My book is a bestseller!

Evening gang,

So, two posts in as many nights. And there you all were thinking I wasn't bothered.

Big news. Turns out I've sold a few books today. Enough to sneak into the top 100 crime books on Amazon. I was at number 92 at lunch. Fell to 96 my teatime, now I'm at number 86 and well pleased with that as an end to the day. Here's a handy screenshot.

So, spread the word. I'd like to make this last as long as possible before I fall back into the herd. Thanks to all those who have purchased a copy today and over the weekend, I do appreciate it. Needless to say I'm all set for the odd harsh review. But all my blog posts, Goodreads posts, Facebook posts and so on, make it very clear what the book is about. So if you don't want to read about women being attacked and murdered in a garage then buy another book. But that's one plot thread. And it's a true thread, as I've said many times. Besides, worse things happen every day on the news, sadly.

Anyway, if you've paid for a copy, I hope you like it. If not, shame, try one of my other books, there's something for everyone.

Right, I'd best get my head down. Busy day spending the tax payers money tomorrow.

Are you brave enough to make big decisions?

Afternoon gang,

I've been doing a lot of pondering recently, hence the question posed above. As ever there's plenty going on but each thing is getting sorted in typical fashion. Face stuff head on and roll over it. We've been outlaying cash like we've been robbed so far this year. Vets bills, the roof, luxury set of Le Creuset pans which I admit we could have lived without but they are smart. It all adds up but it's all sorted.

Performance at work is okay, good enough that they've just extended my contract again until the summer. I've also got a job interview to work locally too which is giving me even more options. Less money, but enough money, and less travel.

I'm doing a book signing at the end of March and on the face of it, all is well.

And yet....

The bottom line is I'd rather work less and write more. A chap I know online, we're Facebook and Goodreads friends, called Stuart, is a writer. He sells lots more than me, but then he does seem to try a bit harder than me too in that he writes every night. He's so keen on the idea of making a living from writing that he's actively applying for lower paid jobs which will allow him more time to write. He's basically backing his own talent and drive to succeed. I admire him for it as it's something I've talked a lot about and never dared to do. It gets harder with each passing year as I earn more money and, on the face of it, have more to lose. But that little voice keeps whispering in my head, every day, you're a writer. It's all you want to do. So why are we sitting in this meeting talking about project x?

I'm regarded as decisive. I manage people, projects, I'm in charge of stuff, I sort stuff out. But when it comes to this I dance round it, have done for years. It is, I suspect, the source of all my frustration. But, here's the flipside, while I stay at work full time I get to moan about lack of time to write etc, while having plenty of cash and a very comfy life. But if I did quit, write full time, then it would come down to luck, talent etc. I'd have no excuse if I didn't succeed and then what would I do? It's a grim thought because I've never really failed at anything and I'm 37. I don't think I'd take it well.

And so we carry on. Work on Monday...

In other news, I've uploaded a cheeky promo video to YouTube for you to look at. Nothing spectacular. I just did it as a test to see how hard it was to do. If it generates traffic I'll doubtless make more use of it as a promo tool in the future. It's just a slideshow set to music at the moment but might be worth developing. I'm not short of ideas.

The paperback has been delayed for no other reason than I am unable to finish the cover because the Createspace website is currently not working. As soon as it's fixed I'll get it done, ten minute job. Book is re-formatted and re-edited and better than ever.

The paid for promo will be out on Monday. It's via Kindleboards with a view to lifting my American sales. I'll be pointing you towards it on the day.

Right, I brew time, hour on the Xbox and one eye on the football scores. Tonight and tomorrow, bit of writing (yay) on the new book FEAR. It's totally different to my other books, but awesome.

Pay per click advertising - the story so far

Evening gang,

Cracking weather we're having isn't it? We had a full weekend in the garden, folk round, lunch outside, pub for tea, the whole nine yards. The British Lions battered the Australians, Andy Murray only went and won bloody Wimbledon and the Ashes starts in a few days. Life is good.

And then there's my ongoing pay per click advertising experiment on Goodreads. Regular readers will know I tweaked the wording a little and I am now getting clicks. But it's not translating into sales. Not the end of the world by any stretch because the advert traffic is vast but essentially I am paying for being seen rather than for sales.

