Tomorrow - my latest children's book is published

It's all very exciting. The fourth book in my Lou Elliott mystery adventure series will be published on Amazon tomorrow, July 4th, 2015. Trouble at Chumley Towers is supposed to go live (having been available for a month or so for advance orders) at midnight but with the time difference, I am guessing that will be 8am tomorrow Saturday here in Britain.

Perhaps appropriately for a children's book I am almost childishly counting the hours down to lift off! Well, you're never too old to be enthused about something are you, or at least you shouldn't be! I am really looking forward to giving readers another chance to catch up with Lou, Jack, David and Emily, having taken so long to come up with book four in the series.

I went badly off the boil - not only with this series but with writing in general - and also had other things which took up a lot of my time. Also, during my days in the literary wilderness, I lost touch with a number of people with whom I was corresponding via my George Chedzoy hotmail address, which got deleted by Microsoft due to inactivity. So do drop me a line, anyone who has emailed me in recent months and who has not received a reply - and for that matter, anyone else who wishes to get in touch (georgechedzoy@hotmail.co.uk)

I feel very pleased to be back into writing fiction again and looking forward to publishing my next book, which will be a fantasy adventure novella based on the characters from The Mystery of the Misty Woods. So look out for that in the not too distant future. It's already written, but needs quite a lot of editing before it will be ready.

As for the one after that - it might well be book five in the Lou Elliott series because I am so keen to keep going with those children and join them on further adventures and life experiences. I think they're a great bunch and in Trouble at Chumley Towers they enjoy getting together at Christmas with snow falling and tackling the mysterious thefts taking place from the stately home.

It's also my intention to bring out all my books in print format as well in the coming months - not everyone wants to read off an electronic screen, of course!

I hope you enjoy Trouble at Chumley Towers and I look forward to receiving some feedback on it. Remember - if you want to be among the very first to read it, it's available on Amazon for advance orders for a few more hours, before going live at about 8am tomorrow (British Summer Time).

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!

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.

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.

I've stopped selling Smugglers while I make a few adjustments

At the risk of annoying some people, not least those who have already bought my children's adventure novel Smugglers at Whistling Sands, I have decided to withdraw it from sale in Amazon's Kindle store. This is only a temporary measure to allow me breathing space while I make changes which I believe are necessary.

If these were just purely cosmetic I would keep the book on sale and just upload a revised version to over-write the existing file. But I have grown dissatisfied with a few aspects of the book, in particular, the ending.

I cannot explain why and what I intend to change without introducing a spoiler but I will say this: Lou is the lead character in the novel and I feel I let her down towards the end, cutting short her important role. If I am not happy with the book as things stand, then it is not fair of me to continue to sell it until I am.

For those who have already bought the book, I am more than willing to email you the revised ending when it is ready, just drop me a line.

Writing my first-ever novel has proved a big learning curve for me but it is the act of publishing it, the feedback I've got and the greater awareness I feel I now have about writing a good children's book that has persuaded me to go back into Smugglers and give it a few tweaks.

I can do that best by withdrawing it until the changes are in place.

A bad week for sales - I think I need to push my book a bit more

Pride comes before a fall and I was proud - or certainly pleased at any rate - to have sold four books last weekend. What have I sold since? Erm, norra lot, as Cilla Black might put it.

So it's somewhat disappointing. Actually my sales flurry last weekend was largely due I think to a regular holidaymaker at Abersoch who came across my book, bought it, told all his friends about it, and three of them also bought it on his recommendation.

But that is exactly the way a self-published ebook like this will either stand or fall in the end. It isn't enough to just upload it onto Amazon's bookstore and leave the rest to Google. Writing a book is just half the battle - marketing it is at least as difficult and I haven't done anywhere near as much as I should.

You cannot get a better accolade than when a complete stranger like Paul comes across the book and he and his young daughter like it so much they recommend it others who then also buy it. This is absolutely the way to do it. On that basis, and considering I deliberately haven't knowingly sold any to friends and family, I should be pleased to have 43 buyers so far. I need to keep pushing it and I am keen to write another - in fact at least a couple more, one of which will be a sequel to Smugglers at Whistling Sands and will also be based at Abersoch / Llyn peninsula using the same core characters: Jack, David, sister Emily and their friend Lou.

