David Roy's Blog, page 7
March 20, 2022
New Post
It seems as if this my one hundredth blog post on Goodreads and to celebrate... I'm doing nothing.
Last week passed me by in a painful blur as a planet-sized abscess formed in my mouth and jaw. I did practically nothing but lie on the sofa, watch Netflix and groan piteously.
Next week, I will be re-born (so to speak) and back to proofreading, editing, marketing and so on. It's not quite how I imagined it but I have no complaints.
I can hear my chauffeur starting up the Bentley, so from my office suite in the Chrysler Building, I will bid you adieu.
Last week passed me by in a painful blur as a planet-sized abscess formed in my mouth and jaw. I did practically nothing but lie on the sofa, watch Netflix and groan piteously.
Next week, I will be re-born (so to speak) and back to proofreading, editing, marketing and so on. It's not quite how I imagined it but I have no complaints.
I can hear my chauffeur starting up the Bentley, so from my office suite in the Chrysler Building, I will bid you adieu.
March 8, 2022
Absent Victim review
Today's blog is just an Amazon review for Absent victim.
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and entertaining crime thriller
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 March 2022
Verified Purchase
Really enjoyable read with a plot that keeps you guessing right to the very end.
A tale of a woman who thinks she has murdered someone with no evidence to corroborate her belief.
The story flows through various characters and side stories to a very unexpected ending.
This is the book I was most pleased with upon completion, feeling that I had written a thriller just as good as any other on the market. Since then I have often worried that it might not be as good as I hoped. Therefore, when I get a nice review like the one above, it is a great relief.
https://www.hobartbooks.com/product-p...
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and entertaining crime thriller
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 March 2022
Verified Purchase
Really enjoyable read with a plot that keeps you guessing right to the very end.
A tale of a woman who thinks she has murdered someone with no evidence to corroborate her belief.
The story flows through various characters and side stories to a very unexpected ending.
This is the book I was most pleased with upon completion, feeling that I had written a thriller just as good as any other on the market. Since then I have often worried that it might not be as good as I hoped. Therefore, when I get a nice review like the one above, it is a great relief.
https://www.hobartbooks.com/product-p...
March 7, 2022
Trivia
'Blogging' about the books produced and sold by Hobart Books seems too trivial for words when there is a human catastrophe occurring in central Europe, and yet for now, for us, life goes on. I suppose that is a disclaimer of sorts. Who knows what the future holds for us but in the meantime Hobart Books sells... books.
To some extent history is repeating itself and often it seems to be the countries of central Europe - caught between Germany and Russia - which suffer most. Over eighty years ago the same things were happening in Poland and then spreading throughout the rest of Europe like a plague. We have published a book about that period - I Want You To Be Free. Who, back then could have foreseen the same basic evil taking hold again?
To some extent history is repeating itself and often it seems to be the countries of central Europe - caught between Germany and Russia - which suffer most. Over eighty years ago the same things were happening in Poland and then spreading throughout the rest of Europe like a plague. We have published a book about that period - I Want You To Be Free. Who, back then could have foreseen the same basic evil taking hold again?
February 25, 2022
Ukraine
Years ago, my wife and I visited the former concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau. It was a sombre experience and for some time after our visit it seemed wrong to even mention anything trivial such as where we would have lunch or what we would do that evening.
I suppose you could say that Auschwitz-Birkenau was the ultimate expression of evil, it's most coherent manifestation perhaps. The camp serves as a memorial to the people who died there and as a tangible warning from history. We should learn the lessons that the Holocaust and the Nazi regime have left behind for us.
Mr Putin has learned lessons certainly. The entirely wrong ones.
I suppose you could say that Auschwitz-Birkenau was the ultimate expression of evil, it's most coherent manifestation perhaps. The camp serves as a memorial to the people who died there and as a tangible warning from history. We should learn the lessons that the Holocaust and the Nazi regime have left behind for us.
Mr Putin has learned lessons certainly. The entirely wrong ones.
February 22, 2022
Smoke
Smoke Without Fire was the book which got Hobart Books running. Avid followers of this blog - legions of them - will, of course know that it is my account of working at a high school in Blackpool, being dismissed and then winning an employment tribunal.
Various people have mentioned that the story would make a good TV drama and so, yesterday, I took the step of sending my PDF version of the book to a TV production company. I have to say, they were very quick off the mark but I know as writer with several million rejections under his belt, that this means little. I am unlikely to be successful on my first attempt.
But just imagine if I was...
Various people have mentioned that the story would make a good TV drama and so, yesterday, I took the step of sending my PDF version of the book to a TV production company. I have to say, they were very quick off the mark but I know as writer with several million rejections under his belt, that this means little. I am unlikely to be successful on my first attempt.
But just imagine if I was...
February 20, 2022
Storms
After a ten day absence, my Goodreads' blog is back and a grateful nation breathes a sigh of relief. I have just been assessing the damage to my garden after Storm Franklin and can happily report that it looks no worse than it did after the previous storms. I am particularly happy to note that my garden shed - a bijou plastic number with many luxury features - is still roughly where I put it two years ago.
