Michael's Posts - The Book Marketing Network2024-03-29T12:35:39ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2977901079?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=24jbqzvsbg6bn&xn_auth=noReaching Outtag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2017-04-30:523145:BlogPost:7019232017-04-30T11:07:56.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>April 30<sup>th</sup>.</p>
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<p>Where have the days gone? It seems like Christmas was only five minutes ago. I’ve had enough time since then to be halfway through my next novel, but so far I’ve done precious little. I’m feeling fairly calm about that, and expect to explode into life later this year.</p>
<p>Now things are returning to normal after our fairly busy schedule, I can hopefully think about the promotions I’m involved in this month and keep my fingers crossed for some light…</p>
<p>April 30<sup>th</sup>.</p>
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<p>Where have the days gone? It seems like Christmas was only five minutes ago. I’ve had enough time since then to be halfway through my next novel, but so far I’ve done precious little. I’m feeling fairly calm about that, and expect to explode into life later this year.</p>
<p>Now things are returning to normal after our fairly busy schedule, I can hopefully think about the promotions I’m involved in this month and keep my fingers crossed for some light at the end of the tunnel. One author I will be promoting is a member of our Chindi group (<a href="http://www.chindi-authors.co.uk" target="_self">www.chindi-authors.co.uk</a>), Helen Christmas. Readers of crime thrillers from authors like Martina Cole and Lynda la Plante, would probably enjoy Helen’s thrillers set in London. Her three novels have attracted excellent reviews, averaging just below five stars on Amazon. She has a fourth in the series coming out and will be doing a promotion on that in May. Check out Helen’s Facebook page here:<a href="http://www.facebook.com/author.helenchristmas" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/author.helenchristmas</a>. I will be sending details of Helen’s new promotion to my subscribers in early May.</p>
<p>I managed to crack the Co-op bank and finally become a fully-fledged member as a director of the Chindi group. I also managed to get the £65 back from Gatwick Parking that I paid to get through the barrier. They apologised, said it was down to an error on their website.</p>
<p>I filled out my tax return last week. Unfortunately I don’t earn enough from my book sales to employ an accountant, but at least I can say I am earning something. Compared to last year, I didn’t do so well, but that was because of a terrific result with a BookBub ad. This year my ad failed to cover the cost, although I did manage to sell about 2000 books.</p>
<p>I have been giving some serious thought to giving away free books. I touched on that last week, but I am still wondering why I pay £16 a month to Instafreebie so that one of my books can be given away through their website. Once I’ve got through the May promotions, I’ll probably close my account with them, unless someone can come up with a cast iron argument why it’s good to be with Instafreebie, or other sites like them.</p>
<p>I’ve been reading one of my books, Past Imperfect. I took a copy along to the hospital to leave it there as part of our Chindi giveaway promotion, and started reading it while I was waiting to see the nurse. I enjoyed it that much I decided to read through to the end. Unfortunately I don’t have the ebook rights to the book, which is annoying. I’ve got to wait another eighteen months before I can get them, otherwise I would be promoting it now. It’s a Romance with hard edged back story: a touch of family saga and prison life; murder; betrayal and some real tear-jerking moments as love wins through. You can find the ebook on Amazon, reasonably priced too. The ASIN is B00TDTOY3I. Why not have a look? There are no reviews either, so you’ll have to take my word for it that it’s brilliant!</p>
<p>I’m looking forward to the weeks ahead with Chindi. We have our new website launch to look forward to with the £300 of books to give away. We are heavily involved in the Chichester Arts Festival, and will be too with the Arundel summer festival. We have author friends of the Bognor Writers and Arun Scribes getting involved as well. Our numbers are growing and I believe this can only help us to improve our overall outreach to the area and beyond.</p>
<p>Now, if only I could find the inspiration to write! Wish me luck.</p>
<p> </p>Getting aroundtag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2017-04-22:523145:BlogPost:7015492017-04-22T15:30:51.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>April 22<sup>nd</sup>. 2017</p>
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<p>I didn’t write my blog last week because I was in Spain enjoying the sun and linking up with old friends. The week before that I travelled up to Norfolk to attend the funeral of an old work colleague of mine: another opportunity to meet and chat with old friends of mine from the workplace. It also gave me the chance to spend some time with my eldest son, Vincent, and just relax in his company.</p>
<p>Despite all that, my mind wasn’t too far away…</p>
<p>April 22<sup>nd</sup>. 2017</p>
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<p>I didn’t write my blog last week because I was in Spain enjoying the sun and linking up with old friends. The week before that I travelled up to Norfolk to attend the funeral of an old work colleague of mine: another opportunity to meet and chat with old friends of mine from the workplace. It also gave me the chance to spend some time with my eldest son, Vincent, and just relax in his company.</p>
<p>Despite all that, my mind wasn’t too far away from the book world. I am involved in a cross-promotion, but the jury is still out as far as I’m concerned regarding the effectiveness of these tie-ups. I’ve had three so far and have yet to see any real advance in my sales. I am also beginning to doubt the point of giving away books for free. I understand the argument about giving something to get something in return, but I have given away almost 400 books over the last four weeks (two titles), and have yet to see any reviews or have any contact from the readers who have downloaded them. I have had some sign-ups though.</p>
<p>As a result of my involvement with the Chindi group <a href="http://www.chindi-authors.co.uk/">www.chindi-authors.co.uk</a>, I am now a director of the group and have to be a signatory on the cheques. I contacted the bank with the necessary information (so I thought), which included an official letter with my new ID. Although I had been armed with what we thought was sufficient information, I was caught out by questions that could only be answered by a mother’s daughter and had to bail out. I will eventually become a <i>bone fide</i> member, but it is so frustrating. I was on the phone for about half an hour.</p>
<p>Last Monday I picked up my car at Gatwick North terminal long stay car park. It was about two o’clock in the morning, and despite having the correct ticket with my number plate on, I couldn’t get out of the car park without paying £65. The guy on duty wasn’t interested in my plight, so I had to cough up. I did get reimbursed by the company yesterday, but what a hassle to go through because some ‘jobsworth’ wouldn’t open the barrier for me.</p>
<p>The Chindi group are launching their new website next month. We’re going global and are giving away £300 of books as a prize. Have a look and see what we are up to. The link is above. We are also leaving our books around the area with a sticker on asking whoever picks them up to leave them somewhere else once they’ve read them. So far I have left a paperback on a bendy bus in Gatwick, a bus stop in Chichester, a waiting room in the Queen Alexandra hospital in Portsmouth, our local tea shop here in Pagham, and one in a D-I-Y store in Bognor Regis. Five down, five to go. All the photographs were posted on Facebook and Twitter.</p>
<p>Apart from a couple of cross promos next month, I am thinking of paying out for some Facebook advertising. I’m not sure yet which way I’ll go with that. Needs a lot of thought. Wish me luck!</p>Back to the Futuretag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2017-04-08:523145:BlogPost:7008862017-04-08T14:30:00.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>A different week this time: no writing, but a lot of frustration with getting a book jacket image loaded up to Ingram Spark. I’m taking advantage of their free offer to have a hardback copy of my latest book, <i>Where the Wicked Dwell,</i> published. I have to confess that most of the problem was my own lack of experience in working with templates. I eventually worked out the best way to use the template with the image of my jacket. It meant a lot of adjustments using Photoshop, and…</p>
<p>A different week this time: no writing, but a lot of frustration with getting a book jacket image loaded up to Ingram Spark. I’m taking advantage of their free offer to have a hardback copy of my latest book, <i>Where the Wicked Dwell,</i> published. I have to confess that most of the problem was my own lack of experience in working with templates. I eventually worked out the best way to use the template with the image of my jacket. It meant a lot of adjustments using Photoshop, and insertion of guides to ensure I had everything right. I received the e-proofs today and found there is a missing page break after a one of the chapters. It’s ironic because I was extremely careful with the interior file (so I thought), and didn’t expect any errors. I checked the paperback from CreateSpace, and the error isn’t there. The jacket is OK, but needs a little tweaking. Not essential but because I’m going to upload a new interior file, I might as well titivate the jacket.</p>
<p>Yesterday, my wife and I visited the small town where I was born seventy six years ago. It’s a place called Cuckfield, and happens to be in West Sussex, the same county in which we are now living. It was a notion I had when we settled back here. I was born during World War 2. We lived in London and, because of the war, the blitz and constant bombings, pregnant mums were moved out to countryside hospitals to free up the much needed hospital beds in London. So my mother was whisked off to Cuckfield, to a hospital that was once a workhouse. It was the kind of place that, in its early years, would have been a place where “fallen women” were taken to have their offspring. No, my mother wasn’t “fallen”; she was married and had two children when I was born. The hospital has been modernised and exists as a block of flats. It is now a world heritage site. The surrounding area is beautifully landscaped and looked after by a professional company.</p>
<p>I had a bit of luck on my side. Our son, Terry, is a Captain with the airline, EasyJet. One of his pilot friends actually lives in the old hospital. This meant we were able to not just visit the place, but to step inside. Although the hospital is just a block of flats now (apartments for my American readers), it felt odd to think that somewhere in that building, my mother gave birth to me as Hitler was doing his best to bomb us all into submission (not in Cuckfield of course). My mother wanted me to be born on St. Patrick’s Day, and had already decided to call me Patrick in honour of my Irish grandfather. But I had other ideas and turned up a day late, so she called me Michael instead.</p>
<p>Now I look back and see how history has unfolded since that day, and how much, or how little, I have been a part of it. There are a million stories out there, and mine is just a single thread in a whole pattern woven over the years. I should be able to pluck that single thread and watch it vibrate into a story that would grace the pages of any book. But I can’t; I have to stick to thrillers. And that’s the rub; I’m having trouble coming up with a plot. Now, where was I? Ah yes, searching for ideas for my book. I did think of one: it was about this baby who was born….. I don’t know; no-one would believe it.</p>
<p>Just one other thing: my Debbie Mack interview is now available to see on YouTube and Debbie’s website. <a href="http://www.debbimack.com/blog/2017/03/29/the-crime-cafe-interview-with-michael-parker/" target="_blank">http://www.debbimack.com/blog/2017/03/29/the-crime-cafe-interview-with-michael-parker/</a> Wish me luck!</p>A Chatty Mantag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2017-03-25:523145:BlogPost:7006072017-03-25T15:58:54.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>March 25<sup>th</sup>. 2107</p>
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<p>The highlight of my week from a literary point of view was the interview I had with Debbi Mack, a New York Times best-selling author, last night. We set this up about two months ago. I learned a little more about Google hangouts when Debbie sent out the invite; took a little while to get going. We chatted for about 35 minutes, which will be edited to about 30 minutes for the YouTube channel. She said some very positive things about my book <i>The…</i></p>
<p>March 25<sup>th</sup>. 2107</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The highlight of my week from a literary point of view was the interview I had with Debbi Mack, a New York Times best-selling author, last night. We set this up about two months ago. I learned a little more about Google hangouts when Debbie sent out the invite; took a little while to get going. We chatted for about 35 minutes, which will be edited to about 30 minutes for the YouTube channel. She said some very positive things about my book <i>The Devil’s Trinity</i>, which she is currently reading, but that wasn’t the point of the interview. We talked about my latest release, <i>Where the Wicked Dwell</i>, and why I decided to go with the character, Marcus Blake, who appeared in <i>A Covert War.</i> She could have asked me anything because I would have rattled on until she decided I’d said enough. Anyway, I tried to explain my reasons for re-introducing Marcus Blake, which were purely mercenary: to sell more books.</p>
<p>I think it’s a truism that authors who write series novels will sell more books than someone like me who writes stand-alone books. I did say, however, that by going down this route, I might be letting my standards drop simply because I am being propelled along a route I really don’t want to go. I believe that writing with a single character doesn’t let the writer wander too far away from a channelled path. No doubt there will be writers who disagree with me, but because my books are inspired by world or local events, I find the task of writing to ‘order’ as it were, is rather like being in a straight-jacket, and it saps inspiration. But hey, it sells books!</p>