I did say that if I were to reach 50 sales by the end of Sunday, October 9, I would guarantee to write that sequel. I am all but relieved of that pledge now by the fact that there is no way I will get seven sales over the next 48 hours. However, I still want to write it - but it may not be my next book. This weekend I am going to think hard about which direction I now wish to take. I have half a mind for my next book to be pitched directly to the adult market, but I'll have to see which way my muse takes me!

40th sale achieved - now for the half century!

Mind you, I've had to wait for it. I'd gone three days without selling and was beginning to think when would I ever get my 40th! But tonight it came, and hopefully somebody somehwere, I have no idea who, will be settling down with a good book tonight: my book.

I suddenly realised something earlier that I have never actually stated in all my blog entries since I began this blog in early August, what my book is really about and my reasons for writing it. And that thought occurred to me as a result of reading the opening couple of entries of a brand new blog by a fellow wannabe children's novelist, Martin Jones of Toronto, Canada, formerly from Lancashire.

Martin has been regularly following this blog and has now decided to set up his own to promote his book, They Shoot Birds Don't They? And straightaway, he's done something very sensible, which is to tell people what the book is actually about! Not a bad idea really. All I've done is sort of vaguely tell people that it's a children's adventure novel set in Abersoch and the Lleyn peninsula of North Wales and I don't think I've exactly given away much else of the plot whatsoever. Of course, there are links to my listings on Amazon but I perhaps could have allowed people more of an insight into Smugglers at Whistling Sands, and the characters who appear in it.

So, it being the weekend tomorrow, I will endeavour to do that. I'll write a blog entry or two letting all those of you, save the 40 who have been kind enough to purchase my book already, know a bit more about the novel. And I'll select a few passages for you all to have a sample read, and see what you think.

Meanwhile, don't just read my blog, read Martin's - you'll find a link to it on the right of your screen, or alternatively just press here and you'll also find out a bit more about his novel, which is largely written but still in the final stages of production.

Have now dropped introductory price of 86p

I don't want to send the Retail Price Index through the roof but I have decided to drop my ultra-low price of 86p and leap back up to £1.71. Boo hiss!

There are a number of good reasons though, and I'll start with the obvious one: Amazon punish anyone selling their Kindle books for less than £1.71 (£1.49+VAT) by allowing them only a 35% royalty. Thus from an 86p sale, I would take only 26p - that is simply not enough of a return to reap an author a noticeable reward for his efforts unless he was lucky enough to sell huge quantities of books.

At £1.71 - I will take 70% royalty (minus an obscure 'delivery' charge introduced at this rate) which gives me 99p - a reasonable sum per book and one which I feel, can leave buyers with the satisfaction that they have paid a fair price for their ebook and the author has had his fair reward.

Of course, the priority for any fledgling novelist should be to acquire a readership - and not worry about trying to make money from it. I still hold to this principle so it may seem counter-intuitive on that basis to jack the price up, but I also feel that asking a mere 86p is sort of saying to people - "look my book may not be very good but come on, I only want 86p for it". In other words, by appearing not to value my own work, I may actually be losing sales.

Let's put it this way, if anyone reading this would like a copy of the book but doesn't want to risk £1.71 on it - then I will gladly send you a PDF of the thing for free - and you can pay for it afterwards if you like it!

Pleasingly, I have already had my first sale at the higher price - making a grand total of 35 sales. When you consider that some people struggle to get anyone buying their ebooks, I think that is a result which I ought to be reasonably happy with.

Milestone of sorts as I reach 20 sales

Apologies for taking five whole days since I last updated this blog. It isn't a sign that my interest is waning in my book writing project. Quite the contrary in fact, I am raring to get stuck in, both in promoting my current book, and starting to get on with writing another.

I have not been selling well the last few days, there has been a definite slow down, but I think that is probably as much as anything to do with the fact that many people still simply do not know about my book, Smugglers at Whistling Sands.

