Here is the news...

Is it really that long since I posted last???
I remember the days I used to post three times a month, minimum!
Whatever, to the news!
The news is, I have none :-/
I've signed the contract (very binding) with Taylor Street, my free books are on their way to me now as I write and I have a very nice lady, (I have to write that, it's in the contract) called Charlotte, (christened Charles because I'm far too lazy to write Charlo... you know who I mean) who sorts out publicity etc. Otherwise, nothing has changed since I posted last so I'll bore you with some minutiae about the book sales.

I was awarded my worst review the other day. Two stars from a lovely chap called Keith who couldn't even finish it. Fair one, each to their own I guess. Personally, I felt a little hard done by the two stars because his points were, well laughable in my impartial opinion . However, that's the deal with Amazon, you put your book there for all to see and comment on and every Tom, Dick or Harriet can have a go at playing Torquemada if they've had a bad day at the rubbish depot.
It shouldn't really bother me, to be honest. You have to consider the mindset of an individual who'd want to spend their valuable time warning the reading world of the folly of spending 79 Pence on a book. I mean, would you do that? And if you would, why? I'd be interested to know.
Am I ranting here? Sorry, I'll stop.

I have been amazed at some of the positive feedback though. It really does light up the day when a complete stranger writes that they loved your work etc etc. And that folks, is the biggest pay off. The money is negligible for the amount of work that goes into a book, but the exhilaration experienced by unexpected praise from an unknown quarter is a bomb. Another plus is when people whose work you admire read your book and write to tell you. Two authors I like, Rob Craven and Craig Saunders wrote to me how much they enjoyed, or are enjoying, (Craig's still reading it) Division and that was a major "Back of the net" moment for me.
However, exuberance doesn't pay the bills...
I'll find out in a couple of days what my sales were for May, hopefully. I'm not expecting too much, to be honest. I did break the Top 100 in War fiction on Amazon.co.uk but then quietly slipped out again after peaking at number 27; a feat, I might add, that brought on a bigger grin than my first sexual encounter. So time will tell.

I've been on a couple of Blogs recently as well. Blog interviews are fun, (if you love yourself as I love myself) and they give you a chance to explain your characters and story. I was always worried that people might see Von Struck as a sort of Holocaust Apologists' super hero, which may sound laughable but is an all too real problem. So it's great to be able to explain why I used someone from the SS as a main character, or why I had vampires working for the Third Reich and not, for example, Cold War Russia,  or Post-Yugoslavia Serbia.

Anyway, that's it for now peeps.
I'll try and post more often, (how many times have I written that?).
All the best.
Reggie :-)

Developments...

So, as you can see, my proof copy has finally arrived. It may sound daft but it was, for me, a truly moving experience unpacking it. However, for the sake of not wanting to embarrass the family, (because nobody wants to see their dad blubbing like a lovesick drunk) I kept my tears to myself and inwardly wept with pride.

I can't wait to see it on the Amazon website in Europe though, that really will kick botty. 

There have been a couple more noteworthy developments recently that I thought might be good food for the Blog.

The first, and by far the biggest, is that I am now a great uncle!! My nephew and his lovely girlfriend Nicole yesterday welcomed their daughter into the world at 2255 GMT. Congrats you two, I can't wait to wet Isabella's head :-)

OK, secondly, I am no longer with Night publications; I am now contracted,
or will be when I send it back, to Taylor Street publications.


Basically the pool of authors for Night had become too large, too unmanageable. Tim, (the boss) decided to let Night run but take out about 20 writers from the stable to develop them further. The books that are doing well and some with what he thinks have the potential to do well, will be... wait a minute, why don't I let Tim, the Head Honcho, the Big Cheese, the Numero Uno, tell you himself:

      "...which is why Kathleen McKenna Hewtson and I set up Taylor Street Publishing Ltd a few weeks ago.

What we are doing is hand-picking the most successful authors and offering to build customised promotional packages around what they do. This includes experimenting with paid advertising but most of the projects will be a great deal more ambitious - getting movies and TV series made, partnering with major alternative book distribution opportunities etc..
     The writers we have targeted for Taylor Street are those that have sold the most books, those that are writing books in series, and those we think we can get into highbrow indie distribution."

 Cheers Tim.

So, that's where I am now :-)

Another piece of news is that my anthology, the classic horror idea, has had a tentative nod from Tim but I have to finish it first. However, the nod was still nice, lol.

Anyway, that's that for now.

Thanks to everyone for all the support recently, you know who you are and it's been a poignant reminder of how lucky I am to know so many great people.


As you were.

Reggie :-D

The story so far...

The story so far...

So where do I begin?

There's been such a lot happening recently.

OK, the free download promo went well and up to now I have ten good reviews on Amazon.co.uk, six on Amazon.com and two on Amazon.de, (Germany). All five stars except for one on Amazon.de which was awarded four... which still ROCKS !!

I've also put up a Facebook page for the book. At first I wasn't sure if it was a good idea, I mean what am I going to put up on it? I also felt it was a tad tacky, to be honest.