It's a learning curve certainly and not a very expensive one. But it is something I want to crack because I think the sales potential is there.

In other news Ralph is growing rapidly and learning fast. He's a tiny bit off his game today because he tangled with an 8 month old boxer yesterday which knocked him around a bit in a playful way. But he wasn't scared which bodes well for when he's bigger.

The day job continues to twist and turn. It very much looks like I'm going to be slotted into the gang at HQ in sunny Blackpool if I want it. But the money isn't ideal compared to what I earn now so unless that gets sorted I might well find myself back in my old job and that is not a good thing. Made me shiver a bit just typing it. Anyway, time will tell.

The estate agent continues to be a pain about the house I'm trying to buy. Just accept my offer and let us get on with it!!! The bank are on board and, interestingly, the bank said this happens a lot. They are happy to lend but the agents make it hard yet the banks take all the stick. Again, we shall see but if it's not sorted this week I reckon I'll be looking elsewhere.

Right, that's it. Editing on the new novel continues, but slower than I'd like. It'll be worth waiting for though. About a hundred pages away from a draft and then I'll point the wife at it, assuming I can tear her away from the hound.

Carry on.

How effective is your advertising?

Evening gang,

In my case the answer to this question is "not very". But I'm still learning.

Regular readers will know that last week I bought some pay per click advertising on Goodreads. Since the 21st June the ads have been viewed 13,000 times. That's right, 13,000! Easy maths tells us that's about 1300 views each and every day on average. Now imagine if just 1% of those views turned into sales. That would be 130 copies of the Jazz cafe sold in just 10 days.

Doesn't sound hard does it. Except so far the views are not translating into sales. This, it seems, is the trick. So I've just tweaked the advert and will leave it until the weekend to see if anything changes. As it's pay per click it's costing me nothing to have it sat there being seen and I can edit it as much as I like, when I like. Probability suggests that if I stick at it I'll stumble across the magic formula eventually and the sales will come. Once that happens I'll buy adverts for my other books too.

As I've mentioned to friends recently and to my long suffering wife, it's time to make a change. I'm becoming one of those people who simply complains about his lot in life. God knows my lot is much better than most. I've got a very cushy job at the moment, we have plenty of money, big house, ace puppy called Ralph, it's all good. Except I want to do something else. So I'm finally doing something about it.

Buying the ads is the first small step to push the book sales. The new book will be ready soon and I am considering paying for a launch campaign to kick start it. In other news I also viewed a property last week to buy as an investment. If that works out, I might buy another.

The end goal? Regular readers know the answer. Less time at work. More time writing. It's all about making enough to pay the bills.

Anyway, I've got editing to do, quick half hour and then an episode of Breaking Bad before bed.

Carry on.

Adventures in advertising

Afternoon folks,

I've been making actual effort this afternoon.

Since I began my little adventure into Indie Publishing I've continually said the goal was to make enough money to enable me to write full time. So far that hasn't happened and, as I earn more at work, it becomes less likely.

But every now and again I have a word with myself, just a quiet reminder of the long term goal, my reason for being if you will.

With that in mind I've finally done something about it. I've danced around using paid advertising for months and today I finally took the plunge. It's nothing major but it's a start. I've bought $100 of pay per click adverts on Goodreads. The idea being I can create as many ads as I like for my campaign, target them to specific groups within Goodreads membership and see what happens.

The risk is that people will see my adverts and click on them only to not purchase the book. Either way I pay for the click. The goal for this first campaign is merely to break even, or as close as I can get. If I make a profit, bonus.

I'm at home for the duration of the campaign so I can monitor it. I am also able to tweak the ads in real time so if one seems to be working better than another I can adjust. Worst case scenario I've wasted $100 which is less than £65 in real money. Not the end of the world.

However at least I can I've tried. The campaign is only for The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe but if sales increase I'll try the same thing for every book. I also have another site lined up which works on a subscription basis. It's more expensive but again, the potential is there. We shall see.

In other news I have also submitted The Trust to our chums at Smashwords. What does this mean? Well, in a few days The Trust will be available in all formats i.e. Sony EReader, Kobo, Apple, Barnes and Noble, as well as Kindle and paperback. So there will be no excuse.