<p>I’m finding that now because I have resurrected Conor Lenihan from my thriller, <i>The Eagle’s Covenant</i>. This was in response to comments I’ve received about wanting to see this guy again: something I’d never planned to do. So I’m tackling the problem of how I cast this character in a completely new role and avoid too many similarities between that and what went before. But where will the inspiration come from? What I am considering is actually making this a sequel to the previous book, beginning where that one ended, so that the two books could be seen as one complete story. If I did that, I could publish the two as one book. It’s an interesting thought.</p>
<p>I’m also taking advantage if Ingram Spark’s free promotion and having <i>Where the Wicked Dwell</i> published in hardback. I did this with <i>A Dangerous Game</i> last year. It looks good against my other hardback titles, and <i>Wicked</i> will make a nice addition to the bookshelf.</p>
<p>I’ve had no feedback from the cross-promotions I did last week. I haven’t seen any significant change in the sales of my books, although I am giving away several copies of my latest book every day, and adding about ten subscribers a day to my growing list with Mailchimp. I’ve seen some comments from authors on a particular Facebook group complaining about readers not buying their books, even when they are on sale for $0.99. They say the free copies are being downloaded, but no-one is buying. One author suggested it’s our own fault for giving books away. There are so many free books available now on Amazon, so what’s the point of buying? I’m not sure if that’s true, but I do believe it is necessary to establish yourself as a reliable writer, and hope that readers will be prepared to part with their money to buy your books, and you can only do that by attracting them to your product with giveaways in the beginning. I hope so. Wish me luck!</p>Waking up to the good news and the not so good newstag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2017-03-18:523145:BlogPost:7003692017-03-18T16:14:32.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>March 18<sup>th</sup>. 2017</p>
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<p>It’s my birthday today, and the week has ended on a promising note, but also with a cautionary reminder about the cross-promotions I’m involved in. My social media workload went up, not by a dramatic amount, but enough to take up much of my free time, which meant nothing added to my WIP. The promising note I mentioned is the small rise in my book sales, and the addition of subscribers being added to my list every day. Oh, and the birthday cards,…</p>
<p>March 18<sup>th</sup>. 2017</p>
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<p>It’s my birthday today, and the week has ended on a promising note, but also with a cautionary reminder about the cross-promotions I’m involved in. My social media workload went up, not by a dramatic amount, but enough to take up much of my free time, which meant nothing added to my WIP. The promising note I mentioned is the small rise in my book sales, and the addition of subscribers being added to my list every day. Oh, and the birthday cards, phone calls and my wife taking me out to lunch. The cautionary note was a major blunder on my part when I forgot I had a limited number of free downloads with Instafreebie for my promoted book. It meant that the authors I promoted were asking their subscribers to download my book which was no longer available. Naturally I went back on Instafreebie and opened the book to unlimited downloads. I thought I had checked everything: all the links, my spelling, no typos etc., then sat back and expected it to all happen. The link is right now. If you haven’t looked at my latest thriller, why not download the free book? <a href="https://www.instafreebie.com/free/O89QV">https://www.instafreebie.com/free/O89QV</a>.</p>
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<p>My author group, Chindi (<a href="http://www.chindi-authors.co.uk/">www.chindi-authors.co.uk</a>) have come up with a scheme to distribute free paperbacks around the area. It’s an idea picked up from something that’s happening in London (and maybe elsewhere?). We’ll leave a book somewhere — bus station, park bench, café, pub — but the books will have a small leaflet inside asking the finder to read it and then pass it on to someone else. We may not make a fortune by giving away our paperbacks, but it’s another form of promotion and marketing.</p>
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<p>I received the paperback copy of <i>Where the Wicked Dwell</i> from Ingram Spark earlier in the week. There’s nothing wrong with it other than I could probably have tweaked it to improve it, but the background colour is not as good as the Photoshop jpeg I uploaded. I’ve uploaded the amended files to CreateSpace and am now waiting to be told it’s available on Amazon. If I’m happy with it, I’ll use the files to take advantage of Ingram Spark’s free offer to publish the book in hardback. I did this with <i>A Dangerous Game</i> last year. It means having all my books on the shelf in hardback.</p>
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<p>Last week I said I was happy with my WIP, maybe with one or two reservations, but now I’m beginning to doubt my choice of new novel. I could press ahead and bang out a thriller, but I would fall short of my own standards, I think. Mind you, I do tend to use the keyword “Pulp Fiction” in my publishing details, so maybe I am lowering my standards.</p>
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<p>The two writers I’m promoting this week are Kristin Helling and Scott Michaels. Their promotion links are <a href="http://www.kristinhelling.com/free-book" target="_blank">http://www.kristinhelling.com/free-book</a> (Kristin), and</p>
<p><a href="https://scottmichaelsauthor.com/uthg-promo" target="_blank">https://scottmichaelsauthor.com/uthg-promo</a> (Scott Michaels). Why not have a look?</p>
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<p>Next week I’m being interviewed live by Debbie Mack, a New York Times best-selling author. Hopefully some of her stardust will rub off on me. Wish me luck!</p>Cut to the Chasetag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2017-03-11:523145:BlogPost:6999292017-03-11T16:05:46.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>March 11<sup>th</sup>. 2017</p>
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<p>They say there are two things certain in life: death and taxes. There’s something else too: when you’re an indie writer, whatever you’ve tried with regard to promotion and marketing, it’s been done before by most of the others, and all with the same results — it inevitably ends up back at the drawing board.</p>
<p>I read a post from an author during the week about her attempts at whatever is ‘flavour of the month’. I found myself reading, nodding…</p>
<p>March 11<sup>th</sup>. 2017</p>
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<p>They say there are two things certain in life: death and taxes. There’s something else too: when you’re an indie writer, whatever you’ve tried with regard to promotion and marketing, it’s been done before by most of the others, and all with the same results — it inevitably ends up back at the drawing board.</p>
<p>I read a post from an author during the week about her attempts at whatever is ‘flavour of the month’. I found myself reading, nodding my head and smiling. Yes, I’ve been there, done that, same result, move on to the next best thing and finally back to the drawing board.</p>
<p>So what’s the secret? Write more books? Nope; an author acquaintance of mine has her sole, fiction book up in the top 5000 on Amazon, and in the top ten in other categories. So what’s her secret? P&M: promotion and marketing — at least, having the skill and knowing where and how to pitch. That means more books is not the answer. So what is? This is where I say that if I knew that, I would be a best-selling author.</p>
<p>Undaunted though, I press on, ignoring all the sales talk from other authors who will sell you the ideal package to boost your sales. It’s tempting, but there is only so much money in the pot to spend on P&M. I am making some progress and like to think I will build my sales to a healthy level while adding more titles to my bookshelf. This month I will be sending out emails to my subscribers and other platforms with details of the cross promotion I’m running. With luck those authors will encourage their subs to have a look at my books, and maybe I’ll see an increase in my sales.</p>
<p>But that isn’t the whole story; selling books is fine, but the reality really, is to establish yourself firmly as a trustworthy writer who turns out books that are worth buying and reading. That’s what I want: to be known as the kind of writer people will recommend to others because of the quality of my work.</p>
<p>Which brings me on to book jackets. Who said, ‘Never judge a book by its cover’? Isn’t that a mantra that underpins a lot of what characterises the choices we make? But we are being told my so many experts that the book jacket is what really sells the book. I think that’s tosh. I’ve seen covers I wouldn’t have as one of mine, and I’ve no doubt there are people out there who might say the same about my covers. But if I can establish myself within the world of our readers, then the book jacket is secondary; it’s what’s between the covers that count.</p>
<p>I’ve reached the 5000 word count in my latest WIP. I actually like what I have written, with one or two minor reservations. But the next step, the point at which the story begins to take off, is eluding me at the moment. Ideas pop into my head and fall out just as quickly. Hopefully one will lodge firmly in my brain and give me something to get my teeth into.</p>
<p>I actually read up a couple of pieces of advice about creating the novel recently. After a while I realised I’d been doing this since the year dot, ten books published and some very good reviews. If I didn’t know how to write a story, then what was I doing seeking advice? I shall fall back on the old, failsafe advice from some of the old writers like Hemingway and Fleming: go with your instincts and write the story. F.Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby) had this said about his best-selling novel, <i>This Side of Paradise</i>: “one of the most illiterate books of any merit ever published…full of English words misused with the most reckless abandon.” (literary critic Edmund Wilson).</p>
<p>So I’ll go with my instincts and write. Wish me luck!</p>Mind Bogglingtag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2017-03-04:523145:BlogPost:6997332017-03-04T16:26:39.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>March 4<sup>th</sup>. 2017</p>
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<p>A pretty full week for me one way or another: most of it consumed by tackling PC problems, uploading files and generally scratching my head when I lose my way. My book sales have progressed at a reasonable pace, but nowhere near where I would like them to be (naturally); however, I believe I can see the results of becoming more involved with other authors and giving a few books away.</p>
<p>I have been exchanging emails with Ingram Spark as I…</p>
<p>March 4<sup>th</sup>. 2017</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A pretty full week for me one way or another: most of it consumed by tackling PC problems, uploading files and generally scratching my head when I lose my way. My book sales have progressed at a reasonable pace, but nowhere near where I would like them to be (naturally); however, I believe I can see the results of becoming more involved with other authors and giving a few books away.</p>
<p>I have been exchanging emails with Ingram Spark as I struggled to understand exactly what was wrong with the files I uploaded for the paperback edition of my latest thriller, <i>Where the Wicked Dwell</i>. The rep was very patient and helped me through the process. Bearing in mind I have published four books with Ingram Spark, including a hardback, I began to wonder if I’d lost it completely. However, the last email I received was to say that it looked as though the files had been accepted and I would soon receive notification to that effect. I live in hopes.</p>
<p>I have been doing some promotion work for myself and others, including Paula Wynne (<a href="http://www.bookhub.online/">http://www.bookhub.online</a>) with whom I agreed to work in exchange for Gold membership with Bookhub. It looks to be bearing fruit already with a few names being added to my subs list.</p>
<p>I also picked up the pen and added a few more words to my latest book. I’m still not sure where I’ll be going with it, but writing is better than not writing. The problem is that this is a sequel to <i>The Eagle’s Covenant.</i> It isn’t something I planned to do, but have had my ear chewed, particularly by my son John, about resurrecting Conor Lenihan, the main character in that novel. For those of you who have read the book, you will understand what my dilemma is. But hey, I’m a writer of fiction, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Should it?</p>
<p>On the subject of PC problems, it wasn’t my PC that was playing up, but the TP link between my Router and the PC. Before finding out what the fault was, I tried everything until my wife suggested I swop the plug-in links. I did this and it worked. Ha! Woman’s logic. Perhaps I should ask her to deal with my file upload problems.</p>
<p>My writers group, CHINDI, have been updating their website, choosing a new logo and generally trying to make the group more inclusive and expansive. We have a virtual meeting on Monday evening in place of our usual monthly gathering at a pub in Chichester. We also have a lot to offer other writers at <a href="http://www.chindi-authors.co.uk/">http://www.chindi-authors.co.uk</a>.</p>
<p>Sometime next week, I will be preparing something for the cross promotion I’m running for three other writers. I have an idea what I’ll prepare for myself, but I haven’t a clue what to expect from the others. They might even put me to shame with the quality of their promotion piece, but then I might be able to learn something from them. Wish me luck!</p>Buzzing around the buzz wordstag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2017-02-25:523145:BlogPost:6989902017-02-25T15:34:14.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>February 25<sup>th</sup>. 2017</p>
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<p>I launched my latest book, <i>Where the Wicked Dwell,</i> during the week. I used Mailchimp and social media to promote it at a launch price of £0.99. I’ve no way of comparing results with other launches, and I do understand that I could have paid out a lot of money to advertise the launch and see my rankings rise. The highest I did get was 37 in the top 100 paid in the Private Investigators category. I can say I sat proudly above Stephen King…</p>
