Puppy!

Morning gang,

After several years of pondering, months of research, weeks of emails and driving up and down the country, we have at long last picked a puppy. Ralph, the newest member of our gang, will be joining the band in two weeks and I anticipate him being the coolest dog in the world. Future blog posts may feature him and he might well appear in future novels. My family retriever, Dennis, features in a previous book, I think it's The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe.

In other news I haven't made much progress with editing the sequel to the Jazz Cafe partly because of work, partly because of dog related travel and partly because I'm idle. But I'm also pondering the next book as well which is proving to be quite the distraction. The good news is I've got half of June off work so things will progress.

Finally, on the 9th March, I emailed a submission to Juliet Pickering at Blake Friedmann and have so far received no response at all. I find this really disappointing. I know every agent will say they are busy etc but there should be an element of professionalism. I follow Carole Blake on Twitter and all her advice is about how the submission is a business contact, it should be professional. Surely some sort of acknowledgement would be professional? I'm going to email Juliet today to remind her I exist and highlight the timescale.

Right, that's me done. I'm going to spend the day adding usic to my swanky digital home network cloud thingy and browse the internet for dog related paraphenalia.

Is it okay to win at all costs?

Evening gang,

So what does everybody think about Lance Armstrong's confession on Oprah? I've only skimmed through the highlights, if that's the right word, and he didn't seem particularly repentant. Call me a cynic but while he's admitted to the doping etc he didn't seem very sorry and I can't imagine he's suddenly decided to admit to all this cheating without a very good reason.

But the thing that stands out about Lance is this idea of winning at all costs. This week in snowy old Britain we've had a number of high street retailers go into administration, arguably the biggest being HMV. Why is this interesting to me? Well aside from the obvious job losses, empty shop units, economic issues, there's a link to books.

To anyone with any interest in the news it's been no secret that a number of retailers have been in trouble for a while. HMV caught my attention a while ago and I remember talking to colleagues about it months ago saying that they'd be lucky to see out the year. Until recently HMV owned Waterstones but sold it because they needed the funds. But it's no secret that Waterstone's isn't in great shape either.

Now I'm a vocal advocate of paper books, traditional books that you can bend and fold, crease, use to prop things up and chuck at the dog when he's naughty. Although I publish to Kindle I've never owned one and pretty much refused to entertain the notion that they are better than books. Until recently...

I have a library in my house, it's got hundreds of books in it and an antique wooden ladder. I like the smell, how it looks and I like that it never stops growing. I have copies of my own paperbacks on the shelves too. But I bought a 7 inch tablet for the wife this Christmas. She loves it. One of the many apps she's got is the Kindle app. I sent her the draft of my new book to proof read on the tablet instead of printing it like I normally do. She shot through it and I made revisions.

"I'll try it myself I said. I'll read it on the tablet and then I can make live changes on the laptop as I go."

It's brilliant! I almost hate to admit it but it's light, fits in my hand like a paperback, the page turning is natural and fluid and it makes reading as it should be. About the story.

So if they've managed to convert me, where does that leave real books and further more, places like Waterstones? I have no clever answer but it will come as no surprise when we see it on the news that the administrators have been called in.

And that, in a very roundabout, tour de france kind of way, is the point of the topic. Perhaps the high street needed to be a bit sharper off the mark, play a bit dirtier against the online competition and get the government on board to help them, like Lance had his network of helpers to make sure he won at all costs. It's not too late, perhaps Lance could act as an advisor to Waterstones? He's never gonna be allowed on a bike again so he might as well do some good.

In other news, pub tonight for tea. Then a full weekend editing the final draft of the new book which should be out within a week. You'll hear it here first. I also have over 1600 Twitter followers, so thanks to all of them, and sales are going pretty well in spite of my lack of recent promo.

Hope you have a good one, be careful in the snow.

How do the writers demonstrate the disturbed mind in their work?

Evening folks,

The rewrite is progressing quite well so I won't bore you with that. Sales are slow but I haven't done any promo for weeks. On the plus side a chap at work is about to start reading a paperback copy of The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe.

In other news I came home tonight to a request from the wife. Her oldest niece has to do some sort of essay based test on Thursday which answers the question I've used as the title of this post. The texts in question are Macbeth and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Now this might seem odd, or not, but it was actually thoroughly interesting. I have the necessary qualifications to help with this sort of thing in terms of related exam results and degrees but it's not every day someone asks for my help writing an essay.

I do have a decent working knowledge of both books but obviously I don't read them regularly. Anyway, I had a quick flick through my copies of both, then a quick look on Google, made some notes and rang the girl. Apparently the class had never studied Jekyll and Hyde which doesn't bode well for the essay but I have to admit her knowledge of Shakespeare's text was pretty good and she had a good grasp of the relevant themes.

