Is my blog a success?

Afternoon folks,

Shocking weather we're having. It's my fault. I said I was aiming to mow the lawn today because we're thinking of having a little family Barbeque tomorrow afternoon. Brother in law and his wife and kid, football on the big screen, some awesome chicken kebabs marinated in Nando's Peri Peri sauce. Except there's weeding to be done and grass to be mowed and it's wet outside.

On the plus side I have already written 1200 words today and think I will probably get 2000 done before bed. Not much by many standards but plenty by my own. That will mean I've done in the region of 54000 words of the follow up to The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe. Hurrah.

It's been a steady month of sales so far. Started off quick and then nothing for several days and then a couple overnight. It's a long way from being enough to live off but my plan remains unchanged. Keep writing, increase the catalogue and then, when redundancy comes my way, treat that as my chance to write full time.

The title of today's post relates to the fact that I have had about 3000 views of the blog since I started it which got me wondering, how do I judge if it's been successful or not. I quite enjoy writing it and my stats tell me people all over the world are reading it. But I don't think it's leading to sales of my books and, to be honest, I'm not sure anything other than luck and word of mouth ever will. I do most of the things all the books and blogs recommend in terms of web presence and promotion but my sales tend to remain pretty similar no matter what I do.

Luckily I didn't start this adventure to become the next Peter James or even EL James. I just like telling stories and I really like that people all over the world have read them. It's all the motivation I need to keep doing it. That said, it would be great to have enough money to do it full time without the distraction of a full time day job.

Just as an aside, Blake Friedman have just launched a new agency Twitter account on top of their indivdual agent accounts. I mention this purely because, as part of my ongoing but infrequent attempts to get an agent, I have an extract of the Jazz Cafe with Carole Blake. It's been there for a while now but, judging by all the stuff she gets up to, it's a wonder she finds time to read any submissions. Carole, if you stumble across this blog, I'm a dynamic and charming young man ideal for radio and tele promotion and appearances in book shops. Plus my books are really good (he adds subjectively).

We all know that being at the forefront of a new wave helps, like EL James and her mummy porn. The shops are rapidly fillng up with similar books, with similar covers. So if seaside crime fiction in the north of England ever takes off, I expect to be leading the charge! Peter James can be in charge of the southern end.

Anyway, I'd best get back to it because I might struggle to write much tomorrow since Liverpool are playing at 4PM, there's the BBQ to prepare for and we're aiming for a couple of hours in the local pub before closing as it's a Bank Holiday.

Thanks to my blog followers and regular readers for supporting this blog, much appreciated. Until next time...