Meet the author of Smugglers at Whistling Sands . . . on Whistling Sands

Thousands of apologies for my lack of blogging over the summer, there is no excuse for it.

Anyway, despite my silence, I've sold a good few dozen electronic copies of my children's adventure novel Smugglers at Whistling Sands over the last three months and have been delighted at the feedback I've received from some readers, including a good few who say they are now inspired to visit Abersoch, Whistling Sands and other locations in the book.

Well, on that note, and another apology for the short notice, I will be on Whistling Sands on Sunday, August 26th 2012 from 10am until about 1pm if any readers of my book would like to come down and say hello - or for that matter, any would-be readers. (That's tomorrow as I'm writing this).

Whistling Sands is, as the title suggests, a key location of Smugglers at Whistling Sands and readers can actually tread in the footsteps of Lou, Jack, Dan and Emily during their exciting stay at the beach and imagine what was going through their minds when they encounter smugglers there.

As I say, I'll be there from 10am with my wife and our two young kids, blond-haired boy aged five and daughter, 4. We usually sit near to the rocks on the left hand side of the beach as you step off the road leading down to it - fairly near the beach cafe. I'm the ugly one in black-framed spectacles!

So if you're in the area, do come and say hello. And if you've never been to Whistling Sands before, I'm sure you'll love it. I'd gladly offer to sign books but sadly, it still only exists in Kindle format!

All the above is weather permitting of course. If it's pouring down, we'll make it another day!

My children's adventure novel set at Abersoch, North Wales, free on Kindle today!

I haven't got more than about two minutes or my wife will roast me alive - as we're off to a family birthday party.

Just wanted to say that my children's adventure novel Smugglers at Whistling Sands is free today on Kindle. If you click on the links on the right hand side, you can have my book for free, instead of its usual price of £2.49.

Please give it a try and if you like it, consider leaving me a review!

(Sales - have picked up somewhat since I wrote my last review - 4 in week just gone and 5 the previous week. That, as any fledgling novelist will tell you, is a lot more than zero!

And now I better move it!

E-book sales dry up in the summer sun

Now I don't want to be a wet blanket or anything. I know it's great that the sun is finally beating down from a clear blue sky and I don't believe in doing the usual British thing of moaning that the weather's too cold and then moaning that it's too hot.

It's just that two annoying phenomena have struck me today caused by the scorching weather: firstly I went to get my hair cut only to find both barbers I tried had closed early, presumably because they thought all their clientele would be slow roasting themselves in the back garden with too many lagers inside them to be bothered about their coiffure.

And secondly and perhaps more significantly, my Kindle e-book sales have dried up in the heat, as surely as a puddle on the patio. Now I can understand if people are too busy getting pink and drunk in the garden to bother with hair-cuts on a Saturday afternoon, but is the summer sun any excuse for not going on Amazon and downloading reasonably priced e-books (such as mine) for one's Kindle?

After all, not having a back-lit screen, the Kindle is perfectly easy to read in bright sunshine and one would have thought, would be the perfect accessory for garden sun-bathing in addition, of course, to the inevitable can of lager.

But my sales have simply vanished without so much as a puff of smoke. I was selling on average two e-books a day of my children's adventure novel Smugglers at Whistling Sands while it was reasonably chilly here in Britain. Then the sun comes out and for the last few days I've not had so much as a single customer!

I wouldn't say this bitter experience is making me pray for rain or anything, but let's just say that when the cold and wet finally returns, I may well be reflecting philosophically that every cloud has a silver lining.

More excellent reviews and regular, if modest, sales

Apologies for not blogging for a while, I have been pulled in quite a few different directions of late. I am also making progress working out a plot for a sequel to Smugglers at Whistling Sands and two other books - psychological thrillers aimed more at adults.

My sales are running at around and about five a week at the moment at a price of £1.95 on Amazon.co.uk and a broadly equivalent price of $3.15 on Amazon.com. I got my first sale for May on Amazon.com the other day and I really hope it won't be the last!

What is bucking me up perhaps more than sales is positive feedback at the moment. I have had two more 5-star reviews on Amazon.co.uk and, lo and behold, a second review, also 5-star on Amazon.com - possibly arising from my firee promotion day which I held on Sunday. I've also had a couple more nice comments on a forum thread about me and my book on the Enid Blyton Society website. And, not to be ignored, is the fact that other people have ticked the box to say these new reviews were "helpful".