Anyway, I talked her through my ideas, kept it simple, suggested she compare and contrast, use the obvious character elements, the environment and then back up her points with relevant quotes. It seems I must have done something right as she posted a Twitter message later saying it made sense now and asked if she could make notes and then email it tomorrow for feedback. Needless to say the wife is delighted with my efforts.

For my part it was great to delve into the books again and I actually wrote four pages of notes on the topic and could happily have written the essay. Pity I spend my days dealing in numbers and figures rather than words. Ho hum.

Anyway, time for bed. Until next time...

Do my books Sparkle?

Morning gang,

Really quick one tonight because I'm exhausted. First day back at work today, late to bed last night. Hard day.

Anyway, I've still managed a quick 500 words on the latest blockbuster but the big news is that I've submitted the first chapter of The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe to my new chums at Sparkling Books. I freely admit I'd never heard of them but they followed me on Twitter. I had a look at their website and thought it wouldn't hurt.

They seem keen on self promo by the author which as an Indie I do anyway but any help they can offer will be appreciated, assuming they don't want 95% rights to my books in return for a £300 advance.

Anyway, it can't hurt so I'll let you know the outcome.

Right, quick look at the tennis scores and then bed to plough on with Perfect People by Peter James.

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...

London 2012 and job applications

Evening folks,

Just a quick one tonight. How utterly awesome is the BBC coverage of the Olympics? I admit some of the commentary might be a bit mundane but in terms of the way the BBC has made the events viewable it's staggering. Press the red button, all the events on live as they happen. I've been like a kid in a sweetshop flicking between Federer on the tennis, Adlington in the pool, bit of archery, bit of Gymnastics, some diving while I had a snack, then some more swimming, bit of cycling. Brilliant!

In between all this I've applied for a new job! Just submitted the forms now. It's a huge step up from what I do now but I have the skills (on paper at least) and if I don't go for it there's next to zero chance it will come up again before I get made redundant. I'll let you know how that goes.

On top of that the new book is pouring from me. 31,800 words completed now. The aim is to keep as much momentum as I can for the next 3 weeks which will be busy at work and then I have a week off so I can hammer it then.

Sold a couple of books over the weekend too, it's never enough but thanks anyway. We also found time to go see Woman in Black in the park. If you follow me on Twitter you'll know this already but it was superb, very atmospheric in the dark with the wind rustling through the trees. Plus a young lady who had too much to drink nodded off and fell off her bench to the floor. She was fine and it was hilarious. Oddly enough the lady in question saw my Tweet about it and retweeted it!

So, as you can see, it's pretty much all go and non-stop but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Another agent submission

Morning gang,

I've only gone and done it again. Fresh from submitting a chunk of the Jazz Cafe to Simon Trewin in mid June, last night I sent the same package to Carole Blake at Blake Friedmann.

Twitter is once again responsible. I found Carole via Simon's follower list and, of course, recognised her name from past rejections and because her agency is a big one. So I followed her on Twitter and she's pretty prolific. I then found myself repsonding to a tweet and, shocker, she replied. Nothing major, just a comment on something someone else had said. I replied to that and she replied again.

That started me thinking I might as well send something in and, after pondering it all day yesterday I finally sent off the submission last night via email. Then I went to bed...

I awoke this morning to a read receipt from Carole at about 8:30. I know I know, it is likely either an automatic response or one of the staff, either way it's keen to get a response on a Sunday. Of course, much like the submission I sent to Simon Trewin, I will now think about little else for the next fortnight. Hopefully this will be the last time I submit because I always feel miserable afterwards.

Right, I'm writing for a couple of hours before the Wimbledon final. I suspect this one might have the highest viewing figures since the early 80's when Borg was about. Murray vs Federer. History made either way. Readers of this blog know who I want to win but I hope it's a classic.

The Stone Roses and Agents

Evening folks,

It's been a very lively few days and in all the excitement I forgot to mention I went to a concert on Friday night. Myself and a few friends went to see the Stone Roses at Heaton Park, their first gig of any note in over 15 years. I won't bore you with the details because if you're interested you were either there or have watched the videos on Youtube. Suffice to say, in years to come I will be able to say I was there and it's something that I and my friends will talk about whenever we meet up.

Aside from that the wife turned 40. I went large with the present budget which seemed to be the right play. Lots of tears and talk of it being the perfect weekend. So that's not done me any harm long term.

One thing I haven't done is write. Not a word in weeks. It's a particular shame because the new Mitch and Rupert book was pouring out of me. I've decided to print off what I've done so far, read it and try to get back into the flow. Fingers crossed.

