V H Folland

Sequelitis

2012-02-01T18:16:00.000Z

"DC plans Prequels to Watchmen Series"

I'm serious: check the New York Times.

That wasn't a headline I expected in my newsfeed this morning, but it also isn't a surprise. In summary DC Comics are getting new writers to write prequels to the classic comic Watchmen. Alan Moore, the original writer and character creator isn't involved. As the original comics tells two stories, many years apart it would be easy for prequels to spoil it for new readers, but rather than focus on that, I found the Alan Moore Quote at the bottom of the article interesting.

Moore states it is a blow to comics as a serious artform: “As far as I know,” he said, “there weren’t that many prequels or sequels to ‘Moby-Dick.’ ” NYTimes, 1st Feb 2012,

This I disagree with. I inherited a collection of books from a closing bookstore. Among them are Rebecca's Tale, Pemberley, and Scarlett.

Other authors writing sequels to classic novels, many years after they were released, is not a new idea. These sequels tend to have a few things in common: They aren't by the original authors, they were released many years later, and a few years after their release none of them have a profile anywhere near as high as the original books.

Rebecca, Pride and Prejudice, and Gone with the Wind are still unique. The existence of spin-offs is nothig new in the field of novels.

Regarding Moby Dick itself? A google search threw up five authors currently trying to write sequels. Wiki? Adaptations galore, and all but a couple are now obscure.

Given the above examples, and being old enough to remember when some of these came out (to great derision and comments of "Who does she think she is?" in at least one case) the greatest effect is always on the publisher and writer creating the sequels. The original? That stands alone. With all the original works, the authors above captured lightning in a bottle, the perfect combination of the times, attitudes, writing, and topic. Trying to do that again, within the constraints of an existing mythos? Unlikely.

So are sequels, prequels and spin-offs damaging to comics as a serious artform? I'd have to say no more than they were for novels.

This doesn't mean I'll buy the Watchmen prequels, anymore than I bought the ones above. Some things are better left stand-alone.

Taking a chance...

2012-01-23T14:47:00.002Z

Well, this blog is normally not the first with breaking news, but right now it is on the frontline of a test.

Testing what, you ask? Well, go to the Fire Season page (on the menu above) and you'll see a new "Read Sample" button. It's a prototype of an embedded reader for Smashwords samples, and making its first (temporary) appearance away from the test server.

If there's any takeup for it and no critical bugs, there is a Java app in the works which has more options, and which this version will eventually become the fallback for. Meanwhile here's v0.3 on temporary display. Since this blog is more likely to attract readers and authors than the coders' blogs, it's up here to gain a bit of feedback and some extra opinions.

For background, this is all part of the Smashwords Tools project which has been taking up a lot of my writing time. You might have seen a few of the small blue widgets we've been building, used on this blog and elsewhere. A few technically-minded Smashwords authors got together to make some widgets to help promote the ebooks.

There are more details over at the project's blog, here.

Conflict of Interest

2012-01-12T09:40:00.001Z

Here's a surprising announcement for the New Year:

Conflict of Interest, the Docks sequel, which I withdrew for re-editing after several critiques?

It's back up on Amazon, it hasn't been re-edited and it's up in its original form.

It sounds like an odd move, but while the editors suggested a lot of changes, the betas didn't like the edited versions. Since the beta readers are more representative of my audience, and I was going round in circles getting nothing else written because of the back and forth over COI, I've decided to take the decision to push it out the door and move on with something else.

The other reason for that decision was the christmas sales figures - while I may have pulled it most of the third parties didn't and it's building a steady fanbase.

I wrote it to deadline, I wasn't happy with it, and I just kept nit-picking, which really wasn't very productive. It isn't as if I don't have enough other manuscripts to work on, and I got into this to write what I wanted to read, not what I can already buy on shop shelves.

The other issue for me is an obvious spelling error in the Smashwords description for The Docks. While it is entirely my fault, I am somewhat nervous about updating it in case Smashwords proceeds to pull the entire book from premium and re-apply it for the sake of one missing "l".

I'll let you know how it goes...

The Twelth Night

2012-01-06T13:19:00.000Z

In some traditions, the start of 2012 proper. In mine, time to take down the decorations since it is unlucky to leave them up longer. In both cases, it's the time to shift from holiday mood and face the year ahead.

And there are a few changes coming up for 2012.

You might notice the blog is back to Project Wonderful ads, this time installed properly. After a few ads for well-known publishing scams showed up through Adsense, I decided to shift across fully since I didn't want to be thought of as endorsing them. I actually prefer Project Wonderful as a service, but last time my blog went down for a few days and my average traffic level dropped too low. This time, using a networked ad that runs across multiple sites, it should avoid that.

There are more unofficial Smashwords widgets in testing, although lack of feedback does appear to be getting to the developers.

I have books, and novels, and short stories, and things to write and edit. Unfortunately I also have bills to pay, so my writing time this year will be more limited.

It is always tempting just to take the huge amount of back-manuscripts I have piled up and throw some straight onto Smashwords unedited. Unfortunately, I think my readers deserve better than that, but editing costs money (and takes time) so 2012 releases are going to be rather slow. On the other hand, going by activities since New Year, it's also going to be more productive and more successful.

So, here's to a good 2012 to everyone, and don't forget to take your decorations down!

Blog hop & bookstore

2012-01-03T09:18:00.001Z

Join the New Year's Blog Hop at http://bit.ly/vGhCzV to win your choice of five ebooks or grand prize of a Kindle Fire!

Yes, my first post of the year is promotional, but then The Docks is one of the prizes for a rather large blog hop. I'm still working on COI and hopefully that will be back up and re-edited by tomorrow.

The other thing that is coming soon is an embeddable bookstore widget for the blog. I'm helping test the alpha version now on the Bookstores page (and you can view the mini-site version here), since this blog uses a narrower template than most.

The Smashwords tools in beta can be viewed here, for anyone who wants to help with the testing, or use one on the blog.

http://www.raggedangel.net/smashwords-tools

2012? Off to a good start, I think.

2011 round up

2011-12-30T12:47:00.000Z

It's been a busy year. I've gone into ebook for the first time, released a book on Kindle and launched two paperbacks. Not bad for my first year of devoted writing/publishing. Other items include the blog, the website, finding a few boards to get advice on, finding a new ad provider and even going back to writing a few more articles. Overall, I'd have to say it has been a busy year.

The last few days are not going to be any different. I think I've found a way to resolve my problems with the Project Wonderful ads. Part of the issue was that each of my sites had to have seperate ads, and on their own these subsites don't get enough traffic. After swapping a few emails, they actually have a way to link traffic from all the sites together under one, so this morning I've added it.

If it works, that will be a very nice start to the new year.

Conflict of Interest is back being edited. I've still got a lot of writing to do, so once the Christmas flood of work is over and I have a bit of time, hopefully I'll be able to get down to writing. There's a short story in the Fire Season world that was originally going to be my Nano-novel that needs editing and research but is basically complete.

And finally, another standalone novel, now at 60,000 words and likely to double that by the time the draft is complete.

For now, if I don't find time to blog again, I'm signing out for 2011.

Have a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T07:16:00.000Z

Merry Christmas
and a
Happy New Year!

Widgets and websites and blogs

2011-12-16T19:09:00.000Z

The ongoing saga of the missing books continues - we're now at three orders not filled that I know of. Please could you let me or the publisher know if you ordered a book and it has not arrived.

Moving onto a brighter note, there's new Smashwords widget on the blog, which is part of a whole third-party set of marketing tools in development to help authors market their Smashwords books.

Also, I have a blog interview up today with J E Taylor:Dishing it up With VH Folland.

An update on bookstores

2011-12-09T21:37:00.000Z

After some detective work, it turns out that the books have indeed not arrived with stores. The distributor lost the order.

I've taken the practical approach. I've spoken to the shops, who were kind enough to resubmit the order. Author copies have been handed out where possible and, now the orders have been resent, with any luck at the distributor's end The Docks will be in bookstores for Christmas. Otherwise you can still order it online or over the counter.

Hopefully at some point in the near future (read: next five minutes), I'll be able to get back to writing.

On a brighter note, I have an interview on J.E.Taylor's blog coming up, so look out for that, and I'll link it here when it's up.

And finally, about another author. Nick Davis, formerly a White Dwarf feature writer and now a novelist has just released a new book. Something of a change in direction, it's definitely a children's Christmas read.

A Teddy Bear Tale (available from Amazon or Smashwords is a charming tale of a teddy bear fighting the monsters under the bed with a touch of dark humour thrown in. Worth a look for anyone with younger children.

A Christmas Problem

2011-12-07T07:42:00.000Z

I am signing in because it has been a few days since I wrote. I am still here, I am still writing, but right now, I am trying to resolve a fairly major problem. My books were ordered by Waterstones in early November for Christmas. The bookshops haven't received them.

I suspect I am about to miss the entire Christmas market, which is not a good thought. In fact, it could be called a fairly major problem. Once people get back to me, I will give an update here.

Indie Firsts - A new Indie Magazine

2011-11-30T19:16:00.002Z

With the sudden popularity of ebooks, it can be hard to find one you want to read, given huge variation in quality, subject and e-reader formats.

Indie Firsts is a e-magazine. Downloadable in a range of formats it offers selection of first chapters from small press and self-published books, designed to allow readers to find new authors they want to read. It also has a few opinion pieces or short stories, depending on the magazine's theme.

Indie Firsts was created by Bards and Sages Publishing, under their Positive Publishing Perspectives Imprint. It is planned to be a monthly magazine, with each issue focusing on a different theme, but all offering a wide range of quality fiction.

The first issue is now available from sites including Amazon, Smashwords and Drivethrufiction

Amazon.co.uk

You can also read the magazine online via Smashwords, if you are interested:

Read Online

You might wonder why I am so enthusiastic. I'll come clean right now, they've featured "The Docks" in it, with a first chapter extract and opinion piece.

I also think its a very good way to promote new authors to readers, so I'll be following it in the future.

Reviews for The Docks

2011-11-26T10:01:00.000Z

After the book launch on Thursday, reviews have started to come in from several of the advance copies I sent out. In some ways, waiting for readers' opinions is more nerve-wrecking than the launch was.

Doubleshot Reviews have given it a four shot expresso rating, which is their highest.

"The pace is smooth and fast for this novella, which makes you feel as though you have read though a whole book."
Double Shot Reviews

Coffee order: Quad ("5) Quad: You don’t already own and have read this book multiple times? What’s wrong with you?! Put down the coffee and go buy this book!")

I'm flattered.

The Amazon reviews are more mixed with two five stars, two four stars and a three star on Amazon.com. and it is interesting seeing what the different readers take out of the story. There are more reviews to come (I can think of another eight copies I sent out), so I hope people continue to like the book.

After the launch...

2011-11-25T09:19:00.000Z

An interesting if quiet day at the signing, including a few interesting chats about crime novellas, short stories on Kindle and e-publishing, and small bookshops.

I'd like to thank Annette at Farthing Books (again!) for hosting us, and putting up with me for the day. She got something out of it, since another author asked about doing their book launch there.

I am still very tired so I'll settle for putting some photos up, snapped before it opened. The books were on a table here - it's right by the counter so it was a good location.

What people were really interested in:

While there is a lot of advice leading up to book launchs, most guides tend to miss the work needed afterwards. Helping put the shop back in order was fair, after everything had been moved around to accomodate the launch (and food). Today, the remaining books need to go to Waterstones or be returned to the publisher, any receipts and figures need to be sent in, and I need to recover, update websites and PR and pull down advertising.

I also need to get writing. NaNoWrimMo has five days to go, I have a lot of notes, but nothing typed up, and I need to get 50,000 words done.

50,000 words? 5 Days? Time to get typing.

Thoughts on an Open Letter and its Responses

2011-11-23T05:37:00.001Z

A few days ago an open letter from a writer to their publisher set Twitter on fire. Author Sebastian Marshall wrote to Carolyn Reidy the CEO of Simon and Schuster, his publisher, about what he thought was wrong with publishing.

While I am not touching the actual argument between the author and their publisher, some of it highlights legitimate issues about the whole traditional publishing industry, or at least the mainstream big-business part of it.

Liar old and new covers:

Cover art? It is very rare for an author to get a say in their cover art. This is why we get issues of white-washing, like the furor over Liar or Magic Under Glass, both of whose authors were overriden until reader backlash caused a change of cover. In the Liar example, Justine Larbalestier, who is an established author, chronicles exactly how much say an author has, and it isn't much. There are several examples of her prefered covers being dropped because "they wouldn't sell".

Another problem the letter mentions is "under-equipped" editors, but the truth may be closer to "extremely overworked". I know several editors who have been laid off, and those who remain are simply expected to pick up the extra work so the release schedule doesn't slip. Asking four or five people to do the work of eight to twelve will always result in a quality slip.

However, judging by a couple of ebooks recently released (e.g. the ebook version of Snuff), there is a sad lack of proof readers and copy checkers. Even in print books from large houses, I can now expect to find typos where a few years ago I would not. In my collection of vintage pulps and sci-fi, produced quickly and cheaply in the forties and fifties for a bulk market, such mistakes are very rare. Something has changed somewhere in the production process, and not for the better.

Conservative? Having seen the ebook contracts for some of my fellow writers and the way large publishing houses are handling them, I'd probably have to agree. There is a distinct view that it is about the book, sometimes for a very narrow definition of book, instead of the product. In the twentieth-first century the product is no longer one paperback book, it's that one piece of writing, whether supplied in print, Kindle, Nook, webpage, video app, podcast etc. Focusing on one platform doesn't work anymore, it is all about putting the content in front of the user and getting paid for providing it.

No good collaboration between departments? I'm not sure that's a specific publishing problem or more of a big company problem. Once corporations get to a certain size, it is very easy to become insular as teams form their own sub cultures inside the organisation. A classic example from another industry and my own experience was having a celebration after an achievement. I took my team (including designers, testers, editors) to lunch after a few weeks of very hard work where we all pitched in, but I was told off by the department head afterwards. "I thought you'd take the other managers," he said. "Your peers."

For real irony, the reason I'd got the project in and the other managers hadn't? Because I was prepared to walk up two floors and talk to the team working on it. This sort of divided "us and them" thinking can damage any company because the focus is placed on outdoing the internal competition, instead of the external one. In the worst cases it can lead to one team sabotaging another's projects to the detriment of the company as a whole.

So what can publishers do about it? Understand that just like any business, they exist in a changing world and follow the same basic rules: Adapt or die (Ivey Business Journal).

Some days have passed since the publication of the letter, so you may wonder why I am writing about it now. With time for it to spread, the reaction from publishers has been predictable, but so has that from many authors. A sentiment I keep seeing is:

"Pay me £65K and I'll do whatever they want!"

No. I can't stress this enough. Absolutely not. No matter how much the amount is or how tempted you are, you read the contract, you get an agent and/or attorney and you review the terms. That 65K could cost you 15% for the lifetimes of your grandchildren, or ban you from writing anything else until the book series is complete.

Publishing is no different to any other business and, no matter how friendly or reputable the company, they will always be looking out for themselves first. Always read the fine print.

Kristine Kathryn Rusch writes about dealbreakers and the publishing industry here, in two posts that I believe should be required reading for any author starting out: Part 1 and Part 2.

Everything Arranged

2011-11-22T04:08:00.000Z

Two days before and the books for the book launch are now at the shop. That's the last part of this sorted, so now it's down to waiting.

The checklist was impressive and after the launch I'll put it up on here wit a list of what worked and what didn't. I've got some of the posters and bits I saved from the Fire Season launch at Salute, and copies of that book will also be available which should bulk the display stand out slightly. So far the snow has not materialised so several of the maybes should quickly become yes'es.

Everything is working out. The only thing is the small issue of photos and a speech at the start.