But tonight I had my 17th sale on Amazon.co.uk and I have now had three sales on Amazon.com making 20 in total. When you consider that those sales have come in little over my first month I should not be too displeased. I am now, temporarily no doubt, back in the top 100 bestsellers in the category children's fiction, action and adventure on Amazon.co.uk - just - at #99.

I think I should mention as well, the power of Twitter - I searched on the key word Abersoch on Twitter at the weekend and a few tweets came up from people who had mentioned Abersoch. I sent a personalised tweet to one of them, the woman in question had already heard of my book, was delighted I had got in touch and promptly bought it, once I had explained how. She also told a friend of hers who has since been in touch via Twitter but who wants to wait until I bring out the hard copy of Smugglers (which I will at some stage).

I mentioned how keen I am to plunge myself into my novel writing ambitions. Unfortunately for me, I have been kept very busy at work recently, not only trying to keep up to speed with my own output of columns, leader columns and features, but having to cover for the farming correspondent who is currently off.

And the more work I have to do, the more I daydream about novel-writing and then take even longer getting stuff done. I need to have more self discipline, dear boy, I tell myself. Unfortunately, I don't always listen, not even to myself!

Abersoch's top website tells the world about my book!

I'm delighted to say that www.abersoch.co.uk Abersoch's excellent no.1 website (literally no.1 - check Google) has just announced the existence of my ebook Smugglers At Whistling Sands to the world. They have done so far more effectively than I can.

Search Abersoch on Google, and this website comes up first and in its news section, you will now find a good write up on my book which is of course based at Abersoch and other locations along the Llyn peninsula. The news item contains links both to this blog and to the listing on Amazon.

I think it is a measure of how much I rate being publicsed by this site that I have given them the information about my book exclusively. I have not sought any newspaper publicity for it - I am happy to target it directly towards the two markets which really matter - the Abersoch / Llyn peninsula area and lovers of Enid Blyton's books.

I'll blog more very soon on my thoughts about targeted marketing for ebooks, but for now, I better get on with writing of a different kind - newspaper work (which is of course, what pays the bills!).

Another sale, and my thoughts are turning to reviews . . .

I had the fourth sale of Smugglers this afternoon and it is a funny feeling to think that, with the exception of my first buyer, who hails from Canada, I have no idea who the other three are.

Could they be the next door neighbour but one, could it be a family member? A work colleague? The fact is, almost nobody knows about my ebook and all members of my family are under instructions not to buy it off Amazon which is currently the only place I have my it for sale. I simply want to feel that any purchase is a genuine one, ie. one made by a stranger or a sworn enemy or something - not my best mate, or a sympathetic neighbour, or a kindly in-law who feels I need a little encouragement.

And the other thing is, will the book get reviewed - I can be pretty sure one of those buyers will review it but not necessarily the others. I do feel a slight feeling of unease that anyone anywhere in the world can download my book and just read it for themselves. My first buyer, who is himself writing a book, expressed that very emotion in an email to me and it made me realise I feel the same way.

I suppose it is easy to be nervous about any possible criticism but it is through critical appraisal that we all learn and all fledgling novelists should remind themselves that the greatest writers in history have their critics and indeed, from Shakespeare through to the likes of Thomas Hardy, have stuff to their name that is, shall we say, not their best.

It's interesting that my favourite author, George Orwell, so disliked his early two novels A Clergyman's Daughter and Keep The Aspidistra Flying that after early print runs, he refused to allow them to be reprinted in his lifetime. I enjoyed reading both, but in particular, Keep The Aspidistra Flying - a harrowing tale of a struggling writer who could barely make ends meet and felt worthless in the process. There is some very powerful, and at times poetic language by Orwell and I only wish he had written more of this type of book.

Anyway, enough of Mr Orwell for one evening, it is already nearly half past midnight here in North Wales and I could go on about him all night, and after another tiring day on the paper (working from home today though, not the office) I probably ought to get to bed. 

Sales of my Abersoch based ebook triple!

Oh yes, you can prove anything with statistics, can't you! Mind you I'm easily pleased where my ebook Smugglers At Whistling Sands is concerned. I had my second sale yesterday and my third sale about an hour ago. That's right I've sold three copies (since July 21, 2011).

It's great news. I was thinking I was going to go down in history as the only person to write a book and have no sales at all. So I'm very chuffed that I have made this progress. Here's to sale number 4!

