David W. Robinson's Blog: Always Writing, page 48

Kindle Fillers

It’s that time of year when those dreaded words, “stocking filler” keep appearing.

Now call me old-fashioned, but the only thing I like to see filling a stocking is a leg, preferably female, preferably one half of a pair. And in case you’re thinking I’m too old for that sort of thing, let me reassure you… I have a long memory

When I was a young man, stocking fillers were odds and sods of toys, comics, sweets, etc. that you parcelled up for the kids on Christmas Eve. You literally filled their Christmas stocking with them.

These days it’s not that simple. With so many goods being of a technological bent, it’s less a case of filling stockings than filling PCs, iPads, tablets and e-readers.

And in the latter case, where better to start than Crooked Cat Books, those wonderful people who publish my books.

You didn’t know I wrote books? Well you should. I’ve been telling you for long enough. I meanersay, what do you think all the pretty pictures on this page are about?

It doesn’t matter what your tastes in fiction, Crooked Cat have it (with the exception of erotica and books for very young children, but then, who needs a Kindle for a turn on and what are very young children going to do with a Kindle?)

For the rest of us, the motley, Crooked Cat have everything from my own light-hearted whodunits, to hard-boiled crime from the likes of Catriona King and Frances di Plino, thrillers, historicals, romances, humour, and the (almost) inevitable chicklit. There’s a good deal of contemporary work, bit of sci-fi and fantasy, in fact there’s something for everyone.

And you know the best of it? If you’re a technophobe, Crooked Cat can still cater for you because all their titles are also published in paperback.

So if you’re looking for something to fill that Kindle, Nook, Sony, iPad, tablet, nip on over to Crooked Cat Books and see what they have to whet your appetite.

 

Three in the Charts

Yesterday was a day of pleasant surprises.

Checking my titles on Amazon at about quarter to six last night, I learned that I had not one but three STAC Mysteries in UK Kindle British Detectives chart. Lower end of the top 100, for sure, but they were making a show, and that’s important, not only to me as a writer, but all those whodunit lovers out there seeking new avenues.

Getting the word out, raising a book’s visibility and therefore its discoverability, is one of the most difficult tasks an author faces. Unless you’re well known (e.g. an established best-selling author or a celebrity) even those writers published by one of the big six houses can struggle to make their voice heard amongst the deluge.

Indie authors and those like myself, who are published by smaller houses, have different approaches. Some push for reviews, others pay for advertising, some use use video trailers, a few utilise professional marketing services.

I never bother about reviews. Readers read, and if they want to pen a review on Amazon or Goodreads, then fine. I don’t badger them for one. Good or bad, I don’t respond to them, either. Replying to a good review could be seen as sycophancy, responding to a negative review could be seen as sour grapes. After the so-called sockpuppet scandal earlier this year, I have my doubts on the efficacy of reviews anyway.

I tend to concentrate on social media, mainly Facebook and Twitter, but you’re often treading a fine line between letting people know your titles are there and annoying the hell out of them. I’m especially good at the latter.

My main method of marketing is to turn out more and more titles. Since I signed on with Crooked Cat Books at the beginning of the year, I’ve published six, and there are two or three more to come early in 2013.

And it’s not that difficult. I find the STAC Mysteries easy to write once I get in my stride, and although many authors (me included) will insist that novel can take anything up to two years to write, it’s not really a true reflection on the process. It can take a long time to produce but the actual writing takes very little time. Turning out 3,000 words a day is not difficult, and if your target is 100,000 words, the actual writing only takes about a month. The STACs tend to be around 60-80,000 words, the plots are worked out in advance and I know the characters so well that the polishing and editing take less time than they would on a major work like Voices or The Handshaker, both of which took about 18 months from conception to completion.

And it’s my productivity which led to the second bit of good news yesterday.

