Published - and relieved!

 

Hi all, and thanks for supporting this blog!

The book is doing well with paperback sales, but really has awesome uptake as a Kindle eBook on Amazon. It is available to read for no extra cost if you are a Kindle Unlimited subscriber. Incidentally, if like me, you are a fan of Apple's ecosystem then try the Kindle app on iPad or iPhone. It's every bit as good as Apple Books and retains the page turn animation, the loss of which is causing such anger among users of Apple's eReader!

If you've read the book, in whatever form, then please do leave a review on Amazon (here). The reviews are really important for authors because a book's ranking within its Amazon categories relies not just on sales, but on the number of reviews. Please don't feel you need to give five stars if you think there are areas I can improve, but do let me know by commenting on this blog or using the feedback form on our website here. Just click on contact us. Those details also apply if you'd rather review without using Amazon.

In other news, I'm working on Book 2 in The Skipper series, 'The Skipper Goes West' as well as sorting out an AI (artificial intelligence) narrated audiobook which I plan to publish on Audible. Exciting (and busy) times!

If any of you are working on writing a book, I can recommend some resources which have been fundamental in getting my own work to market:

Reedsy. So much excellent information and advice! https://reedsy.com/

Kindlepreneur. Dave Chessons out put is phenomenal, and so useful! https://kindlepreneur.com/

and last, but emphatically not least, Joanna Penn's website and podcast. It's a one stop shot for information on craft and marketing as well as the best source for publishing industry news. https://www.thecreativepenn.com/

I'll take no more of your time, but keep on reading and check back for more posts. Oh, and give me a comment so I know I'm not talking to myself! 😂

Mark

More Publications!

Hi long-suffering readers!

Well, The Skipper Goes to War is out in eBook and Paperback and I'm very happy with initial sales. I'm incredibly grateful to those who bought it and if any of you are reading this then thank you!

I'm also pleased to say that I've enrolled the book in Kindle Unlimited so, if you're a subscriber, you can read it at no extra cost.

I'm slowly (very slowly) getting the hang of marketing and particularly Amazon ads. A couple of great books by Ricardo Fayet, at Reedsy, have been incredibly useful.

Marketing doesn't sit easily for myself, or many other authors, but the idea that I'm introducing people to my work rather than taking their money helps a lot.

I've also started research and plotting for the second book in The Skipper Series, 'The Skipper Goes West' and looking forward to the creative part of being an independent author.

Speaking of Indy Authors, I'm incredibly pleased I decided to go that way, especially in light of revelations from the court case around Penguin Random House acquiring Simon & Schuster, which indicates how little marketing effort the Big Five put into serving mid-list authors. However this case ends, I suspect the Big Five will soon be The Big Four.

It's more that that though. Getting my book to publication has been rewarding and exhausting in equal measure but I now feel stronger and better informed than at any stage in my writing journey so far. This gives me great hope that I can streamline my work-flows for the next novel - and certainly shorten them!

So again, thank you if you bought the book, and thanks for loooking at this blog - if you'd like to get my monthly newsletter, then please click this link: https://subscribepage.io/zMC2Ri. You'll receive a novella about the Skipper's experiences in World War One absoluteley FREE if you subscribe, the book sells as a paperback on Amazon but the free eBook is exclusive to subscribers.

That's all for now, keep on reading and I'll be back soon!

All the best,

Mark