My Big Flop

Charles Dickens had some flops – can you believe that the writer who was hugely famous in his lifetime, and ever since, had more than one flop, in fact, some would say a whole series of flops. After some hits, came some flops. Apparently, so says the Internet, Martin Chuzzlewit was a dud. Barnaby Rudge was also a big flop and he was in debt until that magical moment when he published ‘A Christmas Carol’.

And so I come to my big flop. OK, I’ll make that plural – flops. Hide in Time sells more than all the others put together but I hoped my latest – Immortality: This is Probably a Novel – would hit the right note. I’m still waiting. The notes it’s hitting at the moment seem to be off the scale – that’s under the scale not over the top. I know that sometimes books lie fallow for some years as did Hide in Time and then it was awarded one of those nice Best Seller banners (for a couple of weeks or so). But Immortality: This is Probably a Novel? Hmm... It hasn’t sold thousands, it hasn’t sold hundreds, it hasn’t even sold one hundred. More publicity must surely be what it needs, not dumping in the trash – the cover’s too nice.

And out of the blue comes a knight in shining armour. The book has now been splashed on YouTube courtesy of ‘Sir’ Joshua Grant. Unfortunately, so have I. Oh the hoops we authors have to jump through.

Anyway, please take a look and rescue this ‘unique’ (a well-read reviewer told me so) book. Don’t take too much notice of the waffling woman, it’s the book I’d like you to see – well, all the books really. If you can give the video a ‘thumbs up’ that would be good because it first got a ‘thumbs down’ from someone who got cross with Josh who, rightly, wouldn’t keep scratching his head when told to do so (live screening chat!).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3CXm...


Charles Dickens had some success, then he didn’t. At the time he didn’t know he was going to be called one of the great writers of all time and he struggled on until all his Christmases came at once when A Christmas Carol was published. And how is this relevant to you, good reader? I bet you can work it out better than I can say it.

And how is this relevant to Immortality: This is Probably a Novel? Because A Christmas Carol has visitors in the night who change Scrooge’s life and there are visitors in the night who change my protagonist’s life. (Someone else had to point that out to me – honestly, I despair of myself sometimes.)

And it just so happens that this blockbuster-in-waiting is reduced to 0.99 in the UK and USA until 5th May.

Sage Saying: Consider the postage stamp; its value lies in sticking to one thing until it gets there.
Handy Hint: Use nutcrackers to open stubborn screw bottle tops and lids. Easy.
Jolly Joke: Q. How many software engineers does it take to change a light bulb?
A. None. That’s a hardware problem.

For readers: This month’s bargain is? You already know the answer!



Immortality: This is Probably a Novel. You are invited into a mystery: intriguing, exciting, deadly.
0.99 in the UK and US until 5th May 2021. Free on Kindle Unlimited.