It's my Saturday off - well not quite
No signing today, feels weird. But just when I thought I would have a nice lazy Saturday, apart that is from cleaning the house, I got invited to the Independent Publishers Award dinner at the De Vere Grand Hotel in Brighton tonight. Not because I am in with a chance of winning an award - I did enter, but guess I'm too small and insignificant a publisher to be counted. You see, as well as writing fiction, and publishing it myself, I also publish a range of business and self help books under the branding of Easy Step By Step Guides www.rowmark.co.uk. One of the sponsors of the awards took pity on me and invited me to make up the numbers on his table and I didn't have the heart to say no. Also I thought it couldn't do any harm to do a bit of networking. So instead of watching an old movie with a bottle of wine, I shall be tarted up and feeling envious when Emma Barnes www.snowbooks.com steps up to take an award. Good luck to the girl! Yes, I do mean that, really.
This weekend then is once again being filled with book talk. I think I'm overdosing on it at the moment, but it's not over yet - not by a long chalk (where did that expression originate?) Two book signings coming up this week, one at Borders in Brighton and the other at The Book Shop in Lee-on-the-Solent.
The nice lady buyer at Borders Head Office tells me I need to drum up more sales. How, I contemplate when I can't afford consumer advertising campaigns? It has to be through regional PR, which I have to say I am very good at. Therefore, press releases have been written and despatched to the Brighton media. If I beat my target at the Kingston Borders then I'll be happy. That is if I get two people to come along I might be able to sell a couple of books.
Sales at Borders aren't that bad actually only that in a 3 for 2 promotion, which In For The Kill is in, Borders expect sales of at least 100 a week, and I am averaging 40. The nice lady at Borders takes my point that I am a new name on the market and is keeping In For The Kill in the promotion for a few more weeks. (Thank you). Waterstone's sales are about the same. It is February after all, and who has got any spare dosh for books in February? That will teach me to publish early in the year.
I've despatched posters to the Borders and Waterstone's stores with a letter hoping that they can display the posters and therefore catch the eye of customers who might be tempted to give me a try. Other than that all I can do is promise God I'll be a good girl if He can drum up some more sales for me, conduct some positive visualisation techniques, sleep with someone famous and then tell my story to the newspapers, invent a drug induce adolesent and how I overcame it to become a bestselling author, win the lottery and spend the money on an ad campaign, or sleep with Richard, or even Judy come to that. What makes you think I'm desperate?
And just to cap a wondefrul week - I got a new review on Amazon, which rather shook me. Why? Because it wasn't exactly flattering. R. Jones of London doesn't much care for my first marine mystery detective novel Tide of Death. Why then, I wonder, did he bother to give it two stars, when he could have rated it nil? And why did he bother to complete a review at all if he didn't like the book? And why did he finished reading it if he thought it was crap - well he didn't actually say that in so many words. I also can't help wondering if he is the R. Jones who I met a couple of years ago, who is a literary agent, who didn't take me on? Just curious. If anyone reading this enjoyed reading Tide of Death, then how about posting something nice on amazon and cheering up a feeling rather sorry for herself writer! ( By the way, there are already some nice reviews on amazon.)
This weekend then is once again being filled with book talk. I think I'm overdosing on it at the moment, but it's not over yet - not by a long chalk (where did that expression originate?) Two book signings coming up this week, one at Borders in Brighton and the other at The Book Shop in Lee-on-the-Solent.
The nice lady buyer at Borders Head Office tells me I need to drum up more sales. How, I contemplate when I can't afford consumer advertising campaigns? It has to be through regional PR, which I have to say I am very good at. Therefore, press releases have been written and despatched to the Brighton media. If I beat my target at the Kingston Borders then I'll be happy. That is if I get two people to come along I might be able to sell a couple of books.
Sales at Borders aren't that bad actually only that in a 3 for 2 promotion, which In For The Kill is in, Borders expect sales of at least 100 a week, and I am averaging 40. The nice lady at Borders takes my point that I am a new name on the market and is keeping In For The Kill in the promotion for a few more weeks. (Thank you). Waterstone's sales are about the same. It is February after all, and who has got any spare dosh for books in February? That will teach me to publish early in the year.
I've despatched posters to the Borders and Waterstone's stores with a letter hoping that they can display the posters and therefore catch the eye of customers who might be tempted to give me a try. Other than that all I can do is promise God I'll be a good girl if He can drum up some more sales for me, conduct some positive visualisation techniques, sleep with someone famous and then tell my story to the newspapers, invent a drug induce adolesent and how I overcame it to become a bestselling author, win the lottery and spend the money on an ad campaign, or sleep with Richard, or even Judy come to that. What makes you think I'm desperate?
And just to cap a wondefrul week - I got a new review on Amazon, which rather shook me. Why? Because it wasn't exactly flattering. R. Jones of London doesn't much care for my first marine mystery detective novel Tide of Death. Why then, I wonder, did he bother to give it two stars, when he could have rated it nil? And why did he bother to complete a review at all if he didn't like the book? And why did he finished reading it if he thought it was crap - well he didn't actually say that in so many words. I also can't help wondering if he is the R. Jones who I met a couple of years ago, who is a literary agent, who didn't take me on? Just curious. If anyone reading this enjoyed reading Tide of Death, then how about posting something nice on amazon and cheering up a feeling rather sorry for herself writer! ( By the way, there are already some nice reviews on amazon.)
Comments