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 :-)