C.W. Hawes's Blog, page 4

Bestseller! Oh, my!

The launch of Who Mourns Elektra? (Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles, Book 21) has been my best one yet.

The book has been on the Amazon Top 100 Religious Mysteries list for a week. It reached as high as #25, and has been in the top 50 for most of the week.

In addition, it crested at 34,055 in the paid Amazon Kindle store. Pretty doggone good to reach into the top 35,000 overall.

With 2 of my last 3 books hitting the Amazon Top 100 charts, I’m hoping this is the beginning of a beautiful trend. A fantastic foretaste of even better things to come.

I’m still not pulling in enough from book sales to get that Rolls Royce I’ve always wanted. But I am hopefully seeing some payoff for my perseverance at this indie author/publisher gig.

The best thing is that the money I am making has cost me nothing other than a very little bit of time. And I like that.

Thanks for my success also goes to the Underground Authors and their united promoting of my books. 

And finally thanks to all who purchased a book to once again propel one of my creations into bestsellerdom. Thank you!

Who Mourns Elektra?. Another bestselling novel. Be still my heart!

If you haven’t picked up your copy, you can do so on Amazon.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

 

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

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The post Bestseller! Oh, my! first appeared on CW Hawes.

Last Day at 99¢

Today’s the last day Who Mourns Electra? is only 99¢.

Get Your Copy Today!

Tomorrow the price goes up to $4.99.

Harry wants a quiet life, shared with the love of his life, Rev. Ember Cole, running his coffee shop.

The Rev. Ember Cole wants to forget her past and do what she can to help usher in the Kingdom of Jesus.

Unfortunately, life and the town of Magnolia Bluff have other things in mind for our quiet and unassuming couple. Things like murder.

If you like puzzle mysteries that hearken back to a gentler era, touched with a bit of romance, you’ll love Who Mourns Elektra?. 

It’s available on Amazon at 99¢. But today is the last day.

Get Who Mourns Elektra? Today!

Because tomorrow it will be $4.99.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

 

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

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The post Last Day at 99¢ first appeared on CW Hawes.

Who Mourns Elektra is Live!

Today’s the day! Who Mourns Electra? is live! And only 99¢.

Get Your Copy Today!

Harry wants a quiet life, shared with the love of his life, Rev. Ember Cole, running his coffee shop.

The Rev. Ember Cole wants to forget her past and do what she can to help usher in the Kingdom of Jesus.

Unfortunately, life and the town of Magnolia Bluff have other things in mind for our quiet and unassuming couple. Things like murder.

If you like puzzle mysteries that hearken back to a gentler era, touched with a bit of romance, you’ll love Who Mourns Elektra?. 

It’s available on Amazon at 99¢ for the next week only. Get your copy today!

Get Who Mourns Elektra? Today!

 

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

 

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

 

 

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The post Who Mourns Elektra is Live! first appeared on CW Hawes.

Best Year Ever

Last year, 2023, was my best royalty year in the 9 years I’ve been an indie author/publisher.

And that was almost entirely due to proceeds from one book: Death Wears a Crimson Hat, which is the first book in the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles multi-author series.

Watch the Meet the Author vodcast to learn about the beginning of the series.

In October 2023, I released my second contribution to the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles. You can watch the Meet the Author vodcast to learn more about Ten Million Ways to Die. One reviewer thought the book was better than my inaugural book, Death Wears a Crimson Hat.

And on February 20th, Who Mourns Elektra?, my third book in the series will launch.

You can watch the Meet the Author vodcast to learn more about my newest book.

Where can you buy these books? Just tap or click the title and you’ll go to Amazon.

Death Wears a Crimson Hat

Ten Million Ways to Die

Who Mourns Elektra? (Link will go live when the book does)

And for the entire series (lots of great reading awaits), go to the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles series page on Amazon.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

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The post Best Year Ever first appeared on CW Hawes.

Looking Back: Ten Years Ago

Ten years ago I was 61. My wife had given me the okay to retire at 62 if I wished. And boy was I ever looking to retire and get out of the toxic county work environment that I’d endured for 30 years.

What I Wrote

In February 2014, I completed my massively sprawling post-apocalyptic epic The Rocheport Saga. A novel over 2200 handwritten pages long. The published seven volumes comprise about a third of the original manuscript. So there is lots more to add, if I decide to continue the saga.

In the spring and early summer of that year, I wrote Trio in Death-Sharp Minor and Festival of Death. The first two books in the Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mystery series.

During the summer, I wrote the first Lady Dru Drummond decopunk action-adventure novel: The Moscow Affair. And I edited Do One Thing For Me (a horror novelette) for publication.

Then I published the entire shooting match in November and December.

Dreamin’ of Riches

And like most writers, I immediately started dreaming about what I’d do with all the royalty money I’d be getting.

However, reality is a harsh mistress. And the money… Well, I quickly discovered that I was in the same league as the vast majority of fiction writers: we make very little to no money from our books. A sad tale, but true.

Although, I can say I am better off than many of my peers. Because, without any significant advertising, I have made at least $200 every year I’ve been at this indie writing/publishing gig. The operative phrase being without any significant advertising.