The gist as always is "Thanks for coming, books here, buffet there, thanks again", but I would prefer something a little more interesting.

I'll blog again after the book launch with shop photos, details, and more. At least when it is over, no matter how well or poorly it goes, I can get back to writing. I have three unfinished manuscripts to get to work on.

Premature worries

2011-11-18T14:24:00.003Z

It seems I shouldn't have been concerned. I finished work commitments early and went to the bookstore. No photographer showed up so I spent a very nice day at a bookshop, discussing next week, fixing a computer, and generally browsing.

It was something of a relief since last night I caught a cat with my face when it did a plunge off the wardrobe, and currently I look rather like I've gone a few rounds with a boxer with bladed gloves. Not exactly photogenic, although appropriate for The Docks.

I've a few more people to contact about the book launch, and in general it looks like its going to be quiet, local and interesting. I am still slightly nervous because right now I have a lot of maybes and very few saying a definite yes, but it seems if it's too quiet we can always migrate to the pub for the evening.

So,, with a sense of cautious optimism, I can report that we have plans, and more plans.

And, of course, for any South London readers, details are here:

http://www.vhfolland.com/book-launch

Interviews, promotion and penname problems.

2011-11-18T01:09:00.001Z

I've just had the local paper on the phone, who want to feature the book launch. This is excellent news. However they then finished by requesting an author photo. This isn't such good news.

It's not just that I use a pen name for privacy as well as many other reasons. I dislike photographs in general. My stance on author headshots is well-known. Apparently the use of a penname (see reasons) is not sufficient signal that I do not want my personal and professional life confused, and that an author photo would not be a good idea.

Fortunately work means I will be away when they wanted to arrange the photo shoot, but given everything, I am seriously beginning to wonder if I would be better off leaving this penname and the books and walking away.

I wasn't exactly planning on a book launch for "The Docks", far less a signing, and I was unpleasantly surprised and taken aback by the interest shown in my personal life (irrelevant) compared to my book (relevant). I am not a brand, I am not particularly interesting, and I do not want to be. I write. That's it.

The real surprise? The behaviour of people outside the press, where the word newspaper seems to result in tunnel vision: up to and including the suggestion I should blow an NDA and breach a contract to hand out details of my job to the press to get them interested in a book. Fortunately I have better sense, but it does reinforce why I keep my professional and writing careers seperate. It also means I will be keeping a careful eye on certain people and am even less likely to agree to a photograph.

If you want to judge my books, read them. Articles about my background will tell you nothing about my writing. If you want to ask questions, the blog is here for comments.

At least it's here for the moment because, after thinking about this for most of the day, I'm two steps off shutting up shop and walking away, possibly before the book launch. The chance of damage to my non-writing career is just too high, and while I enjoy writing it doesn't pay the bills yet.

Back to work and random thoughts...

2011-11-14T09:50:00.003Z

I've easily written 50K words this month already, just not fiction or NaNo, and I've probably got that to go again.

Press releases, articles, non-fiction, and general PR has taken up most of my time.
I have a final author's copy of The Docks, text justified, back cover copy finalised, and generally looking good.

The Book Launch is on the 24th November, although there is a small problem with book supplies. The bookshop is not registered with our distributor, causing problems getting books tracked or ordered through Nielsen, so that's being looked into at the publisher's end.

What is really worrying me is this signing in the afternoon. I'm actually doing the signing because of the shop's request, and I can't see it going well. I'm not exactly the life and sole of the party, and spending the afternoon talking to people and then trying to be "on" again in the evening will be very wearing. Especially since I don't, and never have, liked talking about my books, and the last assessment of my social skills included the word "piranha".

What's going to be more difficult will be the question of pennames, photos (I don't do them) and the press. I've been told repeatedly I don't look like my books, so this could be interesting. Short of hiring an actor there's not much I can do about it, so I'll be taking the route of a six-foot-six bearded biker I know of, who spends entire writing conventions behind a romance writer's nametag, and brazen it out.

Still, unsociable lout or not, I should manage to get through this. If not, there's a pub opposite, and a thai restaurant next door.

On the other hand, with the wine (white at least) from the Iron Railway Vineyard, it should be a good evening

For more information: Click here

Rememberance Day

2011-11-11T10:45:00.000Z

The 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month...

Lest We Forget

Guest Post: Ty Johnson on genre and acceptance

2011-11-02T09:00:00.000Z

A guest post today by Ty Johnson, author of Ghosts of the Asylum.

Fantasy author Ty Johnston’s blog tour 2011 is running from November 1 through November 30. His novels include City of Rogues, Bayne’s Climb and More Than Kin, all of which are available for the Kindle, the Nook and online at Smashwords.

His latest novel, Ghosts of the Asylum, will be available for e-books on November 21. To find out more, follow him at his blog tyjohnston.blogspot.com.

Fandom has come a long way since I was a kid. Back in those days, the 1970s, it was still considered uncool to read fantasy novels, to watch science fiction TV shows, or to take part in speculative fiction fandom in just about any manner. Even reading comic books was kid stuff to be frowned upon by adults.

In my opinion, the popularity of Star Wars and early video games helped to change this somewhat. Then in the early ’90s the Internet came along and video game technology jumped by leaps and bounds, opening the floodgates for geeks and nerds and fanboys to step into the spotlight.

Oddly enough, I never considered myself much of a geek, nerd or fanboy. No, while growing up I wasn’t the manliest man among my neighborhood kids, and I did spend plenty of hours and hours reading Tolkien and Terry Brooks and whatever other fantasy authors I could discover. I even played Dungeons & Dragons. But, I also took part in the more traditional exploits of boys. I played kickball. At an older age I played football and soccer. I hung out. I got in the occasional fight. I tried my first cigarette and drank my first beer. I did the usual macho stuff boys did to prove their manhood to their friends and themselves.

So, no, I didn’t think of myself as geeky.

Later, as I entered my college years, I put most of that thinking behind me. I had important stuff to do, a degree to earn so I could get out in the real world and find a job. I was becoming an adult, or so I thought. The world of fantastical literature wasn’t completely put behind me, but it was on the fringes of my life at the time.

Once I entered the professional world as a newspaper journalist, I initially found I had little time for pursuits outside of the workplace. Newspapers became my life.

Until I discovered a handful of co-workers who were not only gamers, but budding fantasy writers themselves. Most of these folks were slightly older than myself, and they had grown up in a culture slightly different from my own (they were from “up North” whereas I am a Kentucky boy). Suddenly I found I could indulge in my whims and still feel like an adult.

Eventually, because of the economy, I was forced into changing careers. At that point, I decided to return to my childhood roots, to build upon my love for fantastical literature. I made fiction writing my new career. It wasn’t easy, and often still is not, but I’ve managed with the help of an understanding spouse.

By this point, I felt fantasy literature and the other speculative genres had gained acceptance by the general populace at large. And why not? Many of the top movies were science fiction or fantasy. The modern video game market teems with horror, fantasy and science fiction stories, characters and other elements. Even genre conventions, once only attended by those in the business or hardcore fans, had gained in popularity and were being attended by thousands upon thousands.

Let me add here that while I never felt like a fantasy geek, I also never had any derision for those who were labeled such, by themselves or others. I guess I had always walked a fine line between two worlds, that of the speculative fiction nerd and ... well, everybody else, so I sort of had a foot in both camps.

Back to my adulthood. As I was saying, I was feeling that speculative fiction and fandom of such had finally gained acceptance by the masses.

My thoughts on that matter changed when I wrote and released a non-speculative novel, More Than Kin. Yes, my non-speculative novel. More Than Kin deals with a dying man’s search for his long-lost son and the connections he makes with new friends toward the end of his life. I think it’s a pretty good novel, and those who have read it have told me they enjoyed it.

Why did the release of More Than Kin change my feelings about acceptance of the speculative genres? Because I started receiving e-mails, sometimes even from family, suggesting I should write more of this stuff, and not all that junk about swords and monsters and killers and the like. Even some few reviewers have suggested More Than Kin was better than my fantasy and horror work (I’ve yet to work much in science fiction).

None of this depressed me, but it did make me realize that gap between the "unacceptable" and the "acceptable" still existed. It was still out there, floating around over the heads of those of us who take part somehow or other in speculative fiction.

Will we ever gain acceptance?

Probably not. But maybe we don’t need to. Maybe we shouldn’t even be striving for acceptance. Tolkien and George R.R. Martin have proved fantasy literature can be accepted by the masses, at least in video form, so maybe that should be enough. Maybe we shouldn’t be pushing our wares upon those who aren’t interested, and should focus upon those who are. The geeks. The nerds. The fans.

Because that’s where the true acceptance matters.

Ty Johnson's blog tour continues through November to celebrate the release of "Ghosts of thr Asylum"

Overseas and over the counter...

2011-10-30T14:57:00.000Z

Pre-order options for "The Docks" have expanded, to be overseas and over the bookshop counter.

When a new book is released it takes a while for each stage of the chain to pick up the update from the one before, confirm the details and pass it on. I found out on Saturday that "The Docks" distribution chain has been configured.

The Docks can now be pre-ordered over the counter in Waterstones or from their website. It can also be pre-ordered by overseas customers through the Bookdepository, who once again are offering free overseas shipping.

Since the branches can now pre-order it, there is a possibility I can get a signing or launch event set up in a Waterstones branch. While I love indie bookshops, there is no doubt in our area that Waterstones gets more traffic and would sell more books. One cloud on the horizon is an issue with the evening launch that I've been alerted to by the bookstore, which means arrangements may need to be tweaked. It only came up yesterday, so at the moment I'm waiting to hear more.

Meanwhile I have a new set of edits for Conflict of Interest to work through, a book launch to plan, signings to set up...

...and NaNoWriMo starts next week. November is going to be a busy month.

A book launch

2011-10-26T13:43:00.002+01:00

My author copy of the Docks arrived this morning. Excuse me while I sound like a proud parent, but doesn't it look good!

It is a slim, mass-market paperback, with a glossy cover. Please ignore the slight lift to the cover in the photo: when it arrived the first thing I did was read it. The second thing was to go to certain book stores and wave it at the owners, who read it...

It should have been here a few days ago, but apparently DHL couldn't deliver. Royal Mail picked up the slack, and if that's the worst thing that happens while this book is coming out I will be delighted!

The book launch is coming together:

3pm-5pm Book Signing
7pm-9pm Launch Party

And all at Farthing Books!

Here's an online invitation. If you'd like more details please contact the store.

The main launch event is in the evening. Drinks, nibbles, interesting people, and lots of books. What more could you want? Entry is free, and refreshments will be provided. However, if you are interested in coming please phone the store to book ahead due to space constraints out of hours. It's from 7pm-9pm, although there's a pub nearby if anyone wants to carry on afterwards!

The book signing is more a convenience: since I'll be in the area (actually, I'll be in the store) setting things up for the evening, I'll be available to sign a few books as well.

Farthing Books
Tel. 020 8660 7688
21 Chipstead Valley Rd, Coulsdon, CR5 2RB (Map)
http://www.farthingbooks.com

Book launch Announcement

2011-10-18T07:54:00.001+01:00

24th November 2011 at Farthing Books.

Signed copies will be available at the shop during normally business hours, while the launch party will be in the evening from 7pm-9pm. Refreshments will be available. More information is available from the shop.

For information, please contact Farthing Books Tel. 020 8660 7688, 21 Chipstead Valley Rd, Coulsdon, CR5 2RB (http://www.farthingbooks.com).

We would like to cordially invite you to

"The Docks" Book Launch

to be held at Farthing Books

on

24th November 2011

Right, now the formal part is out of the way, I'd like to say a very big thank you to the owner of Farthing Books for allowing me to use her store for a launch this close to Christmas. Farthing Books is one of the newest independant bookshops in London, based on the Surrey Borders in Coulsdon, and specialises in discount books, remainders and unusual titles, as well as second-hand stock. With two train stations nearby and a car park opposite it isn't hard to get to.

If you drop in during the day I will probably be there - sorting things out for the evening and hopefully signing copies for interested readers. The evening will be pretty relaxed (as I'm not the outgoing type) with food, drink and hopefully interesting people to meet.

The only other bit of news is that Waterstones are now taking pre-orders for The Docks. You can order it online or instore, and they are also offering free P&P within the UK for online orders.

The Docks Book Launch - planning

2011-10-13T08:57:00.003+01:00

Well, it's official. The Docks is going into print. It can now be pre-ordered from the website, and the distribution chain is kicking off. I was holding off on updating because I wanted to submit a picture of the actual book, but that won't arrive for another week. (For anyone curious, Paypal is being used for pre-orders as it accepts dollars and euros)

What I need to plan now is the book launch. I have options: ask Waterstones, ask an indie bookstore or hide in a room above a pub. The only option not currently available is the Fire Season method of a very large games convention.

I'd like to support an indie bookstore, but this leaves me with all the planning. As a low-budget release it's not getting much investment from the publisher. Weekends and evenings would be best for me, friends and family, but most bookstores want to do a launch on a week day during business hours. Catering I can arrange from local shops, depending on what the locations rules are on food. Is this supposed to be something where I sit in a corner and sign books, or a general meet and mingle? Also, if it is an indie event, how do I make sure they get the best out of it as well as me? And I need to do all of this with virtually no budget.

I love a challenge.

All I know for sure right now is that it will be in November, and in the South London area, and if the venue allows the wine supplier I want it will be a very merry evening.

Anyone interesting in attending, please drop me a note or use the comment box below.

Meanwhile, its a good day for features: Fire Season is being featured on Bargain ebooks today (here). At the same time The Docks is being featured on No Trees Harmed. I promise I didn't plan this!

Vanishing reviews and spreading your risks

2011-10-06T08:24:00.016+01:00

This is interesting and currently the hot topic on book blogs: Amazon are removing reviews. Not just in ones or twos, they are emptying entire review accounts. These reviews aren't abusive or spoilers or anything to do with the content, they are detailed reviews written by bloggers and book reviewers. These are people who run their own blog and cross-post their reviews to Amazon, not the 5-star schemes out there. The current theory on many blogs is that Amazon is removing anything cross-posted to make sure that any reviews on its pages only appear on the Amazon site.

If this is true, this could badly affect indie books including mine, since the majority of my reviews on Amazon are by book reviewers not readers. As I don't make most of my sales from Amazon, it would be difficult to persuade readers who bought books elsewhere to post their reviews on the site. Other authors are in a similar position:

Despite the theory, the truth is more complicated: no one actually knows why Amazon is removing reviews from entire review accounts. They haven't commented, and the sites affected have been unable to find out, as Irene Watson of Reader Views mentions. The reviewers who have been hit include large sites like Midwest Book Reviews, with 60,000 books reviewed. Basically the belief is that Amazon is taking the line that any review posted on their site may not be posted anywhere else - including the reviewer's own page. If this is true, it could be a response to Google's new search weighting, which reduces the value of repeated content. However, Amazon has in general benefited from that change, so it seems unlikely. Another theory is to do with FTC regulations, but sites like Publishers Weekly and other industry review giants offering pay options have not been hit yet, so this seems unlikely.

Regardless of the cause, there are a lot of copyright and legal issues involved with this including the actual ownership of the reviews, but other bloggers will cover them in detail. I'd like to focus on the effects of the action, which I believe may have unintended negative side-effects.

One unexpected side effect of this may well be disproportionate damage to small press and indie sellers. While larger publishers can get reviews in mainstream media - television, radio, newspapers - smaller press will use blogs and social media extensively due to a smaller budget overall, and as a greater proportion of their spend. If the reviews are lost in proportion, then a large publisher may lose 10% of it's reviews, while a small press loses 80% or more. For example Mark Whiteway lost ten reviews in this purge. I've lost one - that's 20% of my Amazon reviews.