I’ve taken Writer’s News on subscription for over 20 years now. I haven’t received this month’s copy, but Jeff Gardiner, an online friend and fellow Crooked Cat author, assures me I get a mention in this month’s edition.

Happy? I haven’t been this chuffed since I cleaned the car interior and found five pound’s worth of loose change.

Authors vs Editors

Editors are the bane of an author’s life. Unfortunately, they’re also a necessity.

The worst possible thing any serious author can do is edit his/her own work. It’s not that you can’t see the errors or the glitchy prose. We’ve all written those passages and come back to them at a later date asking ourselves, “How many Tramadol had I taken when I wrote that?”

The problem with editing your own work is that you wrote it. You know what was in your mind, and as long as it’s not one of the aforementioned, Tramadol induced passages, it will always make sense to you.

I’m lucky. Not only is Maureen Vincent-Northam, my editor, an old friend, but she’s also a whodunit aficionado and since I write whodunits…

However, just because we’ve known each other since the internet was two tin cans joined together with a length of string, I don’t want to give the impression that I can get away with anything.

For those of you too young to understand that reference, when I was a lad, the simplest form of communication device was two tin cans tied to either end of a long piece of string. Try it some time. It’s fun.

Back to the plot: I get away with nothing. The spelling and grammar have to be correct, the prose must make sense, and the plot has to be tighter than my grip on a five pound note. Even when it’s obvious whodunit, the why must be well-hidden.

Take my latest project. It’s another STAC Mystery, aimed at Valentine’s Night 2013. (You may well have guessed that there are no holidays on the calendar that I will not exploit. The one after Valentine is targeted for Easter.) The script went off to Mo last week and came back to me yesterday. Correct all the typos, spelling and grammatical errors, and everything is fine, tickety-boo, but…

The plot is so transparent that if Mr Darcy wore it, he wouldn’t need to get wet to to kick the wife’s libido into overdrive.

Since it came back, emails have flowed back and forth across the ether so fast they’ve burned out the piece of string between the tin cans, but we now agree on how the thing should look when I’ve rewritten it.

If I’d been kamikaze enough to edit this myself, I might have put it out as it is and turned it from an average disaster into a full-blooded catastrophe.

And that is why we need editors. It means a lot of work for me (thanks Mo As if I didn’t have enough to do) but eventually, the reader gets a better deal.

************************************

Coming up to Christmas, looking for that extra prezzie? Try A Murder for Christmas, the 4th STAC Mystery.

 

Available for download from:

Amazon UK (Kindle)

Amazon Worldwide (Kindle)

Smashwords (all formats)

Crooked Cat Books (MOBI EPUB PDF)

And in paperback from

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

Just Dandy

Today is December 4th. It’s true. I checked my calendar to confirm it.

Anything special happen on this day in history?

Not much, but here’s a few:

1872 Mary Celeste found crewless by the British ship Dei Gratia
1881 Los Angeles Times first published
Thomas Carlyle (1795) and Ronnie Corbett (1930) were born on Dec 4th
Benjamin Britten (1976) and Frank Zappa (1993) both died on Dec 4th.

And in 1937, D.C. Thomson of Dundee published the first edition of children’s comic, The Dandy.

Today, Dec 4th, 2012, they publish the last print edition of that same comic. From now on, it will be online.

So this morning, as I nipped out for trivia like bread and milk, and essentials like lottery tickets and tobacco, I bought a copy of this last ever print Dandy.

It set me back £4 (about $6) but hey, am I counting? This will be worth a fortune in years to come. Not in my lifetime, but my great-great-great-great grandchildren will turn up on the Antiques Roadshow and the 22nd Century equivalents of Arthur Negus and Tim Wonnacott will eschew the ancient smartphones and iPads to wax eloquent over this magnificent publication printed (naturally) on real paper.

For me, this classic come filled with memories of the 1950s when, every week, my brother would buy The Dandy and I would buy The Beano, and when we were done, we would swap so we could each keep up with Korky the Cat, Biffo the Bear, Desperate Dan and Dennis the Menace.