I'll keep you posted on the adverts.

Now I might have a quick snooze before tea.

How important is a good review?

More so than you might think.

Evening gang! Just a quick one tonight because I didn't go to bed until 4AM and I had a busy, but productive, day at work.

Obviously a good review will do no harm in terms of sales etc and I've been very lucky that all my reviews have been brilliant. However, that's not what I'm on about.

The vast majority of Indie authors dream of making it big. Millions of pounds, bestsellers, perhaps an appearance on the Review Show on the BBC and a successful TV adaptation. But then we can't all be Ian Rankin!

The average Indie author, like me, works full time at the day job and writes in any spare time. I sell a couple of dozen copies a month, my paperbacks largely exist for my own satisfaction and to give to my mum and it's unlikely I'm going to end up rich and famous unless I get very lucky.

So when I receive a good review, espeically a really good one, it means a lot because that's the reward for all the effort. I've just received such a review and I was so impressed I decided to include the full exchange. It took place between two members of the Goodreads website, both of whom have read my books.

Member 1: This should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me being as I make no secret of being a bit of a fan of "our Jamie" but here's my opinion/review of his latest book...

I have read all of this author's books and, although most of them have been outside my usual genre of choice, I have enjoyed them all. Now this book IS my usual read so I started it knowing that it had a bit to live up to to satisfy me.
And boy did it... Once again the characters came across so real that I reckon this author does more than his fair share of people watching! The background and description are kept to the right amount, enough to support the story but not too much that they take the reader's attention away from it.
There are a few story-lines running through the book - multiple bodies unearthed, abuse in asylums, euthanasia and, if that wasn't enough, the author throws in a serial killer too. All these stories are quite major and there could have been a danger that there was too much going on in the book but the author manages very successfully to keep it balanced and juggles the stories throughout to give completely satisfactory conclusions.
I am not sure if this is stand alone or if we will be seeing Rhiannon and Tom in future books, I for one would like that very much.   

Member 2:  I knew you'd say this. As soon as I've caught up I shall be following in your footsteps - again!

Member 1: He has excelled himself this time for sure :) well I think so anyway!
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did Ignite.

Member 2:   I've always enjoyed all I've read of Jamie's work. He's got a way with him, you might say!   

Member 1:   He has indeed, especially considering all his books are very different styles/genres...

That's all for now folks.

Why is the Kobo website and software so rotten?

Evening all,

I'm battling the rage! Today I had a number of things I wanted to do. Namely edit more of the final draft of the new book, quick blog, post some stuff on Goodreads and add my books to Kobo.

What have I achieved as I sit here at 7PM? None of the above. Why? KOBO SOFTWARE!!!

Months ago I went to the trouble of uploading a version of The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe to the Kobo bookstore and then forgot all about it, presumably because it's miles easier to do it via Smashwords which does all the hard work for you. I recieved an email the other day from Kobo saying I'd sold a couple of copies of Jazz Cafe. So I thought, sod it, I'll upload the others. How hard can it be?

I kid you not, I have very nearly hurled my laptop through the front window. On two occasions I've had to leave the room to do something else to avoid smashing my fist through the screen, it's that bad.

The pages on the author bit of the Kobo site take an age to load but the actual adding of book info is pretty straightforward. Until you want to upload your book file. Because Kobo uses Epub I decided to upload the Word Doc file which the site then converts. Of course you want to check it's okay first. So you download a preview version. But nothing opens epub files! I tried Mobireader which I use for all my publishing and that wouldn't do it. I downloaded Adobe Digital Editions and the book looked awful, totally unreadable so I have no idea how it will look on a real Kobo.

I know I thought, let's use the Kobo desktop software! AAAAAARRRGGGHHH!! It won't open it's own epub file, downloaded from it's own website!! And it's the slowest thing I've ever used in my life. So I've given up. Life's too short. If you do have a Kobo, and I'm sure the actual ereader device is lovely (it has to be better than the website and desktop software) then you can buy any or all of my books thanks to Smashwords. Just search on the Kobo bookstore and there they are.