It's all good and I am beginning to think there might be a chance of slowly building momentum for my book, and a definite market for a sequel. I thnk, despite my interest in other genres and aiming books more towards adults, children's novels of a Blytonesque type are more where my heart is - especially if there is any groundswell of encouragement from readers.

My free day went ok - 182 downloads, 93 from UK, 88 from US and, "uno" from Spain (of all places). I think that adds up to 182. I'm hoping that will give me a sales boost in the days ahead.

It ain't all about selling though, I really am finding that writing novels is proving an enjoyable hobby - although I'm not sure my wife and kids always agree!

Another frustrating glitch with Amazon's KDP publishing platform

For the best part of a week now, I have been unable to make changes to my ebook published via Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing because of a maddening technical error.
Last weekend, I made a couple of minor amendments to my listing and to the categories my children's novel was published in. This causes the book to go from "Live" to status "Publishing" in the author's account and until the status changes to "Live" you can't make any further alterations. Usually it takes 12 hours or less but for more than four days my book has been permanently stuck in "Publishing".
Fortunately, it is still available for sale but as a result of this error I cannot alter the price, the listing, the categories, or the book itself.
And worryingly, I cannot withdraw my own book from sale should I wish to - and there might always be reasons why one might need to do that.
I have contacted KDP customer support about it but so far just received the one reply saying that they are aware of the problem and are trying to sort it. But I have no idea when that will be.
To make things worse, I have got my book marooned in the wrong category - Adults Action & Adventure when it should be Children's Action & Adventure. Until my book's status goes Live I am powerless to correct this.
Has it affected sales? You bet - only one this week, when I would normally have expected three or four by now.
I have pointed out to Amazon that bearing in mind people like me are contractually bound not to sell our book anywhere else (a condition of membership of KDP Select) to be left stranded like this for days on end unable to make any changes we deem necessary is just not acceptable.

Update May 4, 2315: Book finally went Live in my account around 11am today after having been frozen in status "Publishing" for around five days. Pleased to say that I made the amendments I wanted to and after going back into greyed-out status of Review then Publishing, it is now Live again, just a few hours later. So well done Amazon for (finally) sorting this problem out!

Variable sales since price rise, and a fantastic email

If I'd written this blog entry three nights ago, it would have been to report cheerfully that my price increase from 99p to £1.99 had gone swimmingly and had, if anything, helped increase sales.

But pride, as always, comes before a fall. I had four UK sales over the weekend at £1.99 and a sale on Monday evening, but nothing since. I also haven't had a buyer on Amazon.com in over a week. But for now at least, I am going to hold firm at £1.99.

I do think it is a reasonable price - a fair mid-point between the prices that established publishing houses charge and the bargain basement indie brigade who flog their wares for 77p or less. As I suggested in my last post, if authors such as myself insist on selling books that cheap then ultimately writing novels will be reduced to being merely an amusing hobby, never a career, and that would be a shame.

Anyway, cheering me up somewhat is the following fantastic email I received from a reader who clearly shares my love for the Lleyn Peninsula - she's a "northerner" where the peninsula is concerned (Nefyn) while I'm a southerner - Abersoch. This is what she had to say about Smugglers at Whistling Sands:

Hello George, I have just bought a kindle touch and yours is the first book that I have read. It was recommended by my friend as we both have a caravan on the Llyn peninsular mine is at Morfa Nrfyn at Dinas and my favourite beach is Whistling sands!! I have loved your novel what an enchanting story I have read it in two days and being a busy mum with three young children that is a mean feat!! My ten year old is going to start reading it tonight I am so excited to go to Porth Ysgo on my next visit to my caravan I also love pith Dinllaen where the ty Coch pub is on the beach Thank you 

When people take the time and trouble to write to you with comments like that, it really does make it all worthwhile. And that's why I want to make it as a novelist - the sheer satisfaction of producing something creative that others will enjoy.