So Storm Franklin then. Quite a cosy name for an violent act of nature. The previous storm was called 'Eunice', benign and unthreatening. We do like cosy names in this country.
For instance, the first Gulf War was Desert Storm in American parlance, whereas our version of it was called Op Granby. Granby sounds like a hat made from tweed and soft leather or a type of unsliced loaf.
So Storm Franklin then. Quite a cosy name for an violent act of nature. The previous storm was called 'Eunice', benign and unthreatening. We do like cosy names in this country.
For instance, the first Gulf War was Desert Storm in American parlance, whereas our version of it was called Op Granby. Granby sounds like a hat made from tweed and soft leather or a type of unsliced loaf.
February 11, 2022
Technology
Hobart Books only exists in its current form due to the availability of technology, chiefly the internet, of course. The base for our enterprise is Hobart Towers in Oxfordshire, once a secret government intelligence centre. I operate from an out station in Lancashire but in combination some great new literature has been produced.
Eventually we'll probably rent an office suite in the Rockefeller Centre and go work work in sustainable private jets... but that's all for the future.
We have big plans. We owe it to our authors to relentlessly promote their work, although we ask them to do the same. This week, for instance, Judy Upton's book, Out Of The Frying Pan, has featured in a national magazine. It all helps.
I may not be blogging for a few days so I will sign out now and wish you all a merry week.
Eventually we'll probably rent an office suite in the Rockefeller Centre and go work work in sustainable private jets... but that's all for the future.
We have big plans. We owe it to our authors to relentlessly promote their work, although we ask them to do the same. This week, for instance, Judy Upton's book, Out Of The Frying Pan, has featured in a national magazine. It all helps.
I may not be blogging for a few days so I will sign out now and wish you all a merry week.
February 7, 2022
A new week
Marketing, marketing, marketing. This is the hard bit. We have ten great books, we just need the world to know that they exist. Thanks to Amazon we have access to a global market place but mainly we sell in the UK.
So how do you sell thousands of books when you're not Penguin or MacMillan? I think the answer is doggedness but you have to be careful not to become dull through repetition pf the same old stuff.
My latest idea is a competition to win a copy of 'The Lost Man', signed of course by the author. It seems common to include some ancillary gifts in these modest promotions, like a bar of chocolate and some incense sticks. The latter aren't really my thing so I'll be going to Aldi to get the chocolate later.
Is Aldi chocolate acceptable?
So how do you sell thousands of books when you're not Penguin or MacMillan? I think the answer is doggedness but you have to be careful not to become dull through repetition pf the same old stuff.
My latest idea is a competition to win a copy of 'The Lost Man', signed of course by the author. It seems common to include some ancillary gifts in these modest promotions, like a bar of chocolate and some incense sticks. The latter aren't really my thing so I'll be going to Aldi to get the chocolate later.
Is Aldi chocolate acceptable?
February 4, 2022
Editing
For the last few days I have been editing one of our new books. I enjoyed the book in question, 'The Steinberg Diamonds', simply because it is a rip-snorting crime caper. But you can never relax and read when you're editing because you are on the lookout for a missing comma, or a speech mark that shouldn't be there.
When you read a book, especially one you have written, you often see what you think should be written rather than what is actually on the page. This means that when this new book, for instance, goes through its second edit, there will still be mistakes and when it gets to the proofreading stage there may still be a few left. Overall however the book gets more and more polished as the process goes along.
There are matters of style and content to deal with too. Could something be phrased better, should a passage be taken out. or one added, or a different word used? It takes a while to get it right but errors jump out at readers if they are not rectified.
It is all worth the effort.
Please take a moment to check our catalogue of great titles.
https://www.hobartbooks.com/
When you read a book, especially one you have written, you often see what you think should be written rather than what is actually on the page. This means that when this new book, for instance, goes through its second edit, there will still be mistakes and when it gets to the proofreading stage there may still be a few left. Overall however the book gets more and more polished as the process goes along.
There are matters of style and content to deal with too. Could something be phrased better, should a passage be taken out. or one added, or a different word used? It takes a while to get it right but errors jump out at readers if they are not rectified.
It is all worth the effort.
Please take a moment to check our catalogue of great titles.
https://www.hobartbooks.com/
January 29, 2022
Kindle
As a self-published author, I sold 3,000 books on Kindle. At times I was selling over 100 books in a month and had a small following. Then that stopped.
What went wrong?
Kindle went from a marketplace with about one million titles to one with probably six million titles. My books - in the end about fifty of them - were simply lost in the literary morass.
Hobart Books still sell books on Kindle. It would be stupid not to. But this global marketplace is still over-stuffed.
However for another two days, out first six books are available to buy on Kindle for 99p.
What went wrong?
Kindle went from a marketplace with about one million titles to one with probably six million titles. My books - in the end about fifty of them - were simply lost in the literary morass.
Hobart Books still sell books on Kindle. It would be stupid not to. But this global marketplace is still over-stuffed.
However for another two days, out first six books are available to buy on Kindle for 99p.