Break times at school would be taken over with vital debates on the latest state of play with, Beryl the Peril, Winker Watson and Brassneck, or how long-suffering Aunt Aggie coped with Desperate Dan’s demands for cow pies.

One of the great joys of Christmas in those austere times was opening the annuals; giant, hardbacked editions of our favourite weekly comics; a glut of reading that would take days to get through.

I can still sense that excitement now; the anticipation of reserving a few hours to read this final issue of The Dandy. And when I’ve read it, I will encase it in polythene, and it will never be opened again. Instead it will be allowed to gain in value.

For now, I’m looking forward to this afternoon when I can travel back through time and engage again in that wonderful, innocent fun from a more innocent age.

And not a microchip in sight.

A Brace of Announcements

I’ve a couple things to announce this chilly December morning. First off, I’m cold. That’s not one of the announcements; it’s just a Monday morning moan.

It’s been colder than a polar bear’s butt round here over the last few days, but the frost has gone overnight, to be replaced by rain. Most people would probably prefer the frost, but I’m bad on my legs, and there’s less chance of me going arse over tit in the wet than on the ice.

And now to the promised announcements.

The latest STAC Mystery, Murder at the Murder Mystery Weekend was launched towards the end of November, and I was on duty all day at the traditional Facebook launch do. Opinions are divided on the efficacy of these launches, and you can find me moaning about it on Maureen Vincent-Northam’s blog.

Next, the Crooked Cat Christmas newsletter is officially released today. In it, you’ll find snippets and excerpts from various titles, and you can learn how some of our authors view the festive season.

You can download the newsletter in PDF format at: http://crookedcatpublishing.com/newsletters/

***

Did you know there are now FIVE STAC Mysteries?

And you can download them all in any format, including Kindle’s MOBI from

Smashwords

And in MOBI, EPUB or PDF from:

Crooked Cat Books

In The Chart Again

Pleasant surprise this morning: apart from the sun shining and a layer of picturesque autumn frost on the garden, that is. A Murder for Christmas, the fourth STAC Mystery, is back in the genre chart. It was sat at number 92 in the top 100 of the Kindle British Detective chart.

This is not setting the world on fire, but it’s important because it raises the visibility of a book which is good news all round. It helps raise reader awareness of other titles in a series or stand alone titles from the same author. And keeping the reader entertained is what producing novels is all about.

You could argue that the title is attempting to cash in on Christmas. Fair enough: but so are all other Christmas books, Christmas music, Christmas films, Christmas TV specials, and if you choose to switch on the TV, you’ll find every other advert is linked to yuletide.

The odd thing is, A Murder for Christmas is a consistent seller all year round. Sure, it peaks in November and December, but it still sells even in the heat of June and July.

At its core, it’s a STAC Mystery. Joe, Sheila, Brenda and their mob of born again teenagers whooping it up at the classy Regency Hotel in Leeds, making friends with members of the Leodensian Historical Society, when someone is murdered. What’s worse, a STAC member is accused of the killing, and it’s up to our master sleuths to crack the case… in between having a whale of a Christmas party.

Here’s how one reader described it…

“Filled with all the usual STAC mystery and humour, this entertaining story will satisfy long after the turkey and Christmas pudding have been eaten.”

So, are you looking for a Christmas read? You can download A Murder for Christmas from

Amazon UK (Kindle)

Amazon Worldwide (Kindle)

Smashwords (all e-formats)

Crooked Cat Books (EPUB, MOBI, PDF)

Or order the paperback in time for Christmas from:

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

Guesting

I knock out the occasional guest post for other blogs. Not often because I don’t have time.

Well today, I’m appearing on Lorraine Mace’s writer’s blog, offering some basic advice for those novelists who want to produce a series. I do know something about it considering the number of series I’ve churned out.

