So I have a book out. What next?

Pre-Order now!

 Apologies for the delay in posting. I am going through some stuff which has affected my anxiety levels and writing and other things have suffered. 

I had a lovely mini-break with a friend to celebrate our 70th birthdays and while I was away, my son had a prang in his car, and despite the damage being only cosmetic, the insurance company wrote the car off. I could have sat down and cried. This was my cousin's car which I gifted to him and he named Mollie-Sue after my cousin and her little dog. It was all very emotional. It seems the other guy, after verbally abusing my son and getting his insurance details from him, locked himself into his car and refused to speak to my son. The guy was speeding and knew it.

I had to get my head around all this while I was going around Shakespeare's birthplace and stepped out of the gift shop to talk to my son on the phone. In some ways, it was good to be distracted and to be with a friend, but for a while I couldn't concentrate.

Things are sorting themselves out, but all this came on top of other things. My go-to help is plugging my earphones in and listening to music (this time it was Depeche Mode and Tears for Fears) and reading almost non-stop just to fill my head with something other than all the problems. 

This wasn't how I was going to start my post, but life has just thrown a lot at me all in one go and maybe now the tunnel isn't quite so dark. Hopefully.

So, to writing and the subject line of this post. I was so thrilled to hold my book How to Take A Lawnmower Home on the Tube.... in my hands. My author copies are down to two left as friends have been buying from me. However, I learned something else (you never stop learning), and this may be obvious to other writers, but not to me....ratings go up when you sell through Amazon and reviews are from 'verified buyers', though I get most royalties selling direct. It's a minefield of swings and roundabouts. My publisher also put the eBook on Kindle Unlimited where I get paid per page read. I didn't do this with my two previous books, so it will be interesting to see how this works and whether it helps with my royalties, but right now I've had around 35p sent to my account! Oh, lets all go out on that, ha!

Thanks to all who have bought so far and left reviews. I've sold more books than I have reviews so far, but I know some are still reading!

And so, to the next book. Tinsel Street is now out for pre-order through Troubador and Amazon, and no it's not too early to talk about Christmas! Again I was thrilled to clutch my box of books and it looks fantastic, and of course it is a fantastic read.

Here are some links to Tinsel Street: 

Troubador: https://troubador.co.uk/bookshop/contemporary/tinsel-street

Amazon: https://amzn.eu/d/55vAWLt

You can also get it through Google Play and Apple Books and order through bookshops.

I'm currently looking for a venue to set up an author event locally and hopefully I will have some news on that soon.

So, publishing a book is not the end. There is the constant marketing/promoting one has to do to keep it noticed and looking for new readers. Word of mouth is good, so recommendations and reviews are vital. I've also learned that not all friends will buy my books. I remember once doing a talk to a group I am a member of. They loved the talk, but not one of them bought a book (and I gave away a little booklet of my poetry I had put together on my laptop). If you have bought and read my books, I thank you. If you've left reviews, I am very, very grateful. My goal has always been to share my stories with people. I love writing and cannot imagine life without it.

The life of a writer is never smooth, but I have learned to just about cope with the lows. You need to be thick skinned and I'm not. I know others have given up and some people look down on writers who do. But I understand. I've been there and somehow worked through it. Not everyone can, and I didn't think I could, but I'm still here. I'd never be so disrespectful to those who can't face the rejection and give up. It's just sad that so many good writers never make it, never get the break, never have the support and choose to stop.

Self doubt (again)

I seem to be in a quandary. I am writing virtually everyday, sometimes for several hours, yet I am unsure what to do.

The writing itself is going well. I have chosen to publish early short chapters on Scriggler.com. I've had some positive feedback which is encouraging. I'm just not sure how much to publish there. Do I keep most back and then try sending it to a publisher/agent?

I started this particular story after I 'scene wrote' in my head one night when I couldn't sleep. It's a mapcap account of one man. I had no proper plot but the words kept coming and I published the first short chapter almost straight away on Scriggler. Since then I have an ending and notes (most of which are being superseded!) as the story has taken a turn I did not see from the outset. I have gone with it and so far it is working. Although I want it to continue as a comedy, this adds some depth to the character. I am just having doubts about my methods of publication. I have in fact written 18 short chapters, about half way through the novel.

I already have one 'free-to-read' story on a blog which is ongoing. Should I continue or am I burning my boats? I have no writing buddy to share work with, I don't belong to a writing group and most of my friends while encouraging have not even bothered to look at my blog. One said to me, 'if you ever bring out a book, I'll read it, but I don't read stuff online.' I guess I've become discouraged (again). The only motivation I have is mine. If I didn't love writing so much I'd have given up long ago. However, is this type of self promotion damaging? Thoughts please.