<p>February 25<sup>th</sup>. 2017</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I launched my latest book, <i>Where the Wicked Dwell,</i> during the week. I used Mailchimp and social media to promote it at a launch price of £0.99. I’ve no way of comparing results with other launches, and I do understand that I could have paid out a lot of money to advertise the launch and see my rankings rise. The highest I did get was 37 in the top 100 paid in the Private Investigators category. I can say I sat proudly above Stephen King and James Patterson who were occupying 38<sup>th</sup> and 39<sup>th</sup> place respectively. Do you think they are concerned about this upstart who displaced them from their position? I sincerely doubt it. But at least I was able to rub shoulders with exalted company. You can find the book on the home page of my website: <a href="http://www.michaelparkerbooks.com/">http://www.michaelparkerbooks.com</a></p>
<p>In my efforts to promote my books, I have tried most things that have been suggested over the years. In the early days of Amazon self-publishing, you had to be on social media, i.e. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc. and it was necessary to ensure your kindle book was formatted properly, which meant the steady growth of people willing to do the formatting for you (at a price). You were encouraged to understand what web crawlers were all about and to ensure that keywords associated with your book were always included in everything you wrote on line so that the search engines would find you. And as more and more indie authors jumped on the bandwagon, so did the ‘entrepreneurs’ who were willing to help you become the best seller that you “deserved to be”.</p>
<p>The explosion continues and shows no sign of wilting. Now it is cross promotions that are the buzz word, and we’re all piling in, keen to find a way of getting our books up there among the top rankers. I am no different to other indie authors; I want my books to succeed, so I will keep hanging on to whoever’s coat tails will get me up there. But I’m slowly coming to the conclusion that we are in an underclass of writers. That’s not to say we do not have the talent and the skill, but that we are being watched by the big guns in the game who see us thrashing about, trying desperately to find the answer, while they sell the books that are always sitting at the top of the pile. The pyramid is unshakeable and unbreakable, with the minority at the top and the bottom feeders swirling around at the bottom. But am I disheartened? Not really; I am pragmatic enough to know the name of the game. I know that I should spend hours at my keyboard promoting and marketing, and investing money with no guarantee of success; but I choose not to devote all those hours to what could be a dead-end, so the onus is on me when it comes to where my book sales and rankings are.</p>
<p>This week I have picked up the gauntlet and invited thriller writers in one of my groups to share in a cross promotion with me. I will be driving this one, and know that I can’t promise or guarantee any success. No doubt those who join with me will hope their sales will show a healthy increase. And all the while I’m concentrating my thoughts on pushing my books, I’m giving little or no time to my own writing. I have the bare bones of an idea for my next book, but precious little time (so it seems) to make any progress, and I know that I will have to devote a certain amount of time to ensuring that my cross promotion is built on solid ground. I’m sure that those writers joining with me will expect that. Sometimes we believe that those other writers are better than us at promoting because of how they present themselves and the statistics they publish, but they are searching in much the same way. So while the cross-promotion bonanza gathers pace, I’ll ride the tiger until I see something else that will almost certainly “guarantee” good results. Wish me luck! </p>From BT to Infinity, wireless and powerlesstag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2017-02-18:523145:BlogPost:6989302017-02-18T15:56:07.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>February 18<sup>th</sup>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>My Wi-Fi became Wi-Fi-less last Monday, due to the incompetence of BT. There probably isn’t the right time to lose your Wi-Fi, unless it’s during the night when you’re asleep. I had decided to change from SKY to BT, and sorted that out over the phone. The planned change was to be 24<sup>th</sup>. February. But in their wisdom, BT sent an engineer on the 13<sup>th</sup>. to make the change at 8am (eleven days early). He brought an old router and spent…</p>
<p>February 18<sup>th</sup>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>My Wi-Fi became Wi-Fi-less last Monday, due to the incompetence of BT. There probably isn’t the right time to lose your Wi-Fi, unless it’s during the night when you’re asleep. I had decided to change from SKY to BT, and sorted that out over the phone. The planned change was to be 24<sup>th</sup>. February. But in their wisdom, BT sent an engineer on the 13<sup>th</sup>. to make the change at 8am (eleven days early). He brought an old router and spent an hour and departed an hour later. We went out, came back two hours later, but had no Wi-Fi. Engineer came back and apologised for leaving me with an old router with a dodgy password. I had to phone BT for a router which arrived two days later.</p>
<p>Two days without our modern crutch: Wi-Fi! How we need it. Well, maybe not everyone in the world. My elderly sister doesn’t own a computer and doesn’t need the miracle of Wi-Fi. She wouldn’t know what to do with it anyway. But my two day loss came at the wrong time. It was the beginning of the week when I had arranged to do some cross promotions with two different writers, and also to support the Valentine’s Day competition that my writers’ group, CHINDI (<a href="http://www.chindi-authors.co.uk/">http://www.chindi-authors.co.uk</a>) were running. I felt as though I was letting a lot of people down because of what I had promised to do. I had a huge backlog of work to catch up with, but got there in the end.</p>
<p>The cross promotions I did were with Paula Wynne <a href="http://paulawynne.com/the-grottos-secret" target="_blank">http://paulawynne.com/the-grottos-secret </a> and Paul Casselle <a href="http://amzn.to/2lu1SkC" target="_blank">http://amzn.to/2lu1SkC</a> . I’ve no idea how successful they’ve been, but together those two writers have about 80,000 subscribers they can reach. It’s all subjective at the moment: a case of finding my feet working with other authors this way. I have noticed a slight, daily increase in my book sales, but I can’t dismiss the follow-on effect of my Bookbub promotion. We shall see.</p>
<p>Another let-down was the rejection by Kindle Scout of my latest novel. I wasn’t surprised at all when I received the news, and it was something I expected anyway. Now I can set about publishing my book and get down to some advertising. I haven’t quite worked out how I’ll go about this. However, I do know that once it is published, and Kindle Scout have been informed, they will e-mail all the people who voted for me. With luck some of them will buy the book. That will be a kind of free advertising, courtesy of KDP, that I couldn’t put a price on. I’ll probably use Facebook, but will be looking into doing it through Mailchimp.</p>
<p>Looking ahead to my next book, I have a nodding acquaintance with some ideas, but in truth I don’t see much developing. I have been asked to write a sequel to <i>The Eagle’s Covenant</i>, but that would be difficult. I’m sure those of you who have read the book will know why, but to write it would be one helluva challenge. If I could pull it off, I would be well pleased.</p>
<p>Tomorrow, Sunday 19<sup>th</sup>. my box set comes out of Kindle Select. I will use cross-promotions to advertise the set now and at a reasonably low price. It did nothing in KS compared to other results I have read about. I think I managed a total of 1800 pages read over the ninety days, so I can’t consider that a success.</p>
<p>I looked at my sales figures for the last two weeks yesterday, and was surprised to see <i>The Devil’s Trinity</i> was selling more than <i>Roselli’s Gold</i>. The irony is that TDT is available free if the buyer signs up to my subscribers’ list. They can unsubscribe at any time. That way they would have saved £2.99. I’m not complaining though.</p>
<p>If you are reading this and haven’t read The Devil’s Trinity, you can download it at <a href="http://eepurl.com/bgYKMj">http://eepurl.com/bgYKMj</a></p>
<p>Looking ahead to next week, there’s nothing in the diary other than my BT TV is due to come on stream! Perhaps they’ll turn up with a load of gear and wonder why I’m now with them. We’ll see. Wish me luck!</p>Power and absolute powertag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2017-02-13:523145:BlogPost:6981862017-02-13T01:30:00.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>There are two phrases I often hear: “Power dressing” and “Power nap”. I’ve tried neither, but I do have a new phrase: “Power promoting”. Before 2017 dawned, my idea of promotion and marketing was never really based on a firm foundation of experience, but more a kind of subjective approach which sometimes resulted in a few book sales. I’d listened to the experts, watched the videos and believed I could eventually master the game, but the trouble was it left me little time to write. So as the…</p>
<p>There are two phrases I often hear: “Power dressing” and “Power nap”. I’ve tried neither, but I do have a new phrase: “Power promoting”. Before 2017 dawned, my idea of promotion and marketing was never really based on a firm foundation of experience, but more a kind of subjective approach which sometimes resulted in a few book sales. I’d listened to the experts, watched the videos and believed I could eventually master the game, but the trouble was it left me little time to write. So as the New Year dawned and I had finished my latest book, I decided it was time to get “down and dirty”. Not a buzz phrase, but something all military pilots would recognize. So, with that killer instinct burgeoning inside, I started paying more attention to the good results others were coming up with, and not always by paying through the nose.</p>
<p>I started with BookBub and came unstuck, which is unusual for what is generally recognized as the Holy Grail of advertising. I also used eReader News Today (ENT), which helped a little, and also submitted my book to Kindle Scout. I promoted that as best I could, but compared to the numbers I could see on the top books in ‘Hot & Trending’, I didn’t know squat (another little buzz word). There were authors ripping people like me apart with their statistics, and I had no idea why or how, but assumed they had more reach in the game and worked hard at it; they had built up a following, a readership, call it what you like, but they had more access than me.</p>
<p>Then along comes Paula Wynne, a very successful woman in the business of marketing and promotion. She managed to get her first novel well up into the higher reaches of Amazon and attract some sterling reviews and maintain a healthy ranking. I wanted some of that, so when the opportunity came up to team up with her, I grabbed it. And that’s when I discovered the real meaning of time consuming, repetitive and sometimes numbing work at the keyboard. Write a book? I don’t have time! But in my own defense, I know that as I become used to following the diktats Paula hands down to me, the easier it will become (please).</p>
<p>It isn’t just Paula Wynne and working with her that has upped my game. I have teamed up with a couple of moderately successful writers to do some cross-promotions. And I have opened a new list on Mailchimp to collect the names of those who subscribe as a result of my new direction. I have joined instafreebie and I am also taking part in a Romantic novel promotion for Valentine’s Day with Chindi authors. All this means more visits to Twitter, Facebook, and countless other groups that I never knew existed. And there I find the new world of cross-promotions and authors helping each other, plus countless offers to boost sales, help you to become a best-seller. It’s like the iceberg: my involvement is at the tip, while below the surface there are thousands of us at it. And no doubt more will be jumping on the bandwagon.</p>
<p>Well, we all deserve a chance and hope to reap what we sow. But will all this work? I’ll know later in the year. At the moment my daily sales are moving along at a better rate than they were two weeks ago, but I have to put that down to the follow-on effect of the BookBub promotion. Hopefully my “Power promotion” will turn out to be a winner.</p>
<p>Here’s a couple of links that might interest some of you. Find out more about the Chindi Romance competition at <a href="http://www.chindi-authors.co.uk/">www.chindi-authors.co.uk</a>. Paula Wynne can be found at <a href="http://www.bookhub.online/">www.bookhub.online</a>, and another author I’m working with is Paul Caselle who’s latest release is at <a href="http://amzn.to/2lu1SkC" target="_blank">http://amzn.to/2lu1SkC</a> </p>
<p>I’ve begun toying with an idea for a new novel, but ‘toying’ is exactly that: I don’t really know where I will go with it. I’ll try anyway. Wish me luck!</p>Work, work, work. And more work!tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2017-02-04:523145:BlogPost:6980182017-02-04T15:54:19.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>February 4<sup>th</sup>. 2017</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Busy week again, but nothing to do with working on my next novel; it’s all about promotion and marketing — the buzz words in the self-publishing game. Can’t do without it unfortunately. It is so time consuming too. During the week I added a few books to Instafreebie and Bookhub. For the Instafreebie site I had to use Calibre to convert to ePub. At first I wasn’t sure I was doing it right, but eventually it all came good and I now have five books…</p>