With some reservations, I've put my ebook price up to £1.99

I've decided to increase the price of Smugglers at Whistling Sands to £1.99, at least as a temporary measure, and see how things go at this higher price.
I have actually seen a marked increase in UK sales at 99p compared to my previous bargain basement rate of 77p for my ebook, although with a drop in sales to the United States.
That said, since my last slightly tongue-in-cheek post, I have had a flurry of sales on Amazon.com which is very pleasing.
I still hold the view that a debut indie novelist such as myself cannot and should not ask the kind of prices that authors with the full weight of HarperCollins or Hodder & Stoughton behind them can command. I have no intention of doing that, but at £1.99 the book is still cheap.
Furthermore, the kind of folk likely to buy a Blytonesque children's adventure book probably don't need to be cajoled into buying the book with a 77p price tag.
I was right to start out at 77p but not to carry on with that indefinitely. I think £1.99 is a good, realistic price which strikes a balance between giving people excellent value for money and providing a reasonable return for the author.
Also, independent writers selling through Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing programme have to be mindful of the fact that if we all screw prices ever further downwards, everyone will turn out to be a loser.
Most readers do not expect to get books for free, nor are they in fact likely to get as much pleasure out of their reading if they feel they have given nothing for it. And there is always the option of going to the public library if cost is a factor. Ultimately, if people cannot make a living out of writing, then there will be fewer quality books.
For me, if I can carry on getting my current rate of sales at a price of £1.99 then there is a chance, albeit small, that I could realise my dream of making it as a novelist.
Undoubtedly I would be poorer than if I remained a full-time journalist. But being rich doesn't interest me - so long as I have enough to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table and maintain a reasonable standard of living I would be happy.
That's not to say I'm unhappy as a journalist - I think it's a good job, albeit an increasingly precarious one, it's just that I would rather spend my time writing fiction which might be read and appreciated for years to come rather than non-fiction which has a 24-hour shelf life.
And there's the question of subject matter. I have just penned a dull but worthy feature about the cost of long-term care in Britain, going in the paper on Monday. By Tuesday, it will only be of any further use to wrap chips in, line drawers with, or to get a fire going. Most probably, it will already be in the recycle bin.
I quite enjoyed researching it and writing it but it didn't exactly lift my heart. I'd rather have spent my time working on my new thriller or a sequel to Smugglers at Whistling Sands.
So, in putting my price up for the book, I will keep my fingers crossed that I can continue to achieve the modest rate of sales I have managed to date. If I can, then the dream of being a full-time novelist is still alive.

Has America fallen out of love with my adventure novel?

I ask this dramatic question because my children's adventure novel Smugglers at Whistling Sands has been downloaded from Amazon.com's Kindle store only a total of once since the start of April. Usually, my US sales amount to around half the sales I get on Amazon.co.uk.

I have been reasonably pleased with the UK sales I've achieved, although to some of you my figures will seem laughably small. I ran a free promotion on Sunday, April 1 which resulted in 102 downloads on Amazon.co.uk and 62 on .com. Since then I've sold a dozen ebooks at 99p (having put the price up recently from bargain basement 77p).

Certainly, it is disappointing at a time when there is some evidence of me building momentum this side of the pond, to have had just one sale in America so far this month. All the more so, in fact, because I get quite a few American readers of this blog.

I have not suffered fewer UK sales at 99p compared to 77p, indeed they seem to have risen somewhat. The biggest challenge of course, for an unknown, self-published author with his debut novel is being spotted. There are plenty of potential readers of a children's mystery adventure story like mine who would be only too willing to pay a pound or a dollar and a half for my book - thousands probably. They just don't know of its existence yet.

But therein lies good reason for optimism for me and any indie author/publisher who believes they have produced a good novel - when it's discovered it will sell - definitely (well, almost definitely!).

Memo to all Americans out there, please give my book a try, I think you'll like its British charm! Click on the Amazon.com product link to Smugglers at Whistling Sands on the right hand side of this page. Thanking you already!

My children's adventure novel set at Abersoch, North Wales, free on Kindle today!

Well I am sitting here on holiday at Abersoch on the Lleyn peninsula coast of North Wales enjoying glorious sunshine. I've just been down to the beach with my wife and kids and come back to find that I've had three people so far who have downloaded my book for free today.

I thought it would be a nice way to mark being back at wonderful Abersoch to have another free day for my novel, Smugglers at Whistling Sands, in Amazon's Kindle store. So PLEASE take advantage of it, go on to Amazon.co.uk, or Amazon.com and get a free copy of my children's adventure novel.

If you like it, all I would ask is that you mention it to others and - if you have time - consider leaving me a short review on my Amazon listing which will really help me as an unknown author to get known.

The book, as regular readers of this blog will know, is intended for children aged 9+ but is also intended to be perfectly readable by adults. It should appeal if you enjoy good, wholesome, mystery/adventure stories, loosely inspired by the great Enid Blyton and her Famous Five series.

Anyway, enough talking from me, I'll leave you to get a copy of your free book - just click on the Amazon links to it on the right hand side of this page - Amazon.co.uk for British readers and Amazon.com for the American site.

Do let me know how you get on!

Small price rise for my novel - to push up sales, not decrease them!

Today, I put the price up of my Kindle ebook Smugglers at Whistling Sands from 77p to 99p in Amazon's Kindle store and the equivalent in US dollars.

