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.

Price promotion - price of book reduced from £1.71 to 86p

I've decided to cut the price of my Kindle ebook Smugglers at Whistling Sands from £1.71 to 86p for now. Sales have tailed off in the last fortnight, it's my fault because I haven't had the time to promote the book properly but I'm going to start pushing it with a straightforward price drop.

I was worried before that selling it so cheaply could be taken as a sign of poor quality or lack of confidence on the part of the author, but there are so many good books out there for 86p or less. Incidentally, you cannot set your price for less than 86p, but if Amazon become aware it is for sale for less than 86p elsewhere on the internet, such as on Smashwords, then they will cut the price to match. I only sell on Amazon at the moment, so 86p is the lowest it can be sold for.

I have to face facts, I am still an unknown author - I have had 47 sales since mid-summer, none of which have (to my knowledge) gone to friends and family, since I only wanted what I call "genunine" purchases. Forty-seven is a lot better than none, which is the fate of quite a few unknown authors selling their self-published novels. But if I want more I have got to raise my game. Writing the book in the first place is proving to be only half the battle - possibly the easier half.