<p>February 4<sup>th</sup>. 2017</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Busy week again, but nothing to do with working on my next novel; it’s all about promotion and marketing — the buzz words in the self-publishing game. Can’t do without it unfortunately. It is so time consuming too. During the week I added a few books to Instafreebie and Bookhub. For the Instafreebie site I had to use Calibre to convert to ePub. At first I wasn’t sure I was doing it right, but eventually it all came good and I now have five books uploaded. I have another four to go. I’m also uploading to Bookhub: something I need to do to take advantage of my Gold membership with that site. And at the same time I have been posting as part of a cross promotion with Paula Wynne who runs Bookhub. I will soon have some work to do for Paula Wynne as part of an agreement to work together. Whether any other writers are involved or not, I’ve no idea, but I would imagine there will be a few. With luck it could be a very productive period.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>My sales have improved marginally now that the BookBub and ENT promotions have finished. I’m giving some thought to using Mailchimp for advertising on Facebook when I get ready to launch my next book. It’s something new they are pushing. It looks pretty straightforward, but not proven yet.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>My Kindle Scout campaign is not making any headway: the results dribble along but I’m nowhere near the “Hot & Trending” level. If you haven’t voted for me yet, I would appreciate it if you would click the link and leave your mark.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/f.html?C=3KRKL8BRA5K9I&K=A2TKF0QNX9BS9&R=3IAN550PBOQAE&T=C&U=https%3A%2F%2Fkindlescout.amazon.com%2Fp%2F1EC59ZYJLQ07G%3Fref_%3Dpe_886810_126055510&A=OQAS8ZJSUOXE8YEDHK9KVSAE6GAA&H=ZNRUPCA6G5JGKMGKBW0YGBQGRJAA&ref_=pe_886810_126055510" target="_blank">https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/1EC59ZYJLQ07G</a>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Getting back to the cross promotion I’m doing with Bookhub: this is a free competition to win a bundle of thrillers. The competition runs from the 1<sup>st</sup> – 7<sup>th</sup>. February, so there is still time to enter before the closing date. Click the link: <a href="http://bit.ly/2kgf3IC">http://bit.ly/2kgf3IC</a> Good luck!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>My author group, CHINDI, are running an invitation to all Romance writers to participate in a Valentine’s day promotion. This is a first for us as we move into a new format for our group. This is a “toe in the water” attempt to build our fan base, and those Romance writers who take part. If you are interested in taking part as a writer, then have a look at the Chindi website at <a href="http://www.chindi-authors.co.uk/">http://www.chindi-authors.co.uk</a>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>On the domestic front I have been talking to SKY and BT. It’s because I have decided to move from the former to the latter. I’ll save myself about £40 a month, which I could use towards marketing. Wish me luck!</p>In the Mixtag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2017-01-29:523145:BlogPost:6973972017-01-29T15:52:16.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>January 29<sup>th</sup>. 2017</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Bit of a bumpy week for me with regard to promotion and marketing. I had a Bookbub promotion, which failed to achieve the results I had hoped for. I have just about covered the cost of my investment, but on the bright side I have been able to reach more than 1000 new readers across the world. I can see the results showing up in India, Canada and Australia, which is like a small, but growing market for me.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The other kind of bumpy…</p>
<p>January 29<sup>th</sup>. 2017</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Bit of a bumpy week for me with regard to promotion and marketing. I had a Bookbub promotion, which failed to achieve the results I had hoped for. I have just about covered the cost of my investment, but on the bright side I have been able to reach more than 1000 new readers across the world. I can see the results showing up in India, Canada and Australia, which is like a small, but growing market for me.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The other kind of bumpy promotion is getting my head into gear with respect to a new venture: I have teamed up with author Paula Wynne and agreed to work on a project through her website in return for some valuable, online promotion for a year. This isn’t about just getting my books on a website, but becoming part of a successful writer’s team in the hope that it will open more doors for me. I find it difficult to put my writing head aside and dive into marketing. Paula asked for “savvy social media” partners. Savvy? Me? Well, I’m about to find out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The other, developing side of the on-line presence is the new direction in which my author group, CHINDI, is going. After a board meeting (sounds important), the changes we thought would be beneficial were put to the members. So far the reaction has been good. The first change comes tomorrow evening when, instead of the usual, formal monthly meeting of the members, we’ll be having a social chat. Those of us who can make it will be meeting up at a restaurant in Chichester for a coffee and natter about what we are up to and how we see the group progressing. I’m hoping to be able to spend a bit of time with Helen Christmas and Christine Hammacot; two authors who will be with me for a talk/seminar during the Chichester Literary Festival. We’ll be talking about writing a crime/mystery novel: the whole aspect from creation to publication. Should be fun.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>My Kindle Scout submission seems to be floundering. I spent the first week in the ‘Hot & Trending’ list, but now my ranking there has fallen away. It’s all about putting yourself about on-line and asking (begging) for votes. The problem is: where do you find those people who are not your usual followers? I paid for a small Fiverr.com advert in which the deal was three days of tweeting to something like 150,000 followers. Sounds impressive, but I do have my reservations about the impact Twitter has unless you’re a celebrity. As I’m talking about it, why not vote if you haven’t already done so? <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/f.html?C=3KRKL8BRA5K9I&K=A2TKF0QNX9BS9&R=3IAN550PBOQAE&T=C&U=https%3A%2F%2Fkindlescout.amazon.com%2Fp%2F1EC59ZYJLQ07G%3Fref_%3Dpe_886810_126055510&A=OQAS8ZJSUOXE8YEDHK9KVSAE6GAA&H=ZNRUPCA6G5JGKMGKBW0YGBQGRJAA&ref_=pe_886810_126055510" target="_blank">https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/1EC59ZYJLQ07G</a>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Once the Kindle Scout submission has finished, I will publish the book and do a bit of advertising. I think by that statement it is clear that I don’t expect an Amazon offer to publish the book. Still got my fingers crossed though.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>My promotion for <i>The Devil’s Trinity</i> at £/$0.99 is likely to run for another day or so, and then the price will go up. I’ll be pushing that too, but I think it has just about run its course.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I have received my first instruction from Paula and need to concentrate on what is expected of me, and in return experience the value of this kind of cross-promotion. Wish me luck!</p>Days to Remembertag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2017-01-22:523145:BlogPost:6972612017-01-22T16:24:42.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>January 22<sup>nd</sup>. 2107</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There were a few dates I had to remember over the past week: my wife’s birthday, our 57<sup>th</sup>. wedding anniversary, my older brother’s birthday and my older sister’s birthday. Oh, and there was something else that happened: Donald Trump got sworn in as the 45<sup>th</sup>. United States President. He’s the only one of that lot who could write a book and guarantee it becoming a best-seller. He wouldn’t need any marketing, and promotion…</p>
<p>January 22<sup>nd</sup>. 2107</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There were a few dates I had to remember over the past week: my wife’s birthday, our 57<sup>th</sup>. wedding anniversary, my older brother’s birthday and my older sister’s birthday. Oh, and there was something else that happened: Donald Trump got sworn in as the 45<sup>th</sup>. United States President. He’s the only one of that lot who could write a book and guarantee it becoming a best-seller. He wouldn’t need any marketing, and promotion would be a cinch. How nice it would be if I could say that, but as all budding writers know: that isn’t the case.</p>
<p>The latest excitement to hit the author forums is “Cross-promotion”. It’s been brewing for a few months now. I’m planning to take advantage of it (if that’s the right word) and get stuck in to this new wave of book selling. But like all these monthly flavours that come along, I expect this to get swamped and bore readers to death eventually. That won’t stop me jumping on the bandwagon while it’s rolling though; hopefully I will get some good results from it.</p>
<p>My Kindle Scout campaign slumped for a few days. My book was “Hot” for a while, and then it kind of disappeared without trace. Now it’s hot again. I need to look around for more promotion opportunities that won’t break the bank and get more votes. And if you haven’t voted yet, please click the link for me and vote.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/f.html?C=3KRKL8BRA5K9I&K=A2TKF0QNX9BS9&R=3IAN550PBOQAE&T=C&U=https%3A%2F%2Fkindlescout.amazon.com%2Fp%2F1EC59ZYJLQ07G%3Fref_%3Dpe_886810_126055510&A=OQAS8ZJSUOXE8YEDHK9KVSAE6GAA&H=ZNRUPCA6G5JGKMGKBW0YGBQGRJAA&ref_=pe_886810_126055510" target="_blank">https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/1EC59ZYJLQ07G</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>I’ve been toying around with an idea for my next book. I tend to wait for inspiration before embarking on any new story, but sadly it isn’t happening yet. I still get amazed and a little envious of those writers who can knock out a novel in a few months. I’m a slow writer generally, and expect to take up to a year to complete a novel, but in this day and age of digital publishing, speed could be something of a bonus — except for one caveat: quality. I would probably lose any quality I might possess in my writing if I tried to complete a novel in less than four months, and that would be a bad thing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Another event that took place during the week was our Chindi book group meeting, only with a slight difference: it was yours truly and two other writers, Christopher Joyce and Carol Thomas, meeting as directors of the group’s official company (CIC), to formulate a new structure and explore the way forward. We have also re-jigged the logo CHINDI to mean “Celebrating and helping independent writers”. The idea was to drop the parochial stance of the group and become more global. This is so we can reach out to other writers who want help and advice, and who are willing to offer the same in return for us already established within the group. We managed to come up with a ten point plan that hopefully will be challenging as well as rewarding for us all.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I dropped the price of <i>The Devil’s Trinity</i> (£0.99/$0.99) today in readiness for my Bookbub promotion on Wednesday. Wish me luck!</p>Great Expectationstag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2017-01-17:523145:BlogPost:6969832017-01-17T17:30:00.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>January 14<sup>th</sup>. 2017</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Looking at my diary I can see January will eventually prove to be a busy month. I submitted my latest book, <i>Where the Wicked Dwell</i> to Kindle Scout. The campaign to attract nominations will run until February 11<sup>th</sup>. After that, KS will decide whether to offer me a publishing deal. But I need nominations, so how about clicking on the link and nominating my book? That’s all you have to do.…</p>
<p>January 14<sup>th</sup>. 2017</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Looking at my diary I can see January will eventually prove to be a busy month. I submitted my latest book, <i>Where the Wicked Dwell</i> to Kindle Scout. The campaign to attract nominations will run until February 11<sup>th</sup>. After that, KS will decide whether to offer me a publishing deal. But I need nominations, so how about clicking on the link and nominating my book? That’s all you have to do. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/f.html?C=3KRKL8BRA5K9I&K=A2TKF0QNX9BS9&R=3IAN550PBOQAE&T=C&U=https%3A%2F%2Fkindlescout.amazon.com%2Fp%2F1EC59ZYJLQ07G%3Fref_%3Dpe_886810_126055510&A=OQAS8ZJSUOXE8YEDHK9KVSAE6GAA&H=ZNRUPCA6G5JGKMGKBW0YGBQGRJAA&ref_=pe_886810_126055510" target="_blank">https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/1EC59ZYJLQ07G</a> . Whether I’ll stand a chance or not remains to be seen. KS (Amazon) say it’s all about reader nominations, but I suspect they look at the author profile and make a judgement on the prospect of selling enough ebooks to make a profit. Makes sense anyway. But if I received thousands of nominations, it would be a no-brainer for them. One of the downsides to searching for votes by the way is that any e-mail to my subscribers results in about ten people unsubscribing. It’s disappointing but according to the author forums I’m on, it happens. Next month I might go back to Facebook advertising and look for more subscribers</p>
<p>I have my BookBub promotion coming up on January 25<sup>th</sup>, which will mean the chance of good sales and high rankings, but not without some effort on my part. So to keep the balls in the air, I have paid for an ENT promotion three days after the BB promo. If sales remain buoyant, I’ll keep the low price until I see things slowing down. There are one or two other irons I have in the fire, but nothing guaranteed.</p>
<p>One of the problems authors face after finishing a book is that spell when the brain refuses to switch on to a new story. I know that not all writers suffer that problem, but I certainly do. I find myself imagining scenarios that are a complete waste of time, knowing that I have to be patient and wait until something drops into my lap. There’s plenty of scope in the daily news of course: alleged Russian hacking into the Presidential elections, and the suggestion that a British MI6 agent has gone into hiding because of his involvement. All good John le Carré stuff, but not Michael Parker I’m afraid.</p>
<p>I received some good comments from some of my beta readers about my book. They can’t be translated into book reviews because the book isn’t for sale yet. Reviews are like a double-edged sword though: they can be helpful or damaging. I read many complaints on the author forums about bad reviews and how horrible they are, but we all know it goes with the territory. I’m reading an ebook at the moment that I’m struggling with, but the reviews on Amazon are excellent. It has a few one and two star reviews, but generally the average is about 4.5, so I guess it must be me!</p>
<p>I saw a piece of advice the other day about naming my blog. Well, embedded in my Wix site is the name “Readawhile”. It was one I used when I first started blogging a few years ago. So now it appears on my website under that name. Sounds better than ‘blog’ don’t you think?</p>
<p>On the domestic front — today is my wife’s birthday (her age is filed under secret). Lots of cards and good wishes have come her way though. Next week we celebrate our 57<sup>th</sup> wedding anniversary, so we’ll be looking for some way to celebrate that. On Monday our Cockapoo, Tuppence, is going to spend an away day with a husband and wife team of dog-sitters. It’s a trial; see how they all get on. Me and Pat will probably find something to do that day, although we have the plumbers here all day doing a power flush on the central heating system, so may need to stay close in case we are needed. Hope not.</p>