I have made this decision because I feel that the minimum price of 77p may, in the eyes of the reading public, look a little too "needy" and desperate for a sale and perhaps suggest that the book is of inferior quality.

There are an enormous number of 77p books out there and some of them, it has to be said, are not the greatest of efforts. On the other hand, there are some good self-published books and I like to think that mine is one of them - certainly the reviews so far have been very positive.

For any established author, you cannot indefinitely sell your books at 77p if you hoped to make a living out of it and I don't think anyone would expect people to. But this price rise of mine is not about improving profit margins - that doesn't interest me at the moment, I simply want to get my book as widely read as possible. For the record, the price rise will only increase my royalty by about 5p or 6p per book.

It's worth a try and I can always put the price back down from 99p to 77p if it doesn't work. As for my sales, they have been very modest but they do keep coming, at the rate of one or two a day, fluctuating between zero and three most days, the majority on Amazon.co.uk, but a sizeable few on Amazon.com.

I still wholeheartedly stand by a previous blog entry in which I said emphatically that a new author must sell cheaply in order to persuade readers to give his/her book a try. What I and other indie authors must do is to use every selling strategy at our disposal to push our books - while still leaving time to write new ones, of course!

Fantastic new review for Smugglers!

Incredibly chuffed today to receive another five-star review from Nigel Rowe, a leading figure in the Enid Blyton Society which unites fans of Enid from all over the world.

I enclose a copy of his review below:

5.0 out of 5 stars What an Adventure!, 22 Mar 2012
By Nigel Rowe - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What is this?)
This review is from: Smugglers at Whistling Sands (Kindle Edition)
What a fantastic story! As said before, shades of the great Enid Blyton here - like Enid? You'll love this book! It also cleverly shows how mobile phones and the internet don't alter the danger much - clever ways round always being able to phone the police! I loved the character development, and after a few pages I became attached to them. Really good, and I also hope for several sequels! Mind you, you've a long way to go to catch up with Enid Blyton! A great story in its own right and suitable for all ages.


Nigel has also plugged it on the Enid Blyton forums. I cannot thank him enough for his kindness in taking an interest in the book and - without any pressure from me - to have both read it and, having liked it, backed it to the extent that he has.

Once again, I am left feeling that there are a lot of good people in the world of books, and perhaps you'd expect some good eggs in the Enid Blyton Society. Nigel is definitely one and I hope to meet him and some of the others in the Society one day, which I intend to join very soon, if they'll have me.

I am aware that with Smugglers at Whistling Sands I could be accused of seeking to slightly ride on the back of Enid Blyton, although no-one has actually accused me of that. But if they did I would say this: my book is not intended as a copy but as an original work which was to some extent inspired by Enid Blyton. I think so long as one acknowledges one's debt it is ok. Enid is often derided and certainly she is not beyond criticism but the quality she managed to achieve over 600+ novels is truly the work of a genius.

When you look at her books carefully, particularly the likes of the Famous Fives and her Adventure series, you realise that for all their apparent simplicity and ease, they are the product of a very great talent. If I could be considered half as good as her, I would be happy. As for matching her output, as Nigel put in his review, I have a very long way to go to catch her up. I think that might be what you'd call an unattainable goal - even without the day job!

And I've just remembered something, here's me crowing about another good book review, I myself have a couple of reviews I need to write for books I've bought on Amazon. I must get on with it - if people are willing to take the time to review mine, I ought to review theirs - it's only fair.

Listing back up and a (small) sales flurry!

Well, maybe I should ask Amazon / Kindle Direct Publishing to lose my ebook listing a bit more often. Despite Smugglers at Whistling Sands being unavailable to buy for most of yesterday, I've managed three sales between yesterday evening and this morning.

So I'm really chuffed by that and it's pushed me into the top 100 paid-for books in the category Children's Fiction Action & Adventure. I am going to watch my sales closely for Smugglers - if it does start to take off, I will definitely write a sequel. If the demand is there, then I will be delighted to get headstrong Lou Elliott and siblings Jack, David and Emily back together at Abersoch for another holiday and who knows, possibly fall into another adventure!

Meanwhile, work continues on my second very different book aimed at the adult market. I called it a horror story in a previous post but I don't think it will spill into that genre particularly, I think it will be more in the realms of tense, pyschological thriller. I'm not sure I'm the type to write "horror" if you know what I mean.

