The Brother And The Friend – A Fable

Once upon a time a chap had a brother, who also turned out to be another chap. Growing up, the two brothers would play and fight, fight and play, and through the years they became as close as brothers typically tend to. After hours spent in the backseats of cars on long holidays they grew used to each other. Since being forced to share toys, then records, then girlfriends (although the latter wasn’t so much a share as a strategic ambush) they forged a deep love for one another which would never be broken.

So, they were brothers, right? Maybe in hindsight that was all I needed to say, but brothers can mean different things to different people. How about Cane and Abel? Romulus and Remus? The Gallagher’s? So, just to clarify matters, these brothers got on.

The Most Important Aspects From The Latest ‘Author Earnings’ Analysis

It’s been six months since Hugh Howey and his unnamed sidekick went public with the publishing numbers from Amazon. Up until then it had been a closed shop with Amazon reluctant to share any of the data they hold. Using clever data mining and assumptions it’s now possible to view the publishing landscape as it currently stands.

Since the first release, there have been two subsequent snapshots, the most recent being last week. Each view has led to some pretty major headlines and this time it’s no different. All in all, the message comes back loud and clear… it’s a great time to be a writer and the publishing industry is in a revolution. I’ve highlighted the most important points from last week’s analysis below.

Another Free Book Promotion

This time around it’s the turn of my first novel, The Great Corporate Escape. I tried a free book promotion a couple of months ago for Plaster Scene with variable success but the experiment continues. There are a number of standard marketing tools available for us self-publishers and we should always exploit them as much as we can.

If you’re even remotely interested then you can download it for free during the next two days by clicking on the following links.

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The key to successful free promotions seems to be the amount of exposure you can receive and this is where I might have lucked out this time.

The Self-Publishing Specialist ???

Does this sound a little grand? The eagle-eyed of you might’ve noticed that a new sub-title has appeared at the top of the site and I thought it would only be polite to explain myself.

I wish I was a specialist in something else but with everything else I’m unfortunately just average. I would love to have skills in something exciting but that isn’t to be. It happens that I’ve been concentrating on writing books, publishing books, printing books, marketing books, listening to others doing stuff with their books, reading books and, in the mean time, I’ve ended up becoming a bit of an expert on self-publishing books.

Turning Pro

Yep, that’s right, my football ability has finally been recognised and I’ll be signing a professional contract real soon. So, screw this writing game, I’m off to do some keepy-ups on the beach.

What’s wrong with me? It’s not even April 1st. No, I’m not becoming a professional footballer. I was offered it but they told me that I wasn’t allowed to continue with this blog, so I told them to find some other puppet for their games. What I’m actually talking about, when I get around to it, is turning pro as a writer. I’ve been a full-time writer now for a couple of years and I’ve even produced novels but, to me, there’s still a difference. Let me explain.

The End of the Beginning or, The Beginning of the End

The first draft of the next novel, Blind Faith, is finally finished. This sort of news could even cheer up a Brazilian this morning but you need to calm down. It’s only the end of the first draft. In my experience, the other books have taken four drafts to get right so maybe it’s not even halfway.

It feels tighter than its predecessors but I suppose they all do until you lift your head once more into reality and then plunge back in with a new breath. The embryonic story is delicately being pigeoned to the beta-readers and I await their feedback, like an expectant gladiator looking up at Caesar.

Do I Enjoy Writing?

This is a good question. It sounds quite straightforward at first, my obvious answer is, ‘hell yeah’, but is that really true. The idea of writing for a living is my dream, but I’m not there yet. The dream is as strong as it’s always been but that’s exactly what it still is, a dream.

The day in/day out grind of writing words that somehow make some kind of a cohesive message is another thing altogether. When I’m in that beautiful moment of flow that we all talk about, that’s when I enjoy writing but if I’m being honest, that doesn’t happen as soon as I sit down at the keyboard. So, for this post I’m going to detail some of the frustrations I have with writing.

Patterson Beats His Bookshop Drum

Yesterday, the author James Patterson was on UK radio discussing his current plight, namely, saving the local bookshop from extinction. In recent years, he’s concentrated his philanthropic efforts on the noble cause of improving literacy amongst children but it now seems as though he’s been deflected by the beat of another drum.

I’ve written a number of posts regarding the demise of local bookshops and, if you’re a regular reader of this blog, then you’ll know that generally I think it’s sad that they’re going. But, it’s not as simple as pretending they’re whales and trying to save them. Can an entire category of shops be saved?

Here Comes The Sun

I watched the Grammy’s tribute to The Beatles on Saturday night and was once again blown away by the legacy of songs in such a short period. It was seven years from their first single to their last and, although there are a number of shockers in the list (Dig A Pony, Yellow Submarine, Revolution 9), they were intensely prolific.

Watching other bands play their songs reminded me of how good the songs really are. Most massive bands have maybe five or so great songs that stand the test of time, and written in twice as long a timeframe. Any band where the third songwriter comes out with Something and Here Comes The Sun is pretty special.

Where’s The Perfect Place To Write?

I’ve changed my mind about this question several times and I’ve finally settled on the most boring answer yet. It’s something that, as a writer, we think about a lot. If you want to be inspired then maybe it’s the place, if you don’t want to be distracted then maybe it’s the place, if you need the internet then maybe it’s the place.

There are several reasons why the perfect place is as variable as the writing styles which are expounded within them. It largely depends on the author and the motivation to get the words down, but in this post I’ll look at some of the common spots.