Still no response from the material I emailed to Simon Trewin, but I've let it go now. On the other hand I did get a couple of Tweets from Carole Blake so I'm toying with the idea of sending something to her. Humour me, I have a blind spot when it comes to rejection.

Sales remain steady, if a little slower which I'm putting down to it being summer and my doing less promo. Mind you, the British summer has been so bad I'm surprised more folk aren't indoors reading.

Until next time...

The need for submission

Morning folks,

I thought I was cured. I honestly thought it was behind me, that I had rid mysef of the demons and that the darkness had lifted. Tonight, however, I succumbed and gave myself over to desire and embraced my weakness. Tonight, loyal reader, I submitted a letter and novel extract to a literary agent.

I know, I know, it's pointless, futile, humiliating. My only excuse is that I could not help myself.

After years of being oh so close, after having my own agent, after contact from one of the biggest publishers in the world and then nothing, I thought I had learned. The advent of Amazon's self-publishing option seemed to scratch my itch. I was able to sell my books, even in paperback, worldwide and it felt good. My mother is proud of me. I am a published author who recieves royalties each month.

So what happened? A single Tweet from Simon Trewin. Who? He's a partner at WME in London. He rejected my earlier work years ago when I didn't know any better. But the world is smaller than it's ever been.

I started to write crime fiction. Simon tweeted that he'd like to see some. I was unable, perhaps unwilling, to resist. Despising myself, I attached an extract to an email and sent it off within the last hour, knowing in my heart that Simon will never even see it. One of his team, a subordinate with two less degrees than me, will glance at my email, the attachment might well never be read. Later, perhaps in 6 weeks, maybe 2 months, I will receive a standard reply thanking me for my submission but politely declining. They will wish me luck elsewhere and I will be despondent.

Until then I will think about the submision every day, outwardly claiming not to be bothered, expecting rejection, while inwardly praying for acceptance.

Amazon's self publishing option has allowed any author to make their work available to a global audience. I have sold my books in Germany, the UK and America, in ebook and paperback. The reviews have been, without exception, fantastic. My social network is growing exponentially.

Would I change all of this for a leading agent and a publishing contract with Random House (or similar)?

Let's wait and see what Simon says.

Followers, Friends and Book Sales

Evening folks,

So it's been an interesting few days. My push to increase my social networking presence is going well. I now have about 800 Twitter followers and just shy of 300 friends on Facebook.

Most of these folk seem to be like minded i.e. authors with books to promote and opinions on all aspects of writing. After a few days of actively seeking new people the growth seems to be starting to feed itself as my networks are growing without my input. The plan is to monitor and review to keep things on an upward trajectory.

Which leads me nicely to my next issue. How to translate this presence into book sales. It's all well and good being able to reach more people, but if they are largely like-minded, then I don't think it will lead to vastly increased sales. After all, while I have checked out a few of the recommendations I've received from my new friends, I am not about to buy all of the books available on my friends lists. So that begs the question, why would they buy mine?

I have no answer, but if and when I figure it out hopefully I can then build my sales.

In other news, Tiger Woods looked like he was in line to win his first major in four years only to have a shocking day yesterday. Sadly, his start today will have him longing for the golf he played yesterday. Meanwhile, Federer lost the final of the tennis to a bloke even older than him who hasn't won anything in three years. On the plus side, England have a good shout of progressing in the football.

I also went to the see the National Theatre Live screening of Frankenstein tonight. Brilliant. I ran into the ex-wife of a friend of mine at the bar. He left her the week after attending a BBQ at my house last summer. On the plus side she's looking pretty well but it was a bit awkward all round.

Anyway, I'd best crack on. Tonight's plan, some editing/revision of All the fun of the Fair which I plan to launch as a paperback in the next few weeks. I shall be relying on my vast new social network to spread the word far and wide.

As you were...

Jazz Cafe price reduction

Evening gang,

So, after the excitement of meeting lots of new folk all over the world thanks to Facebook and Twitter, what next?

I've decided a little bit of a promotion might be in order. So, just for a little while, my latest 5* crime thriller is available at a reduced price on Kindle only in the UK, Europe and US. It's now just £1.33 or $1.99 depending on where you are. Please spread the word.

To get everyone in the spirit, here's a few lines to tempt you in...

"  A host of memories passed through his mind, particularly one of himself as a child playing on the beach, paddling in the sea. He smiled, but it was tinged with regret. This town, Morecambe, had never taken responsibility. Its inhabitants were always keen to blame someone else, something else, constantly hoping – expecting – to be bailed out by a third party. Well, now perhaps it was time to pay, time to face up and answer for what had gone before.
    He smelled lighter fluid and glanced down. His right hand still held the lighter only now a blue flame rose from it, ending in a point. For something new to begin, something else had to end. He dropped the lighter."
You know where to find the book by now but for the sake of completeness, here are the links:
Jazz Cafe UK
Jazz Cafe US

Welcome new friends!