I've got nearly 4,000 words written but before I go any further with it I am going to let my imagination guide me into mapping out a full plot. So far, I have just allowed it to gush out of my head but I do think that an author needs a basic structure as a guide - from which one can always stray, of course.

Anyway enough about my fiction ambitions - here's some non-fiction for you: I have a day's newspaper writing to do. I'm working from home today, the sun is shining, it's a fairly blue sky from what I can see through the skylight and so I must prioritise that which pays the bills!

Simply maddening - Amazon lost my ebook listing today

What possible hope do debut authors like myself have when Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing go and lose our ebook listings?

I have been getting steady sales over the last few days of 1 or 2 sales a day, sometimes three or four. I had hoped I might slowly be building up a momentum, and then this happens. My ebook listing has simply disappeared from Amazon and I have no idea when it will go back up.

I had a nice email from KDP Support this afternoon apologising and saying they were aware of the problem and would get it fixed as soon as possible, but I have no idea when that will be.

But it is hugely frustrating - to anyone searching for the book it simply looks unprofessional that it should suddenly disappear. If you click the links to my book on the right hand side of this blog you'll find they won't work (as of 6pm Weds). From a couple of tweets I have seen on Twitter, it sounds like other people have suffered the same problem.

I mustn't be too hard on Amazon / KDP - it's still the best indie publishing platform around - I suppose it's when things like this happen that you realise how much one's novel-writing dreams rest on their technology. So please, Amazon, get this problem fixed soon!!

* UPDATE 7.40PM - And they have, the listing for my ebook Smugglers at Whistling Sands is now working again. I would guess, however, having lost most of the day, that I am set for zero sales. Let's hope this sort of glitch doesn't happen too often.

Work has begun on book 2 - 2,500 words written so far!

I'm pleased to say that I have finally taken the plunge and begun writing my second book, with 2,500 words penned so far. I began it intending it to be a short story but it might go full length, I'm not sure yet.

I decided to just let the mood take me with this novel - I simply wanted to take the cork out of the bottle labelled Creativity & Get On With It. I have sketched out a very simple plot for what is in many respects a very simple book.

But it's a HORROR story - or at least, a tense, pscyhological thriller - not that it is for me to judge where it will ultimately horrify or thrill anyone or make them tense. Certainly it is for adults not children, it is not a sequel to Smugglers at Whistling Sands and I wouldn't want my young readers buying it. Will I even choose to publish it? I don't know. So long as it works in the genre I have chosen, hopefully in a Roald Dahl-esque sort of way, although probably not quite at his level, I think it will be fine.

The important thing for me was to put Smugglers to bed for a bit. I am not abandoning it, I will continue to market it from time to time, but I had to push it out of my head sufficiently to allow me to start writing something else. Some people only have one book in them, I think I have several. If any become commercial golden eggs that's a bonus - I just know I have to write them. Another children's book at least is called for - a sequel to Smugglers at Whistling Sands and two or three books for the adult market in different genres.

Time is the enemy, of course. I look back with regret at all the lazing around I did as a student in long holidays with bucketloads of empty hours years ago, and these days, especially with a wife and kids to entertain, not to mention the day job, time is a precious commodity is in short supply. That said, I am determined to make time - roll on book two! (I'll reveal a bit more about it in subsequent posts.)

Smugglers must move aside a bit as I turn my thoughts to book two

No-one hopes more than me that my children's mystery / adventure novel Smugglers at Whistling Sands will make it big one day. But I'm going to have to cut it loose a bit now to make space for turning my attention to a second novel.

Smugglers is out there, it is on Amazon, it is available for anyone who wants it and for only 77p, or the Dollar or Euro equivalents. I've had a fair bash at direct marketing and I've run three free promotion days on Amazon now, including the weekend just gone. I would like to spend more time pushing it but if I do, then I will leave myself very little time to write anything new.

I've spent countless hours on a major rewrite during the winter, particularly of its closing chapters and made it a much better book in the process. But psychologically, I've got to "put the book down" in my mind, to free myself up for the next one.

Readers will make their own minds up about Smugglers. I am strongly of the belief that a good book will ultimately sell itself and generate its own momentum, through customer reviews and word of mouth.

I am delighted that in the last few days alone, I've had two really positive reviews, one on Amazon.com and the other on Amazon.co.uk, this latest one as follows:

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars excellent characterisation, 3 Mar 2012
By septempopuli (UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Smugglers at Whistling Sands (Kindle Edition)
A really well-written book, fast paced with excellent characterisation. It has echoes of Enid Blyton's holiday adventures, certainly, but is still wholly original. And just as Blyton was famous for her sequels, so please let's have a follow-up!