The second side effect I can see? Readers going to places like Goodreads to get reader reviews instead of Amazon (it's where most of my reviews are). Unfortunately for Amazon, Goodreads offers a full selection of places to buy books, so there's no guarantee customers reading reviews there will then buy from Amazon.

The third issue? Those same book bloggers, authors, and publishers, whose reviews have been lost then removing Amazon affiliate links from their sites. Since many bloggers support their blogs from affiliate links that isn't a small amount of money. Given the loss of affiliates in some parts of the US due to tax issues, upsetting more does seem like a rather odd business decision.

The fourth, and most disturbing one? An increase in the ethically unsound pay-for-5-stars schemes, where the reviewer has rarely even read the book. Because these five star reviews are not cross-posted anywhere, they aren't going to be caught by this sweep or removed. The accounts created for these schemes are treated as disposable, so if Amazon blocks one they will just create another. This means fake reviews are safer than reviews from book reviewers, giving small press an unintentional incentive to use these schemes.

However, since Amazon has made the decision it will proceed, even though the reasons behind it are unclear.

What can you do as a small press author? Remember Amazon is, when it comes down to it, just one distribution channel - in fact I'd go further: it's one retailer. If you are selling ebooks, make them available from Barnes and Noble, Sony, Smashwords, Apple etc. In fact you can do all those at once by using Smashwords, who also offer .mobi so you don't lose the Kindle market.

Paperbacks? If you have an ISBN there is no reason why you shouldn't be listed on multiple retailers. If you can get a distribution listing - through Ingrams in the states or Gardners or Bertrams in the UK, or with full distribution through one of their sub-groups - it should show up on multiple online bookstore retail sites. These include Waterstones, Smiths, etc. Shelf space can be harder, but again with a listing on any of those distributors or their linked suppliers, in the worst case scenario you can go into the shop and ask.

Reviews? Link them from your website to the book bloggers' websites. Have a link or widget to display your reader reviews from other sites e.g. Goodreads. Shelfari and Librarything have similar options.

It is a basic business lesson: over-reliance on one channel to market is unwise, no matter how large they are. Amazon needs to be one of the arrows in your quiver, not your bowstring.

In business-speak I could go on about Single Points of Failure, Theory of Constraint etc. Instead I'll suggest you should consider the question "If Amazon disappeared tomorrow, where would I be?"

If you can prepare for that, then changes like this one cause a lot less stress.

What do you think?

The Docks in print?

2011-10-05T06:47:00.003+01:00

My big news for the week is that The Docks may be coming out in print, handled by the same publisher that did Fire Season. It's a small-press arrangement, but once again the book will be getting distribution and shelf space. With luck, it might even be out in time for Christmas.

A 96 page mass market paperback, it would be on the shelves at £4.99. I thought this was a bit high until I went to my local Waterstones and checked the prices on comparable titles, which start at £5.99 and go up. Since everything else on the deal seemed reasonable I've taken the plunge and optioned the print rights.

The ebook got good reviews, so I'll be chasing quotes for the back cover. After all, comments like:

"I definitely recommend The Docks for a fast, entertaining read!"
Gathering Leaves Reviews

should help get some interest and hopefully sales.

There are a few more blog features on The Docks due out later this week, so I'll tweet them as they happen.

Now back to writing.

A week of promotion

2011-09-30T18:35:00.003+01:00

As well as writing on the various ideas I've got at the moment, this week has mainly been focusing on Promotion.

I was introduced to Project Wonderful last Wednesday. It is an interesting site, allowing users to bid on advertising space on a variety of sites of all subjects and sizes. My publisher promptly opened an account as a test and put a small amount of cash into it. Perhaps because it is targeted, the banners for The Docks appear to have a better return than Google Ads, both in terms of views and clicks.

At the same time, I'm trying to arrange a few guest blogs here (look out for Nov 2nd!) and just sent off a magazine article for the new Indie Firsts Magazine due out in December.

That's all just for The Docks. Fire Season has been sent out for more reviews, and has been submitted to Virtual Pulp Press bookstore, where I'm hoping it will be accepted into their Aviation Adventure section. Their store has a very nice collection of books, but make sure adblocker is turned off or you won't see them!

In other news, the Guardian has launched a loyalty card for Independant Bookshops. It's not currently valid in the ones near me, but I'll be keeping an eye out in case that changes.

On top of all that, I've got another 6,000 words written. Just for once, I'm actually glad it's the weekend!

Update: Virtual Pulp Press have just added Fire Season to their listings.

Fire Season on Smashwords

2011-09-21T10:59:00.003+01:00

After much discussion with the publisher, Fire Season is now available on Smashwords. This means it is available for the Nook, and in epub format for the Sony and other eReaders. There's also a DRM-free .mobi version available here for Kindle users. Fire Season will be coming to other stores, like Barnes & Noble etc. in the next few weeks.

It's still controlled by the publisher, managed by their account, and just linked to my Smashwords account. It seems rather odd to have something I can view but not directly edit. Given the number of epub downloads of Arrival, it seems sensible to have the main novel available in that format.

The only other piece of news is that adverts for The Docks should start showing up this month. I've been pointed in the direction of Project Winderful, who manage advertising for a range of online sites. The problem is that many of them are webnovels or webcomics, so my daily TBR (to-be-read) pile is growing.

SampleSunday? Harry and Dating problems...

2011-09-18T08:28:00.011+01:00

Rather than a sample from a book, here's a short piece inspired by a reader's question. I was asked why Harry wasn't having more success with the ladies. All I can say is, can you imagine his typical date at the moment?

"That's a nice neighbourhood." She glanced at the menu, and I hoped she wouldn't order anything too pricy.

"I'm sharing a house with my brother." I added, without mentioning I was sleeping on his couch at the moment. "So what do you do?"

"I'm a personal assistant. I work for a Vice President at Goldman Sachs." Classy lady. Why did I keep getting set up with them? What had my brother put on my profile? "What do you do?"

"I work in security. Security assessments." I could see her opinion of me dropping and suddenly remembered what my brother had drilled into me. "I'm a consultant." She thawed slightly at the magic phrase and, heartened by my success, I went on "What would you like to drink?".

"Surprise me." She glanced at the wine list and smiled. I glanced at it and suddenly realised I couldn't read it. Italian, French, floral script, it was a problem. I caught the waiter's eye, and he obligingly came over as I held the winelist up.

"A bottle of the house white?" I asked. White wine wasn't usually my thing, but with the prices in here we could split it. She didn't look happy. "If that's alright with you?"

"Fine." The waiter took the order and left.

"So what do you think you'll have for starters?"

"Just the salad."

"OK. So did you go anywhere nice on holiday?"

"Yes. Off to Greece for a month. I got a great tan." I could see. I could also see my chances of getting close to it vanishing into the distance. "Have you been on holiday anywhere?"

"Not recently. Work's been busy." She nodded sympathetically.

"So how did you get into security? It sounds interesting." I'd hoped she wouldn't ask that until the end of the date.

"I did some time. When I got out I sorted my life out."

"What for...?" She asked, warily.

"Armed Robbery and Manslaughter." She looked up, horrified, and I added lamely. "I've reformed."

"Ah." She went back to the menu, obviously hoping I wouldn't notice her easing her hand to her pocket. A moment later her phone rang.

"Mind if I take this? Hi Sandra, What's up?" By now I knew the script so well I could mouth along with it. An emergency and the date cut short. Polite goodbyes, and a refusal to let me call her a cab, or take her home or anything. It was classier than the ones who went to the toilet and never came back. I even got a peck on the cheek as she left. It still left me with a bottle of overpriced wine and an empty chair.

"Would sir like that order to go?" The waiter had returned, and seemed sympathetic. For a moment I wondered about phoning a friend to join me, and checked the time. The Boar would be filling up around now. I might as well join my mates there.

"Yeah. Thanks."

The Docks

Crime novellas focusing on Harry, a chap who isn't entirely succeeding in going straight...

Current projects for the week

2011-09-12T17:14:00.002+01:00

Type up notes. In other words, typing, typing, and more typing. I've got 2,000 words done today on various first drafts.

Other projects include a wikispaces wiki for The Docks series, waiting nervously for several more reviews of The Docks and Fire Season, revamping the look of this blog (again) since I've got Conflict of Interest out...

...and the more exciting news that Conflict of Interest is going onto Amazon in the next twenty-four hours.

It's going to be a busy week.

SampleSunday - Conflict of Interest Ch1

2011-09-11T10:19:00.004+01:00

I wasn't going to do Sample Sunday today, but since Conflict of Interest just got approved for distribution, and will be hitting Barnes & Noble, Amazon and more shortly, I thought I'd put up a link to a sample to celebrate. If you want the whole book now, it is available in all formats from Smashwords.

Today's SampleSunday is the complete Chapter One of Conflict of Interest, available from the website for CoI.

Read here: Chapter One: Conflict of Interest

There are a couple of Tweets going round, so please Retweet them if you like the sample:

Mugging an armed robber isn't bright. Conflict of Interest: bit.ly/qzhbkX #samplesunday #ebook

or

His robbery went as planned - until Harry was mugged. Conflict of Interest Ch.1: bit.ly/qzhbkX #Sample Sunday #action #ebook Pls RT

Print costs and decisions

2011-09-09T08:44:00.004+01:00

Putting the Docks into print will cost £200. That covers the cover artwork rights, ISBN, layout, formatting, proof copies, revisions and then a base twenty copies to get the distribution chain moving. This would be POD, producing a 96 page mass-market paperback. It also gives it a shelf price of £4.99, even after distribution, P&P, author royalty and production, which createspace and lulu can't match.

The problem is that right now, I don't have that spare. I can either publish two new ebooks, or put The Docks into print. The print audience is larger, and reaches people that don't own e-readers. It gives me access to bookshops, and to a wider set of reviewers. On the other hand, the best way to promote a book online is to release another book. It's not just the sales of the new books themselves, it's the sales of the existing books that follow on.

Right now, I am going back to writing. I've got several pages of notes to flesh out, and a novella or two to finish.

Current projects

2011-09-08T13:27:00.003+01:00

I've just been formatting some non-fiction for another penname, so I haven't updated the blog in a while.

Regarding my fiction writing, I've got a possible Docks novellas in the works, along with a Christmas short story and some notes for other possible pieces. Yes, I have written what happens when he finally ends up in court over the incidents in the Docks, after the end of Conflict of Interest. No, I am not spoiling it.

More to the point a short story set in Brooke's Vale turned into an idea for a reasonable sequel to Fire Season. I'm still at the note-taking stage, so it might not go anywhere, but so far it seems to be coming together nicely.

Conflict of Interest - Sample Sunday

2011-09-04T08:16:00.005+01:00

Work can be murder...

A new job, a fresh start, and things are looking up for Harry. Maybe going straight isn't so hard.

He didn't expect to stumble over a job aimed at his new employer, for the kind of money a crook could retire on. It should be simple enough: tell the police, let them arrest the criminals, claim a reward. Sorted.

Except Harry's not a snitch - and it's being organised by his mate...

Conflict of Interest is a crime novella (30,000 words) and the sequel to The Docks. Currently it is available at $0.99.

Here's a short exerpt from the first chapter for Sample Sunday:

Climbing out of the small window was harder than climbing in had been, but then I had the cash box under my fleece. Watching carefully through the small gap, I checked the alley was empty as best I could. Once the security camera was pointed the other way I slid my legs out, breathing in and forcing myself through the gap. The cash box dug painfully into my ribs, then went through. As my feet hit the tarmac I looked up at the back of the camera and grinned. Quickly I headed towards it, planning to wait while it panned passed the side of the alley and walk out in the blind spot. Then I just needed to turn the corner, walk to the little cash-let office I was working from and drop off the proceeds of my second break-in of the night. Simple.

"Gimme your money." OK, it should have been simple, but things so rarely go as planned. I stopped and looked at them. One of the risks of a job like mine - wandering around at night in dark alleys - was running into idiots like this. There were two this time, all designer clothes and attitude, waving these pathetic little penknives like they thought I'd faint. Usually I'd either have gone along with it or thrown a empty wallet in the street and given them a thumping for their trouble. Right now I wasn't just carrying my money and, after all the fun this evening, I wasn't handing my haul off to anyone.

"Make me." I grinned, curling my hands into fists. Any excuse for a rumble. They actually took me up on it, I'll give them that. Too bad they weren't very good.

They both attacked together, but a step to the side put them in each others' way. As the first turned, waving the short blade at arm's length in front of him like a sword, I grabbed his wrist in one hand and punched him. His mate tried to push past him, but a hefty shove sent my attacker reeling into him and they went down in a tangle of limbs. As they pulled apart, scrabbling to their feet, I sniggered. The first to his feet didn't run; he charged, leaving the other guy still trying to get up.

This time he tried to close, and I let him. Grabbing the knife arm, I swung two punches into his gut, grabbed his belt and, as he reeled, my knee came upwards hard enough to lift him off the ground. Between bar brawls and prison, I don't believe in fighting fair. He folded, eyes rolling upwards, whimpering faintly. There was a pitiful clatter as he dropped his knife. I let go, stepping back as he collapsed. His mate was on his feet, looking sick. As he turned to run, I yelled.

"Hey! He knows where you live." I kicked the whimpering lump on the ground. His friend stopped running, and looked back, the light dawning. "Now. You're going to come back here and we'll all wait for the cops. 'K?"

As he reluctantly walked back, I wondered where the security guards were. A brawl this close to the side entrance and they should either have sealed the building and called the cops or investigated and moved the problem on. Instead there was no sign of them.
The penknife was by my boot. Carefully I bent down, picked it up by the blade, and stepped away, just in case either of them decided to be stupid. The entrance was behind me and I backed slowly towards it, feeling for the edge of the steps as I put each foot down. Contact would let me know I was safe, but the steps could also trip me, and two on one with their victim sprawling even this pair couldn't mess it up.
"Are you alright?" The girl's voice came from behind me, and she sounded terrified. I edged round until I could see both muggers and the door. The night receptionist was clutching her phone, the heavy entry door ajar.

"Yes, thanks." I replied. "Could you get help?"

"I've called the police!" Her voice was shrill and scared. As I stepped towards her she darted inside and shut the door. Locks clicked. Smart bird.

"Can you call Mr. Wyatt as well?" I raised my voice, hoping to be heard through the letterbox. Inside, visible through the glass, she paused at the owner's name.

"Why?" I grinned at her.

"I've got your Accounts Department's cash box in my bag."

To find out what happens next, you can read a longer sample or purchase the book at Smashwords

Conflict of Interest Website

Conflict of Interest & Amazon

2011-09-01T07:12:00.005+01:00

Amazon say they will take at least 3 days to fix The Docks listing. In the meantime I am losing traffic from various features, which is frustrating (and costly) but can't be helped.

On a bright note, so far I have two issues reported with Conflict Of Interest, both in the HTML version only, and both purely stylistic. If the .mobi and .epub versions are correct, which they seem to be, I may leave this to get to distribution faster.

You can see them for yourself at Smashwords

The only other complaint was that on the page for The Docks at the end I hadn't added any nice reviews...

UPDATE: 20:30 and it looks like the Docks listing for Amazon.com is back up:
The Docks on Amazon.com The only problem is that as a UK resident I can't see the price on Amazon.com. Fingers crossed there are no further problems.

Conflict of Interest - Sneak Preview

2011-08-31T19:32:00.004+01:00

There is now a trial version of Conflict of Interest working its way through Smashwords.

This version still has one proofing pass to complete, but is up so we can identify formatting errors, anything that would prevent it going to distribution (which takes three days), get the ISBN assigned, the listing and tags ready and so on. The aim is to get the final version live this weekend.

For anyone looking for a preview, here's the link.

