Coming, going and coping

My week began slowly with regard to Pat’s situation. This was the beginning of what we call the ‘second week’ in the chemo process where the patient is most vulnerable. I had to pick up seven syringes from the hospital to begin the ‘protective’ phase for her, but by Wednesday she was showing signs of deterioration and Thursday morning was taken back into hospital. She is now on antibiotics and has had three scans. Outwardly, Pat is OK, and is showing signs of good recovery, but it’s unlikely she will be home for a couple of days yet. I’m getting used to living off ready meals by the way.

On the book front, I have joined a promotion for my latest book, No Time to Die. It began yesterday and this morning I’d sold five copies. The promotion will run for five days. The link for the books on offer, all free or $0.99 (Crime thrillers — 17 of them) is at https://storyoriginapp.com/to/5Jey3uT. At the moment mine is showing on the first page, but I think the organisers rotate the pages. Why not have a look?

All in all this month, my book sales have been sketchy, but I’ve managed to sell about 44 copies so far. That is good for me because it isn’t all promotion; a lot of that is organic. I’m hoping to remedy that by creating a campaign on Amazon Ads. Trouble is, I still haven’t got through the first Bryan Cohen video properly. I set the video going on my PC, sit back to absorb the information and wake up with out a clue of what’s been said. So I rewind and then give up. Back the next day, same thing. I will crack it though, after all, it cost a fair bit, but the idea is to have a forensic understanding of the way in which the ads work, and how to manage them. Time will tell just how successful I’ll be with them. Unfortunately my current situation doesn’t lend itself to serious study. I’m off to the hospital in ten minutes, couple of hours and home again. Snatch a meal, walk the dog and go back to the hospital. I’m spending more on car parking each day than I would on advertising. Frustrating, but that’s the way it is. When we lived in Spain, car parking at the hospitals was free (probably still the same).

I'm back from the hospital now, and have a couple of hours to eat, walk the dog, iron some PJs for Pat and finish this blog.

I have changed my reading habits from typical A&A thrillers, most of which annoy me, to perhaps a more cerebral crime novel. I downloaded The Sound of Rain by Gregg Olsen. (No, me neither). Anyway, the guy’s a ‘best-selling author, so I thought I’d give it a go. So far it’s a little weird for me, but interesting. I think the story will become more edgy as it goes on. I’ll let you know if I get round to finishing it; something I seem to have trouble with these days — finishing what I started.

I can’t see much further ahead for my own book ambitions, simply because I have little time to myself now. If Pat recovers fully, I should be able to get back to some semblance of order. I can only squeeze this blog in because of separating my morning and afternoon visits, plus I think by keeping this ‘space’ open, it helps me to maintain links to my readers and zillions of fans. Meanwhile, I hope I sell a ton of books. Wish me luck!

Great minds think alike.

The week began with a visit to the haematologist for Pat’s blood test results and a resumé of where she is with the chemo. It turned out that one of the chemicals, etoposide, was too toxic for her; no doubt it would have killed her had they persisted with it. That was the reason she ended up in hospital for a week. That has been resolved now, thankfully, and Pat is on her third chemo session. We had to go to the hospital three days running, which cuts into our free time, but it is what it is and we have to put up with it. Pat is a little wearier now, but so long as I keep an eye on her, we should be OK. CT scan next.

On the book front I’ve had an interesting week. Haven’t sold any books, but I have dived into a couple of courses on email marketing and Amazon ads. The former is with Adam Croft, the latter with Bryan Cohen. If I can master their advice, I should be able to look forward to a better understanding of how to use the kind of tools that an indie writer needs these days to make sense of the whole business. I have already decided to change my tactics with regard to marketing and will be adopting a new approach to my 1200 or so subscribers. I still have a way to go, but I will try to stay with it. The Amazon ads course is a little different in that there is a lot of study, about nine hours in total, and that’s without running a campaign. I will be testing the water later with my latest book, No Time to Die with an Ads campaign. You can find the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07WFQMQV4. That will be followed up with The Boy from Berlin.