It is reviews like that, from complete strangers who owe me nothing, that can really help to launch unknown authors. That's why I would ask all of you out there who have downloaded a book you have really enjoyed - whether it be mine or someone else's - to take the trouble to leave a few words to tell others what you thought of it.

You don't have to write reams, or re-tell the plot in great detail (in fact, it's best not to!) - simply give your honest view and why you liked it. Very few people bother to do that but it is hugely appreciated by any author, particularly those seeking to establish their name.

So my hope for Smugglers at Whistling Sands is that it will get more reviews over time, particularly from another batch of free downloads. On which note, I was rather taken aback and disappointed over the weekend that I did not have anywhere near as many downloads this time during my two-day promotion. (By the way, you have to enroll in KDP Select in order to offer readers up to five days of free promotions over three months. This ties you to Kindle Direct Publishing for those months and you can't sell your book anywhere else in that period).

It was only intended to be a single day - Saturday - but I notched up only around 60 downloads so I let the promotion run on Sunday as well. But in total I managed only some 125 downloads, of which marginally more were on Amazon.com. How different from two weeks ago when I got over 300 on a single day!

Why the slow-down? I don't know. I think I wasn't picked up by the Twitter and website aggregators as happened the first time. On a brighter note, I had some excellent backing from a leading member of the Enid Blyton Society who downloaded my book, recommended it on the society forums and put out a tweet from the society to several thousand followers. So that might bear fruit in some form.

Nonetheless, more than 500 people have downloaded a copy of Smugglers now, if you add together free and paid-for copies. If it is a good book, as I hope, then momentum will start to build.

As I say, I would love to do more to make that happen but I must try to combine novel-writing ambitions with a full-time job and helping bring up our two young children - which is a job and a half in itself! Above all, I must create space in my head to think about my next writing project.

I am burning now to crack on with it so I will wish Lou, Jack, David and Emily well in getting more readers - I think they deserve them and I will write a sequel about them if they do. It was very pleasing that the latest reviewer expressed a hope that I would do so.

But my second novel is likely to be quite different. Different how, you ask? I don't know, I don't know what it is about yet. I haven't started it. I haven't even started planning it. I just know I'm really excited about knuckling down to it. Watch this space!

My book is free in Amazon's Kindle store today!

If you haven't already got yourself a copy, now is your chance. My Abersoch-based children's novel Smugglers at Whistling Sands is free for 24 hours in Amazon's Kindle store. The promotion only started about 20 minutes ago (just before 9). So please go ahead and get yourself a copy.

If you like it, all I ask is that you remember the value to unknown authors of reviews and feedback and consider doing me a review on my Amazon listing. But I'll leave that up to you! Alternatively you can always give me feedback via this blog or on email at georgechedzoy@hotmail.co.uk*

Anyway, it's Saturday morning, under a rainy and overcast sky - at least that's the case here in north-east Wales - so I'd call that the perfect excuse for putting your feet up and reading a thrilling children's mystery story on your Kindle! Just click on the links to my book on the right hand side of this screen - Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com and get Smugglers at Whistling Sands for free. It's something of a cross-over book and can be enjoyed by adults as well as children.

*And on that note, I have just discovered I've got a third review on Amazon.co.uk - five stars and a very nice write-up. That's the second really good review in two days and I'm absolutely chuffed to bits! Such a nice surprise.

Not brilliant sales but a brilliant new review for my book!

Well, sales have continued to bump along not very fast in this second week since my first free promotion on Amazon. But this is how it can pay off - I've just had my first book review on Amazon.com (I've got two on Amazon.co.uk) - and it's very positive. Four stars out of five from somebody who lives in Illinois, and a nice write-up, which I include as follows:


4.0 out of 5 stars Fun book to read, March 1, 2012
By Happylakedreamer (Illinois) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Smugglers at Whistling Sands (Kindle Edition)
This was a great book to read. I enjoyed the characters and the story very much. It is great to read on a rainy Saturday or while on vacation, especially at the beach. Everyone loves hidden treasure and this book delivers a bit of both that and the mystery of the smugglers. It is a quick read with modern characters and present day life situations that will entertain young as well as old readers. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a good story to keep them entertained.
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Good reviews are vital to have any chance of making it in Amazon's Kindle book store and to have my first ever one on Amazon.com is fantastic.

And here's a bit of exclusive info for you readers of my blog out there - I'm running another free promotion tomorrow Saturday March 3rd 2012, so if you haven't already got a copy of my ebook Smugglers at Whistling Sands, tomorrow would be a great opportunity to do so. Mind you, it's only 77p in any case of course!