Incidentally, I noticed that one of the two people who has bought the Kobo version of the Jazz Cafe gave it a 2 out of 5 rating. Which is fine, though totally at odds with all the 5* Amazon reviews and 5* Goodreads reviews. I can't help wonder if it's because when they opened the book it looked horrid, poorly formatted and was hard to read. If this was the case, I apologise, but the book looks great on Kindle and in paperback. I know because I've seen it. Sadly, owing to the vile Kobo software, I cannot check how my own books look.

Ahh, I feel a bit better now. Right I'm going to have some tea and then spend the evening editing my book. It's a Word document so I'll view it using Microsoft Word. It just works! Bloody rotten Kobo.

Just to finish on a positive, the new book should be out (even on Kobo) by the end of the week.

Why not become a Goodreads member?

Morning folks,

Happy New Year!

So as I sit here sipping an Irish coffee someone bought me as a gift and wondering how on earth Phil The Power Taylor won the darts, I can't help but be pretty satisfied with how things are going at the moment.

My short story promo went very well. To the extent that it was the most downloaded Christmas short story on the planet over the festive period (via Amazon). I was delighted with that.

But the point of this post is to talk a bit about a site called Goodreads. It's essentially a forum for readers to chat about books and pretty much anything else they fancy. But it's also a great site for writers too.

I joined the group about a year ago and I now have lots of friends via this site. I'm a member of several forums based around books I like (The Shining, Catcher in the Rye etc) and I generally pop in and say Good Morning to everyone at least a couple of times a week just to make sure they know I'm alive.

I've had lots of books recommended to me via the site, and I've recommended a few myself. Everyone is friendly and, unlike so many other book related sites, nobody seems to have an agenda. Nobody gets away with spamming promo for their books or with being abusive either largely because the moderators are on top of everything, but in a chummy way!

But the real benefit to me personally is as an author. Just by taking part and being involved I get to talk about my books as much as I like. From there loads of people have checked me out, and bought my books, and left reviews. This is all gold for a strugging writer. The feedback is often superb too.

Which brings me to my latest review. One of the Goodreads top brass asked for writers to offer a book for free. I was lucky enough to have The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe selected. A website was built and any member of the goodreads site who emailed in would recieve a free book. Genius. Yesterday a member sent me a message to say she'd got a copy via this giveaway. She offered plenty of constructive comments and also posted a superb review of the book on the site and on her blog.

So, in short, if you're interested in books, there's no downside to being a member of Goodreads. I've got no affiliation to them of any kind, it just works for me and the more folk join in, the better it will be.

I've linked to the review above and also pasted it in below, I'd be daft not to.

This great story starts with a death by natural causes. It’s the sad death of Emily, a young, musically talented woman and we meet Mitch and Rupert, the two men who loved her. We also discover the sleaze and corruption of small town life, with the council, the police and local businessmen all partaking in, or turning a blind eye to, bribery, indecency and all manner of nastiness. Mitch and Rupert decide to try to get justice. Mitch, an outcast all his life due to his ability to glimpse future happenings, foresees a murder and Rupert, his only friend from schooldays, joins him in trying to avert it.

The characters in this story are very well drawn. We have oily toads of council members who think they are untouchable, a keen, thorough and likable female police inspector chasing justice and the two friends, both grieving for their lost love. The plot is well constructed and story lines interwoven together. I felt the initial part, although it came in with a bang with Emily’s death, built slowly but not tediously, until we realised the depth of corruption and the way justice seemed to be in favour of those with deep pockets – or nasty secrets they could spill if they didn’t get their own way. This is a story of love, friendship, people battling against the disadvantages of childhood influences; it flags up so many questions. It’s a thoroughly gripping read and I enjoyed it very much.

It's finished!

Afternoon folks,

As the title suggests the first draft of my new book is complete. I finished it about ten minutes ago, it's currently 83,560 words long and has more plot holes in it than a well worn vest. But that's what the second draft is for.

For now I'm going to bask in the feeling of getting there in what, for me, is a short space of time (about six months). I'll ignore it for a while now as I'm planning to start editing a book from my back catalogue for publication. When that's done I'll return for a second draft and hopefully have it out in time for Christmas.