Conflict of Interest on Smashwords

This is a draft, but if you can't wait and buy this version to find out what happens, don't worry. If you pick up the draft, once the final version is up you can download a copy of it from Smashwords free of charge.

Amazon again.

2011-08-31T16:50:00.002+01:00

I will apologise in advance for the tone of this entry, but I am tired, annoyed and lacking sleep.

I was up until 2:48 am last night trying to get this fixed, then up again at six a.m. to call their US office. The operator saw the issue and escalated it, which does not explain why the broken page is still live or the two contacts today who didn't believe the page is broken because they hadn't read the ticket. This is no longer even vaguely funny.

Recovery plan:
1) Add a link to "The Docks" website in the comment section of any feature.
2) Don't launch Conflict of Interest on Amazon Kindle: it will just annoy more readers when they can't get The Docks.
3) Keep chasing Amazon.
4) Suggest to the publisher they get Fire Season onto a different format.

Finally: If it's not fixed by the end of the week, pull The Docks off Amazon so the broken page doesn't wreck the COI launch.

Some of the emails I have received have made it quite clear that readers are not impressed. All I can say is that I am trying to fix this to the best of my ability, and I apologise profusely.

The decision I have to make is that the last two days were supposed to be final proofing for CoI. I'm not going to have time to do that now, unless I put the book back again which I am reluctant to do. Delay it - again - or release it with only one round of proofing corrections? Decisions, decisions...

An Amazon update

2011-08-31T06:31:00.008+01:00

A breakdown of last night: Amazon don't think there is anything wrong with the listing. So far their support people have all taken one look and escalated it, only for me to get a email back from the technical team this morning that the listing is "fine". My thoughts were unprintable.

Not shown as an ebook, not in the Kindle store, and you can't purchase it. That's not fine.

I phoned Amazon.com (£2 a minute - ouch). They could see the response, and the still-broken product page. The support operator was very helpful and is escalating it along with a note that the first response was wrong.

Unfortunately it will still be broken when the book is featured on 1st September, because the department that should have fixed it yesterday is closed. Republishing won't fix it because the problem is with the ASIN. I cannot really see a way to recover this, because no matter where you send people they still look books up on Amazon.

And Amazon wonder why I won't print publish with them.

Here's a very fast update, ten minutes later: they made it worse. To my great surprise the listing claims the book (presumably printed) is published by Amazon and ships from Canada. This is when I start looking at lawyers, as the print rights have never been sold.

Update 14:00: The publisher got onto them. Amazon have emailed back and are confused as to why there is a problem with the page. Let's see:
- Customers can't buy the book
- The copyright info has been stripped.
My screenshot has been sent to Amazon, with details and links. I'm sure I'll find this very funny in a few months time, but right now it is driving me mad...
...mainly because this time last year they did almost exactly the same thing with Fire Season.

My apologies once again to anyone affected. Amazon in Autumn seems to be a bad combination for me.

Good news and bad...

2011-08-30T16:16:00.006+01:00

The good news is that I got another review for "The Docks", a good four stars courtesy of the Gathering Leaves blog

"I definitely recommend The Docks for a fast, entertaining read!"
Gathering Leaves (full review)

My new author website is up: http://www.vhfolland.com/, leaving only Fire Season's site to be reskinned, and I have a lot of promotion set up for September, including a sequel to The Docks.

The bad news is really bad: There's a problem with the Amazon.com listing for The Docks and it can't currently be purchased from there. I have flagged this up with Amazon and am waiting to hear back.

Meanwhile, if you would like to get a copy, please use:

Update (9.30pm): I raised this with Amazon at 16:00, who responded and unfortunately made the problem worse. They are now showing a listing for the book in print, and not Kindle. The book does not exist in print, making the listing nonsense (and any copies sold through it pirated). It still can't be purchased. It will be 24 hours before they give me another update.

The only way I can think to fix it is to pull the listing and republish, but that takes it down for a day or so and takes it off Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.de where the book is still live. My main advertising feature is on the 1st September.

I've already lost sales from today's review, and had complaints about the listing. I would like to apologise to any readers inconvenienced by this, and confirm that I am trying to get this fixed as quickly as possible.

For anyone curious about the issue, here's the side-by-side screenshots:

Any advice on what might be causing it or how to get it fixed would be welcome.

Update (1.45am): Amazon said it is fixed, but one look at the listing says it isn't, so I've batted it back to them. I will republish tomorrow AM if it isn't fixed by then. Once again, my apologies.

Conflict of Interest rewrite

2011-08-23T08:22:00.004+01:00

I took a risk at the start of the month, pulling an edited and ready-to-be-released version of Conflict of Interest back because I had a sudden idea. Yesterday I showed the first revised draft of the new version to the beta readers. They like it. Specifically, from the feedback I got, they liked it enough to read in one sitting and forgot to eat their pringles while reading.

Looks like the risk paid off.

Going from 'good' to 'gripping' makes it worth the delay and rewrite. It will be a while yet before it is ready to come out (Q3 instead of August) but I'm a lot happier with it.

The slightly embarrassing thing is that the sample I released last month is part of the book that hit the cutting room floor. Please look at it as bonus content.

I'd also like to say thanks to Marvin on Goodreads for his review of The Docks:

"the days of Dashiell Hammett and Mickey Spillane which is a big compliment. Those guys knew how to mix character development and action together and so does V. H. Folland." - Marvin, Goodreads (read full review)

Being compared to either of those authors, I regard as a very big compliment. Thanks!

New websites & Riot Relief

2011-08-19T06:39:00.009+01:00

A small marketing update. Rather than the basic website (a Google site) that is currently up, a set of new sites under the VHFolland.com URL are being put up.
The first two are now live:

Fire Season and my own site will be moving under this setup soon. As always feedback would be welcome.

On the topic of riot relief, the Reeves family have set up a fund to rebuild the Reeves corner area. It isn't just their own 150 year old business, but all the small businesses and houses that were affected (twenty-eight families lost their homes and possessions).

The fund accepts Paypal, as well as credit cards or cheques. For anyone who pledged to Mark Thompson's campaign, this is where you can redeem the pledge.

Rebuild Reeves Corner

A general update and appeal

2011-08-12T12:40:00.007+01:00

I haven't posted here, or much anywhere else, this week. For those of you following events in London, you can probably guess why. The end of the week was spent cleaning up the fallout, something which has been delayed by the fact that many sites are still crime scenes or outright unsafe.

If you would like to help, please view #riotcleanup or follow @riotcleanup for details of planned cleanups.For more ongoing relief efforts, the Evening Standard has details here.

An Appeal

Which brings me to a local tragedy: the destruction of Reeves Corner and House of Reeves. Founded in 1867, the House of Reeves store has been a landmark in Croydon for longer than living memory, run by five generations of the same family. It was completely destroyed on Monday night by the looters.

More than simply a landmark, House of Reeves is a thriving business and local employer. When the flats above the shops by Reeves Corner were caught in the blaze, people lost their homes and possessions as well as their livelihoods.

A pledgebank account has been set up by blogger Mark Thompson, which is open to anyone who wants to pledge. Click the button below for details.

If you can help, please do. Pledges can be made worldwide. (Pledge to Reeves)

Pen names

2011-08-02T15:29:00.011+01:00

One of the most common questions that comes up is about the use of pennames. Recently, the arguments over the use of real names on Google+ and Facebook which include several authors losing profiles because they are listed under their pennames, have really brought attention to this.

Several people assume that aliases or pennames must be used to be evasive or commit fraud, and yet this is not the case at all. This is a brief summary of some of the reasons why authors may use a penname, and a few known examples.

Ghost writing or work for hire, I am leaving off this: in those cases the author has taken the decision to write work that will be released under someone else's name, where they often surrender most or all rights and may not receive royalties. This is not the same as a conscious choice to use a penname: where the author retains rights, is still the author and if the book reverts it falls back under their control.

That said, on to pennames.

Genre
Unfortunately there is a perception that men write thrillers and action, while women write romance. This can lead writers to adopt an alternate gender penname for marketing purposes. A modern example is Jessica Stirling, the Scottish romance author.

Some female authors use initials, because there is a common belief that boys don't read books by female authors e.g. J.K. Rowling who was allegedly told by her publisher that "Boys don't read books by women".

The idea that female authors need to disguise their gender is an old one: Currer Bell's Jane Eyre is one example. Charlotte Bronte and her sisters desired privacy, and also felt that critics rarely judged women writers by the same standards as men, so adopted indeterminate pennames. George Elliot (Mary Ann Evans) had similar reasons.

Security and Privacy
Some authors value their privacy highly, to the point where "the reclusive author" has become something of a stereotype. Nowadays, with social network, appearances and more, the use of a penname to further protect privacy is simply another step.

While Stephen King's Annie Wilkes may be fictional, there are stalkers, fan boys and obsessive individuals out there and it is a sad truth that more then one celebrity has been attacked or killed by them. Mercedes Lackey's essay "The Last Straw" highlights her experience with this risk. Some authors adopt a pen name in advance, to reduce the risk to themselves and their families should they become famous. Authors writing on controversial topics may adopt a pen name to try to avert an organised response to their publications. Many political authors use this to avoid their professional life being affected by their writing.

Professional concerns

Some writers need to seperate their writing and professional careers e.g. Trevanian who used multiple pennames both for this reason and to seperate the genres he wrote in.

There is the possibility that writing can impact on your day job, and not necessarily only if a story you release is controversial. People may not be happy if they look up their accountant or lawyer and the first thing they find is their novel writing career. Also, if people know you are a writer there can be problems in your day job, both with being taken seriously in a professional field and with running into co-workers who are fans of your work.

There is a further concern in that some writers may need to avoid being seen to represent their company, depending on what field they write in. e.g. Nevil Shute, an aeronautics engineer who wrote aviation novels. There may also be legal concerns. Several organisations, often government or regulatory ones, ban employees or sub-contractors from advertising products completely - e.g. The BBC is well known for taking a very strong line on this, and has apparently released people over the issue. In some cases contracts of this types mean that while an author can write a book under their own name they cannot promote it - and very few authors make enough to quit their day job.

Marketing

Some authors adopt pennames to seperate their genre: Hugh McCracken, well-known author of YA and child's fiction, writes his gritty crime thrillers under the name Alastair Kinnon. This stops YA readers accidentally picking up the more adult work. In the era of SEO (Search engine optimisation), this is even more important if you want readers to find your books quickly.

It can also be to prevent market saturation - Stephen King wrote several early books as Richard Bachman.

More unusual reasons:

Alastair MacLean wrote several books as Ian Stewart, not because of any further need for privacy or because the books were in a different genre, but to prove that fans were buying his books because of his writing and not his name.

There is also the other reason that had cropped up more recently, for an established author to adopt a penname but list the book as "Writing as" which is to do with book ordering. Some chains will order 10,000 of an author's first book. If they sell 9,000 they return the rest and then buy 9,000 of the author's next book. If they only sell 7,500 of that book, they will only order 7,500 of the third book and so on. By the third or fourth book this can really impact the author's sales, so some authors used pennames with "Writing as" as the computer ordering systems reads it as a new author, but their fans can still find it.

I documented my own encounter with yet another reason here. There are, I'm sure, many other reasons to use a penname but hopefully this gives a quick round up of the basics. There are also reasons not to use a penname, but I'll go into those in another article.

Do you use a penname? Have any other reasons I should include? Please have your say below:

Conflict cover

2011-07-30T09:37:00.003+01:00

A quick update or two. First, I just received a draft of the Conflict of Interest cover, once again produced by Razzle Dazzle Designs.

Any feedback would be welcome.

Also Fire Season will be up on Indie Spotlight today. Read the feature and article here.

And finally a slightly unexpected effect of D.A.Boulter's Indie/BBoS project was a sudden boost to The Docks, which briefly jumped to 37K in sales rank yesterday for the first time. The details can be found here: Kindleboards.

Of course, an endorsement like that gives me a lot to live up to with the next book. Better get back to work on "Conflict".

Give an indie book a chance?

2011-07-27T22:00:00.003+01:00

If you pick an indie author's book up, what are the chances it will be good?

A few weeks back I took part in an experiment on the Kindleboards. D.A. Boulter volunteered to purchase up to 20 books with only one criteria: that the title hadn't sold anything on Amazon that month. I volunteered The Docks. The results are now in (full results here).

In total he picked up 15 books, and has read the first seven. In summary all were enjoyable reads, and only one was marked down for proofing and editing issues. He comments that

"‘Mountains of dreck’ may exist out there but, within this small sample of non-selling books, I didn’t find it."

It is a good point. I've heard people refer to self-publishing as "putting the slushpile online" but I have also encountered raw unedited slush. There are significant differences e.g. a surprising number of slushpile manuscripts are submitted with typos or gramatical errors (probably about 10% going by this post) because new authors assume - and sometimes state outright - that it is the job of the agent or editor to correct these errors. Most self-published authors I've encountered either self-edit or get a freelancer in to edit or proofread and acknowledge it is their responsibility. Authors who submit handwritten manuscripts to the slushpile are unlikely to e-publish.

Also, as these are ebooks, authors can withdraw and republish them if there is a major issue. This "second chance" could be seen as a trade-off for the lack of the initial editing and support of a traditional publishing house.

Now, the sample is slightly skewed: it drew from the authors on Kindleboards who are serious about their writing and presumably want to develop it enough that they have looked up a community and started discussing technique and writing with other authors. Second it asked the authors to submit their books. This narrows it down to authors who are prepared to admit to low sales, but are still confident that their book is good. On the other hand, by only taking books which had no sales that month, it was selecting against the bestsellers or higher ranked books which would be expected to be higher quality.

It may not be a purely scientific study, but it does show that there are some gems out there and that the odds of getting a decent read from a fairly random sampling are quite high (six in seven so far). User reviews are another guide: of the seven books that had reviews none had an average lower than four at the time of writing. Given that readers can view samples online it should be fairly easy to eliminate books that don't appeal.

So is it worth taking a chance on an indie book? So far it seems this would indicate yes.

I will end this by admitting my own bias here: he liked The Docks.

Conflict of Interest SampleSunday

2011-07-24T11:02:00.004+01:00

This sample is from an unpublished piece: A short sheak preview sample from "Conflict of Interest". This is still being edited, so I don't guarantee it won't change before the book comes out.

I stowed the papers in my own safe and secured it, hiding it as best I could in the cramped room. There's no point in stealing something if someone else takes it off you before it can be safely passed on. Then, brushing myself down, I reminded myself the job was only half done.

The second part should be simpler. Shoving the gear, ropes and knife I'd used for the first stage under the bed, I pulled on a non-descript dark green fleece and flipped the hood up to hide my face from cameras.

I walked out of the building where I'd rented the office – cash. no questions, they were desperate – and down to the end of the street. Turning left, five minutes walk led me to the little back alley down the side of my target. Wide enough for delivery vans, they even had an entrance door down there with a reception. They had added a camera since the last time I'd been here, and I walked passed the entrance sizing it up. Clumsily built in on the period building, it jutted out from the wall, leaving a nice blindspot underneath it as it scanned. Satisfied it was no going to be a problem I turned back and casually walked down the side of the alley, pausing underneath the camera to let it pan safely the other way.

Two more quick steps and I was by the little window that lead into the men's room. The janitor always opened it to hide his illicit smoke breaks, quite convinced no one could get in through it. Unfortunately for him, while a twelve by eighteen inch space wasn't my favourite method of entry, it was quite possible.

Gripping the corners, I forced it further open and pulled myself up and in. Kicking out with my legs, I got a bit of extra purchase and scraped through, twisting awkwardly to brace myself against the narrow walls. Gingerly I felt around until my foot rested on the cistern, and then pulled my other leg in and through, pushing the window closed-to. If the camera saw it, it should only have caught the window moving, but that would be supicious enough. Time to move.