Sales-wise, not a great week: Monday: 1; Tuesday: 0; Wednesday: 2: Thursday: 1; Friday (so far): 0.

Tomorrow freebie day, so hoping lots of people will download the book and maybe it will help create a buzz and help to kick sales off. I remain convinced, as I said in a previous post, that it is important for unknown authors to swallow their pride and sell cheap with free promotions.

Unknown, wannabe author? Keep your ebook prices low!

I often go on about how I'm faring as a wannabe novelist and some days I'm fed up and other days I brim with self confidence. But rather than become too self absorbed, I feel I ought to offer more tips and advice to other writers who feel, like me, that the world hasn't discovered them yet.

The best advice I can give based on my own experiences to all you unknown authors out there struggling to get sales (and I am certainly one of you) is firstly: don't give up and secondly be realistic.

By realistic I mean CHEAP! Offer your books at the minimum price! Don't charge a penny, or a cent more than you possibly can. Yes of course you want 70% royalty (on Amazon) and so do I. Not because we're money-mad but because we might even be able to give up the day job if we can secure a £1 a time royalty every time our book sells and we write enough of them.

Well, dream on. If you're unknown, people are unlikely to bother to download your ebook from Amazon or Smashwords or whatever site you use if they have to pay much for it. You have to incentivise (horrible word) your potential customers by saying: look, my little masterpiece is only 77p, you'd be a fool not to snap it up, what have you got to lose?

Furthermore, now that Amazon very kindly offer authors five promotional days in a three-month period when they can offer their book for free, for goodness' sake - use them. I am very pleased with the result of my free 24-hour promotion last weekend. I had more than 300 downloads and have since sold at least 17 more paid-for books, getting on to best-seller lists (in relevant categories).

Yesterday alone I had 10 sales - not bad for a book that only went on sale last Friday (after being withdrawn for three months while I rewrote parts of it). Today, not so good, I've so far had only three sales but I might get more this evening and even if I don't that is still another three customers, who might like it, review it, and recommend it.

I'll look at other possible strategies in future posts but for this one, I can't stress enough if your debut novel is not selling very well on Amazon and you are charging more than the minimum price - swallow your pride and charge that minimum! You can always put the price up when you're famous and ask a higher sum for your sequel.

Free promotion on Kindle has helped - seven sales so far today

I was too ready to feel disappointed about my free 24-hour promotion at the weekend. I have had seven sales today, six on Amazon.co.uk and one on Amazon.com. I feel pretty certain that they may well have been sparked from my promotion.

If so, that is a very good sign, because it is an indication of a sales increase caused by word of mouth from satisfied customers - the same basis on which a good restaurant will thrive. So I have just a nugget of hope that my book might start to take off. The six UK sales all came this afternoon, and have pushed me into three bestseller lists on the paid-for side: (correct as of 8.56pm on Weds Feb 22):

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #3,307 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#34 in Kindle Store > Books > Fiction > Children's Fiction > Literature > Action & Adventure
#50 in Books > Children's Books > Fiction > Crime & Thrillers
#78 in Kindle Store > Books > Fiction > Children's Fiction > Literature > Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror

I am really pleased about this, coming two days short of a week since my new, improved book went back on sale. I was reading it myself on the train to work today and, maddeningly, came across about half a dozen errors that need putting right. But these are minor ones which readers might not even spot (although they may spot ones that I don't see!) - what I am so pleased about is that I had the sense to withdraw the book from sale last October when I realised the plot construction was flawed and needed improving.

I do feel now I've got a book to be proud of - just need more buyers!

Two sales today (which is progress!)

I am quite pleased today that I have had two sales of my book, one on Amazon.com and the other on Amazon.co.uk. That is better than nothing and it does mean that since my book promotion I have sold an extra five. Added to that are the two books I sold immediately prior to the promotion starting.

So that is seven paid-for sales for Smugglers at Whistling Sands since it was relaunched in Amazon's Kindle store Friday. It could start to build momentum from this point, or it could just fizzle out, but we shall see. I believe strongly that I have just got to keep the faith now, I have got the book how I want it and I've got to start pushing it in various different ways.

The twin planks to my strategy as an unknown author is a) sell cheaply - 77p UK and $1.22 including sales tax in America and b) to promote and promote. I shall be using all the remaining four of my free promotion days over the next three months, but spacing them out sparingly.

Tomorrow, my target is to sell three . . . !

And now for the reality check . . .

