Bookshops, reviews, and goodbye

(Posted from Sydney Airport)

Once again it’s farewell to TimTams, Vitawheat, sunshine, technicolour skies, translucent seas, whacky birds, weird weather and all the other things that make this beautiful country what it is.

What keeps the hungry writer going

I will miss all of it.

What I won’t miss however is trying to flog my books around the independent bookshops in Sydney – of which, I thought, there were a greater number than have survived in London. After days of footslogging around the suburbs I have received only one positive response; for which thank you to Gleebooks, who not only agreed to take copies of my book but did so with great efficiency and courtesy, all of which did wonders to restore a bit of this writer’s self-respect.

It takes some guts to write a book but boy that’s nothing compared with what it takes to sell it. Which brings me to another thorny topic:

Reviews

I’ve had some great responses on Amazon from people who’ve read my book, not all of whom are friends or family. But when it comes to getting other organisations or publications to review it I’ve come up against the bane of writers everywhere: the pigeonhole.

The Society of Australian Genealogists (aka SAG) were confused by Worst Country because it wasn’t strictly speaking straightforward family history. The Historical Novel Society thought it a great read but couldn’t circulate the review because the book is not strictly speaking a novel.

So I guess it’s time we self-publishers formed our own genre-free reviewing society. Or perhaps it’s already been done?

So a sad goodbye to Sydney (leaving never get easier) and hello shortly to LA.

See you all next time.