My Blog
Beware of publishing rip-offs
A year or so ago I ran a self-publishing workshop at a northern book festival, explaining the various choices and challenges we authors encounter when trying to get our books first into print and then into readers' hands. One of the the twenty or so people there told...
A writer’s dilemma: what’s the priority?
After my last novel 'Fatal Reckoning' came out in 2016, I promised myself a break. Five books published in five years, and I needed some time out. So six months later I'm looking back and reflecting on what the break has taught me, so far. Firstly, it's clear that I...
The ‘Unbound’ contract is signed, so what now?
How did this happen, and now that it has, am I up to it? I started to write relatively late in life: going on a course on 'How to Write a Novel' was my 60th birthday present to myself. Four years later I published my first novel 'A Good Liar' and four more have...
Recording an audio book: lessons learned?
This week I finished the recording of 'A Good Liar' and here are a few things I learned, in case you fancy doing it yourself. Find a good studio with a decent mike and a proficient engineer. Mine was the Music Farm in Egremont, only 20 minutes from home, and exactly...
Crowd-funding – what’s it all about?
Last year I heard about Unbound publishing for the first time. At first it sounded like a scam, reminding me of when someone I know went to work for an insurance company and pestered all her friends relentlessly to buy a policy so she got the commission....
Do ‘special deals’ on books really work?
I've just put the ebook of 'A Good Liar' on a Kindle store special deal for a week, starting April 1st. I have mixed feelings about doing so, but it's just for a week, and we'll see how it goes. If it encourages people to read the whole trilogy, as ebooks or...