July 2022 Blog
For those of you who wondered what happened to my June blog: I didn’t write one. Looking back, I know I was going downhill in my mind, thinking a great deal about Pat, and letting it affect my whole outlook. I guess it’s an element of the grieving process too. Another aspect of my convoluted mind was the upcoming June holiday and the need to shake off my mental chains and flee the marital home: twelve days away in the world of books, which is an environment in which I can survive without trauma. I came home today, June 30th, filled with a huge kaleidoscope of thoughts, imaginings, and revelations. And just a little daunted on what I hope to achieve if I can possibly change my daily routines.
The first eight days of my break were spent in Ireland at a small town called Headford in County Galway. It was a writers’ retreat organised by my American Publisher, The Wild Rose Press. It was a combination of daily workshops and touring in a private bus, which included not just old castles and ruined Abbeys, but also some Irish Craic and an hilarious night in Galway. And what made this so unique in some respects was that I was the only Englishman among thirteen American women. I was lucky to get a one-to-one with the CEO (pre-planned), and also an excellent one-to-one with their marketing guru, Samantha. Brilliant stuff.
I arrived back in London on Sunday ready for the Self-Publishing Live Show at the Southbank Centre. It was a two day conference with 700 authors attending. There was a party on the first evening with a band, which didn’t help too much because of my hearing, but I managed to chat with four other writers, and that helped break the ice. The presentations were really good, handled very professionally and packed with the kind of information that can only feed the imagination with what is possible if you are prepared to work at it. One thing that became very clear (to me anyway), was that the pandemic didn’t just blow the world apart, but it blew the book sales figures into the stratosphere. It didn’t help me though because that was the point where I gave up writing and promoting to nurse my wife. So in that respect I missed the bus. But I do know, because of my writing history and my product, I am sitting on a potential fortune. All I have to do is find the right shovel and learn how to dig it out. Now that I have spent twelve days inside the world of books and writers, I feel more inclined to pick up where I left off three years ago and see if I can make it happen.
Coming back to the ‘real’ world, I need to think about how I’ll be repositioning myself in terms of dealing with the normal, day to day things that we all have to deal with, and also to get my brain into gear; to get my ‘mojo’ back. One thing I will continue with is advertising. I started a Facebook ad campaign at the beginning of May, using David Gaughran excellent advice, and sold sixty five copies of my book A Dangerous Game. I also sold other titles on the D2D Aggregator where all my books are available. I allowed the advert to run again for June and have sold 25 copies. I expected it to tail away like that, but it has given me the inspiration to create another ad for another book to run through July. I will also think about running something with Amazon.
Perhaps I will find the right shovel. Wish me luck!
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