<p>So, a lot to look forward to and to hope for. Oh, in case you forgot: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/f.html?C=3KRKL8BRA5K9I&K=A2TKF0QNX9BS9&R=3IAN550PBOQAE&T=C&U=https%3A%2F%2Fkindlescout.amazon.com%2Fp%2F1EC59ZYJLQ07G%3Fref_%3Dpe_886810_126055510&A=OQAS8ZJSUOXE8YEDHK9KVSAE6GAA&H=ZNRUPCA6G5JGKMGKBW0YGBQGRJAA&ref_=pe_886810_126055510" target="_blank">https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/1EC59ZYJLQ07G</a> Wish me luck!</p>KIndle Scouttag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2017-01-11:523145:BlogPost:6965112017-01-11T10:46:44.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>My latest book, Where the Wicked Dwell, is now in the Kindle Scout campaign. This means I'll be asking (pleading?) for votes. It would be a great help if you could click the following link and vote for my book. Many, many thanks!</p>
<p> …</p>
<p></p>
<p>My latest book, Where the Wicked Dwell, is now in the Kindle Scout campaign. This means I'll be asking (pleading?) for votes. It would be a great help if you could click the following link and vote for my book. Many, many thanks!</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/f.html?C=3KRKL8BRA5K9I&K=A2TKF0QNX9BS9&R=3IAN550PBOQAE&T=C&U=https%3A%2F%2Fkindlescout.amazon.com%2Fp%2F1EC59ZYJLQ07G%3Fref_%3Dpe_886810_126055510&A=OQAS8ZJSUOXE8YEDHK9KVSAE6GAA&H=ZNRUPCA6G5JGKMGKBW0YGBQGRJAA&ref_=pe_886810_126055510" target="_blank">https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/1EC59ZYJLQ07G</a> </p>Hopes and Aspirationstag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2017-01-07:523145:BlogPost:6968242017-01-07T12:02:12.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>January 7<sup>th</sup>. 2017</p>
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<p>So as the New Year rolls in and our resolutions disappear, what are we looking forward to for 2017? I know the kind of things I would like to happen, and excluding the usual hopes for peace in the world and the disappearance of poverty and hunger, I look to material hopes. By this I mean something measureable, something tangible; and although I can’t physically touch my book sales figures, I would certainly hope to see a huge jump over my last…</p>
<p>January 7<sup>th</sup>. 2017</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So as the New Year rolls in and our resolutions disappear, what are we looking forward to for 2017? I know the kind of things I would like to happen, and excluding the usual hopes for peace in the world and the disappearance of poverty and hunger, I look to material hopes. By this I mean something measureable, something tangible; and although I can’t physically touch my book sales figures, I would certainly hope to see a huge jump over my last year’s figures. I’m starting off with a Bookbub promotion for my title, <i>The Devil’s Trinity</i>. This will be on January 25<sup>th</sup>. I’ve scheduled a promotion on eReader News Today on the 28<sup>th</sup>. hopefully to take advantage of a lift in my rankings, which I can reasonably expect to happen. I will also look to Facebook ads. and hopefully link the benefits of the Bookbub promotion and encourage readers to dive in.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Another hope is that the launch of my latest book will be successful. The title is <i>Where the Wicked Dwell</i>. I’m planning to submit that to Kindle Scout. It means a delay of 30 days before I know if it has been accepted. The chances are slim because so much of the acceptance is down to the number of votes I can pick up from my followers and anyone else who wants to vote for me. If Amazon rejects it, I’ll prepare some kind of promotion myself and see what develops.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I have contacted two digital publishing houses — tongue in cheek really — and wonder if I’ll hear from them. Having been through the mill so many times before Amazon came along, I know exactly what it’s like chasing agents and publishers: I don’t expect anything to come of it. I have also made a date with another writer (Debbie Mack) for a live interview on Skype. This will take place in March. I will also be doing a cross promotion with best-selling author, Paula Wynn that month too. So, a few irons in the fire, all in the hope that I will see my books rise in the rankings and bring me more sales: something ‘tangible’.</p>
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<p>As a new director of the CHINDI book group company (CIC), I will be meeting with my fellow directors next week for a brainstorming session. Sounds posh, I know, but this is simply four of us, who have to meet annually to comply with Company House rules etc. We’ll be looking at ways to improve the input our group have into the area around Chichester and hopefully beyond. We also need to come up with ideas that will benefit the whole group. There are some very good writers in CHINDI, including our award winning writer, Jane Cable. You can learn more about us and our books at <a href="http://www.chindi-authors.co.uk/">www.chindi-authors.co.uk</a></p>
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<p>On the domestic front, we are planning a short trip to Spain at Easter (seats booked already) to say farewell to our previous Pastor, Roy Davies, at Torrevieja Christian Fellowship. The church is having a bash for Roy and his wife, Wendy. They are a lovely couple and have done such a tremendous job for the fellowship. It will nice to see them again, however briefly, and wish them all the best for their retirement. And, of course, we have to think of what we will be doing with our Cockapoo, Tuppence, while we’re away. So now begins the search for a suitable dog-sitting service. We’ve contacted one already and hopefully we won’t have to look much further.</p>
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<p>Now you know what I have lined up for the early part of the year. I hope readers of this blog will have a lot to look forward to, and will enjoy whatever comes up. <i> </i>I wish you all the best of luck!</p>Wrapping it uptag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2016-12-23:523145:BlogPost:6947552016-12-23T16:30:00.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>Nearly there: just eight days to go. This will be my last post in 2016 for obvious reasons. So much to do, so much already done. Those of you who have been following my posts will know that I am getting close to finishing my novel. My wife is doing the final edit, which should be complete by the end of the day. I will read it through again and, hopefully, not find any more errors. Pat has found plenty of those already. I’m still deliberating over the book jacket, but expect to resolve this…</p>
<p>Nearly there: just eight days to go. This will be my last post in 2016 for obvious reasons. So much to do, so much already done. Those of you who have been following my posts will know that I am getting close to finishing my novel. My wife is doing the final edit, which should be complete by the end of the day. I will read it through again and, hopefully, not find any more errors. Pat has found plenty of those already. I’m still deliberating over the book jacket, but expect to resolve this soon. My next problem is how I’m going to launch the book. I expect to send it out to some beta readers while I’m thinking about it, but I’m also toying with the idea of submitting it to Kindle Scout. If I do that I can expect to wait about seven weeks before I can publish, which will get me close to early March. Seems a long way away, but I need to push the boat out for this. </p>
<p>Next year the CHINDI group will be looking ahead to improving our book sales and getting involved in charity events. Because we have a Company in the Community (CIC) established, it’s necessary to have directors. The company is non-profit making (by law), but it helps to move any money we make for the charities into and out of a bank account so that we can account for all monies received and distributed. I’m a director of the company along with three other members, and we’ll be having a meeting early January to brain storm our ideas for 2017. We have some events lined up, which we hope will pay dividends.</p>
<p> I have a live interview in the programme with an American writer, Debbie Mack, and hope to be teaming up with other writers in my genre to do some cross promotions. There are so many ways to keep your name live in the public eye, but it usually comes down to how much of an investment you’re prepared to make and for how long. </p>
<p>Looking back through the year I can at least say I have improved my public presence having built my subscriber list up to 1100. I also managed to sell about 5000 books, largely due to a successful BookBub promotion. Now I need to find some way of sustaining that. Meanwhile, let me wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. See you all in 2017.</p>Bits and Piecestag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2016-12-11:523145:BlogPost:6940712016-12-11T16:09:36.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>December 11<sup>th</sup> 2016</p>
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<p>Do you ever read novels for a second time intentionally? About a third of the way into the Sam Bourne novel I started last week, I realised I read it a few years ago. It couldn’t have left that much of an impression on me. I sometimes read my own books again, often a few years after they have been published. I remember Barbara Cartland once saying she often read her own novels when she was feeling unwell and not in the mood for writing. Mind you,…</p>
<p>December 11<sup>th</sup> 2016</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Do you ever read novels for a second time intentionally? About a third of the way into the Sam Bourne novel I started last week, I realised I read it a few years ago. It couldn’t have left that much of an impression on me. I sometimes read my own books again, often a few years after they have been published. I remember Barbara Cartland once saying she often read her own novels when she was feeling unwell and not in the mood for writing. Mind you, she had about three hundred titles to choose from!</p>
<p>I’ve been toying with my jacket cover, trying this and that with Photoshop. I still can’t make up my mind just how I want to present the cover. I have two so far, and will begin a third jacket in a day or so. I could ask my boys for their opinions, but if I do that I can only expect saucy remarks from them. It all comes down to opinions in the end, so I’ll probably go with my own.</p>
<p>The editing has reached a lull at the moment because of the usual Christmas work load: putting decorations up, shopping for presents, writing cards out and queueing at the Post Office. Hopefully it will be finished by the end of the month and I can ask a few beta readers to run their eyes over it. I’m a bit reluctant to ask my subscribers because I may get inundated with offers to read it, and I’m hoping to rely on them buying it on launch day.</p>
<p>I don’t know if it’s my age or what, but I find myself doubting the quality of my current work. I remember my publisher, John Hale, telling me that as authors age, so their ability diminishes. So far I have always received good comments about my books and my reviews maintain a reasonable average, but the doubts are there. Silly really, but maybe it’s because I have struggled with this one. And maybe because it isn’t the kind of novel I write. Time will tell though.</p>
<p>Looking back over the year with CHINDI, we have managed to raise money for charities — over £1000 I believe — most of it raised through bookstalls etc. Next year we have a few events planned, most which will run current with the Chichester Festival — always a good time to attract readers and wannabe authors. We lost a few members over the year, thankfully for personal reasons rather than ill health, but we are already planning for next year’s events.</p>
<p>Two weeks from today and it will be Christmas Day and we’ll all be nice to one another for a while. Hopefully we can look ahead to a peaceful New Year all over the world, but that really is wishful thinking. From a personal perspective I hope I can manage another novel, but I have kind of promised myself to finish my autobiography. I published a short version last year called <i>The Sum of my Life (The early years).</i> Now I hope I can extend it to completion as well as write another book. Two in one year? Wish me luck!</p>Infections, corrections and displacementstag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2016-12-03:523145:BlogPost:6934932016-12-03T12:41:25.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>December 3<sup>rd</sup>. 2016.</p>
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<p>Regular readers of my weekly blog may have noticed that I missed a week. That was because I got laid low by an infection that seriously impeded my work-flow. But I’m back in harness now and making good progress on my manuscript. I tried to get a little more reading in while I was poorly. I’m afraid I didn’t make it through to the end of Jack Reacher; it became tedious. I’ve started on a Sam Bourne novel now. Hope this one is more…</p>
<p>December 3<sup>rd</sup>. 2016.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Regular readers of my weekly blog may have noticed that I missed a week. That was because I got laid low by an infection that seriously impeded my work-flow. But I’m back in harness now and making good progress on my manuscript. I tried to get a little more reading in while I was poorly. I’m afraid I didn’t make it through to the end of Jack Reacher; it became tedious. I’ve started on a Sam Bourne novel now. Hope this one is more engaging.</p>
<p>I had a book promotion last week — sold nine books. The return on the cost of the promotion is difficult to quantify or even justify, but fortunately I didn’t pay much for it.</p>
<p>I’ve been avoiding all the adverts for Black Friday and whatever they call Monday. I can’t see the point because if you respond to these enticements, it kind of propels you into unplanned promotion that could be useless. No, I’m gritting my teeth and will hold on to my money until early next year when my next book will be ready. At the moment my wife is going through the manuscript with her red pen, and I am playing around with Photoshop and learning about ‘displacements’. Brilliant stuff, but may be a bit too technical for me. I enjoy playing around with it though.</p>
<p>I came up with a title for my book eventually. I’m not going to say what it is yet, but it came out of the blue. Once it had settled in my brain, it became permanent. This is one of the reasons I’m learning about displacements on Photoshop: to match the cover design with the title.</p>