Lorraine is co-author of the Writers ABC Checklist along with Maureen Vincent-Northam, someone with whom my regular readers will be quite familiar.

I’ve known Lorraine and Maureen for some years now, and was well as being good natured and good fun, they are experts in their field. Lorraine is a columnist with Writing Magazine and a tutor for the Writers Bureau. Her talents do not end there. She is also the author of Bad Moon Rising.

A hard boiled and gritty police procedural published by Crooked Cat Books, semi-finalist in the Kindle Book Reviews Indie Book of the Year, I had a sneak preview of early drafts, and I rate BMR as one of the best novels I’ve ever read.

You can read my thoughts on producing series on Lorraine’s blog and you can click here to learn more about Bad Moon Rising.

Cyber Monday Sale

Cyber Monday is the Monday after Thanksgiving, and this year, it happens to be today. Originally an American idea like all the best efforts, it’s become a worldwide phenomenon, and the UK is not exempt.

So for toady a, Crooked Cat Kindle titles are reduced to 77p (99ȼ). For less than a pound, you can enjoy any of the great books. If you chose to buy every title in the Crooked Cat list, you’d still spend less than you would filling the tank on your car, and all that reading would last you far longer than the juice you put in the tank.

If you’re a whodunit fan, take advantage of this right now, because by tomorrow, everything will be back at its normal price.

Here’s where you can find Joe, Sheila, Brenda and their STAC chums unravelling the murderous machinations of various cosy killers.

The Filey Connection

The I-Spy Murders

A Halloween Homicide

A Murder for Christmas

Murder at the Murder Mystery Weekend

And if you want a darker tale, something with a psycho/sci-fi/horror edge, I can oblige.

Voices too is only 77p

And, naturally, the rest of the Crooked Cat list comes at the same price.

Fill up your kindle instead of the car, and enjoy some great reading.

This is Number Five

Happy New Year!

STAC are on the move again, spending New Year at the Twin Spires Hotel in the city of Lincoln, and just to add spice to the celebration, it’s a Murder Mystery Weekend, a play designed to keep them entertained and guessing over the holiday.

Naturally, it’s not all plain sailing. Sheila takes ill, Melanie Markham makes Joe an offer he can’t refuse, and while everyone’s soaks up the the puzzle of the play, a guest is murdered.

Joe heard an argument at midnight, Sheila and Brenda saw a suspect in the lobby at half past one, and the air is thick with accusation and counter-accusation as life begins to imitate art. Can the three companions separate out fact from fiction?

It’s their most puzzling case yet. It’s the fifth STAC Mystery. It’s…

Murder at the Murder Mystery Weekend.

Released today, Murder at the Murder Mystery Weekend is available for download from:

Amazon UK (Kindle)

Amazon Worldwide (Kindle)

Smashwords (all formats)

Crooked Cat Books (MOBI, EPUB, PDF)

And in paperback from:

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

There’s a huge launch party on Facebook and everyone is welcome. Come on over and join in the fun.

It’s Christmas!

And the gang are in Leeds to celebrate yuletide in style at the classy Regency Hotel. But sharing it with Leodensian Historical Society, Joe, Sheila and Brenda come across bitter rivalries.

And on a snowy Christmas morning, a woman is found murdered. To make matters worse, a STAC member is arrested for the crime. Joe and his companions know he’s innocent, but can they prove it in the fourth STAC Mystery, A Murder for Christmas?

And if that was tough, life gets tougher tomorrow, November 23rd, with the release of the fifth STAC Mystery under the Crooked Cat imprint. Their most puzzling case, yet:

Murder at the Murder Mystery Weekend

***

A Murder for Christmas is available from download from:

Amazon UK (Kindle)

Amazon Worldwide (Kindle)

Smashwords (all formats)

Crooked Cat Books (MOBI, EPUB, PDF)

And in paperback from:

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

***

Murder at the Murder Mystery Weekend is released Friday, November 23rd in all formats.