N is for a New Direction

A day or two back, I put up a post proselytising in favour of my publisher, Crooked Cat Books. I don’t apologise for that. But I was surprised by the post’s popularity.

This blog has been running for just over three years. It’s never been mega-popular, and if there was ever a theme to it, it was to promote my written work. But a quick skim through the site stats tell me that click-throughs to Crooked Cat are the third most popular after Amazon UK and Facebook.

This, in turn, indicates that there are an awful lot of wannabes out there, looking for a home for their work.

There’s nothing new about this. It’s not linked to the e-book explosion of the last few years. There have always been more writers/novelists than there are publishers willing to give a home to their work. Just ask any of the big six about the size of their slush pile. I remember meeting with a commissioning editor at a major UK TV company in 1996, and his office floor was littered with scripts all stacked six high. Every man and his wife has always wanted to be a writer.

And as if to reinforce this, the most popular post on this blog (after the home page, which is the landing page anyway) is one entitled “Rules for Writing Whodunits” which first appeared in February 2012. It’s taken 8 hits this week.

It all points in one direction; a new direction. We’re slightly over midway through the Blogging from A-Z Challenge and I won’t change my current plans, but once we get into May, and I’m back from my next Spanish jaunt, this blog will concentrate on the art or craft of writing, publishing, self-publishing, and so on.

Am I qualified to give such advice? Maybe, maybe not. I can tell you what I do, and it’s worked for me. I’m not a household name, but my books do move in substantial numbers. That’s not to say my methods will work for you, but you may pick up some worthwhile tips and wrinkles.

So stick around for the new direction, coming to this blog soon.