It’s all about the book …

our evening TV pose …

It’s all about the book(s) this week. The news from the spotlight tour for of Black Bulls and White Horses has come and gone. Ten spotlights – a combination of interviews (me writing answers to questions), the blurb, an excerpt and a bit about me. And one, lacklustre, review. The result? Not a single sale (of that book – the Sam Green series continues to plod along). So what’s the point? I’m not sure. The cost to me was about £100 and, if you were the COO of my company you’d be expecting 100 sales (the book’s on for 99p) to make the marketing cost effective. Alas, that hasn’t happened.

Why? The first and obvious answer is the book isn’t good enough, or the market was poorly placed. I think me being ex-military, white and a man doesn’t help. But it’s got to be about the book and its genre. The spotlights were fine, but the title, the cover, the blurb … they didn’t fire any canons. Oh well. It’s a lesson.

At the same time I’ve been cracking on with book 8. You already know that, after Shetland, I’m a month late. Has the lack of sale dented my ambition? Well, no. Luckily military training makes you get on with things. And I am very good at that. The target is always 1,000 words a day and, on average, I’ve been putting out 1,500. And they’re OK words. I have a plot, I’ve started to introduce two new characters (which is always a bit tricky, but fun) and, as always, there’s a lot of research needed. And I’m getting there with all of that. And I can’t see that slipping away from me, not this time. However, is this sustainable? Can I really keep writing what some people really, really like (check out the reviews), when ‘some’ just about covers my costs?

That will depend on the audiobook, and whether or not that takes off. And, even if it doesn’t, I might give Sam a year off and try something different next year. With the success of Richard Osman’s comic thriller (I’ve started it and love it – C couldn’t cope with the writing) there is clearly a market for a certain type of thriller. I have a sense of humour, after all. Who knows though … I am not Richard Osman.

filling up the escape pod

Other than that the car passed its MoT – which is fab. (Bless it.) In the vein of preparing for the apocalypse, we filled Doris with diesel and gas. She is our escape pod. And it seems very likely that Bex, Steven and Henry will come home for Christmas, which is great news. And I think we’re more likely to catch a flight to somewhere hot between now and then, rather than take Doris away. We could do with being luxuriated.

In the meantime … stay safe. Our numbers are three times higher than anywhere else in Europe and whilst we’re unlikely to succumb to the disease, long covid remains an issue. Till mid-week …