On a slightly different note I was speaking to a lady at church the other and she is considering writing a book set in the Spanish Civil War. She already has a degree in Spanish (it may be literature or history, can't remember which) and she was given the advice to maybe do an MA and then she might get some help with the book. She couldn't contemplate it after years of study and I told her not to. I really don't think doing and MA will get you a book deal. At least I was able to have a decent conversation with someone about writing and books. Chats like that are a lifeline.

Next time I put up a chapter of my comedy novel I'll try and link it here and to Google+ Some feedback would be greatly appreciated (all previous chapters will then be found by clicking on my name).

The Poetry Book Fair

My purchases and freebies from The Poetry Book Fair

I had an early start yesterday as I wanted to arrive at The Poetry Book Fair, Conway Hall, London, in time for the first event which began at 10.30am. This was a panel discussion with three editors on how to get published. I made it there a little after 10am which gave me time to have a quick look around the main room where all the publishers were. Before I even got to the discussion I had bought two books, including one I've been dying to get my hands on - Kith by Jo Bell.

The editors for the discussion panel were Sheila Wakefield from Red Squirrel, Jane Commane from Nine Arches Press and Briony Bax from Ambit. All spoke about the worst submissions (I cannot believe people send dog-eared and coffee ringed manuscripts) and the worst covering letter (my dog likes my poetry). They then discussed how to write a covering letter - short, bio not more than 70-80 words and don't brag, get the editor's name right, put the right postage on and read the magazine first to make sure what you are writing fits with what they publish. Most of this is common sense. What did these editors look out for in submissions? An original voice, wacky, risk taking, unusual, something that holds them. Poems about the sea and birds seem to be the most popular submissions so if you write these they must stand out above all the rest. One thing at least two of them agreed on was that often they look at the poems before the covering letter (though this does not mean you can skimp on this).

There was time for some questions from the audience and one was about the internet and how much that had changed things for poets and publishers. The editors were adamant that they would not publish anything that had been published previously on a blog, Facebook or website because they wanted original previously unpublished work. There are outlets for people who wish to publish online, ezines etc. I use some publishing sites, but I know when I put them there (as on this blog) that I cannot send them to magazines or competitions. So, it is always worth thinking about that. If you hope for a poem to be published don't post it on your blog first!

This was a very interesting discussion and I liked the editors. As it happened I had visited the Red Squirrel table before the discussion and Sheila handed me some freebies! I haven't had time to go through everything in detail yet.

After the discussion I went back to main room and.....bought some more books. Things were getting out of hand and the money was running out so I decided to go and listen to some readings. Graham Fulton was reading but I then felt a tickle in my throat and was  trying not to cough. I had to leave because I knew it wasn't going to go with sips of water and I didn't want to murder his reading! Once I'd recovered I decided lunch was in order so I went over to Red Lion Garden and ate my sandwich. Afterwards I went in search of a cash machine as there were two or three other books I wanted to buy. With money in my pocket I stopped back at the gardens for a cup of tea and read my book before hitting the Poetry Book Fair again. It was much busier and was quite a squeeze and shuffle with a rucksack on my back, I went over to Telltale Press to say hello to Robin Houghton and buy her book The Great Vowel Shift. I've followed Robin's blog for some time and it was good to finally meet her. I asked her to sign her book for me. I bought one more book and then headed back to hear some readings and caught the end of Tim Wells witty poetry. Valley Press followed and I enjoyed readings from Richard Barnett, Robert Powell and Jo Reed. Lastly I stayed for Veer Books and readings from Tom Bamford, Rosa van Hensbergen and Mark O'Leary.

Maybe I am getting too old but I found the readers from Veer Books didn't do it for me at all. I know they are young and have different ideas of poetry but for me they read too fast, one had an accent and at speed I didn't have the chance to understand it. I'm afraid I switched off, at which point I decided to go home. I couldn't afford to spend anymore money anyway!

I certainly have enough books to keep me going until next years' fair. I always like to have a mix of books - books from poets I know/enjoy and new poets. I'm pleased with my purchases and shall enjoy exploring them.

#wpad July challenge - Traditional or DIY

TRADITIONAL OR DIY

This kind of carries on from what I was saying yesterday, though  I was talking about vanity publishing not self-publishing (very different).  I would like to go down the traditional route, in fact that is my aim.  There is a lot you need to know if you self-publish.  At a conferences I attended a couple of years ago there was a workshop on self-publishing and I still have all the hand-out sheets.  You can get a lot of help with self-publishing these days but there is also the marketing and publicity which I think I'd find too daunting to tackle.

I would like to think that my poetry is good enough for a publisher to take on one day.  At least I haven't given up hope yet!  I'm not saying I'd never go down the DIY route but as a last resort....maybe.