Evening all,

Just a short post tonight to welcome along all my lovely new Twitter and Facebook chums. I hope we can exchange thoughts and ideas and generally interact in a way that benefits everyone. I've already looked at some of the blogs, Facebook pages and websites of some of my new friends and it seems you are all a busy bunch. It's all very impressive and, I hope, just the start.

As ever, if anyone takes the time to follow this blog, follow me on Twitter or indeed Like my Facebook page then it is much appreciated and will be reciprocated.

Now if I could just translate all this into book sales....

Progress on the sequel

Evening all,

Bloody freezing isn't it? Scotland was superb. I got very drunk. Stella and Glenmorangie. It's how I roll.

Anyway, I am now basing scenes from my new book in Ayr, following my successful research trip at the weekend. Mitch and a character currently named Annabel are holed up in a cottage near Ayr for reasons which will become apparent later. Suffice to say, it's because Mitch needs to keep out of Rupert's way.

This is the first time I've written a series and it's really interesting getting to interact with the characters again and use the back story to develop a new plot.

In other news, still no redundancy news so my full-time writing plans are still on the back burner. But fresh from last months strong sales I have already sold half a dozen copies this month so, just for now, I'm going to leave All the Fun of the Fair at its current price. I believe it's worth it, simple as that.

My Twitter followers are creeping up and traffic to this blog is going up too so it's all positive. I just need to keep reminding myself this is a building process. I have plenty of material and aim to have another two books at least available for sale within the next six months.

In short, all good. Thanks for reading, you're making me smile!

Network blogs and Amazon tags

Evening dear reader,

Today's big news is that I've changed my Twitter profile pic to be the cover of my latest book All the fun of the Fair. Will it help sales? Unlikely. But it looks good.

Also, I've joined Networked Blogs and as such now have five followers for this blog! Hello followers!! Welcome aboard. Spread the word.

I'm also making a bit more effort on Kindleboards which has resulted in a sharp increase in the number of 'likes' and clicks on my book tags on Amazon which can be no bad thing, although it has yet to led to an increase in sales.

With that in mind I've sold just shy of sixty copies so far this month which is great by my own standards. I have also written 2500 words of the second in my crime thriller series.

Crikey, I nearly forgot. In a fit of drunken ambition last night I submitted an extract of The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe to a couple of agents. I won't name them in case they read this and feel obliged to represent me (HA!) but based on past experience I'm not holding my breath.

Until next time...

Promotion - All the fun of the fair

Evening (or morning as it turns out).

Another late one this week. I've very much reverted to type and have been staying up until the very small hours of the morning. Tonight, it's promo!

I've done various posts on Amazon UK and US regarding the new novel. I've posted stuff on Goodreads as well, done a press release, put a message on Twitter and, not least, am now writing about all of this on my blog!

As expected the free giveaway of the repackaged books is going well, but it's a free giveaway of electronic books, so if it was going badly then I'd have serious problems. Last time I checked I'd been downloaded about 900 times since this morning. However, this has yet to translate into any sales of All the fun of the Fair.

I'm disappointed, there's no two ways about it but then I have gambled and increased the price and it is day one. If people bother to read the freebie then they will only stumble across the free sample at the end which includes the link to All the fun. As such, it could be days or weeks before I see sales relating to this promo. If I see any at all.

The plan is to give it a month at most and if I've sold none then I'll lower the price and do a free giveaway to kick start sales.

To perk myself up I'm planning to enter another writing competition tomorrow and I might even email a couple of agents. That always goes well he says sarcastically while rolling his eyes and then sighing.

Anyway, if you're reading this, stop! Go to Amazon and buy something I've written. I live like I'm rich, but I'm not.

Night

Dundee International Book Prize

Evening kids,

Bit of unexpected news tonight. I have entered The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe in the Dundee International Book Prize. I'm big enough to admit I'd never heard of it until today. However, I happen to follow Stephen Fry on Twitter and he mentioned it as he is one of the four judges.

The prize is a book deal which is the goal as regular readers will know. The winner is announced in June so fingers crossed as June is already shaping up to be a big month for various reasons.

In other news I have all but finished the formatting of All the fun of the fair with a view that I will publish it in the first week of March although I'd rather wait and get it just right rather than rush and regret it. After all, the plan this time is to be number one on Amazon UK and US at the same time. Aim high, dare to believe etc.

Until next time...