Whatever, a few encouraging words from friends and I went ahead with it two days ago. At this moment in time it has 89 "Likes", which is pretty cool in my humble opinion.

I put the You Tube trailer on it, the picture Steve sent from Afghanistan of the book, (which I have still yet to see, lol) and the cover, of course. I also put up a few pictures relating to the story. I'll be putting more material up soon and am toying with the idea of putting the first three chapters up?

Any thoughts on this from anyone who has read it, would that draw more people in??

One of the QDG Old Comrades wrote a good review on the QDG website. He liked the story, the characters, etc etc, but he picked up on the proof reading, which is a fair point. The thing is, the timing was terrible for my book. At the time Tim, the head honcho, had just finished a messy divorce, was in the middle of a move to America AND was just about to be married. Not the perfect setting for any book to be flawlessly edited... which is why mine wasn't :-(

I'd like to be filled with righteous indignation about it, but I'm not. It's my first book, I'm glad someone took it on and if a wrongly dotted "I" takes away from the story, then it's not as interesting a piece as I thought... although it would be nice if it was perfect, lol.

Right, that's it up to now peeps. I'm just waiting for the paperback version to come out and then I'll be bothering you all yet again with links, write ups and begging letters ;-)

Take it easy.

Reggie :-D

Free download promo, was it a good idea?

So, it's a done deal, The Division of the Damned is up on Amazon, costing 77 New English Pence per download.

As it stands now, I've SOLD (according to NovelRank.com, a very dubious website renowned for its inaccuracy) 38 downloads. Doesn't sound much, I know, but it's only been out a week and three of those days were the free giveaway promos, (more on that in a minute). So I'm not altogether unhappy with that, actually; especially because I never thought I'd see it in double figures ;-)

As for the free download promo, that was a roaring success!!.

Let me first illuminate the doubters on the wisdom of putting it out as a free download. The publishers I'm signed to are not rich and definitely cannot afford a promotion campaign; it just isn't on the agenda. Up to now Night has published, (I reckon) about 120 books all told, they do about two to three a month. It's a small publisher, (one boss, two editors, someone for the books and a Yorkshire terrier called Colin... OK, I lied about the dog, would have been cool though) who don't have money problems but they don't have it to spare, so marketing is on the author.

Sooooo, how do I market a book with no money, (as I DO have money problems, lol).

Mmmm, well, Amazon have a deal that involves you being able to give your book away free for five days every three months. That's pretty good of them in that for those five days they don't receive any money either. The idea is that enough people download it and then tell their friends about how good it is and write great reviews, which is what you're all going to do, I'm sure ^^

I let it run for three days, (well, Amazon did) and in those three days I had 3,535 free downloads in the US and 267 in the UK.

That's 3,535 people in America who have my book. What if when they actually finish reading it they tell their friends what a masterpiece of literary ingenuity it is and the word spreads. What if only half of them do that?

Today Amazon, tomorrow THE WORLD sort of thing.

Jessie Aru, (thanks Jess.^^) gave it a mention on BFBS but that's the only promotion I've had outside of Facebook. So the free download worked better than I thought, especially as "Division" sat at number one in Britain, America and Germany in the free download charts for War Fiction... which was very satisfing to see regardless of the fact that I'd make no money on it.

Anyway, that's the situation as it stands now peeps. Speculate to accumulate, as it were.

The paperback is apparently ready to order on Amazon.com but will be coming to Britain and Germany V. soon. so meanwhile I'm pushing my book to my 700 odd Facebook friends and waiting to see what happens.

Have a great day all.

Reg :-)

The Big Day arrives... and I'm on late shift. :-(

I always envisaged hosting a ma-husive party for the release of Division.

I saw myself drunk as a lord, toasting my family, friends and publishers with the best whiskey I could lay my hands on. However, it didn't happen that way.

With about as much colourful fanfare as a wet weekend in Whitby, The Division of the Damned, the mighty tome that cost me so many personal disappointments and such  massive emotional upheaval, squeaked timidly onto the virtual book shelves of Amazon.

A quiet email from Tim let me know that the Kindle version would be up on Saturday, paperback soon to follow.

Was I happy?

Of course, bloody overjoyed !!

However, after the initial thrill, hug with the wife and then show the kids, I packed my bag and went to late shift.

Harumph!

Very unsatisfying, if you must know.

Whatever, that's the only minus to the whole situation. Finally dear reader, after years of writing, rewriting, slicing and dicing, printing, begging for votes and sending my manuscript away, it's done.

The Kindle download version is on Amazon and I'm happy as a Dragoon who's been locked in an off-license all night :-)

Here's the link if you want to check it out: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Division-Damned-ebook/dp/B007RS1YUI/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_t_1

It's on as a free download as of Wednesday 11th April, so if you want to download it, do it then.

Right, I'm outta here, Spartacus cannibal holocaust to finish, lol.

Take it easy.

Reggie ;-)