I left the cubicle, knowing they wouldn't have cameras in the toilets themselves, and checked the cleaning supply cupboard. I was in luck. Cleaning supplies, and also new overalls. I pulled a set on as extra cover, the cap hiding my face. Unless someone was counting janitors, or at least monitoring them through the building on camera an extra one should go unnoticed. If they were that good, I wouldn't be here.

"Conflict of Interest" is the sequel to "The Docks", a crime novella available from Smashwords or on Amazon for Kindle (Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk) for $0.99.

An update

2011-07-22T07:06:00.004+01:00

Things are rather busy at the moment, but so this is just going to be a status update.

Conflict of Interest, the sequel to The Docks, is undergoing a lot of editing. The first round of editing added extra plot and tightened up the action. Now it's back for a second re-read and I'm hoping the editor likes it.

I'm working on replacing the Googlesite with a decent website, hopefully something which looks a bit better and is more likely to sell books.

The real problem right now is promotion. Due to contract restrictions from my work, I am very limited in what I can do to "promote or endorse" a product - one reason why I use a penname. However, it has been confirmed this does mean I can't use my real name for things like Facebook and setting up a fanpage, or even admin my own fanpage, because it would be held as endorsement. Huge sections of existing promotion are having to be split off (e.g. Squidoo lenses).

I need to find ways round this, but aside from sending out a lot of review copies, there isn't actually much I can do. Right now, I'm just getting my head down and back to writing.

The Docks (Crime novella) is an undiscovered gem!

2011-07-13T17:14:00.002+01:00

The title is taken from the feature that lovethyauthor have just done on The Docks. Reviews and comments like this make writing worthwhile, or at least let you know some readers like what you're writing.

*Bargain!* The Docks (Crime novella), 4 stars, is an undiscovered gem!

The Docks - a new review

2011-07-09T12:04:00.004+01:00

"Great short story that I highly recommend and I look forward to reading more from this author!"
Read It, Review It

The Docks just got its first review, a solid 4 stars from Read It, Reviewed It. I'm delighted and rather relieved since I'd heard that novellas did not do well online. It was a nice piece of news to end a Friday with!

The Docks is available on Smashwords and Amazon, with samples available free on both. Alternatively, it was last week's SampleSunday, and the first chapter can be read here.

Mirror, Mirror - duplicate cover images

2011-07-05T08:37:00.015+01:00

It has been commented on recently that many covers are very similar. With the rise in e-books, self-publishers, small press, vanity presses and reverse vanity, the number of these covers also appears to be rising. (*Many of the images on this entry are served by Amazon. Adblocker users may find them hidden.)

It isn't just small press that is affected. A particularly high profile example just happened to Stephenie Meyer, whose cover for the Host is very similar to an earlier book: De Beproeving by Tess Franke (spotted by IcanhazCheeseburger).

This isn't a new thing. In high turnover markets like pulp it's been going on since the fifties. (The Rap Sheet documents various examples). It isn't just that it is happening more now, due to more commercial stock image catalogues, but that with the rise of online book catalogues it is becoming more obvious and easier to find.

The driver, as always, is cost. Reusing original artwork in the 50's to 70's allowed the cost of an entire painting to be saved. Today, stock images are substantially cheaper than original artwork. Unfortunately the hidden cost of stock images is that they are not exclusive, and may be reused. With good typography and layout, this should not be a problem. A good designer can combine stock elements into something unique, even if individual elements can be recognised.

The other issue is time - amending painted or original artwork if revisions are needed takes longer than amending something on the computer. For a high-volume high-turnover house or an author mill this is an unwanted overhead.

This is a hot topic at the moment, among both indie and mainstream authors. There is a discussion on Kindleboards. A thread on AbsoluteWrite recently had an index of a lot of stock covers being reused, many 9 times or so. (Here, for members only). Classic art isn't immune: Caustic Cover Critic's blog entry shows 5 paintings, used for 24 book covers. Authors in larger publishing houses often have little or no say over their cover art, while indies may not have the funds for original artwork.
(Thanks to the History of Kindle blog for the example on the left).

If it's so common, and has so many advantages for the publishers, why is it a problem? Partly because a book like this won't stand out. It may be the best cover in the world, but if you are one of twelve books using it how do you draw readers? Also, where the same cover is used for books in widely different genres (literary and sci-fi, or Christian fiction and romance) how well can it really reflect the book's content? The question has to be: could you pick this book out of a lineup? In greyscale. And thumbnailed.

Covers don't have to be outright bad to deter readers. When a single stock image is used whole, it may not just be recogniseable, but can also put readers off because of the lack of effort it signifies. Today, with programs like Photoshop and Gimp available, almost anyone can take a piece of artwork and throw text on it to produce a decent result. As a result, a lot of indies use this technique. Covers easily recognisable as a stock image with a few words can actually deter readers. After all, the effort put into the cover - a book's first impression - can be taken to reflect the effort put into a book. Rightly or wrongly, some readers have become used to a poor quality cover indicating poor editing, spelling errors and even poor writing.

Where a company outputs a lot of books, their default covers can also become recognisable. For example, Lulu.com's basic templates can be spotted by bookstore owners easily, and can immediately make them wary. The cover tells them they are getting something the author self-published and, without a gatekeeper, quality varies so widely.

So, since duplicate covers have always been an issue, and with the rise of stock libraries is likely to remain one, how can an author be certain their book's cover is unique – or at least stands out? If stock image use is unavoidable, hire a designer or someone who knows how to combine the elements in a unique fashion. The use of stock images does not mean the covers have to be identical. An old but good example is Gail Carriger's Blameless, where Orbit released the video of how the cover was made:

Stock images in themselves aren't bad. There are even examples where books may want to be very similar or use the same image e.g. series. Like every tool, it is how it is used. As long as the cover fits the book, is there really an issue? Many designers come from the same background or schools of design and therefore naturally gravitate towards the same images and looks.

Just to close with some hard numbers: With over half a million books published this year alone, it shouldn't be too surprising that a few of them look similar. Googlebooks calculates the number of books ever written at about 130 Million. The rise of ebooks brings more and more of those back into circulation, and many get new covers from stock photos.

There are three main stock image libraries: the largest is iStockPhoto with over six million files. That isn't even one per book.

Given this, it isn't the fact that duplication happens that bothers me. What does is when there isn't any attempt to tweak the cover to fit the book; when the cover clearly does not fit the work, but is added because it is quick. I might believe a cover can fit two romances, but it is stretching it to believe someone thought it would appeal equally to romance, sci-fi, Christian fic, historical non-fiction and true crime fans.

Have your say below:

SampleSunday - The Docks

2011-07-03T07:00:00.004+01:00

Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Smashwords
Genre: Crime
Word Count: 17,500
Cost: $0.99

The sequel, Conflict of Interest, is due out at the end of July.

Harry's in more trouble than he knows, and he knows he's in a lot.

His freedom depends on covering his tracks, and uncovering the truth before the police do. One person holds all the pieces. Unfortunately Harry killed him last night.

Murder, manslaughter or self-defence? When Harry agreed to a light spot of arson, he didn't know what was really planned. Then the bomb went off. Now he's confessed to burglary, could be on the hook for murder and is desperately trying to dodge a terrorism charge. On his side, a bunch of crooks and the solicitor he's dubbed Ms. Pitbull. Against him are his former accomplices, the police, and the inspector who sent him down for ten years.

If you want free e-books, don't forget to enter The Great Indie Giveaway.
Free copies of The Docks are available as part of the giveaway, with this tagline from coffeemugged: "Want to read a detective story so realistic you end up wondering if it really is fiction?"

Chapter 1 of the Docks

Bob had told me we were going to sink the ship, but what he hadn't mentioned was that it wouldn't be empty when we did it. My jaw dropped in horror as I saw the arm, smashing out the cabin window, black against the flames behind it as it fumbled for the door handle on the outside to escape the inferno. Fumbled at the door that Bob had blocked.

"Good night's work, eh?" As he clapped me on the shoulder, I looked at him, wordless. "Hey, don't look like that. A few corpses always helps them think it was an accident."

"Bob, I — Insurance is one thing, but this —" I choked, staring out of the office window, down towards the ship. In front of me the hand was still reaching, the arm flailing, but more weakly. I could see the first tongues of flame licking down the sleeve.

"What?" He looked at me scornfully. "Don't go soft on me now. Remember, you're in this up to your neck." He turned his back to look at the ship and smiled. He was still smiling when the crowbar hit him, his skull shattering like an egg and he went down. To make sure, I hit him again and from the shape of his head I knew he wouldn't be getting up. He should have remembered what I'd done time for when he recruited me.

The boat was still burning, and I knew I had to get across there. I ran out of the dockers' office where we had met, metal burning my hands as I slid down the ladder towards the quayside. The explosives would scuttle her in ten minutes unless they could be removed, placed carefully to look like an explosion as the fuel tanks overheated. With the gangway removed — Bob had said to prevent casualties, now I knew he had lied — getting on board would be difficult. I swung myself onto one of the huge docking chains, pulling myself up. Slick, oil-soaked, the climb was difficult. Twice I slipped, saw my legs dangling over the dark gap between the ship and the quayside where the sea boiled and churned, and then I was against the side of the ship, the raised hull too far above to climb. Locking my legs around the chain I released my grip, fumbling for the grappling hook I had used to get on board earlier. One quick cast and it was over the side, hooked on something. I tugged it as hard as I dared and it moved. Slack pulled in in coils until suddenly the line caught and held. I couldn't see what it was caught on, but it held against my tugs, and carefully, reluctantly I put my weight on it, climbing up until I was standing on the chain. It held. No more delays.

Hand over hand I could climb the rope easily, the knots giving me all the purchase I needed. Seconds later I was swinging my legs over the side, and then as I came to my feet, running for the door. Now I was close enough to hear the screams, feel the heat that was beginning to seep through the deck. No time to check the time. I kept running, ducking under the window, feeling the heat of flames on my back and yanking away the fire axe Bob had used to block the door. It came open, and suddenly I was bowled aside as people piled out, desperately escaping the flames. As I came to my feet I was pushed over again, and hands tore at me. For a moment I thought I was being mobbed, and then as I was pulled away across the deck I could see feet kicking at the charred remains of my rucksack.

By the side of the ship, I could see crewmen staring at the missing gangway. Others were trying to find something to replace it. Two more had grabbed fire extinguishers and were heading back passed me towards the blaze. Staggering from exertion, I grabbed one.

"Guy in the dock office. With a gun. Said he'd scuttle the ship in five minutes. Bombs." I was gasping, sweating in the heat. It was all true, but covered in oil, clothes charred, a total stranger, I couldn't have looked a less believable witness. The man stared for a moment, then yelled to the crew. Fortunately letting them out must have given me some credibility, as they abandoned efforts to extinguish the blaze and turned to escape.

A splash over the side indicated a crewman taking a sensible option. Others began to follow. In four minutes this ship was sinking. Anyone close in the water would be pulled under. The rest would be swimming in a sea covered by burning fuel.

A shout came from the end of the deck where a crewman had found my abandoned grapple, still trailing over the side. Hauling it up from the tangle of cables where it had caught precariously he was making it fast to the fixings on board and all I could think was there was no god-damn time. I ran back towards the flames. No one tried to stop me; intent on the rope I don't think they even noticed.

The crew knew the layout of the ship backwards. I knew something they didn't: the location of the fires. I ran across the deck to the front cargo hold, lifted the inspection hatch that covered the ladder. Sitting on the edge, I swung round, arms on the ladders side, feet to the edges, and began to slide. With a hiss of pain I knew something was wrong even as I started to move, the metal slick in my agonised grasp, but halfway down a ladder it is difficult to stop.

My legs jarred across the deck, but I was staring stupidly at my hands. The gloves I'd worn had been light, to allow dexterity and stop fingerprints, not for climbing anchor chains and sliding down ladders. My palms were shredded. I shook myself. No time for this. No time to think, just act. I ran, staggering as the ship lurched, and prayed I still had time.

Defusing a bomb, is a complex and dangerous task, unless it's one you built yourself. A quick careful look to make sure Bob hadn't tampered, grip the metal box in the right place and open it, fourth wire from the left, pull, and pray. Nothing, but then since I hadn't needed a countdown I hadn't added one. If I'd pulled the wrong wire I wouldn't be here to worry about it.

I picked it up, blood slick on the surface, and ran back. I didn't trust Bob not to have set his own "insurance" and I wanted off this boat, with evidence of my culpability over the side. Back in the hold, snatching at the ladder, I let go with a cry of shock.

Trying to grip the heated metal in torn, painful, hands wasn't going to happen. It wasn't a case of forcing myself through the pain, my fingers simply could not close with enough strength to pull me up with both hands, far less one-handed. I stared for a moment, torn between dropping the device here and trying to climb with arms looped behind the ladder, or struggling up with it and risking a jolt that might trigger it. Either way, I knew I'd never make it.

The coils of rope hit my shoulder and trailed past, unwinding onto the floor. As I looked up a crewman was gesturing, shouting something I couldn't hear through the full respirator mask that covered his head. His gestures were clear enough. Quickly I wound the rope round my waist, wrapping my forearm in it. If I fell I'd be in trouble, but I wanted out of here. The crewman vanished, and I felt the rope tighten, but I lifted only slowly. What was wrong with them? At this rate we'd still be here when the ship sunk. I crabbed sideways, getting my feet on the ladder's rungs and began to walk upwards, using the rope purely to replace the grip of my damaged hands. Suddenly the climbing became much faster as, with most of the weight off, the crewman could keep the rope taut, providing the support I'd needed. At the top, I leaned forward, over the ladder, and suddenly the crewman had gripped my shoulders and back, heaving me over the edge and onto the deck.

I didn't stop to thank him, tottering towards the side of the ship that faced open water. With as much strength as I could exert I threw the bomb. The metal slipped in my fingers, slick with blood, flying off at an odd angle. Luckily there was nothing to hit out there but water. The box made a satisfying splash, and sank. The majority of the device was an incendiary meant to trigger fuel fumes after a small charge punched a hole in the metal of the tank. As long as it wasn't hard against anything when it blew, I wasn't too concerned about it. Bomb already forgotten, I turned to try to get off the ship.

There was a sudden thunder and the ship lurched. Flung violently against the dockside, the cargo ship's deck slanted sharply and my feet went from under me. A wave of water splashed across the deck, taking my breath away with cold and shock as it hit, and leaving me scrambling to get upright on the now-slick surface.

Somehow the damn thing had gone off. I shoved away the list of possible causes running through my head — Bob's tampering, defective materials, a fall-back — and focused on the now. The bomb had gone off when it shouldn't, and now I didn't know what the hell was going to happen next. I had to get off this ship.

Staggering on the yawing, pitching deck I headed towards the dockside lights, looking round urgently for a way down. Crewman clustered against the side, clinging to rails and ropes, obviously doing the same thing. I headed for my grappling hook by the anchor — they had to have it secure by now — only to have my arm caught as the ship lurched again, sending me into a group of crewman. I swore at them, trying to jerk my arm free on reflex before what they were saying penetrated and I looked down between ship and dockside where the water churned. Falling into that would be a quick and painful death. Hustled by the crowd I tried to clutch the rail, but my hand slipped leaving a slick red smear across the white paint. Only the pressure of the crowd was keeping me standing, and it was moving, pushing towards a goal I could not see. I had no choice but to go with it until I saw — Thank God!

Somehow they'd got the gangplank fixed, held loosely by chains that jerked and rattled as the ship tossed in the crazy waves that filled the harbour. Crewmen were tumbling across it, skidding and slipping to the safety of the deck. Suddenly I had a goal, and began pushing as urgently as any of them.