And last year, again without any significant advertising, I had my best year ever: pulling in around $630. Not a king’s ransom by any means. But I spent less than $30 in advertising and expended very little time hawking my books. The major “cost” was in writing, editing, and formatting — all which I did myself.

My hope is that one of these years before I die I’ll break that $1000 mark in income from my books. So stay tuned.

How to Make a Buck

One key to making a buck writing fiction these days is to orchestrate a massive advertising campaign, often to the tune of thousands of dollars. And hoping you sell enough books to break even. Few do. Even so, this is what almost all the gurus advise. Advertise, advertise, advertise.

Another tried-and-true method is direct sales. Man a booth at a fair, book festival, or convention. 

I know authors who have actually sold many thousands of copies of their books doing so. The downside is that your weekends are tied up and you have to lug around curtains of your books. But you can make a living by selling direct. Just too busy and too much traveling for my liking.

Social Media

Generally speaking, social media is a bust. I haven’t gotten any book sale traction via social media for a few years now. In fact, I’ve pulled back severely on my social media involvement. The results aren’t worth the time investment.

Social media’s value, IMO, is in meeting other authors.

Kickstarter?

A venue not often mentioned by the gurus is Kickstarter. However, the platform is drawing name authors who are trying to generate sales and getting followers. 

The success of Brandon Sanderson on the platform has kickstarted quite a few writers to give it a try. And when even unknown or little known writers pull in tens of thousands of dollars on their campaigns, it gives one something to think about.

Of course, there is work to organizing and conducting a Kickstarter campaign, but then there is work with everything. Except if you choose to do nothing. No work involved in that.

And this year…

So what’s on my docket for this year? Writing, of course. I’m also planning on giving Kickstarter a try. I’ll use the platform for the launch of my ninth Pierce Mostyn book. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

But you won’t find me going to book fairs, conventions, and what not. I’m retired. I don’t need to make a buck at this venture. As one writer friend says, “I’m just writing for the larks.”

If you join my mailing list

All genres, but especially mystery: 

https://dl.bookfunnel.com/dew2bf67hz 

Horror: 

https://dl.bookfunnel.com/aj2s8x1slq 

you’ll find out the latest and greatest, maybe get some free stuff, and get curated content.

That’s all for now folks!

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

 

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

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The post Looking Back: Ten Years Ago first appeared on CW Hawes.

A New Year of Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles

Year 3 of the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles begins next month, February 2024, with the publication of 

 

Who Mourns Elektra?
By CW Hawes

The book features not only murder and mayhem, but also the troubles and joys of the ongoing relationship between mysterious coffee shop owner Harry Thurgood and the Reverend-with-a-past Ember Cole.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, January 17, at 7pm ET, on the Meet the Author podcast, catch the live reveal of the first 3 books for this year.

This will be a fun show as Linda Pirtle, RC & JP Carter, and myself talk about our upcoming books.

The show can be seen on the Meet the Authors YouTube channel. The time for the live show is 7pm ET.

Be there, or be square!

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

 

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

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The post A New Year of Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles first appeared on CW Hawes.

My Favorite Things

The Sound of Music has so many fabulous songs in it that the musical has to be one of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s greatest productions.

The song “My Favorite Things” exudes positivity. A training exercise for the children on how to get over the speed bumps of life. It also works for adults.

I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad.

At its base, “My Favorite Things” represents an Epicurean approach to living day to day.

When the dog bites, or the bee stings, or when I’m feeling sad, all I have to do is remember my favorite things and at least some of the pain goes away.

This is the Epicurean approach: happiness via pleasure is already ours, we just need to reduce or eliminate the pain to realize it.

If you look at the things that Maria says are her favorite things, they aren’t even things she owns — they are things that simply bring her pleasure.

Rain drops. Kitten whiskers. Girls in white dresses. Snowflakes. Cream-colored ponies. Silver-white winters that melt into spring.

Life is full of pleasurable things we don’t even own. They just exist. It’s pain that prevents us from seeing them. Reduce or eliminate pain, and the pleasure is ours.

How do we reduce or eliminate pain? By remembering all the good things we have that aren’t even ours. But we have to force our minds past the pain to remember them. That is the work we must do to achieve the good life. A life of pleasure that brings us happiness.

Nothing happens without work. There are no magic wands. In the midst of pain and sadness, remember the good things, the things that bring you pleasure — and happiness will be yours.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

 

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

 

 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

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The post My Favorite Things first appeared on CW Hawes.

2024

Today is the second day of the new year. I trust yesterday was a day of feasting and good cheer. It certainly was for me.

This year I’m not making any resolutions. I don’t think I’ve ever completed a single New Year’s resolution. So this year – phooey. I’m not making any.

In fact, I’m not even setting any goals for myself. Not a single one. I’m tired of goals. They remind me of work and I’m retired.

I have projects I’d like to complete:

Set up a Kickstarter campaign for the ninth Pierce Mostyn book.Write a new Justinia Wright mystery.

