My Blog
‘Viral marketing’and local success
Last night at a local Women's Institute meeting I heard a young man talk about how he and his wife have developed a plant nursery over the past seven years or so. Dull? It was rivetting, a saga of enthusiasm, aspiration, challenge, set-backs, perseverance, commitment,...
Proof-reading: a wake up call
The reader who approached me at a recent library talk waited until the end of the event and spoke to me quietly. "I really enjoy your books," she began, and I could tell there was a 'but' on its way. "But, I've noticed a few mistakes, nothing major, just little...
Self-publishing with pride and integrity
Last week someone whose name I've already forgotten wrote a piece about all the reasons why she couldn't possibly self-publish her 'literary' fiction. I read it expecting to find the usual catalogue of poor information and ill-disguised intellectual snobbery, and...
What’s wrong with ‘trends’ in publishing, or anything else?
Sometimes a thought arrives by a very circuitous route: this one started with reading 'Lancashire Life', one of those glossy mags that abound in England and mirror the lives of that tiny fraction of the population that can afford what lies within. As I am not one of...
Can you make money self-publishing?
There was some very interesting discussion of this question at a workshop on self-publishing I led recently. Sixteen or so people round the table all had different goals, starting points, skills, strategies and experiences. Some did everything themselves, and used...
‘Proactive promotion’:investing time, not money
I've just done an interview with Paul Teague for his forthcoming podcast series about self-publishing and it got me thinking about the challenge which faces all self-published authors - how to get people to notice your book when you haven't got the budget for...