Tag: books

This Week Starts on a Saturday

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So far I am having a lovely week. Okay, so that’s probably put a hex on things but you never know.

I know Saturday is technically the weekend but this week is going to start on a Saturday.

I had a table at St Andrew’s Book Fair in Porthill. (Stoke-on-Trent for those of you not local to the area.) I go mainly for the gossip, delicious cake and the perfect cups of tea because it’s the sort of place I see familiar faces and they’ve bought my books by now. However, I met some lovely new people who bought lots of books – well six altogether but that meant I could buy more books from other authors to take home –  and cake.

With my daughter and her partner away for a long weekend it meant I could eat all the cake while reading one of my new books in peace and quiet. Nice.

On Sunday I finalised all the details concerning the publication of my new book, an anthology of three psychological stories called How Frail the Vessel. Thank you, Lewis Williams of Corona Books for doing all the hard work in getting it ready to present to the public. It’s available now on Amazon in both paperback and kindle.

Please, please, please write a review when you have read it. It helps to spread the word. We all talk about the Stephen Kings and J K Rowlings of this world but they had to start somewhere.

Monday was spent in the front garden. No dog as she was still away but I had the cat to help me. Repetitive weeding and tidying helps to stimulate the brain cells and I decided which way my new story is going. It was coming across a bit like The Day of the Triffids meets Shaun of the Dead and I wasn’t sure how that would work but thanks to a day away from the computer (a few days actually) and some hard graft in the garden I can see a, hopefully, more innovative story arc. No spoilers.

Tuesday began with a trip through road works, a queue for the local tip and a full car park in order to arrive the local surgery in time for a blood test appointment. It’s a good job it wasn’t a blood pressure check. Not so much fun although I got home in time to receive a box of copies of How Frail the Vessel. An excellent reward for a trying morning.

All Go in Buxton

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Thank you Chris and Lorraine (Book Folk of Buxton) for putting on another friendly, cosy Book Fair. It seems that every time I attend one of these events I sell a few more books than the previous time.

One of the highlights of this event was when a gentleman came to say that he had read my first novel, The Woman Who Was Not His Wife, and thoroughly enjoyed it. He then bought my second novel, The Ceres Illusion. I hope he enjoys that as much. Such comments are precious to me. It certainly made my day.

I also discovered that the two gentlemen on the stall opposite me lived within spitting distance of my home. So, as well as selling many books I also made new friends. If you are interested in Post-Industrial art look up Ian Pearsall. (www.ianrpearsall.co.uk)

A splendid day all round. I have booked for the next one. Sunday August 3rd.

New Year New – whatever

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I don’t actually do the new New Year being a bit of a Julian but for those who do belated Happy New Year.

January is always a bit of a busy month for me. It takes a while for me to get over Christmas to be honest.

I volunteer to help with the local Parish magazine and January means invoices and reorganising.

So – here we are in February.

There’s lots going on.

  1. It was my turn to read the story at Praise and Play. I wrote it a bit last minuteas you can see.
  2. The following day I gave the presentation of the book of our month at the Book Club I attend. ‘The Anomaly’ by Herve Le Tellier. A nice bit od science fiction for us to get our teeth in.
  3. I have a new book at the editing stage. It is called The Frail Vessel and contains 3 novellas each with a psychological twist.

So, 2025 has started with a flourish of activities.

If you’d like a dip into the style of How Frail the Vessel why not try The Boyfriend. It’s perfect for February as a lot of the action revolves around Valentine’s Day.

#psychologicalhorrorstories, #horrorstories, #coronabooks, psychologicalstories, #waterdragonpublishing, #scifi, #psychologicalcrime

Publishing

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I did say in my last blog that there were two questions I get asked. The second one concerns publishing.

Now that really deserves a complex answer because today there is so much diversity out there.

Publishing is totally different from when Enid Blyton was throwing out books about Noddy and naughty goblins.

Be cautious when googling publishers as they will fall into one of these categories;

  1. Traditional publishers
  2. Hybrid publishers
  3. Vanity publishers

Or there is –

  • Self publishing

If a company asks you for money in order to publish your novel then they are vanity publishers and other than removing your hard earned cash from your sweaty little palm they are not interested in your work. Please, don’t be tempted. Run a mile!

Hybrid publishers are useful if you want booklets associated with your business. Yes, you pay but you should receive a useful product with the cost offset by tax.

Traditional publishers no longer wine and dine their clients, nor do they arrange publicity. They will provide a finished article which satisfies you both and you will need to get together to organise publicity. You may get an advance and/or a percentage of the royalties. The main thing is you are not out of pocket. You pay nothing.

If all else fails you could try self publishing. There are a number of platforms out there. I would suggest paying for an editor if you’re not confident. I’ve seen some poorly presented pieces in my time.

However you chose to get your book out there please, please, please do you ground work. There’s no point sending a cosy crime novel to a company that specialises in hard science fiction. You will be rejected. Read some of their publications to get the feel of what they like.

Getting published is harder work than writing the book in the first place. What with …

  • Synopsis
  • Your bio
  • Tagline
  • Letter to the editor
  • Sample pages

… you need to make sure you present your work to its best advantage.

I’ve been lucky with Corona Books and then with Water Dragon Publishing.

My first story with Corona Books was pure luck – it happens. Water Dragon was researched and it paid off.

#coronabooks, #waterdragonpublishing, #horrorstories, #scifi, #scifistories, #horror, #psychologicalhorror.