And that’s it. Anything else I do, will be done for the joy of doing it. No more goals for this guy.

You see, last year was fairly momentous. I had a significant shift in my thinking. Namely, that the chief end of man is to pursue pleasure and avoid pain. In doing so, he achieves what we all want: happiness. And I want nothing more than to be happy throughout all the days that remain to me.

So no schedules. No goals. No resolutions. None of that stuff. It’s don’t worry, be happy. Il Dolce far Niente. The sweetness of doing nothing.

More and more I’m finding how sweet doing nothing truly is.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

 

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

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The post 2024 first appeared on CW Hawes.

Fast Away the Old Year Passes

Fast away the old year passes,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
Hail the new, ye lads and lasses:
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!

—Thomas Oliphant

Fast way, indeed, the year has passed. This is my last post for 2023. Next week is 2024. And I decided to write this post while smoking Sutliff Ready Rubbed (a simulacrum of the old Edgeworth Ready Rubbed) in my BBB Own Make Pot.

Fifty years ago I took up pipe smoking and have been a pipe smoker ever since. A pipe is a boon companion, a faithful friend. The pipe and tobacco are there for “when I feller needs a friend.” And who doesn’t need a friend every day in these troublesome times?

Earlier this year I once again took up my pipe after a lengthy hiatus. And I’m glad I did. It is indeed a boon companion with which to enjoy peaceful contemplation.

I also gave up my adherence to stoicism; largely adapting Epicureanism and its place.

And further, I decided marketing gurus can go to perdition. 

I’m sick and tired of them trying to sell me the latest marketing gee-gaw. Very little of their crap works. The tried and true marketing techniques are freely available on the internet. 

The problem is that the tried and true techniques require work. And because of that, the gurus promise the suckers magic wands which require no work. And many are they who quickly part with their money to get a magic wand.

Well, I’m done with that. I be a sucker no more.

Oh, I’m still writing. I have just stopped giving a fig about how much or how little I sell.

At 71, with about 14 years left to my life (given the averages), I’ve come to the conclusion that there are more important things than selling books. Writing them, for one. Contentment, for another.

His the new year, all you lads and lasses. Time is precious. Fifty years ago I didn’t think of death. Today, death is constantly on my mind. I don’t fear it. Death, after all, is part of living. It’s just that the old fellow is a lot closer to me than he was 50 years ago.

Isaac Asimov, when asked what he’d do if he knew he had only one more day to live, said, “I’d write a little faster.” I’m with Isaac.

So in the new year, I’m going to do my best to write a little faster. Ill health has slowed my production down quite a bit. But things are looking brighter. I hope that brightness allows my pen to move faster.

Books and stories are the legacy we writers leave behind us when we pass on. Even so, most of us, the vast majority of us, will be quickly forgotten. Nevertheless, it is my hope that my heirs and maybe their heirs will keep my memory alive and make a few coins for themselves in the process.

So my friends, do whatever it is that makes you truly happy. Don’t waste time at Vanity Fair buying the gee-gaws and trivial ephemera. Because those things don’t bring true happiness, they just provide a fleeting high.

And if you don’t know what makes you truly happy and content, then do your darndest to find out. Because death awaits, and you don’t want to find yourself old and not ever having truly lived.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

 

 

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

 

 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

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The post Fast Away the Old Year Passes first appeared on CW Hawes.

Stepping Up To The Plate

It is a well-known old saw that the home run kings in baseball also tend to be the strike out kings.

Sometimes we writers are like the proverbial home run king. We step up to the plate and expect our latest piece of writing to be that blast out of the park that wins the game.

And when it isn’t, we get all depressed that we struck out.

It doesn’t matter what we’re writing: poems, short stories, blog posts, plays, or the grocery list. If we don’t hit it out of the park, we become depressed at our “failure.”

The difference between we writers and baseball’s home run kings, is that writers too often give up. The home run kings don’t.

However, let me propose a different approach. We writers would be better off to picture ourselves as the initial lineup.

The purpose of our first work, doesn’t matter what it is, is to get on base. To get some name recognition. The money, scoring a run, will come later.

The job of the second batter in the line up is to move the runner into scoring position. And that is the purpose of our second piece of writing. It furthers name recognition. And builds reader attention.

Our third work is the one that may score the run. If not, perhaps the fourth one will.

In any event, we keep trying that tried and true plan of getting on base, moving the runner over, then bringing him home.

Michael Anderle did much the same thing I’ve written above.

Using the minimum viable product approach, because he didn’t want to spend a lot of money or time on his books if they weren’t going to get on base, Anderle published 3 books in one month and then a fourth the following month.

As it turned out, they were a hit and he went on to build a giant publishing empire.

Now most of us won’t become millionaires from our writing. But we can gain name recognition and maybe a few bucks if we work it right.

The formula is simple: get on base, move the runner over, then bring him home.

If we try for a home run every time we publish something — we’re going to have a lot of strikeouts and probably lots of disappointment.

And who wants that?

Baseball and writing. Yeah. It works.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

 

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

 

 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

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The post Stepping Up To The Plate first appeared on CW Hawes.