Helped by a shove, I was on the gangway, even as the ship yawed upwards and the surface tilted steeply. I found myself falling, painfully grating my arm against the wire mesh that was all that stopped me falling from the narrow walkway. It tumbled me down the way faster than I could have walked it, arriving at the bottom in a bruised and bloody heap. As the gangplank fell away with the reverse roll of the ship, even as it registered that I was on the dock, safe, I was being pulled away to get other crewmen out. Finally clear of the ship, I stopped to take stock.

A body in the office, a bomb in the bay, and both linked to me. I was in trouble.

--End of Chapter One--

To find out what happens next, The Docks is available from
Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Smashwords

The Docks Book Trailer

2011-07-01T08:23:00.005+01:00

A new book trailer for the Docks. Please let me know your opinions (be aware, this does have sound effects):

Read a sample on Smashwords or Amazon

A new month, new possible sales channels, a in-character interview with Harry from The Docks going up, and hopefully at the end of it, Conflict of Interest ready to be announced and released.

I think I'm going to be busy.

Smashwords - an update

2011-06-29T08:31:00.004+01:00

After a brief email exchange, I got a note saying that Smashwords have updated meatgrinder. I retried my file (the same one I'd submitted already) and it went through, validating correctly in epub. No more added navigation links or NCX problems. This morning I was told it had gone into the premium distribution catalogue.

The Docks is shortly going to be available in Apple, B&N, and multiple other places. For anyone who is impatient, it is already up at Smashwords in those formats (here). Even without premium distribution, it has over 100 downloads, so it can't be that bad. I just need the confidence to send it out for review.

The sequel is coming nicely into shape, although it seems to be getting longer during editing which is a little unusual. Unfortunately I have one opinion on it already: after I left the printed manuscript out the cats decided it was "highly chewy". As critics, I think they have their claws out for me...

A blurred line - fact and fiction

2011-06-24T16:37:00.003+01:00

The line between fiction and non-fiction can sometimes get rather blurred.

"Your book would make a great film" is nice to hear. "I know where this happened" is less so, particularly when you invented the story. I've had three different people tell me they know where Brooke's Vale is and where these events happened. Notably, all three set it in different countries.

There seems to be a drive to assume that where a fictional story is engaging or well-researched, it must in fact be true. This also happens with movies - the scriptwriter for Titanic invented the name "Jack Dawson" without knowing about "J. Dawson" who was a crewman on the ship. It hasn't stopped fans leaving flowers on his grave. In a less benevolent case, actor Andrew Robinson received death threats after playing Scorpio in Dirty Harry.

Nowadays, filmmakers can head this off, to a degree. DVD extras showing the cast getting made up, doing interviews and drawing a line between themselves and their character all help. Authors don't have this option, and it can be very difficult to convince people that the ideas and world you have created are both completely fictional. After all, if it is impossible to prove a negative, how do you prove your characters don't exist?

Part of the problem is that people hear what they want to hear. If someone is getting something - validation, enjoyment, etc. - out of what they believe, they won't listen no matter how strong the evidence is against it. Unfortunately, with the increasing social networks and drive for authors to be "in touch" with their readers, it is easier and easier for one person's obsession to spoil things for other readers, and in the worst cases turn dangerous.

In my case the readers who had blurred the line were sensible people who listened when I pointed out the logical issues with their guesses, and accepted it as fictional. Other authors aren't so lucky. Mercedes Lackey's essay "The Last Straw" covers in detail the problems she had with the Diana Tregarde books, and fans who would not accept she invented them.

To make things more complicated there is the issue of reality mirroring fiction. The most notorious case was the novel "Futility, or the wreck of the Titan" which came startlingly close to the actual fate of the Titanic fourteen years later. The problem is that if you research something thoroughly, and you come up with a scenario that could happen in real-life, the world is a big place and somewhere, sooner or later, it probably will.

I've heard people say that they don't understand how anyone could confuse fact and fiction. On one hand I would agree - I've never read a book, fiction or non-fiction where there wasn't an awareness at the back of my mind that this was someone's (often many people's) work, invention or interpretation.

On the other hand, some authors say that they talk to their characters. If the characters are that real to them, then is it surprising that readers may get confused. If fiction is about telling stories that enlighten people about the human condition, telling truth with lies and fables, then believing in that the story is as true as the message can be very easy. And if fiction is about escapism, then it is easy to understand someone for wanting a better life - or maybe just to get away for their own and not let the illusion end?

A Smashwords problem, and a paperback question

2011-06-21T09:29:00.006+01:00

Three hours of problems with Smashwords.

To boil this down to a summary:
- I was notified by Smashwords that the epub file for the Docks was broken.
- The epub navigation had an extra link on the end.
- I checked.
- The epub file passes epubcheck.

Investigation results
- The Word file did not contain hidden or malformed bookmarks.
- The error only occurred in epub format.
- The previous three file versions did not have the problem, and had identical bookmarks.
- All epub files pass epubcheck

Resolution attempt:
- I nuked the file - copied into Notepad, stripped the formatting and links and rebuilt them.
- I checked the file: were no hidden bookmarks, malformed bookmarks etc.
- I uploaded the new file.

The same error occurred. The new epub file passes epubcheck.

I think this one is at their end... I also think it's going to cost me too much writing time to fix or get them to look at.

Given all this, Conflict of Interest is likely to only come out on Kindle. It's unfortunate, Smashwords has a large audience and wide distribution, but that's life.

It also means I am leaning more towards a possible print edition of The Docks. If ebooks are this fragile, in business terms I'd rather have another route to market. Depends if RA will pick this one up. However I do already have some bookstore interest or I wouldn't be considering it.

For the sake of my research, what are your views on The Docks as a 96 page novella paperback?

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SampleSunday - The Docks (Free Father's Day coupon)

2011-06-19T11:20:00.003+01:00

Get The Docks free on Smashwords with this coupon: CK45G valid until 21st June

Father's Day Offer : CK45G

Harry's in more trouble than he knows, and he knows he's in a lot.

His freedom depends on covering his tracks, and uncovering the truth before the police do. One person holds all the pieces. Unfortunately Harry killed him last night.

Murder, manslaughter or self-defence? When Harry agreed to a light spot of arson, he didn't know what was really planned. Then the bomb went off. Now he's confessed to burglary, could be on the hook for murder and is desperately trying to dodge a terrorism charge. On his side, a bunch of crooks and the solicitor he's dubbed Ms. Pitbull. Against him are his former accomplices, the police, and the inspector who sent him down for ten years.

Chapter 1 of the Docks

"Good night's work, eh?" As he clapped me on the shoulder, I looked at him, wordless. "Hey, don't look like that. A few corpses always helps them think it was an accident."

A body in the office, a bomb in the bay, and both linked to me. I was in trouble.

--End of Chapter One--

Get The Docks free on Smashwords with this coupon: CK45G valid until 21st June

Father's Day Offer : CK45G

Amazon:(For non-Smashwords users, the book can be bought from Amazon for Kindle. However Amazon does not accept coupons).

The Docks: Father's Day offer

2011-06-18T09:39:00.003+01:00

Get The Docks free on Smashwords with this coupon: CK45G valid until 21st June

Father's Day Offer : CK45G

Now on to the update: The Docks is out for premium distribution, as well as on Smashwords and Amazon, and I should be sending copies out for review. Unfortunately, I'm a little cautious for a few reasons.

Spoilers are one: spoilers in a review for a crime story would be a much bigger problem than spoilers for action/adventure.

The real problem is the main character. Harry is not a likeable character. He is sympathetic, but only because he's in over his head and he is only in trouble because of his own faint sense of ethics (at least he has one - his accomplices don't). The Docks has an unreliable narrator, in the sense that he's not just deceiving the reader, he's deceiving himself.

The difference between Harry and his opponent, Rivers? About thirty points of IQ and a badge. The reader can put together many of the things Harry misses, misinterprets, or doesn't mention.

After all, if the viewpoint character tells you when he's not lying, you should pay close attention the rest of the time...

I've also been asked about a printed version by bookshops. As this is self-published, unlike Fire Season, this would have to be done POD which takes away from my writing time. On the other hand, guaranteed offers of shelf space are something an author should not turn down.

Reviews and writing

2011-06-16T07:43:00.003+01:00

"Well written and suspenseful this novel is an absorbing read."
Book'd Out

A nice way to start the week, with another good review of Fire Season. This one is from "Book'd out" a well-known reviewer on Amazon and Goodreads. I also just received my sales reports for May and June. Kindle sales have remained at the same level, despite the price increase after the launch offer ended.

I've a few things coming up: more reviews, and an indie book lounge interview due in July, so hopefully it will help me reach more readers. "The Docks" is also being offered in the Great Summer giveaway on the Coffeemugged blog (details here).

"Conflict of Interest" is at 12,000 words. Its target release date might slip to August, as the plot has just gone in an unexpected direction. At the moment, this is the manuscript taking up my time, and the reason I've cut back on blogging, twitter, and promoting. After all, there are only so many hours in a day.

Author headshots

2011-06-10T19:37:00.002+01:00

One of the issues linked to pen names is the author headshot. If you are using a penname, how do you deal with the demand for a photograph? If you're using a penname for privacy reasons this is almost impossible.

The increase in social media is making it more difficult. In the old days Charlotte Bronte signed her name Currer Bell and that was enough. Now you have to worry about photos, videos, interviews and more and that's all before you start to sell books. This has lead to some authors having to go to extremes. There is an anecdotal tale of a female thriller writer who hired a male actor to manage signings and stand in for photo shoots, or the male romance author who added his photo only after the first books had sold.

Now, I am honestly not sure why this is. If I am buying a book I am concerned about the writing. I can say quite honestly I have never bought a book because of the quality of the author's headshot. I may be biased on this one, after one bookstore took one look at my ugly mug and asked if I could give them presigned bookplates instead of attending a signing. Apparently my face doesn't fit, which to be honest I find rather funny.

I have a running joke that my author headshot is going to be a pair of legs sticking out from under a car/plane/other vehicle.

Updates and progress

2011-06-06T20:23:00.003+01:00

My main project right now is the sequel to The Docks. The manuscript is over 10,000 words, the outline is complete and the cover's being designed.

The problem is that the more time I spend writing, the less I have for promotion, and my sales figures for the month so far reflect this. To try to correct this over the next few months there are a couple more interviews scheduled, and blog features booked, as well as some upcoming reviews for Fire Season.

I should be sending The Docks off to reviewers in the next few weeks, as bloggers let me know they have gaps in their schedule. Meanwhile, I'll be back to writing the sequel.

SampleSunday - The Docks Chapter 1

2011-05-29T06:41:00.007+01:00

This Sunday, my sample is Chapter One of "The Docks". After all the changes -a new cover, new layout and new price - I'm also adding a Coupon code valid this weekend to download the whole ebook for free.

Get the full book on Smashwords Here
Coupon Code: AB96D (Free - 100% discount, Valid until 30th May)

(Also available on Amazon, but Amazon does not offer the coupon discount)

Chapter 1 of the Docks

"Good night's work, eh?" As he clapped me on the shoulder, I looked at him, wordless. "Hey, don't look like that. A few corpses always helps them think it was an accident."

A body in the office, a bomb in the bay, and both linked to me. I was in trouble.

--End of Chapter One--

Harry's in more trouble than he knows, and he knows he's in a lot.

Read the full book at:Smashwords
Get the ebook free with Coupon Code: AB96D

Amazon:(For non-Smashwords users, the book can be got from Amazon for Kindle. However Amazon does not accept coupons).

The Docks - an update

2011-05-27T19:52:00.003+01:00

Before I get back to "The Docks" here's a quick update on what I am currently working on. The sequel to "The Docks" is now at 6,000 words and a completed outline, so it is due out later this year. I have another novel at 60,000 but the research for that one is taking a lot of my time. Now on to the important news.

"The Docks" has just been updated on Smashwords. There are a few changes:

New cover, provided by Razzle Dazzle design. It's more gripping and definitely more relevant to the book that the original.
New text file - mainly to add the copyright notice for the new cover.
Sampling has changed slightly. This is a personal choice because, I'll admit, I wanted to end it on a cliffhanger.

And finally price. The book is now set at 99 cents. My last blog post mentioned a few of the issues that "Reader Sets Price" was creating, so to resolve these the book now has a $0.99 cents price tag.

This also means I can generate coupons, so here's the first, valid to 30th May:
To get "The Docks" free, use coupon: AB96D

The Docks
Ebook Price: $0.99 (17,497 words)
Type: Fiction
Author: V.H. Folland
Released: May 14th, 2011

Harry's on the hook for murder...
A career criminal's crisis of conscience lands him on the hook for a kiling he admits. Murder, manslaughter or self-defence? When he and his solicitor match wits with the police there is more than his freedom at stake.

"Reader sets price" - pros and cons

2011-05-23T08:04:00.002+01:00

I was using "Reader sets price" for "The Docks". On review, I don't think this is working and will be switching to 99c fairly shortly.

The "Reader sets price option" seems to restrict your audience without providing many advantages. The first issue is that most offers on Smashwords rely on coupons, which can't be generated for books using "Reader sets Price". At the same time, you can't link "Reader sets price" books to the free ebook directories and users still need a Smashwords account to download it while free books can be accessed by anyone. Some Smashwords readers I spoke to skip over books with this payment type because trying to work out how much to pay is an extra step between them and the book.

If there was a tip jar option on the author page, I'd just make the book free and link back to it. As it is, I'll standardise it as 99c, and then liberally distribute coupons.

The other issue is that I have seen a cover that would fit "The Docks" very well. It actually shows a scene from the book (by complete co-incidence) and was done by a professional cover artist. It is a lot better than the one it curently has. The downside? As it's been premade it's part of the artist's portfolio already so there's every chance people will have seen it. To be honest, that doesn't seem like such a downside, compared to having a better cover.

DailyCheapReads spotlight on Fire Season

2011-05-20T08:01:00.002+01:00

Fire Season has been highlighted as a Supercheap read (99p until the end of May) as part of the British author month. Read the article here:

DailyCheapReads.co.uk

You may be wondering why I post every time Fire Season gets a mention somewhere. For me at least, it's the equivalent of the proud parent waving graduation photos. One day I am sure I will be so jaded that I stop mentioning every reference my books get. For now, however, I fully intend to celebrate them! Especially considering how lucky it is to get this type of feature for a debut novel, on a blog as popular as DailyCheapReads. For US readers, it should be on the US Daily Cheap Reads site later today.

Now, if you will excuse me, I am off to celebrate, tweet, forum-post and generally shout this from the rooftops.

Another Fire Season review

2011-05-16T16:09:00.004+01:00

A quick review from A Robbins Book Review blog. It's short but sweet:

"It takes a while for the drama to start but once you get to it the story is a wonderful amazing read. This is a recommended read by me and I will be on the lookout for more."
Read Review

Not much else to update, although "The Docks" will hopefully be coming to Kindle soon. It's already available on Smashwords, under "Reader sets price" option so you can download it free if you like. Once this goes into the premium catalogue I'll need to set a fixed price (probably a huge $0.99) , but for now, enjoy the discount option.

Read "The Docks" on Smashwords

SampleSunday - The Docks

2011-05-15T07:16:00.002+01:00

A sample from "The Docks", the novella I've been working on. Rather than another sample from Fire Season or Arrival, for this week's Sample Sunday, I thought I'd try something new. With the help of my publisher, The Docks is now available on Smashwords. I'm trialling the "reader chooses" method, so readers can pay what they like or download it for free, while it will be Smashwords minimum of $0.99 on all other channels.

Sample: The Docks

"Good night's work, eh?" As he clapped me on the shoulder, I looked at him, wordless. "Hey, don't look like that. A few corpses always helps them think it was an accident."