<p>Last week I joined up with the Dream Team Network. This is a group of writers who are part of Nick Stephenson’s 10,000 reader group. It’s a closed group. The idea is to cross promote other writers who work in your genre. It’s going to be difficult to match up with a writer who covers several genres like myself. But more importantly, there’s a need to ensure cooperation with a writer who can offer a similar fan base of subscribers. I have 1100 subscribers, so it would be wrong to team up with a new writer who has one book, no reviews and no fan base. I was asked by one of our group if we could come up with something, but I realised it wouldn’t work.</p>
<p>Another problem with cross promotion is how much you trust the other writer. I have to ask myself if I would promote someone whose work I haven’t read. And it’s reciprocal as well: that other writer has to trust me. I’ll have to go with my gut instinct, see how it pans out.</p>
<p>On the domestic front, my wife has just de-knotted our Cockapoo, Tuppence, and given me a haircut. Now me and the dog look tidy enough to go out. Life doesn’t get any better, does it? Wish me luck.</p>A Hard Day's Weektag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2016-11-20:523145:BlogPost:6933472016-11-20T15:31:07.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>November 20<sup>th</sup>. 2016</p>
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<p>It’s been a very full week for me and my wife, which has impacted on the amount of editing I’ve been able to do. The first three days we were up in Lincolnshire visiting two close friends, one of whom is unwell. As I mentioned in last week’s blog, our grandson Adam came over and looked after Tuppence. I think they both enjoyed it. I know Tuppence kept looking for Adam after he had gone home.</p>
<p>I managed to do some editing, snatching moments…</p>
<p>November 20<sup>th</sup>. 2016</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s been a very full week for me and my wife, which has impacted on the amount of editing I’ve been able to do. The first three days we were up in Lincolnshire visiting two close friends, one of whom is unwell. As I mentioned in last week’s blog, our grandson Adam came over and looked after Tuppence. I think they both enjoyed it. I know Tuppence kept looking for Adam after he had gone home.</p>
<p>I managed to do some editing, snatching moments when I could. One conclusion I came to was that I was hurrying the process, and that leads to mistakes. It will need a third read through before I hand it over to my wife. That’s when the fun begins; she’ll wield her red pen with relish.</p>
<p>Last Thursday it was me and the dog; Pat was out on a shopping trip. I did manage to feed myself, walk the dog and get a little editing done as well. One thing that has been on my mind for a while is a title. I can’t get the word <i>Apollyon</i> out of my head, but feel I need something else. The story is about a group of satanic worshippers, although this is not about demons and devils; it’s about a sinister group of powerful people who want control within the corridors of corporate and government power. It isn’t about the overthrow of a government or the downfall of huge companies, but more of uncovering the unexplained death of a cabinet minister and how the hunt leads to the guilty ones. It’s a mixture of crime and mystery. It isn’t about police work either.</p>
<p>Moving on. Friday was the annual, CHINDI party at Chichester. This was in aid of the charity, <i>Dyslexia in Action.</i> I must confess I’d never heard of the charity, but I’m always pleased to be involved in this kind of fund raising. The event included a band, a host of raffle prizes donated by local companies, and readings from four of our author members. I sold a couple of books, which is par for the course really, but it’s good to be able to chat to people about your work and hopefully encourage them to part with their money. I know I must brush up on my sales technique though.</p>
<p>One chap came up to my table (the authors shared tables, so no-one had a table to themselves) and opened his mobile phone, went on-line to Amazon, scrolled through and checked out my titles, then shut the phone. He told me the books were all there and he might download some. Then he walked away. As much as I would like to hope that he will be true to his word, I wish he hadn’t been so blatant: perhaps a little more discreet.</p>
<p>Saturday morning and another table top sale, but this time in our local church raising money for the children’s ward at St.Richard’s hospital in Chichester. Another good cause.</p>
<p>I began reading Lee Child’s book. <i>Make Me.</i> He’s an amazing author: writes the same story each time but in a different part of the USA. He gets away with it. I must admit that he is very good at what he does, and I usually enjoy his Jack Reacher books (does he do anything else?). Often we are told as writers that to learn our craft we should read other authors who write in our genre. But what could I learn from Lee Child? Answers on a postcard please……</p>
<p>So by the end of the week, both me and Pat felt we had put in a hard shift at work. It’s what comes of being retired. Now I will get on with the editing and should have it finished by the end of the week. Then another read through. All I need is a title! Wish me luck.</p>Pump up the Volumetag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2016-11-12:523145:BlogPost:6928682016-11-12T14:30:00.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>November 12<sup>th</sup>. 2016</p>
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<p>Mixing with a bunch of writers always helps to raise your spirits when talking about upcoming promotions etc. Our CHINDI party (<a href="http://www.chindi-authors.co.uk/">www.chindi-authors.co.uk</a>) takes place on Friday in Chichester. Last year’s was a success, and we hope for a repeat of the same. Table top sales aren’t always going to achieve high sales, but this event will include raffle prizes — all donated by local companies — nibbles,…</p>
<p>November 12<sup>th</sup>. 2016</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mixing with a bunch of writers always helps to raise your spirits when talking about upcoming promotions etc. Our CHINDI party (<a href="http://www.chindi-authors.co.uk/">www.chindi-authors.co.uk</a>) takes place on Friday in Chichester. Last year’s was a success, and we hope for a repeat of the same. Table top sales aren’t always going to achieve high sales, but this event will include raffle prizes — all donated by local companies — nibbles, a band, and four of our authors launching new books. The publisher, Harper Collins, has donated a hamper of books, and the well-known celebrity Charlie Borman has tweeted about the party too. The reason we have been getting this kind of response is because we are supporting the charity, Dyslexia in Action. Hopefully we’ll be able to swell their coffers. The CHINDI group do try to promote themselves through fund raising activities, and it helps to have members who have connections. I know that I couldn’t achieve a quarter of that kind of outreach without their help. It’s all good.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I’m making some progress on my re-write. Editing is a tricky business, particularly when you make a small change that has a knock-on effect throughout the story. That’s where I find Scrivener so helpful. Having all my scenes listed under their relevant chapters, and the ‘corkboard’ facility, makes it so much easier to jump to the place in the story where you need to make a change. I also keep track of the storyline through a timetable which I update after each scene edit. I find it crucial because it is so easy to have a character somewhere one morning and somewhere else in another scene at a different time. I read a quote last week from Jeffrey Archer: he said he does fourteen drafts before he is satisfied! Sooner him than me; but then, he’s a best-selling author.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I’ve succumbed to the promotion pressure and paid for a single day, November 28<sup>th</sup>, for a bargain book deal. I chose <i>Roselli’s Gold</i> because it’s probably my best-selling book. I was tempted to promote <i>A Dangerous Game</i>, but I’ve pushed that most of the year and it hasn’t outsold Roselli’s Gold. It’s a dilemma trying to pick one of my titles to promote, although it shouldn’t matter if the promotion achieves better sales than usual.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>My wife and I are off for a few days on Monday visiting two friends in Lincolnshire. Our grandson, Adam, is coming over to look after the dog while we’re away. Adam has an amazing talent for drawing, and has a bunch of work to do for clients. Hopefully our Tuppence won’t distract him while he works. Wish him luck!</p>Changing thingstag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2016-11-05:523145:BlogPost:6927222016-11-05T16:35:20.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>November 5th. 2016</p>
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<p>Tonight is bonfire night! Well, in UK anyway. Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605. 400 plus years later and our government is still under threat, but this time by those opposed to Brexit. There have been numerous re-writes since Guy Fawkes: different bodies of opinion trying to bring down the rulers (good or bad). It wouldn’t make a good novel though because there never seems to be an end to it all.</p>
<p>I reached a milestone this…</p>
<p>November 5th. 2016</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tonight is bonfire night! Well, in UK anyway. Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605. 400 plus years later and our government is still under threat, but this time by those opposed to Brexit. There have been numerous re-writes since Guy Fawkes: different bodies of opinion trying to bring down the rulers (good or bad). It wouldn’t make a good novel though because there never seems to be an end to it all.</p>
<p>I reached a milestone this week: I finished the first draft of my novel. My word target was 80,000. I managed 79,940: almost a bullseye. But it won’t last because I will be doing a re-write and expect to add more words to it. One of my CHINDI author friends has suggested I leave it for ten days before starting again. I can’t do that; I can’t get the re-write out of my mind.</p>
<p>One or two changes are definitely in the pipeline, and no doubt I’ll find more. One problem I had for a while was how to finish the book. I couldn’t come up with a satisfying finish, no matter how much I tried. In the end I did something most writers are advised to do when struggling — plough on! This I did and wrote the book into an ending which I hope will not need changing; I really like it.</p>
<p>One of the problems I encounter when dreaming up scenarios when I’m not writing (out shopping for example), is that I believe I’ve come up with a great idea, but eventually have to drop it or modify it, which I do with great reluctance. I nursed a beauty of an idea for a couple of weeks, and was looking forward to writing it in. Once it was there, I was happy, until I realised that it didn’t work, so it had to go. I modified it actually, but it meant changing the run in to the end, which is how I managed to come up with an ending that fitted perfectly.</p>
<p>Although I don’t expect to see the completed manuscript for several weeks, I am still struggling for a title. I have one in my head that will not go away — APOLLYON. No, it doesn’t mean ‘Devil’, but ‘Destroyer’. I can imagine the word on the cover and something — I don’t know what — behind it. I will work on the design myself, once the manuscript is with my wife for further editing. That will give me plenty of time to tear my hair out while battling with PhotoShop. Ah, the life of a struggling writer!</p>
<p>I’m looking forward to November 18<sup>th</sup>. That’s the night our CHINDI group have their annual party. Last year was a success, although planning wasn’t too spectacular. This year we are a little wiser, so hopefully it will be successful and gain us more readers.</p>
<p>My book sales and rankings are doing their usual trick, high and low. I’m not promoting anything at the moment, which is deliberate, although I’m getting inundated with offers to take advantage of the holiday season and an invitation to take up their splendid offers. It’s a bit like choosing a queue in the Post Office or the supermarket: you always pick the wrong one. I will probably do something before December, but not too sure which way to go: straight promotion for a ‘cheapie’ book on one of the more recognisable websites, or fall for the advertising charms of a lower level website.</p>
<p>Whatever I do with a promotion, I may have some highs, but I will also have lows; it’s the way things are at this level. Wish me luck!</p>Removing the unwanted bits.tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2016-10-29:523145:BlogPost:6923552016-10-29T10:36:02.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>October 29<sup>th</sup>. 2016</p>
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<p>I have now more or less broken the back of my first draft. I still have about 10,000 words to go before reaching my initial target of 80,000. When I have finished the re-write, I expect to raise this figure by about ten percent. If I was still under contract to my last publisher, now defunct, I would have been asked to trim the word count by a considerable margin. As an Indie writer, I can do as I please, although I have to remember that more…</p>
<p>October 29<sup>th</sup>. 2016</p>