In other news one of my Goodreads chums has a new blog which I've included links for. She's a big supporter of Indie Authors in terms of reviews so check it out. I'm deighted to say that a review of one of my books is featured on the blog too. Yay!

Finally, and in relation to nothing. I received my new mobile today. It's the one James Bond will be using in the upcoming 007 movie Skyfall and, being a bit of a geek, I bloody love it. Not least because the ringtone is the Bond theme.

Right that's it for today. I'm having Indian for tea and then hitting the ale. It's been a very, very good day.

Self-promotion. A chore without reward?

Afternoon folks,

Did everyone have a lovely jubilee? If nothing else having four days off work has been a delight. Mind you, the wife has worked every day but she gets paid lots so fair play to her.

Anyway, self-promo. I'm not a fan simply because I work full time and what little free time I do have I like to use to write books. If I spend an hour in an evening touting myslf around the internet it leaves nothing left for crafting the novel. Of course, logic suggests that if I don't do some promotion then nobody will buy my books as they won't know they exist.

This, I suppose, is true. To an extent. If you're a best selling author shifting thousands of copies then surely self-promo is pointless as the sales and word of mouth will feed into each other. I sell in dozens rather than thousands (so far) but I've found that no matter what promo I do my sales are pretty consistent month on month.

For example last month I did a couple of days promo and then only because my debut book, Playground Cool, was lauched in paperback. But I was busy at work and also decorating bits of my house, so that didn't leave any time to promote. Yet at the end of the month I'd sold near enough the same amount as the month before.

Anyway, since I did have time today I've posted on several Amazon.com discussion threads, also on Kindleoards and Book Blogs. I will post on Amazon.co.uk later and on Goodreads, as well as this blog post obviously. This will automatically appear on Facebook (hi facebook) and that will be about it. Will it lead to sales? Probably a couple. But then I reckon I might have had those anyway, sooner or later.

If you work it out in terms of a job, then self-promo for an author selling the amount I do is expensive i.e. an hour a day of promo for 2 sales? That's about £1 in royalties. Who on earth does anything for a pound an hour? Of course, if one of my books starts to take off and an hour of promo equalled a hundred sales, a thousand? Then all of a sudden that's a great return. But making that leap is proving hard, not just for me but for thousands of other writers in this position. We all know the game and the rules, promo, lots of it, on all the right websites. But it's so time-consuming!!!

So what to do?  I will do some promo, as much as I can be bothered to do, and hope something sparks and takes off. But it's not the be all and end all. I'd rather spend the time writing books than promoting them.

Bee Gees, Kindle Users, Paint and Alison Steadman

Morning kids,

It's been awhile but now I'm back and my fingers are sticky with gloss! That's right, I'm elbow deep in a decorating project which is taking up more time than I'd like. That said, it's looking good and I do have a shiny new 9 foot wide cinema screen dangling from my freshly painted ceiling.

In book related news I've done no promo at all in 2 weeks but thankfully book sales have continued, although at a slower pace than usual, especially in America. When the paint has dried, I'll address that and spread the word.

On that note, I have positive news. A chum from the Goodreads website has nominated my latest book The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe for book of the month for June on the Kindle Users Forum. Voting is underway now so if you can be bothered a vote would be appreciated.

Finally, as you will know another music legend has died in Robin Gibb. I was particularly saddened to learn that people hadn't heard of him. I kid you not. I was listening to Radio One in the car today between meetings while the reporter explained who the Bee Gees were. They then proceeded to ask a host of folk about their music and half of them didn't have a clue. They should teach this stuff in schools! Sad times.

Finally, a musician mate of mine texted tonight to say Alison Steadman had turned up to his gig tonight. Make of that what you will.

5 * Review!!

Morning folks,

I've just had a five star review of All the Fun of the Fair. Needless to say, I'm well chuffed.

There's a link to the review here, but since it's so good I've also pasted it in below.

"This is my first Jamie Sinclair book and I was mightily impressed. It begins by introducing us to a selection of dysfunctional characters, living lives on the edge of society - social misfits. Gradually as their stories unfold to us, their lives touch each other tangentially, coalesce in some cases, and I found myself fascinated. It is a difficult book to stop reading!