When I circulated the jacket for No Time to Die, one observation from somebody was to ask what kind if title that was. Someone said it didn’t mean anything with regard to the genre etc. But I liked the title and decided to stay with it. Then a week after I’d published the book, I find that the latest James Bond film is to be called: No Time to Die. What a coincidence! See, great minds think alike. I might be able to make some capital out of the common link, but I have to wait until next April when the film will be released.

I had a couple of problems getting my jacket changed with KDP. I couldn’t publish the book because there was an error with the meta data, highlighted in red. I couldn’t see it. I checked all the KDP data pages for the book, but there was no red highlight. I contacted Amazon and was told that the pricing for Japan was incorrect. This is set automatically when you choose a price for USA; all the other areas have their price boxes filled in. Seems that I was charging 1215 Japanese yen for the paperback instead of 1218. Three yen? Anyway, we got it sorted. The updated book arrived today. Looks fine now.

Something to look forward to next year for members of Mark Dawson’s SPF group: a meet-up at Amazon’s HQ in London early March. I know the SPF group has a huge following, and I’m sure the meet-up will be buzzing. And from what I’ve learned about Mark and his partner in the business, James Blatch, it will be a pretty good turn-out. Hopefully I’ll be able to go and, hopefully, I’ll be able to tell people how successful I’ve been with email marketing and Amazon ads. Am I dreaming? Wish me luck!

On yer bike, son

Pat came out of hospital last Monday after spending six days in isolation. We were happy to have her home (me and Tuppence). Although Pat has recovered from the infection, she is still quite frail. I’m keeping an eye on her temperature and BP, but there is precious little I can do about her general weakness. She had a blood test yesterday in preparation for the appointment with her haematologist on Monday, which will be followed by her third chemo session the following day. All the jobs around the house are slipping behind again because of the amount of time I’ve had to spend on visits etc., but I’m hoping to catch up as we get through next week. This afternoon I’ll be doing the ironing and watching the football on TV (on the big tellie! Yeah!)

I published my latest crime thriller (No Time to Die) during the week, but not without a couple of tweaks that were necessary. When I checked the ‘Look inside’ facility on the Amazon product page, I could see the text was ‘left justified’; something I dislike intensely, but in the downloaded eBook the text if justified. It makes me happier but I did wonder how many potential readers would be put off by the book because of the way the text appears on the product page. I’ve bought a print version, which arrived today. There are a couple of changes I’ve already noticed that I’ll deal with, but I will go through the book with a red pen and then update the cover and Word doc before sending it up to Amazon. You can find it at https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07WFQMQV4

Back on the health front for the moment. I have had a chest infection (something historical) since Pat went into hospital and ended up seeing the doc. Meanwhile, Pat was talking to our eldest son on the phone while I was watching the football on my laptop. She told me our son, who is a personal trainer, said I should be on an electrolyte to compensate for my mood-swings (really?) and to ensure I don’t get dehydrated. She said I had to buy an electrolyte from the Wiggle bicycle company. Now I know I was watching football and not listening, but honestly, who buys electrolyte from a bike shop? But sure enough I ended up buying it from the Wiggle bicycle company. Could have gone to Boots of course. Perhaps Wiggle could start selling my books?

I’ve signed up for an email marketing course with Adam Croft. It’s a cheapy and he will tell me where I’m going wrong with my email marketing etc. Well, all the experts will insist you need a big bunch of subscribers because they are your most important marketing tool EVER! I’ve done Nick Stephenson’s excellent course, I’m a member of Mark Dawson’s SPF group and have followed his advice, and have seen it trumpeted far and wide by all those who know how to sell books through their subscribers. When I launched my eBook, I notified my subscribers of it’s release at 0.99 and it’s inclusion in KDP Select (which means it’s free for members), and sat back waiting for the sales figures to rocket. I have 1220 subscribers and in two days I have sold 2 paperbacks (I bought one), eighteen eBooks (yes, I bought one), and have seen 8 pages read on KU. Fantastic. So I’m wondering where I went wrong after spending so much time and money on Mark Dawson and Nick Stephenson. No doubt Adam Croft will reveal all. I think I will be told that it’s “Engagement” that counts. But how can I engage when my open rate is about 0.1%?

So, more effort from me, more effort from my readers and more pedal power if I’m to get anywhere. Wish me luck!