The full novella is on Smashwords:

The Docks

(All my books can be viewed on my author page: VH Folland on Smashwords)

A new short story, and thoughts on releasing works

2011-05-11T09:46:00.006+01:00

If you've been following me on Twitter, you've probably noticed I've been working on a new short story.

It is complete, although the final draft is closer to a novella at just under 20,000 words. The edited version I got back has a few changes, but not many which is a good sign. The real problem is deciding on a title. My working titles are not good, but luckily publishers tend to change the name before release.

Now there's the question of how to release it. The short story I had planned could have been sold to a magazine, but there's less demand for 20,000 words. (For other short story writers, Duotrope is a useful resource about open markets).

I could release it as a e-book myself. I've had some interesting experiences with e-books: My books on Smashwords (both Arrival and other titles as work-for-hire or under pseudonyms) regularly pull over two thousand downloads in a matter of months. Feedbooks gives slightly less. On Amazon's own site my publisher's sales figures for Fire Season are rather less impressive, even though it's only been out for a month. Part of the problem seems to be Amazon's regional divisions, e.g. using my account I can't see what price my book is in the US, far less "gift" Kindle copies to reviewers as many request.

To complicate matters, the royalties that most markets pay for this type of fiction are low. Effectively I'm chosing between a publication credit and a new audience, and income, and while I'd love to write for the art I do have bills to pay. If you've been following the blog, you'll know I had to make a similar choice this time last year.

At the moment, I'm leaning towards Smashwords, just because it's where I have the most readers. However, I still have to decide on a new title, because if I release it myself I don't have a publisher to come up with something better.

"Tuesday_idea" is not a great release title after all.

General updates

2011-05-06T08:07:00.004+01:00

"Thanks to the expertly voiced narration, the author's story-telling gifts are strongly in evidence, particularly in his masterly evocation of time, place and events that will haunt readers long after the book has been put to rest." Bookpleasures (Read Review).

Fire Season has picked up another review on Amazon.com from Norman Goldman, editor of Bookpleasures and an Amazon Vine reviewer.

The short story I am working on is now nearly complete, although it appears to have changed genre halfway through. The beta-readers says it's a great crime drama. As that isn't a genre I read or am familiar with, I have no idea what conventions I am trampling all over. I just hope it's an entertaining story.

The Kindle version of Fire Season will be 99p until the end of May. Similar discounts are available on Amazon.com and .de.

The real problem is that promoting Fire Season has left me without the time I need to research the other two novels I have half-finished. I wish it were possible to hire someone to play the author in public and do the promotional bit, and let me get back to writing!

SampleSunday - Arrival

2011-05-01T07:01:00.006+01:00

Go to sample

I was going to post a bit of my new story, but unfortunately it has gone from a planned 1,500 words to a novella and I'm still writing it. This means it hasn't been edited yet, and I'd rather not inflict my unedited work on an audience.

Here's a snippet from Arrival, a free short story on Smashwords. The full story can be read (or downloaded as an ebook) from Smashwords
.

Sample

"I lost the auction." Jim slung the kitbag down and slumped in a chair. Shaking his head, Jake stepped across and closed the door Jim had left swinging behind him.

"Just as well. What would you have done if you'd won?" he asked, and Jim stared at the floor.

"I dunno. I'd have worked something out. I hate to think of her in the hands of strangers."

"And it took you a week to tell me?" Jake sounded unimpressed.

"I didn’t think it would take that long to get home. Didn’t want to talk about it." Jim wasn’t being quite honest; he didn’t even want to think about. Jake raised an eyebrow.

"Were you even close?"

"Not a chance. She went for more than my entire backpay."

"Just as well. I don’t know what you were doing bidding in the first place. Why didn’t you try to buy something less life-changing, like a house?” Jake was utterly unsympathetic, and Jim scowled at him.

"Just sentiment, I guess. I need a drink." Since he was nearer, Jake grabbed two beers from the fridge and sat down, tossing one to his maudlin brother.

"Shouldn’t you wait until you’re out of uniform for that?"

"Who’s going to care?" Jim cracked the top of the beer and downed a swig, staring moodily at the floor. Jake chuckled, and his brother looked up and glared. He held his hands up in a soothing gesture.

"Jim, seriously, looking at this from the point of view of a rational person and not an obsessive pilot, what the hell would you do with a defunct nuclear bomber?"

(Read the full story)

Amazon rankings

2011-04-27T12:46:00.005+01:00

The Amazon rank for the paperback, and the ebook have fluctuated quite a bit, but I think yesterday was its highest yet. Fire Season has fallen back down the rankings now but this, last night, made my day:

That's two positions on Amazon Top 100 lists: #72 in Men's Adventure and #97 in Lad's Lit.

And now I should go back to my current work-in-progress. I have too many things intruding on my time right now, and trying to get time to write is tricky. It doesn't help when the planned 1,500 word short story is now 4,000 and still going.

Fire Season on Kindle - 99p

2011-04-25T18:45:00.004+01:00

For Easter, and to celebrate the launch of the Kindle Edition, Fire Season on Kindle is now 99p, down from £2.97. For readers overseas it is also available from Amazon.com and Amazon.de at a similar discount.

Following the interest in the book after the Sample Sunday extract, I'm using this post to answer a few questions.

For people looking for the discount rates the book is available from:

And as far as I am aware, the offer will be on until end of May.

If you want a sample of the book, the Sample Sunday post is an extract. Alternative the free e-book Arrival can give you a longer sample of my writing style.

Here's the publisher's press release:

--Press release --

For Easter, Fire Season by VH Folland is now 99p on Kindle. (For US and German readers, it has been similarly reduced on Amazon.com and Amazon.de.)

"Thought provoking, emotional and compassionate, this is a book I could read again. A recommended read." Clover Hill Book Reviews

The story of a remote airstrip in Fire Season, the novel has been well received. Following the busy paperback launch at ExCel, the Kindle edition is now following suit with this promotion which marks Ragged Angel Ltd's first venture into e-books outside their Principia Malefex game line.

"It was a wonderful book about a community in action, a great vacation book." EK Family Reviews

For the duration of the offer, the reduced rate is available in the UK from Amazon.co.uk, or from the Amazon.de or Amazon.com for international readers.

"...hidden twists and turns paving Folland's well-laid path of adventure all the way to a thrilling conclusion." J. McAlpine CR5 Magazine

--end pr--

I think that covers the main points raised in my inbox. If not, then please let me know.

If it always gets this much interest, I might do sample sunday again, hopefully with a sample of my current WIP which I am aiming to finish by next weekend.

SampleSunday

2011-04-24T06:26:00.004+01:00

Go to Sample

SampleSunday is a twitter hashtag. You post an extract of your novel on blog or website, and then tweet a link with the #Samplesunday tag.

I haven't tried Sample Sunday before, but I thought I'd give it a go. It turns out that the hardest thing about it is trying to format the extract for this blog! Anyway, here's one of the opening incidents from Fire Season, right before it all kicks off. There's more on the author interview at Indie ebooks.

The Sample

“What happened?” Jim asked, worried. He put a hand on his brother’s shoulder, and Jake straightened, shaking him off.

“Stupid blasted kids. Mind if I grab a chair?” Without waiting for an answer he walked across, a little more slowly than usual, and took the seat that Matt gestured to. Pouring himself a mug of strong black coffee he downed most of it and paused, obviously collecting his thoughts. The others did not press him, and once he had recovered slightly he began.

“Nick’s refugees. The kids got bored and decided to amuse themselves.” He took a breath, obviously struggling to keep his tone level. “Starting fires with a magnifying glass on that field out the back. Don’t worry, Nick caught them early and between his hose and my tender we’ve put everything out and soaked the field down.”

“No.” Rose shook her head in disbelief. In this climate the sheer stupidity of the action was hard to believe.

“Yep. They were lighting bits of paper to watch them burn. Of course when the wind took them they didn’t bother to chase them down. I’ve just spent the last two hours walking round Nick’s field making sure the fire they started is out, and nothing’s quietly smoldering. Even with Nick’s help that’s a big job.”

“I’ve some whisky in the house,” Matt volunteered, but Jake shook his head.

“I’d rather keep my head clear until they’re gone. Just in case they do it again.”

“Nick must be livid,” Jill remarked, looking across the valley to the field.

“Absolutely furious. They’ve been politely invited to get their stuff and leave, refugees or no.”

“I’m surprised he’s not pressing charges.” Rose shook her head again, still stunned that anyone would light a fire in the middle of a fire ban.

“If he doesn’t, and they don’t leave, I will. One way or another I want them out. You’ve got me to mind the whole valley on my own, and those kids just became a fire risk.” Jake had calmed down slightly. “Their parents were appalled, so they were relieved when I gave them the option to get out instead of pressing charges. They’ll be gone as soon as they’re packed.”

As Jake finished Jill pushed a plate of sandwiches at him and he grabbed one. It was gone in two bites.

“Help yourself to the rest. I‘m afraid you missed dinner.”

Easter Holiday Offer - Fire Season 99p on Kindle

2011-04-22T21:03:00.003+01:00

A short announcement, because this is some good news I was not expecting.

For the Easter holidays, Ragged Angel have discounted Fire Season to 99p (and a similar discount for readers on .com and .de). Apparently this was arranged yesterday but has spent today working through the Amazon's systems, hence the announcement on the bank holiday.

While the offer is on, you can get the discounted price from Amazon here:

Amazon

An Author Interview

2011-04-20T02:02:00.003+01:00

My first author interview is up, conducted by the new Indie e-books blog. I'd like to say thanks to them for the opportunity, and I wish them all the best with their new blog (which has certainly introduced me to a few e-books I hadn't known were out there!)

Indie e-books Blog - VH Folland Interview

Back from launch, and very tired

2011-04-17T06:22:00.004+01:00

I'm back from the book launch and very tired. I'll post a better update once I clear my head. We ran out of the Arrival pamphlet and Fire Season cards. A number of copies went, but none signed, which I am told is unusual. Unfortunately I did back away from the chance of a video interview, which would have been good publicity, but by that point my voice had gone and I felt like a zombie so how it turned out would have been random chance.

It was also a chance to talk to the Vulcan to the Sky team members present, about restoring the Vulcan and this year's display schedule. Mentioning XH558, the charity offer from the publisher is still on. Buy the book from either of the links below and the profit goes to Vulcan to the Sky.

Paperback:

Kindle:

Meanwhile once I have recovered, I need to get back to writing. I think today might be one for quiet reflection - and catching up on sleep.

Coming up to launch

2011-04-14T16:53:00.002+01:00

With less than two days to go until the launch, a few things have happened I wanted to mention.

First, Amazon.co.uk now has the paperback in stock. Only two copies, but there are apparently more on the way so hopefully that distribution issue has been sorted. Even if not, the book is now up on Kindle so it can be purchased as an ebook and Amazon have successfully linked the books.

I've just received copies of some of my items for the launch, including giveaway pens, and small booklets containing Arrival. I'm a little surprised about the latter as I'd never intended Arrival to go into print in that form.

There's also a charity offer on for the launch, where if you buy the Kindle or paperback version through a dedicated link all profits go to XH558, to find her display season. (See http://www.fireseason.co.uk/book-launch/ for details)

On the writing front, I've half finished a new short story, which has given me two problems to deal with: an unlikeable protagonist and one that's not that bright. Presented in the right way it is intriguing, but done in the wrong way a reader will just put the story down so it's requiring a bit of careful handling. I just hope the muse doesn't strike while I'm on the stand, or I'll be frantically scribbling notes instead of talking about the book!

Publishing v. Self publishing v Small press part II.

2011-04-12T10:10:00.002+01:00

I am honestly too nervous about the book launch on Saturday to come up with anything interesting to say, so I'm going to push on with a terms clarification about the different types of publishing.

Publishing: These are the huge publishing houses like Hodder and Stoughton, who do offset printruns in the thousands, and probably release as many promo copies as a small press expects to sell in total. This is what most peple think of when they mention "Published". Some people also refer to this as "traditional publishing".

Self publishing: You personally own the ISBN, or have set up a company purely to publish your own works. Nowadays this usually involves lulu or createspace, to make the books available through POD, or using Smashwords or Amazon to publish as e-books. Unfortunately with no quality checks, while most authors deliver very good work, it also possible to take an unedited unformatted word file and release it in exactly the same way. For readers it can be difficult to tell the quality of the book, which is why reviews are important and why self-publishing has a questionable reputation.

Small press: May use a small offset run or POD (sometimes the same providers as the self-publishers) but have staff who can do cover designs, editing, typesetting etc, like the larger ones. Many university presses fall into this category. There are also an increasing number of e-book only small presses. Often these will focus on one area or special interest such as poetry. They don't pay as much as the larger houses, but as they can choose their manuscripts they do offer readers an assurance of quality which is missing from debut self-published works. Small Presses are often called "Indie presses", although that term has been co-opted by people who fall into the group above.

Vanity Press These are companies that allow an author to pay for their book to be published. Don't confuse these with printers, as they normally sell publishing packages. Some are reputable, some less so. Some provide good service, others don't. Recent spins on this are "subsidy publishing" where the author contributes to the cost, or "reverse vanity" where they buy your book, but then charge for formatting, layout etc. or commit the author to buying copies. As with any service, if you intend to go this route, you need to research it carefully, and authors who use it are rarely considered "published" by the trade.

For self-published books and vanity published books, there is rarely a quality check: if an author has the money they can publish. This unfortunately means that some very bad books get published as well as some very good ones and results in readers being somewhat wary. Also, because the manuscript did not go through the peer-review of small press or mainstream publishers, authors going this route have much higher odds to overcome before they are considered published - often when a mainstream house offers them a deal.

Regarding Fire Season, Ragged Angel Ltd publishes several other authors, and has commissioned work for hire before. The Principia Malefex RPG line is already in print from them, and has been available since 1996. Fire Season was launched largely through those channels in the same way an RPG would be. By mainstream print standards it is a very small press. It is also the first Kindle title for this publisher, and the first mainstream fiction title.

The fact that Ragged Angel are a games publisher first however, brings me back to Salute and the fact Fire Season is getting launched at a very large games convention in less than a week. A fact I am trying not to think about.

If you will excuse me, I'm off to the pub to drown my nerves!

Japanese Earthquake

2011-04-07T16:35:00.007+01:00

This is a complete break from the normal focus of the blog. This morning, on Twitter, this comment made my day:

"from DirectRelief: @VHFolland @CloviasLawn - thanks for all your help raising awareness and funds for the need in Japan."

Then just now the BBC reported another earthquake, 7.1 on the Richter scale.

This request won't be particularly well written, but sometimes even writers run out of words.

Please help if you can. The Pennies For Japan campaign is ongoing, selling a collector's set of elongated pennies, or individual ones as necklaces. There is also the Write for Japan anthology, a set of short stories available as an e-book or print book. Both of these raise funds directly for the Red Cross.

If you can't donate, please visit one of the lenses below and click on a link or an ad. It all raises funds for rescue.org who are supplying relief efforts on the ground:

http://www.squidoo.com/pennies-for-Japan

http://www.squidoo.com/write-for-Japan-anthology

New Review

2011-04-06T06:40:00.012+01:00

A new review of the book has just gone up, and it's also appeared on Amazon.com for the Kindle edition A review within a day of it going live was unexpected.

The review, from E & K Family Books, is also available on their blog (here).

"The characters are rich and their interactions natural and unforced. I loved the multi layered personalities each character brought forward."

E & K Family Book Review

Fire Season on Kindle Part Two

2011-04-05T06:58:00.002+01:00

While I'm not overly obsessive, for an author whose book just came out in another format worldwide, I did just want to put the official press release in below.

While nice to read, and flattering it has also reminded me that the launch event is in less than two weeks. If you will excuse me, I'm off to the pub to soothe my nerves. What happened to the days when all authors had to do was write?

