Promotions can be a pain in the ‘A’, but we have to do it. I’ve had to give a lot of thought about this subject, particularly when it comes to the amount of work involved giving away free books. There has been a discussion recently on the merits of giving away our precious books for nothing, which I have to concede is a fair comment. I hate doing it but feel there is no other way, short of expensive advertising, to get my work out there in the eye of the readers. And I’ve been doing that for about six years now. There’s no way of working out just how valuable the ‘free’ way is, but I do know that paying out good money has not always resulted in exceptional sales — BookBub notwithstanding. So I’ve started paying out again as well as going along the freebie route. Currently you can download a host of free books, including one of mine at http://deathbytyping.com/thrillers-killers-and-chillers-24-free-books-from-instafreebie/.

I began knocking my ancient manuscript into shape a couple of weeks ago. It was painful reading through the novel I penned about fifty years ago and trying to bring it up to date. It was much easier when we didn’t have mobile phones, computers, Wi-Fi and a whole panoply of gizmos that the thriller writer could use to whisk the hero through one death defying encounter and another. I could always write historical novels, I suppose, but that would be a cop-out. So where am I with my book? It’s called The Perforated Edge, and will probably keep that title all the way through. I did think of Sentient, but to tell you why would be giving the game away. If I can make sensible progress, I could have it finished by the end of the year. I did think of maybe using it as a short novel, a novella, but I’ve never really been keen on them.

Our Chindi group’s involvement with the Chichester Festival finished last Saturday with a wine and words quiz. I joined in, but my knowledge of wine is about a micron above zero, so I was of very little help to my team. The Shakespeare quiz revealed the fact that the Bard never really figured in my life, apart from a few beers at the Black Swan opposite the Shakespeare theatre in Stratford upon Avon. And oh what a poor showing for the ‘Authors’ quiz. But it all came good in the end; my team, three of us, came second. It was a good evening’s entertainment; we raised almost £90 for the Dyslexia in Action charity, and I managed to have one of my books picked out for a prize (any three books showing on the display stand).

What lies ahead? Well. Some training with the Nick Stephenson’s videos; reading up on the secrets of marketing by Joanna Penn, and a toe in the water Facebook ad, see what I can come up with. Wish me luck!