My prediction yesterday that I was to end up on enforced gardening leave all day, so to speak, proved accurate. I ended up chopping down the enormous runaway bamboo bush outside our dining room windows. It was becoming a bit of an eyesore and it looks a lot better now. Still got the roots to dig out though - I'm hoping bamboo roots don't go down too deep. And today I was back at work at my beloved newspaper, writing a personal column and a leader column and finishing off a double-page feature which should have been sorted on Friday but wasn't. It had to be finished today because it's going in tomorrow's paper - a deadline is a wonderful thing.

I was thinking of sketching out a bit of plot for another book I'm hoping to get started on on the train coming back but it was a bit packed, and I was a bit tired so I settled down to read Quentin Letts' 50 People Who Buggered Up Britain.  Very amusing and apt it is too - particularly reading it in the wake of the riots which have buggered up Britain even more of course.

Quentin Letts is an excellent, fluid writer - I recommend him to those of you unacquainted with his skilful prose. That said, it's a pity he's not prime minister. 

Why I don't want to mow the lawn today

It's Sunday afternoon, 12.20pm (BST) and the smell of roast beef is wafting from the kitchen through to the lounge where I sit with my laptop on my knees typing this. But on pain of not getting any Sunday lunch my wife requires me to get out of my chair, into the garden and mow the lawn. After lunch, there will probably a number of other horticultural tasks available for me to do, in addition to helping look after our young kids aged 4 and 3.

At the risk of stating the obvious, I don't want to mow the ruddy lawn! I want to be working on book-related things. I have got a number of ideas for pushing my Smugglers children's book and I also want to be rolling up my sleeves thinking up ideas for book number two.

And yet, an afternoon in the garden beckons. Ok, that's not such a terrible chore, I'm just mindful of the fact that today is Sunday, I'm sailing through it fast, I spent all yesterday helping my parents who were taking part in Open Garden Day to raise money for their village church and tomorrow, I'm sorry to tell you, is MONDAY again.

When oh when will get some quality time to work at being a novelist? I just have to make time I suppose. And now my wife has summoned me to the kitchen to help prepare lunch. Oh well . . .

Marketing my Kindle ebook feels like a tough call

You know how it is when you're trying to roll a boulder uphill? No nor me, but I would guess it feels something like I do now. I just feel like I don't really know how to market my book and any attempts that I make are like cries in the desert, unheard by anyone.

Yesterday I adopted a direct marketing approach to pushing Smugglers At Whistling Sands. I contacted around 50 people with connections to Abersoch via Facebook. I didn't spam them by saying "please buy my book, it's just 86p." I would like them to, of course, but above all I just wanted them to know of its existence and that it is set in a place they know and probably love. Furthermore, I didn't choose them at random, but rather because they seemed the right sort of people whom it was worth contacting. Perhaps, if they tell others, news of its existence will spread by word of mouth.

So far, I have no reason to think that this approach will be successful however, indeed it might backfire, so I probably won't continue with it for now unlessI feel it does yield something positive. I have had no responses from anyone, but on the other hand, I've not had any complaints either.

The other thing I looked into today, was offering my ebook for free via Amazon's Kindle store as a limited promotion, on the basis that at this stage it isn't royalties I'm after, but readers. There are, after all, quite a number of pretty interesting looking books which are available via Kindle for free. But this is not an easy route to go down, I have discovered.

Kindle Direct Publishing does not allow authors to offer their books for free. You must charge the minimum of 86p (75p +VAT) on Amazon.co.uk and its equivalment on Amazon.com and Amazon.de. The reason a number of books appear on Amazon for free is because the company is committed to beating or at least matching the lowest price, so if Amazon finds your work is free elsewhere, it chooses to reduce your price to zero. But you can't do it yourself.

Maybe that is a route I should not be tempted down anyway. I spent a lot of time writing the 45,000 words to be found in Smugglers At Whistling Sands. I'm only asking 86p for it in any case. I've just got to keep finding strategies of driving people to my book.

Anything that works for me, I will gladly share with readers of this blog. In exchange, let me know what is working for you - I do hope something is!