I enjoyed the style, the dipping in and out of lives, the eventual realisation that many were interlinked. I also loved Jamie Sinclair's use of vocabulary. We have so many nuances in our language - we are lucky and should use them. Each apparent synonym conveys a different shade of meaning and I love to see the language used more extensively. The denoument of the book is wonderful. Some of the characters 'came good' and reached within themselves for the sake of others. Some managed, through finding each other, to excise the poison of their past relationships. (Slime balls still remain slimeballs though, but we relish their downfall!) This is altogether a satisfying and enjoyable read and I thoroughly recommend it."

5* Amazon Review

Evening folks,

That's right gang, I have received my first five star review for Playground Cool! Ironically, or not, it's from the same lady who posted such a favourable review of All the Fun of the Fair. She is now my number one fan!

Needless to say I've tweeted about the review, put it on Goodreads and on Kindleboards, it's satisfying stuff.

Anyway, here's an extract:

Mr Sinclair has certainly mastered the art of writing credible fiction from both a woman's and a man's point of view. The story held my attention right the way through and had me laughing, crying, getting angry, rooting for the underdogs and screaming at the lying, cheating sc*mbags!
I think it is a little grittier than the mainstream Chick-lit I have previously read and I personally think that actually makes it better.

Lots of positives!!

Evening dear reader,

Today began badly. I got a puncture on the main road on the way to work and had to dodge traffic to change the tyre. I arrived at work, late and covered in dirt and oil.

But the day improved!

I have now linked this blog to my Goodreads account. Also, Playground Cool and my latest effort All the Fun of the Fair are now available to buy or preview direct from the Goodreads site. There's more! I am also doing a free giveaway of All the Fun of the Fair. The first 100 people who email me will receive a free copy of All the Fun of the Fair to review. I have already had one response!!! Search for me on Goodreads to learn more.

There's even more! I have also sold 41 copies of my books so far this month (just 13 days) which is awesome. This on the back of about 1500 freebie downloads.

I am also working on my Facebook author page which I hope to launch in the next week or so. I have also written 2000 words of my next book which is the second in my crime thriller series set in Morecambe.

It's all happening!

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

Chasing the dream

Hi folks,

So, things are progressing, sort of. I'm still not making any money but lots and lots of people have downloaded my books.

After the success of my short story promo with The Storyteller (still at number five on Amazon UK as of this minute) I decided to do a free promo with Playground Cool, the full length debut. It went a bit berserk and shifted about a 1000 copies in 36 hours. Needless to say, all good. I've ended the promo now to see if it translates into any real sales as with the short story.

I've been posting quite a bit on Goodreads and the folk there have been pretty supportive with a few folk saying they've got a copy and the moderators even posting links to my book on Amazon. Top work!

I've not heard back from BANG yet about the completed manuscript I sent but fingers are still crossed. Yesterday I emailed three agents and today posted (old school) extracts and letters etc of the latest effort just because I crave rejection letters. If they do reject me I'll fire off some more just to show how keen I am.

Finally, I'm building up to joining Facebook. Pain in the arse really because I hardly have time to write this blog, post on writing forums and go to work without having to find time for Facebook. But as the wife keeps reminding me, if I become successful I won't have to work in a warehouse anymore. Thank Christ for that.

Anyway, so far I've shifted somewhere around 1400 books, mostly from free downloads. But it's 1400 folk who had never heard of me before November, so it's hard to be negative.

Until next time...

Goodreads

Afternoon gang,

Quick post this one as I'm at work - but it's lunchtime. I've joined Goodreads and it turns out it's actually rather good. If you're not familiar it's essentially a community for book lovers where you can recommend, review, exchange, promote and discuss books of any sort, genre, format etc, as well as list your own favourites.

The link is in this post so go and have a look, after you've bought my books of course!

Thanks

The Trials and Tribulations of Self Promotion

Afternoon readers,

It's been a frustrating week. The books are selling which is, of course, fantastic and the whole point of the exercise. But the trick seems to be to constantly self promote via amazon forums, social media etc and I simply don't have the time to do that.

I have added my books to Goodreads and Librarything but without promoting this presence I'm dubious about seeing any benefit in terms of sales. So I'll persevere and see what happens. Hopefully being available in formats other than kindle wll help.