What a difference 77p makes! I had a total of around 312 downloads of Smugglers at Whistling Sands during its 24-hour free promotion. After this I had three I think paid-for sales fairly soon afterwards. I can't be totally sure of exactly what came after the end of the promotion.

I can be clear, however, on the fact that from 10.30am today all sales have completely dried up. On the face of it, it is very disappointing. But it has to be borne in mind that offering something for free is inevitably going to be easier than charging money.

Insofar as more than 300 people have now got a copy of my book, I think it was a successful exercise. If some of them bother to read it, like it and tell others, then it may help what is an unknown book gather momentum. I suppose it was inevitable that once it went back into the paid-for category sales would revert more or less to what they were previously. I should remember that I've only had it back on sale from Friday - ie. four days ago!

I think it is great that Amazon allows authors five days of free promotion during a three-month period. I just wish it was more than that.

My hope is that some of yesterday's downloaders will read it, review it and get the word out - and that slowly but surely, the paid-for book will get bought. I know how much better it is than the version I published last year, I really think I've got it how I want it now.

Free promotion going really well - 245 downloads of Smugglers

I am over the moon at having had so many downloads of my ebook Smugglers at Whistling Sands. By 10.15pm, there had been 245 downloads, of which 125 were from Amazon.com and 120 from Amazon.co.uk
Actually, two of the American purchases were before the free promotion started, which is maybe a good omen.

Very surprised that more downloads should be from the American site than the British one. For a couple of hours this afternoon, someone somewhere was downloading the book every two minutes. Demand has tailed off somewhat since, but still a regular trickle of orders.

Of course, I realise one shouldn't read too much into this since giving something away for free is asking far less of people than a paid-for novel. But nonetheless, there are plenty of other free books out there, it is still great news I feel to have had this number in little over 12 hours.

Will it bear fruit in terms of reviews and further orders once it has a price tag back on it from tomorrow? I am hoping so. For an unknown author, the important thing is to get my book onto people's Kindles, (or other electronic devices) and read and hopefully appreciated.

That is what a free promotion is all about and I feel sure that it will help towards that end.

Buy my children's adventure book free today Sunday February 19, 2012!

And a number of people already have! Quite astonished that since the free price promotion began about an hour ago, I have had about 25 sales. Ok, not sales as such because the book is currently free but I am delighted at that interest and really hope it continues today and word gets out about Smugglers at Whistling Sands.

I really do feel it is 10 times better than the version I was selling in 2011. When I realised what I saw as a major plot flaw, I took it off sale in October and it has only just gone back on sale. Those of you who miss the free promotion today, bear in mind that it will only cost you 77p again from tomorrow anyway (or the dollar/euro equivalent on the other sites.

So PLEASE give it a try and if you like it - or even if you don't - I'd be grateful if you had the time to write a review and post it on Amazon.

I'll update the "sales" figures later in the day!

At last - Smugglers at Whistling Sands is back on sale!

Hello again, have you forgotten me? I wouldn't blame you if you had! Anyway I have finally come out of hibernation to reveal that I have now got my children's novel back on sale in Amazon's Kindle store - the new, improved Smugglers at Whistling Sands is now back on sale!

If you click on the product link on the side of this page it will take you straight to it. I've listed it for an introductory price of just 77p - the minimal possible. Thanks to the VAT reduction, that is the cheapest it has ever been and there is now about 3,500 words more to read. It was originally 22 chapters long and I've had to create two new chapters to accommodate the extra length.

The important thing, however, isn't that it is longer, but that it is better. It is simply a much better read than before. I had the making of a good book before (if I may say so) but I committed a fundamental error by allowing the mystery involving the smugglers to be effectively solved by the forces of law and order. In short, the kids, and in particular Lou the lead character in the novel, simply did not do enough.

I believe I have now got a far more satisfying, rounded, exciting novel than before - fun where it should be fun - and nail-biting where it should be nail-biting.

It isn't for me to say that it's a good book, that's for readers to judge, but I can hand on heart say that it is in a different league to the earlier version. I had 46 buyers before I removed it from sale at the end of October - if you are one of them, you may find that the version you have already bought is over-written with the new file, it depends on your Kindle preferences. If not I hope you will not be too annoyed with me if I suggest that you might like to purchase the new version. I will keep it priced at 77p for the foreseeable future, and maybe indefinitely, if I can pick up reasonable sales at this price.

Please try it - and if you like it, please consider taking time out to post a review on Amazon, for unknown authors it can help enormously to picking up a wider following.

Bye for now, and sorry for leaving it so long . . .