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<p>I have now more or less broken the back of my first draft. I still have about 10,000 words to go before reaching my initial target of 80,000. When I have finished the re-write, I expect to raise this figure by about ten percent. If I was still under contract to my last publisher, now defunct, I would have been asked to trim the word count by a considerable margin. As an Indie writer, I can do as I please, although I have to remember that more words does not necessarily make it a better story. I find myself thinking of scenes I have written that day and realising that my timing is out, or that I just don’t like what I’ve written. It’s a gut feeling always, one I expect most writers have.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>We are approaching the ‘holiday’ season according to the promoters who are trying to persuade us indie writers that now is the time to get out there and promote. No doubt there are statistics to back all this up — Thanksgiving and Christmas come to mind. For the promoters, it’s a golden opportunity to increase their profits as we succumb to the temptation and spend our money on promotions, the majority of which will stare bleakly into the abyss and do nothing for our book sales. But I have given in to one, and that is a Cross Promotion activity that will probably reach more potential readers than a direct advert. More bang for the buck as they say. If it works, I will let you know through these pages; just don’t hold your breath though.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>On the domestic front, I successfully took a Rainbow Shark out of my aquarium and gave it back to the local garden centre where they accept fish that are no longer wanted. I had it for two weeks, and it would not leave my other fish alone. Sharks are territorial, which is not really helpful for the other residents in the tank. I replaced it with a couple of Mollies. The shark was only a wee one, nothing like Jaws!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Interesting article in today’s paper about the Man Booker prize winner, Ralph Beatty and his book, <i>Sellout</i>. Apparently he uses the word “nigger” about two hundred times (I can’t confirm that). When my romance, <i>Past Imperfect,</i> was with my publisher, my editor asked me to remove the word because it would be deemed offensive in today’s ‘climate’. I had used the word once! Perhaps if I had insisted on leaving it in, I might have generated some controversy and sold more books.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Yesterday we took our Cockapoo puppy, Tuppence, to be spayed. It seemed such a shame for a young one like that (she’s nine months old), but it was recommended by the vet. We did a lot of soul searching over this. Now we have a very docile little girl who needs some TLC. She’s eating OK and doing the business etc. but she should be back to her sock chasing, ball playing, love other dogs mode fairly soon. Wish me and Pat luck!</p>A Patchy Week (Apache?)tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2016-10-22:523145:BlogPost:6919362016-10-22T15:12:20.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>October 22<sup>nd</sup>. 2016</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Looking at my diary for the previous seven days, it’s blank. Anyone would think I don’t do anything. I’ve managed to add about two thousand words to my WIP, but have had to interrupt the flow because of hospital appointments, a flu jab, and a trip to Specsavers. We also made a pointless journey to a garden centre to buy something they didn’t stock. We didn’t know that until we arrived. So, stayed there, had lunch and drove home. Sometimes the…</p>
<p>October 22<sup>nd</sup>. 2016</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Looking at my diary for the previous seven days, it’s blank. Anyone would think I don’t do anything. I’ve managed to add about two thousand words to my WIP, but have had to interrupt the flow because of hospital appointments, a flu jab, and a trip to Specsavers. We also made a pointless journey to a garden centre to buy something they didn’t stock. We didn’t know that until we arrived. So, stayed there, had lunch and drove home. Sometimes the week is more or less pre-ordained and your plans fit together seamlessly. Other times there’s a kind of haphazard, flying by the seat of your pants period over which there is little or no control.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I received the hardback copy of <i>A Dangerous Game</i> from Ingram Spark. I was very pleased with the result. It cost nothing because of an offer from Ingram, but it has encouraged me to have my next book published in hardback too.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I looked at my Amazon rankings today (I do it every day), and saw a gradual rise over the last four weeks: nothing dramatic of course, but on September 22<sup>nd</sup>. I was at 177,000. Today I have moved up to 80,000. To some people, that might look quite poor, but any struggling writer reading this will understand that the rise is always pleasing to see, and means my books are still selling. There are highs and lows during that period of course, but a rise is a rise.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The planned #lovetoread CHINDI party on the 18<sup>th</sup>. November looks like it could be a great evening. There are some splendid raffle prizes being donated, including a bumper book hamper from Random House. All proceeds will go to Dislexia Action, a worthwhile charity. You can read more about this on our website at <a href="http://www.chindi-authors.co.uk/">www.chindi-authors.co.uk</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>The six minute video of me reading an extract from my latest book, <i>A Dangerous Game</i>, has now been uploaded to my YouTube channel (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_pFFfhAKiw">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_pFFfhAKiw</a>) and is also on my website <a href="http://www.michaelparkerbooks.com/">www.michaelparkerbooks.com</a> Thanks to Dan Jones, one of the CHINDI authors, for taking the time to record us all.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And who says men can’t multitask? At the moment I’m listening to SKY Sports Soccer Saturday and writing this blog. This morning, nothing to do with multi-tasking, I watched the Australian Speedway Grand Prix. It was the last one of the season which saw the American rider, Greg Hancock, crowned world champion for the fourth time. The Aussie rider, Chris Holder won the Grand Prix, which was great stuff — an Aussie winning the GP in his own country.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Next up for me? There are several things on the calendar, but hopefully I will make some solid progress on my WIP. Wish me luck!</p>Talk, Talk and a Rainbow Sharktag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2016-10-15:523145:BlogPost:6916312016-10-15T13:19:45.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>October 15<sup>th</sup>. 2016</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Last Monday, one of our CHINDI authors spent an afternoon in Chichester doing video interviews for each of our members. These were short, five minute interviews which will go on our You tube channel, and subsequently on to our own websites and that of CHINDI. It was simply a video of us reading an extract from our latest book and a description of what the book is about. Five minutes? Gosh, we writers need a load more time than that because we…</p>
<p>October 15<sup>th</sup>. 2016</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Last Monday, one of our CHINDI authors spent an afternoon in Chichester doing video interviews for each of our members. These were short, five minute interviews which will go on our You tube channel, and subsequently on to our own websites and that of CHINDI. It was simply a video of us reading an extract from our latest book and a description of what the book is about. Five minutes? Gosh, we writers need a load more time than that because we want to talk about ourselves and our writing, don’t we? But thanks to Dan Jones who spent his afternoon doing this; we really do appreciate you, Dan.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>On Tuesday I dropped the price of my latest thriller, <i>A Dangerous Game</i> (B01AKCLP60) Why did I do that? Believe it or not, I can’t remember. There was a note in my diary to drop the price. Obviously it was because of an upcoming promotion. Trouble is, I can’t remember who the promotion is with! It will be a free one of course, because no money has been taken out of my bank. Must be my age; how on earth can I miss something like that. Now I have to keep the price low for a week or so, just to make sure I don’t default on the mysterious promotion.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Wednesday I was in Brighton doing a book talk for the Royal Sussex Hospital radio. I agreed to be there before ten o’clock, and left home early enough. I arrived in Brighton at 9.30 and spent about twenty five minutes looking for a parking space. I walked into the studio at two minutes past ten. Phew! As much as I am happy to do this kind of thing, there is no feedback from the event. Rosemary Alex, who runs the book talk, told me that the average stay in hospital is about four days, so there’s no follow up from patients who have listened. It’s an unquantifiable event, but nevertheless it’s done in good faith. Hopefully someone would have enjoyed me talking about myself and my books.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>My WIP is gathering momentum. My word count has reached 65,000, which puts me 15,000 short of my target. But I have a feeling I will go beyond that, simply because this is the first draft, and I’m expecting to put some meat on the bones when I do the rewrite. I find myself now going over the story in my head, writing scenes that fit in nicely and getting quite excited to think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I have conjured up a nice little twist to the story which I’m itching to write in, but I’m forcing myself to hold back. It’s the kind of twist that will have the reader thinking … well, I can’t say what they might think, but I know what I would say.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Our CHINDI group is now promoting the #lovetoread party in Chichester on Friday 18<sup>th</sup>. November. This is in aid of Dyslexia Action, and will be an entertaining evening which will include a local band. There will be all manner of things available including fine wines, hand-crafted chocolate, raffle prizes and, of course, the opportunity to buy our signed books. All proceeds to the dyslexia charity.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I bought more fish for the aquarium this week including a Rainbow Shark. No, not Jaws, but a cute little shark that I’m told might grow quite big and start eating the little fish. Hopefully my little fish will have grown bigger by then and be able to defend themselves. Wish me luck!</p>Reaching Outtag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2016-10-08:523145:BlogPost:6910282016-10-08T13:19:34.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>October 8<sup>th</sup>. 2016.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s our son, John’s birthday today. Takes me back to when he was born in a small, cottage hospital in Ely, Cambridgeshire. I had to look after his two brothers, both toddlers. Perhaps I should write a book about the fun we had!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A couple of months ago, a local chap contacted me through my website asking for advice about getting a book into print. We met up for a chat in the local pub where I was able to give him the advice he…</p>
<p>October 8<sup>th</sup>. 2016.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s our son, John’s birthday today. Takes me back to when he was born in a small, cottage hospital in Ely, Cambridgeshire. I had to look after his two brothers, both toddlers. Perhaps I should write a book about the fun we had!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A couple of months ago, a local chap contacted me through my website asking for advice about getting a book into print. We met up for a chat in the local pub where I was able to give him the advice he needed. His book is now in print and available on Amazon. It’s called <i>Rising Sun Memories.</i> (ASIN B01LZ90BQY). He writes as Stuart James. The story is a mix of fact and fiction, semi-autobiographical and covers three years during the Japanese occupation of Singapore. I’m sure this book will appeal to fans of war stories, particularly those penned from eye-witness accounts. I’ve downloaded a copy and enjoying what I’ve read so far. Incidentally, it’s well written too.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I made some progress on my WIP, although I decided to cut the last 1000 words I penned during the week. I’m sure most writers have this problem when it comes to forcing yourself to cut something you worked on and thought was the right direction; you just don’t want to do it. How does that old saying go? <i>The moving finger having writ, moves on. Nor all you piety or wit can erase but a single word of it.</i> Something like that anyway. Despite piety and wit, I’ve scrapped thousands of words in the past.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Last Monday evening at the CHINDI writers meeting, we met up with Jamie Dyer of South Waves radio (<a href="http://www.southwavesradio.co.uk">www.southwavesradio.co.uk</a>). We’re hoping to strike up an ongoing connection with Jamie. His radio is devoted to the Arts, which includes the written word. Because it’s a local, on-line station, it will be an excellent platform for us as local writers, particularly as it broadcasts 24/7.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>We covered a lot of ground at the meeting, talking about promotions and what we have all been up to individually. There are so many different avenues and events to explore that you realise you could be out on the streets week in week out, trying to flog your books. Obviously it’s far better to get the readers to come to you, and to that end we have arranged a ‘Love to Read’ party in Chichester where we hope to attract a good gathering of interested book lovers who want to talk to authors about writing, reading, learning and generally getting a real kick or benefit from this type of gathering.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Those of you who have looked on my website will know that I published a religious book called <i>A Word in Your Ear (How God changed my retirement plans).</i> I gave one to a neighbour of ours whose husband died recently. He was a retired minister. She came over last week and asked if she could buy two copies to pass on to her friends, one of whom is a visiting minister from USA. I think I’ve sold one since publication (not counting those I ordered for myself), so to be asked for two is something of a bonus. I gave the neighbour the copies; didn’t have the heart to charge her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>We added fish to our fish tank this week. A dozen, Neon Tetras, six Guppies (one jumped out, so now we have five) and four Mollies. The tank is like a living picture against the wall. Hopefully I can keep it that way.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I finally managed to crack the Ingram Spark problem. It was just my lack of knowledge with PhotoShop, but I got there in the end. Oh, not quite. When I downloaded the eProof, it only had the even page numbers at the bottom of the page. The Word doc was fine, but in converting to the PDF file with Open Office, the page numbers turned out wrong. It’s sorted now, so hopefully I’ll soon be holding the hardback version of my latest novel in my hands. Wish me luck!</p>Present Tensetag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2016-10-01:523145:BlogPost:6903722016-10-01T14:44:19.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>October 1<sup>st</sup>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Christmas is coming and will soon be dominating our thoughts about what presents to buy friends and family. You could do no worse than thinking of buying those you love, or like enough, to make an author’s day and give books as presents. When me and my two brothers were youngsters, we almost always received books in our Christmas stocking. One aunt always made sure of that, and it was because of this that I developed a liking for the children’s…</p>
