And so it begins again: going into a new year with hopes and schemes, plans and ambitions. Many of us have them but few ever realise those dreams. I’m no different to most of us: I have high hopes for the coming year and my own plans, but the feeling tends to water down as time goes by. But looking back over 2015, I can’t complain; I’ve had plenty of highs. But what now? Well, first let me wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year. For myself I’m looking forward to the release of my latest book, which is currently titled A Dangerous Game. I still have the book jacket to finish, but I expect to have it ready for launch before the end of the month. Prior to that I plan to advertise it on Facebook, using the excellent reach that FB has. I will also be letting all my subscribers know in the hope that they will buy a copy. At first it will sell at low price of $0.99: probably for a month. After that I’ll raise the price. Although my Kindle Scout campaign failed to deliver, there will be over 600 people contacted by Amazon about the launch. Could prove to be a good day!

On a local level, I am looking into ways of spreading my name among readers in my area. The book group I am with (CHINDI) have plans which include all our members, but I will still push ahead with something a little more prosaic. To that end I am planning a “Book Talk” at a local Arts and Craft shop. This will simply be about books and how to publish. For a lot of people, the thought of publishing a book is still lodged back in the dark ages when publishers and literary agents held sway. Now, however, we are all writers, and it is fairly straightforward to publish on Amazon and other outlets. Hopefully I will be able to help those who want the advice and maybe sell a few books of my own in the meantime. I will also be exploring the possibility of doing something similar at our local libraries here around Bognor. I think it will depend on how successful my “Book Talk” turns out.

I am also renewing my acquaintance with an advertising and promotion course I signed up to last year. It has been an eye-opener for me, and now that the course has been revamped, I will begin the study again (I have already worked my way through several of the videos). It has proved to be very successful for some of the students, but probably because they put more time and effort into following the advice.

My current sales have dropped to a low level; probably because of the time of year, or maybe my readers have finished reading my books. My permafree book is still being downloaded, and my e-mail subscription list grows daily, almost certainly because of the free offer I have inside the covers of my permafree novel. For those of you who might like to download the free book I’m offering (The Devil’s Trinity), you can obtain a copy by subscribing. Click the link: http://eepurl.com/bgYKMj

So for me it’s now a case of head down, pen in hand and push on. Hopefully I will see an upward movement in my sales and big increase in my subscribers. Wish me luck!