--- Press Release ---

Due to the success of the short story prequel Arrival, downloaded over eight thousand times, the e-book release of Fire Season was moved up to 2nd April 2011. Fire Season is now available for download internationally, from both Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com, and priced in the UK at £2.97.

A gripping flight adventure, Fire Season is the debut novel by British author VH Folland, which is due for national release on 16th April. Given a limited release before Christmas, the paperback edition of the book has already been receiving good reviews:

"...hidden twists and turns paving Folland's well-laid path of adventure all the way to a thrilling conclusion."
James McAlpine, CR5 Magazine.

"Thought provoking, emotional and compassionate, this is a book I could read again. A recommended read."
Clover Hill Book Reviews

Copies of the e-book will be available at the paperback's national launch event on 16th April at Salute 2011, held in Excel, London, UK.

For more information, see: http://www.fireseason.co.uk
---End Press Release---

Fire Season out on Kindle

2011-03-30T18:35:00.008+01:00

Fire Season is now out on Kindle. It is £2.97 from Amazon UK (view Amazon.co.uk).

It is also available from Amazon.com for international buyers.

A press release is to follow from the publisher. Meanwhile, I am very glad to see it is up, and hope it is well received. I am also extremely happy with the price - while not the minimum of 99p, it seems a reasonable and affordable level. After the stories of ebooks that cost more than paperbacks, I was somewhat nervous.

Fire Season e-book announced

2011-03-26T19:37:00.003Z

Well, with one week to go I can announce that Fire Season will be available on Kindle from the 2nd April. It is being released through Amazon, and will be available directly from their website. I'll put a link up the moment I have one.

Hopefully, this will also mean it will be available on the 16th for the launch.

More details will be available soon, and I will add them as I find out more.

Pennies for Japan

2011-03-24T08:03:00.005Z

Before getting on to the main body of this post, I'd like to say thanks to Kristie Cook for organising the Indie Authors Relief Fund, and to the winner of the Fire Season auction. Your book is on its way. There are still lots available for auction and all proceeds go to the Red Cross. For more details and ongoing auctions, please see the:

Indie Authors Relief Fund

That said, I would like to move on to mention a rather unique fundraiser by an author of my acquaintance.

Pennies for Japan

Pennies for Japan is a set of elongated pennies, ideal for collectors or as unique gifts. The entire purchase price is donated to disaster relief in Japan through Direct Relief.

There are three pennies in the set, with designs depicting Hamsa, Lady Usume and the Tree of Life, and a storycard about the designs. Since any new ones would be made from a new set of dies, the artwork would vary, making the originals for sale here extremely collectible.

The set is available from etsy, but if you don't have an account the seller will also accept Paypal directly. For details on drect sales please contact them or, if you prefer, leave a comment here and I will ask them to get in touch with details.

Pennies for Japan

Meet an Author Monday

2011-03-21T14:48:00.002Z

First a quick update. There are now 66 items up for auction at the Indie Author Relief Fund, all raising funds for the Red Cross. The auction closes tomorrow, so please get your bids in.

More importantly if you can't donate, you can still fundraise. If you use this link,

Lens about the Indie Authors Relief Fund

and then click on an ad or through to the Relief Funds page, you are fundraising for rescue.org's Japanese appeal, supplying goods and funds to Japanese charities on the front line.

If anyone would be interested I will set up a chain of the other lenses donating 100% to Japan - simply by clicking thorough, visiting an ad, buying something from the lens or donating directly, each of these lenses raises funds for Japan.

The other thing to report is my first attempt at taking part in a blog hop.

Cali Cheer Mom is currently hosting a blog hop, where visitors move from lense to lens, signing up to participate. I've never tried this before, but here's the link, and the authors already taking part.

This has given me yet more reading material, at a time when I really should be writing. I can't say I mind though.

Indie Authors Relief Fund Pt II.

2011-03-19T12:45:00.003Z

The Indie Authors auctions are now underway, with 43 lots currently offered. To bid, just visit their blog and comment under the item you want to buy.

All this is for the Red Cross, raising funds for Japan disaster relief.

And to deal with people who said this was off-topic for the blog:

Lot #24 - Fire Season Signed Copy Auction

Even if you can't donate, you can still help. If you can promote the campaign, tweeting it or mentioning it on messageboards/forums please do. There are a full range of banners on the blog, and an RSS feed is available for syndication.

And finally there's this Lens. If you can't afford to donate, visit that page and click an ad, or even just through to the Indie Authors Relief Fund main site and you will be raising funds for the International Rescue Commitee.

Indie authors relief fund

2011-03-18T06:48:00.004Z

I just saw this online, and as they are asking for promotion and spreading the word, blogging it is the least I can do. Please have a look and donate an item or bid, for a very good cause.

If you are an author or small publisher some of the things up for offer include a manuscript critique and membership in the small publishers association.

For readers and booklovers, there are signed copies, collectibles and more.

As well as the Indie Authors Relief Fund, there are other campaigns underway. Please take a look.

Authors for Japan - Donating all funds raised to the Red Cross, this campaign is no longer accepting donated items after they were flooded with offers.
Write Hope for Japan - A Collection of authors all with a connection to Japan offering childrens and kidlit items to raise funds for Japan

Publisher v. Indie v. Small press

2011-03-14T18:35:00.000Z

Fire Season has been out for two months, and in some ways I am beginning to wonder if it would have been easier to go self-published rather than indie press. The reasons aren't obvious until you run into them, but almost certainly would affect other authors with small press, or startup publishers.

If you self-publish, there are a whole range of awards, dedicated book blogs and a resurgence of interviewers dedicated to the field of self-publishing.

If you are published by a publisher, there are a range of formal awards, dedicated blogs and media dedicated to mainstream publishing.

It seems that everyone should fall into one of the two, surely.

The problem is with the definition of "publisher". Some locations define it as a publishing house with five authors, others as one with at least twenty mainstream books. For Ragged Angel, mine is their first mainstream book. This means it is neatly disqualified from most awards/reviewers. However, saying it was self-published and entering it into that category seems disingenious: I don't own the ISBN, didn't pay for publishing, and the book was worked on and released by a publisher which has released several previous niche books and already has distribution. It falls neatly in the gap.

The space in between the two for small press seems to be very small indeed.

Coming Soon on Kindle

2011-03-05T17:23:00.002Z

A very quick announcement: I have just seen the first draft of Fire Season on Kindle. It should be on general release soon.

Unfortunately I have also suffered a severe PC crash, of the type that requires a new computer. I've probably been overusing it over the last few weeks, but while I get things set up and working again, releases and work on a new title will be slowed right down.

Another Twitter story is also under discussion, so I'll update on that once I have it set up again.

A Smashwords milestone

2011-02-28T07:00:00.003Z

This isn't a long post, but I think this is a milestone I'd like to acknowledge. This morning Arrival hit 2,000 downloads on Smashwords.

I'd just like to say thanks to all the people who downloaded Arrival, or read it through Smashwords, Goodreads, Feedbooks or elsewhere online - or even followed the first Twitter feed. I sincerely hope you enjoyed the book. Because of Arrival's success, and the readers who downloaded it, Fire Season will be coming to Kindle in the next couple of months.

So, thanks for making that possible.

A recommended read...

2011-02-23T13:56:00.003Z

...thanks to Waterstones.

The card below it hasn't come out very well, but it displays several complimentary comments about my book.

And my apologies for the delayed update: I'm still not over this illness and every time I get back towards a normal workload I end up spending more time recovering. The doctor said six weeks, which gives me three more to go before normal blogging will be resumed.

On the shelves...

2011-02-16T12:23:00.002Z

My book's in store at Waterstones. When I found out, I did as any budding author would and promptly headed down there with a camera to record it for posterity, the blog, and any long-suffering friends I could corner. The alternative was to purchase a copy just to get the receipt for my scrapbook, but that might be going a little to far. When I arrived, I wasn't disappointed.

This was good:
Fire Season spine out on Waterstones shelves

Fire Season spine out on Waterstones shelves

This was unexpected and even better:
Fire Season Face out next to Frederick Forsyth's books on Waterstones shelves.

My book is face-out on Waterstones shelves, right next to the author of one of my favourite books. For the suspicious among you, I didn't turn it that way. I found it like that.

If you want to buy Fire Season from Waterstones, here's the link to order online or check if it's curently in your local:

Waterstones

Even if it's not you can also order it from any Waterstones in the country, and they can get it for you in a couple of days.

Back to the Book Launch

2011-02-13T13:05:00.001Z

Just because I'm under the weather doesn;t stop time to the launch ticking down. And with the difference between soft launch and national release, the horrible question of the book launch event raises its head again.

I would have been begging MurderOne if they were still open on Charing Cross Road. They were genre, I was a steady customer, and they are very much missed. They are still open online here, but it isn't the same.

It's right on the fringe of Forbidden Planet's range. Oddly my dead-genre novel is too mainstream for a company I often buy from.

Waterstones are keen - frighteningly so - but do not have a cafe, so I am not sure of the logistics for the "Party" part of launch party. I also can't afford to pay them to stay open or do a private opening.

Foyles? I did consider it, but my research went along the lines of: check it anyway, note the competition, note the price *Choke* look elsewhere.

Blackwells? My book is not academic, and in Central London there's not a lot of parking.

I did consider a pub and sandwiches, since if it gets snowed in again there are options, but fortunately my publisher had a better idea.

They are attending Salute, one of the largest wargames and militaria conventions in Europe, for their games line and book collectables. The book was going to be taken along anyway for trade connections. We're going to expand this: since Fire Season features a rather large, if grounded, bomber and fits the attending demographic, the book will be getting its national launch event there.

Oddly this works quite well. The distribution and review network should have the books on wider (possibly national) distribution at the start of April. This also means they can keep building publicity up towards the 16th April.

On the other hand, if you'd told me the book-launch would be in London Excel last year when I started this project, I'd have been stunned. Actually, I still am.

Books on shelves

2011-02-09T07:37:00.006Z

My apologies for the delayed update. After, rather optimistically, trying to work through flu, I managed to give myself pnuemonia. Fortunately I am recovering (while considering myself to be a right idiot), but updates will be erratic for a while.

Well, the books are currently working their way through Waterstone's stock systems. Meanwhile there are now a few independants where the book can be obtained.

Farthing Books, Coulsdon (details) is selling the book following up from its good review in the local magazine. If you want to support a local independent, here's a place to start.

Local Author Adventures - Part Three (Interviews)

2011-02-03T12:02:00.000Z

The interesting chat with the bookshop was followed up by an interview where the first two questions were:

"How much did you pay to be published?" (Err...nothing, they pay me.)

"Which bookshop can we get your book from?" (All of them? It's on Nielsen.)

I was rather taken aback, but it does bring home how flexible the definition of published is. Unfortunately the reaction of local press to local author can be understandable sceptism - after all is it more likely someone in their area sold a manuscript or that they vanity-published?

It also indicates the number of enquiries the press get from "local authors" who either live a few hundred miles away or have a book that for various reasons the press may not want to cover (quality, subject, editing etc.). Unfortunately this adds an extra hurdle for authors, since they have to make sure that you and they have the same definition of published and distribution at the start of the discussion - and then that you actually have something they might be interested in.

Once we got over that, we had a nice chat and luckily they loved the book. I still don't think the journalist believes me about the book being in Waterstones though.

Local Author Adventures - Part Two (booksellers)

2011-02-02T12:55:00.004Z

While "self-published" might strike fear into reviewers' hearts, it seems the phrase "Local author" does the same to booksellers.

I just had a very depressing discussion with a local independent bookshop. I went in at the arranged time and went up to the lady behind the counter.

"Hi, I'm X, I made an appointment to discuss my book." I was surprised when her face fell, and then set into an apologetic expression.

"We don't stock POD books." I blinked slightly.

"That's fine. It's sale or return. Usual trade discount." She looked rather sceptical.

"Well, that's good but you'll need to arrange a distributor."

"It's with Central Books. You can order through Nielsen." I was absolutely stunned by the smile I got, as she headed behind the counter and asked for the ISBN. I handed my book across (having brought the copy all that way I wasn't wasting it) received a sunny grin in return and was shortly afterwards standing outstide bewildered with my media kit untouched and several books ordered. It was surprisingly painless.

The depressing converstaion followed that one, when I asked, during a quiet spot why booksellers react like that to local authors, and got the bookseller's side of it. Not just books without ISBNs, but stories of ring-bound home-printed manuscripts complete with coffee stains, the proud mother who wanted the bookshop to let her daughter personally sign her name in crayon in each of their books ("because she'll be famous one day!"), or the person who thought that 1% (one percent) was enough of a margin for a bookshop to buy his book outright with no returns. Then there was the person who wanted the bookshop to take part in their latest money making scheme - printing out e-books they had downloaded which they wanted the shop to sell for them. Unfortunately they hadn't written the books in question...I didn't have the nerve to ask what she'd said to that individual - her expression said quite enough.

Apparently "author" has a very flexible definition. It's certainly given booksellers a range of horror stories.

Please, be kind to your local bookshop. There aren't enough of them left.

First Magazine Review

2011-01-29T19:39:00.002Z

A little while ago, I sent a copy of the book to a local magazine. Today I got my copy and, I will admit, flicked straight through to see if my book was reviewed in there. It was, along with complimentary lines such as:

"...hidden twists and turns paving Folland's well-laid path of adventure all the way to a thrilling conclusion."
James McAlpine, CR5 Magazine.

The book got a very good review, and they even took the space to mention Arrival.

It made my weekend, I can tell you.

Local Author Adventures - Part One

2011-01-28T17:55:00.003Z

I've run a few unexpected events into since I took on the dread label "Local Author" and started promoting my book. The pseudonym preserves a lot of privacy, but even so there have been quite a few surprises. I might write a few more in this series - depending on how much is worthy of blogging.

I hadn't actually considered that being a local author means forging a business relationship with stores you've been frequenting for years. Suddenly you are a supplier as well as a customer, but also a customer at the same time, which can lead to some very odd encounters.

Walking into your local bookshop as a known author for the first time after they've ordered your book, the staff seem strangely on edge as you walk towards the counter. The thoughts are on their faces: are you going to ask about your book, the display, whether it will get an end cap etc. They must get that a lot - the stories of authors turning books face out, putting them on end caps and even reverse-shoplifting their books into the store are legion.

"Hello," I said "Do you have [biography of sportsman]?"

There was a interesting moment of confusion and relief and then a broad smile and directions.

I may write, but it doesn't mean I gave up reading.

(It also doesn't mean that when my book comes in I won't go and buy a copy - just so I can add the receipt to my scrapbook.)

Arriving in second place

2011-01-23T20:29:00.001Z

I suppose I should be upset Arrival is currently at position #2 on a Smashwords anthology search.

On the other hand, looking at number one...

...what chance do I stand against Justin Bieber?

Arrival homepage - free e-book on Smashwords

Yougottaread Trailer Contest Open

2011-01-21T12:22:00.000Z

The Fire Season Trailer was entered in this month's yougottaread contest.

Voting is now open to all so, please take a look and vote (and to shamelessly drop a hint you vote in the sidebar and Fire Season is Option 19) .

http://yougottareadvideos.blogspot.com

Books on Shelves

2011-01-15T16:35:00.005Z

A very short update with some good news: Fire Season will be making an appearance on Waterstones shelves shortly.

I did a full post about what it took to get listed on Waterstones system some time ago (see here). While the publisher and distributor are handling the main stock, I screwed up my courage and asked my local.

I didn't have high hopes they would take any: Fire Season is a small press book from a new author. However as I found out, if the book is already on their ordering system stores can be very happy to help.

So several copies are now making their way to Waterstones. Once they arrive in-store, I may pay a visit with a camera, just to get a shot of them on the shelves and convince myself it's real.