<p>October 1<sup>st</sup>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Christmas is coming and will soon be dominating our thoughts about what presents to buy friends and family. You could do no worse than thinking of buying those you love, or like enough, to make an author’s day and give books as presents. When me and my two brothers were youngsters, we almost always received books in our Christmas stocking. One aunt always made sure of that, and it was because of this that I developed a liking for the children’s classics. An album was always welcome, but I’m not talking of music; I’m talking about the bumper books that were published by the ‘Comic’ houses. Great stuff, great reads.</p>
<p>When my book group, CHINDI, have a book sale, the children’s books always sell well, leaving thriller writers like me looking on enviously as the pile next to mine diminishes rapidly. You can find these books on the CHINDI website at <a href="http://www.cindi-authors.co.uk/">www.cindi-authors.co.uk</a> All our books are available through the website’s bookshop, so why not look in on us and have a think about Christmas?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>My own progress in finishing my latest novel has been hampered for all sorts of reasons, procrastination not being the least of them. I seem to be grinding to a halt, losing a couple of days and picking it up again. Like a lot of writers, I reach a sticking point and wonder how I’m going to get through it. I always manage to find some convincing way to move the story on, and sometimes manage to give the story a significant lift. I reached that point during the week when I had my main character, Marcus Blake, find the Samsung laptop that was essential to lead him to the killers of at least four people, but I had reached this key point too early and needed to delay the revelation. But then, what would I do for the next 20,000 words? After all, I still needed to round off other elements of the story that were essential in the whole jigsaw. I had almost been hoisted ‘<i>by my own petard’.</i> I changed direction, ensured the laptop had been wiped and then sent Marcus off in a different direction. But I left a little teaser, for the reader, which pointed the location of a memory stick on which all the data had been copied. This is like the needle in a haystack: where in the whole of England will Marcus find something as small as the memory stick? It’s great fun being a writer, but it <i>does yer ‘ead in</i> at times!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The fish tank is looking good. Couple more days and I’ll be buying some fish. After that, it might get a bit tricky maintaining the right chemical balance and keeping the fish alive.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I will be doing the hospital book talk next week. I’m looking forward to it. One of the joys of being a local author is that from time to time people ask you to talk about yourself. Once again I will be promoting the CHINDI group, but only for a wee while; most of the time it will be about me (and my books)!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Still battling with my Ingram Spark file. It’s the jacket that’s causing the problem, only because I’m not too sure what I’m doing. I worked on it this morning using PhotoShop, and uploaded. It will be a couple of day before they let me know if I have it right. Fingers crossed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I’ve given up on Facebook ads. for now. The returns I was achieving were doing nothing significant. I reached my budget limit, which meant the ad. was stopped. I’ll go away and lick my wounds, work on my novel and try to have it ready for the New Year. Then maybe I can think about using FB ads. again. Wish me luck!</p>Choosing the right directiontag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2016-09-17:523145:BlogPost:6898242016-09-17T10:33:13.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>17<sup>th</sup> September 2016</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I would like to say that I put in a good shift this week and added a few more thousand words to my WIP, but that isn’t the case and I have no excuses. Well, perhaps I do, but I’m probably kidding myself. The character I mentioned in last week’s blog who insists on dragging me away in a different direction is at it again. Perhaps I should listen to her and follow, but then I would lose the main thread of the story, which would cause me problems…</p>
<p>17<sup>th</sup> September 2016</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I would like to say that I put in a good shift this week and added a few more thousand words to my WIP, but that isn’t the case and I have no excuses. Well, perhaps I do, but I’m probably kidding myself. The character I mentioned in last week’s blog who insists on dragging me away in a different direction is at it again. Perhaps I should listen to her and follow, but then I would lose the main thread of the story, which would cause me problems when it comes to re-writing the first draft and the subsequent edit. I expect a lot of writers would encourage me to change direction, while others would insist I stick to my guns and ignore her. We’ll see.</p>
<p>My Facebook advert seems to be attracting people. I’m not sure that I’m selling more books because of it, but from time to time my Amazon Rankings shoot up from the doldrums where they usually nestle before sinking back down again. My FB page likes and views are showing healthy increases, so I must be doing something right. I’ll let the advert run for another few days before making changes. Often it’s a simple change of audience or interests that trigger higher sales.</p>
<p>I received an e-mail from Ingram Spark offering a free deal for any new or existing title. I thought it would be nice to have my latest, self-published title, <i>A Dangerous Game,</i> published as a hardback to go with my other books. The whole process is vexing, even though I have published three titles with them. The interior file was rejected because it wasn’t PDF and the fonts were not embedded. I sorted that out and uploaded. The cover file was rejected because the image hadn’t been saved in Adobe Presets with flattened layers. I sorted that out too. Each time the message was that there were errors but they could be dealt with by IS. So where’s the next step? There isn’t one: there was no way on the page to continue the process, simply the instruction “back to files”. I had to resort to an e-mail to them. Still waiting for a reply.</p>
<p>Met up with a lad called Jamie Dyer of <a href="http://www.southwavesradio.co.uk/">http://www.SouthWavesRadio.co.uk</a> for a coffee and a chat about linking the CHINDI author group with the station for a series of book reads/talks. Jamie will be coming to our next meeting to discuss the project and see if it’s viable or not. Hopefully we will be able to increase our reach through the station, which is broadcast 24/7 on the internet.</p>
<p>On the domestic front I had my four monthly check-up with my cancer specialist and got the all-clear again. Next appointment in four months. Picked up our new car last Monday (KIA Venga auto). Smaller than my KIA Sportage, but comfortable, quiet and fun to drive. We went over to Dorset yesterday to visit our son and his wife. Took the dog and enjoyed a good day over there. Then we had to battle back along the M27, crawling for about an hour. After that we had a diversion through Chichester because of an accident on the by-pass. Too many cars on the road, that’s the trouble.</p>
<p>Today, Saturday, we have my brother-in-law and his wife coming over for lunch. Should be good. No writing today then. Maybe tomorrow? And will that character keep dragging me away? Hope not. Wish me luck!</p>Ups, downs and little momentstag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2016-09-10:523145:BlogPost:6896452016-09-10T14:23:49.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>10<sup>th</sup>. Sept. 2016</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Life is full of surprises, little ones I must admit, but they help to put a spring in your step and manage to counter those little disappointments that happen from time to time. I began advertising my three book trilogy on Facebook, but found the click rate quite high. I am forcing myself to wait about a week before addressing the problem, but I have managed to sell about twenty copies so far. Not ground-breaking, I know, but it’s a start. But that…</p>
<p>10<sup>th</sup>. Sept. 2016</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Life is full of surprises, little ones I must admit, but they help to put a spring in your step and manage to counter those little disappointments that happen from time to time. I began advertising my three book trilogy on Facebook, but found the click rate quite high. I am forcing myself to wait about a week before addressing the problem, but I have managed to sell about twenty copies so far. Not ground-breaking, I know, but it’s a start. But that isn’t what put a smile on my face — someone has bought a copy of my book, <i>The Sum of my Life (The early years)</i>. I only published the book as something of an experiment, never expecting anyone to want to read it, except my family, but they all received a copy from me anyway. I just hope that the person who bought the book will enjoy it. And maybe it will put a smile on their face too.</p>
<p>I have started the book I was asked to review by an American writer. It isn’t my cup of tea, but I did promise the guy I would finish the book and post a review. Perhaps I’ll put a smile on his face. It’s a Western. I haven’t read many of those over the last fifty years. I can remember the last one I read; it was written by an author friend of mine, Nik Morton who writes thrillers as well. Before that it was Zane Grey many, many years ago.</p>
<p>My WIP is nudging the 54000 word mark — well over half-way. But one of my characters keeps dragging me off in a direction I hadn’t planned on going, but in the process I came up with a little gem that will help me resolve part of the jigsaw at the end of the book. It shouldn’t be too difficult to fit in. I don’t think the reader will have seen it coming, and is one of those unexpected moments that leave the reader nodding in approval. I hope so anyway.</p>
<p>The meeting of our book group last Monday was busy, busy: lots of ideas flowing around about promotion etc. I will be meeting a rep. from a fledgling radio show in the area that wants to promote reading among its listeners. Trouble is, there is no radio studio! Goodness knows how they operate, but until I’ve met the rep. on Wednesday, I won’t know. I will try to look at it as a young, new group trying to make headway into an already overcrowded market place, rather like independent, self-published writers. Perhaps we can promote each other and grow together. Only time will tell.</p>
<p>Another addition coming to our house is a fish tank! We ordered one earlier this week. We get in about ten days. The Aquarium shop owner has warned me that if I do it right, it could be several weeks before I have a decent set-up. I figure that I should have it as pretty as a picture by Christmas. Perhaps I’ll have my first draft finished by then too. Wish me luck!</p>Turning Pages and Looking Aheadtag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2016-09-03:523145:BlogPost:6894372016-09-03T15:51:49.000ZMichaelhttp://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/Michael561
<p>September 3<sup>rd</sup>. 2016.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I made a start on my September advertising campaign on Facebook, and hope to see some return on my investment as we make our way through the month. I intend setting up another advert, and will switch from one to the other, just to see which one is delivering the best. I have already sold at least one of my three book box sets since the initial launch. It puts a smile on my face so long as I don’t compare myself to some of my web colleagues on…</p>
<p>September 3<sup>rd</sup>. 2016.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I made a start on my September advertising campaign on Facebook, and hope to see some return on my investment as we make our way through the month. I intend setting up another advert, and will switch from one to the other, just to see which one is delivering the best. I have already sold at least one of my three book box sets since the initial launch. It puts a smile on my face so long as I don’t compare myself to some of my web colleagues on the Nick Stephenson and Mark Dawson Facebook groups. Whereas most of us are certainly struggling to make sense of FB advertising and targeting audiences etc., some writers report successes that absolutely blow you away.</p>
<p>My current project is nearing the 50,000 word mark, and I believe I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. If I can keep my current average up, I should complete the first draft just before Christmas. It’s a long way behind my first, optimistic target of a launch during the autumn, but it is what it is.</p>
<p>The results of the book stall at the Arundel Festival proved very good. We raised over £300 for Cancer Research and sold well over 100 books. It was a joint effort by the majority of the CHINDI group, but a word of thanks and praise must go to Carol Thomas (<a href="http://www.carol-thomas.co.uk/" target="_blank">http://www.carol-thomas.co.uk</a>) who did most of the work and sold plenty of her novel, <i>Crazy Over You</i>. You can check it out at her website. The results we achieved mean that we will probably want to do it again at next year’s festival.</p>
<p>I received a request from an American author who I don’t know. He has asked me to review his eBook. It’s his first novel and not one that I would consider reading. But because it’s his first, it makes me think back to when I first published as an indie author and wanted to build up my reviews. I also thought back to when I had my first book published in 1980 and how chuffed I was at actually seeing my work in print. I have agreed to review this author’s book but have told him to be prepared for a harsh review, just in case I don’t like the book. I will not trash it though, because I made that mistake some months ago with a budding writer, and regretted it ever since. Hopefully it will be a good story and be well written.</p>
<p>I have also been featured in a short interview on Alexandra Amor’s website. Alexandra is an established, Canadian writer. You can read the interview at <a href="http://alexandraamor.com/qa-with-thriller-author-michael-parker/" target="_blank">http://alexandraamor.com/qa-with-thriller-author-michael-parker/</a>.</p>
<p>Last but not least, we popped into the KIA garage this morning to have another look at the car we’ve ordered. We were not expecting it until the end of October. The salesman had a big smile on his face when he told us the car would be here within a week. He hadn’t intended to tell us until Monday, but seeing as we walked into the show room, he thought it would be better to tell us, just to see the smile on our faces.</p>
<p>What else? Well, I could win the lottery, I suppose. Wish me luck!</p>