsubscribe once they have received their
free title. I’m hoping they will stay with me, naturally, but it would be their
choice. To get the free copy it will be necessary to download my permafree
title: The Eagle’s Covenant. Not yet
though; I’m not ready. Part of this process is having my free gift book
available in ePub, Mobi and PDF. These will be uploaded to the cloud, from
where subscribers can download via MailChimp. But like any new project: it all
takes time; and for me the learning curve is quite steep. But I will get there.
Hopefully, regular readers of my blog will keep an eye out for my announcement
and start the ball rolling for. Wish me luck!

Free and Easy. #The Eagle's Covenant

February 28, 2015

Just when you think you are making progress, another
gremlin leaps into the system and spoils your day. I spent a few hours cursing
the internet last Thursday because mine was up and down like the proverbial lingerie
of a lady of the night. I took my PC into the shop who checked it there and
then and said there was nothing wrong with it. Speak to your provider, they
said. In my case it is Sky Broadband. I bring the PC home, plug it in and the
sound system stops working. It’s been perfect up to now. So there I am diving
under the desk unplugging this and that. But the PC refused to concede defeat,
which meant another trip to the shop; although not until Monday because Friday
we were out most of the day, and the shop is closed Saturday. This morning it
worked fine. I think the gremlin is laughing at me. Some might say its finger
trouble, which I accept, but it still managed to drive me up the wall. And the
internet is behaving itself too.

Last week I put one of my books — The Eagle’s Covenant —
on ‘permafree’. I advertised it and was pleased to see it rise up in the
rankings and reach No.3 in the free, political eBooks. I also made the top
1000, which is a lot higher than somewhere down around 150,000 where it usually
languishes. I can see a very modest rise in my book sales at the moment, but
I’ve no idea if its because of my keyword changes, or some readers are
beginning to enjoy my work at last. I have found though, that my modest rises
are in UK; not America. That’s still proving to be a tough nut to crack.

As part of my drive to reach a greater share of the
reader market, I am trying to put together a presentable campaign using the
email service of MailChimp. I’m finding that a little difficult and confusing,
probably because of my age, but I have managed to send a couple of test emails
to me and my wife. I have now asked my four sons to let me add their names to
my campaign. Once I am happy with the way I have set it all out, then I will
ask all my readers (!!) to sign up. But it is something of a chicken and egg
argument: if I have very few readers, how do I get to a target of 2000? (That’s
as far as I can go with the free portion of MailChimp). Wish me luck!

Selling Michael Parker and why it isn't easy.

February 21, 2015

I’m taking more faltering steps into self-publishing as
the real truth behind it all begins to unravel. Until now I have not needed to
get too involved because others have done the work for me. But like the
proverbial swan gliding around on the surface of the water; the marketing feet
are going nineteen to the dozen beneath it all while above the surface all is
calm and under control. Writing books and having them published by
professionals is fine. Going into self-publishing and having someone else do
the work for you is fine too, but when you realise that as a writer you’ll
remain invisible unless you promote yourself, then sales will be as rare as
hen’s teeth. The faltering steps I mentioned at the beginning of this blog are
mine. I am beginning to learn that my books will never sell well — never mind
my quality as a writer — unless I start looking in the right places and find
those corners where the secrets lie.

I’ve been following Nick Stephenson’s tutorial (I met
him in London a couple of weeks ago) and learning some really useful stuff, as
well as seeing how little I know. I have also been brought up short by the fact
that none of my paperbacks will ever be sold through UK retailers because they
are published by CreateSpace, a subsidiary publishing outlet of Amazon. This
means I now have to find a British publisher, or a POD imprint company who will
have established links to the UK retail outlets. ISBNs are another minefield. I
realise now that I need to purchase a block from Nielsen. This also means
having to re-publish the three titles I have currently listed with me as
publisher. My other four titles are still with Acclaimed Books, but because I
am taking them under my name again, I will need to ensure they are available
through all outlets world-wide. This doesn’t mean that my books will suddenly
appear in the high street book shops; but if ever I get the chance to sell them
that way, I have to be prepared.

Keywords and web crawlers are expressions that are now
familiar to me. Apart from a vague understanding why keywords were necessary, I
could never fully understand what all the fuss was about. After all; wasn’t my
ability as a writer supposed to do that for me? And web crawlers? Did I want
them wandering all over my stuff? I do now. Why? Because I am grasping the
nettle and understanding the game more and more. But after all that, success
isn’t guaranteed; I still need to work at it.

I did manage to add another couple of thousand words to
my current MS. I’m not whooping for joy because I have finally put pen to
paper. I know it’s going to be a difficult road ahead — it always has been —
but now it’s going to be even harder. Of course, other things get in the way of
my routines etc. Hospital appointments for one thing. Shopping (ugh!). And life
in general. I will miss the next meeting of the Chindi (www.chindi-authors.co.uk)
writers because I have an eye appointment a couple of hours before the meeting,
and I will not be able to drive because of having drops in my eyes. And missing
the meeting hurts because I believe I will benefit enormously from being a
member of the group. I know: I will also benefit by seeing the eye specialist!

But looking ahead I see plenty of positives. Perhaps at
the moment I am trying to run before I have learned to walk; and if I show a
little patience, and the effort I put in starts having an effect on my sales,
then the positives will more than make up for the difficulties (from a book
point of view) I’m experiencing now. Wish me luck!