Bumper Crop of 14 Marketing Actions for Writers

I must get out of this habit of doing 14 actions in a post. My excuse for not updating my 365 day project; Operation Author: 365 Actions To Becoming a Successful Author - is that I was on holiday in Portugal last weekend. 

We had a lush time Dolphin watching, kayaking and just chilling out.

Most of my actions for the past two weeks have been related to the completion of my crowdfund.

After a last minute push I reached my target.

3 days left at this point

This is my first action. Pictures of me looking pathetic seemed to work!

My only action while I was in Portugal was to write the Solomon's Secrets hashtag on the wall of a pub!







Action 3:
Another action was to contact all of the fabulous people who supported my crowdfund and update them.

In the end, having taken off the pledges for the event that didn't go ahead, I had much less than the £1000 I asked for.  But it does mean I have some options. I'll publish with Amazon, as before, but look at other ways to get some copies print on demand and I can pay for a professional copy edit.

Action 4:
My next action is to put a call out:

Can anyone recommend a good copy editor, preferably in Bristol, UK?

Action 5:
I met with Olly at Fundsurfer to talk about the end of my campaign and what comes next. They are going to keep the publicity going, their first author to successfully complete a fund is a great good news story for them. But I have work to do too...

Action 6:
I drew up a spreadsheet of publications where Fundsurfer could send a press release to and sent that across. Fingers crossed something will be published in one of the literary, writers and / or business publications that we're targeting.

It's great to have professionals draw up the piece and to be working in partnership with them by supplying information. 

For me, one of the biggest things that is making a difference to this 365 project is reaching out to others and boosting my platform by spring boarding off others. 

My advice to any writers out there looking to grow their audience - get help. 

You can only do so much on your own - but whatever you do, don't be tempted to delegate all of the marketing to someone else. Think of it as a partnership and by working with others you can promote them too. Always give back.

I've been busily promoting what Fundsurfer do to anyone interested in crowdfunding because it's been such a positive experience for me, even though I didn't raise enough money to publish with Silverwood books, which is a shame. Maybe the next book!

Action 7:
With that in mind, I gave a talk at North Bristol Writers group about crowdfunding. They are planning to crowdfund the publication of their short story anthology.

Action 8:
I also gave a talk at a women's networking event in Bristol, The Queens Power Lunch. I met some great people and ate some fantastic Caribbean food. 

I went partly to talk about my work with Outset, supporting local businesses, but to my delight, they were more interested in my books. I talked about both The Bronze Box and Solomon's Secrets. I also talked about my experience of crowdfunding.

Action 9:
At the lunch I also caught up with the fabulous Rachael Gelndinning of Bristol Prospectus and she has invited me to contribute. I'd love to contribute to this site, I need to get writing.

Action 10:
I've been playing with video and audio recently and have some partial projects on the go, including some sort of book trailer. 

Here's something I recoded previously, where I talk about the books, that I may or may not use in the future: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ui7N8C19_k

Action 11:
I sent a news piece to Linda Parkinson-Hardman for her Women on the Edge of Reality blog about my crowdfund. She has featured me previously on a Thursday Throng Interview and has supported my crowdfund too. She's an awesome lady!

Action 12:
I asked an upholsterers in Bristol if they had any leather offcuts and they sold me a lovely piece of leather that I've been using for mark 2 of my mini manuscripts. I enjoyed the experiment last time and got a tweet from someone but this time I wanted to make them look more like real old manuscripts instead

 

Action 13:
I went out and about in Bristol and left these in various places. 

Look out for them around Easton and Stokes Croft in particular. I've already had a tweet from one lovely person - Thank you Alice Matthews - I get so excited when people get in touch, it makes it all seem worthwhile!

Action 14:
I'm going to get some flyers professionally printed and went into Sebright. I hope to be able to pick them up next week and start distributing them. 

Thanks to everyone who's helped me get this far.

What marketing actions have worked for you recently?

 




 

Crowds, BBQ's and Sunshine...

Crowds, BBQ's and Sunshine... and no, I'm not talking about the World Cup. In fact, I've been actively avoiding it!

This week, my seven actions for  

 

Operation Author: 365 Actions to Becoming a Successful Author

Have involved keeping the momentum going with the crowdfund, continuing to serialize Solomon's Secrets and finding ways to write outside so that I can enjoy sunshine and BBQ's in a rare week long spell of good weather in England. #SolomonsSecrets

I wrote a guest blog for Bristol Books Blog this week on Crowdfunding, offering tips to other writers considering this route to publication

Read the guest post here

I've been talking with a local publisher and have just over a month and under £300 still to raise to get Solomon's Secrets published. Please support me, so I can support a local publisher and a local crowdfund start up, get my book independently published and in local bookshops.

• Signed paperbacks are £10 (inc P&P)
• Kindle books are £3

http://bit.ly/SolomonsSecrets_Fund



I've been experimenting with audio and recorded the first chapter on SoundCloud

Listen to the prologue here

I have continued to serialize Solomon's Secrets on here and I have also put the first 6 chapters on a downloadable file on my website

Download the first 6 chapters here

I've made some miniature manuscripts that I'm going to guerrilla market around Bristol. Look out for these little books. I've already left one in The Lounge on North Street.

Look out for these in Bristol

I've also been writing the old fashioned way this week. Sitting in the garden or in one of Bristol's lovely parks, with a notebook and writing passages for the next book in the Sheridan and Blake Mysteries series, Gabriel's Game.

And finally, this week I have also released the second edition of The Bronze Box.

The kindle version is out now and the paperback proof has been ordered.

You can still get the first edition in Paperback at the moment, but only until the proof has been approved.  

The kindle version of the first edition is already out of publication. So if you want to own a rare book, warts and all, get in there quick! 

If you'd like a signed copy of this rare paperback, please email me. I have four left in stock and will sign a copy and post it to you for £10 (inc. P&P).


The Second Edition of The Bronze Box features a new epilogue, I've corrected the errors that slipped through the editing process and there is new cover art.

 You can also get copies of both The Bronze Box and Solomon's Secrets via the crowdfund.

Look out for more chapters of Solomon's Secrets being serialized here and please spread the word.

I'm off to enjoy the sunshine in Bristol and have a BBQ later!
 
Thanks for reading and supporting me.

Solomon's Secrets: Chapter 11

This week, my seven actions for  

Operation Author: 365 Actions to Becoming a Successful Author 

 I am continuing to serialize chapters from Solomon's Secrets.

I recommend that you read the previous few posts to get up to speed with the story so far. 

Enjoy, and please leave comments. Thanks

The exterior or The British Museum (Image from: http://hmdegree.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/british-museum-postcard-wide-angle.jpg)

The British Museum, London

“The Silk Road, eh? Not your usual archaeological diversion.”

“Oh, hello. You startled me, I was miles away.”

“Dreaming of distant deserts and discoveries?”

“Something like that.” Sasha turned to Jon and smiled. “How was your business in France?”

A blackness fluttered across his eyes, he blinked and looked away before painting on a smile.

He did that a lot. She found herself wondering what was going on behind his icy blue eyes, and was it something she should be worried about?

The last time a rich business man had financed her work she saw her first dead body, killed a man in self-defence and was chased through Amsterdam by an assassin. So far, her dealings with Jon Solomon had been rather more civilized. Fancy dinners, foot massages and friendly banter. But for how long?

“Why stop here when there is so much more in this museum?” asked Jon, looking over her shoulder at the fragments of an ancient Chinese parchment, suspended between two slices of Perspex, a specimen in a lab.

She turned and folded her arms loosely.

“You know. I’ve worked on and off at this place for years now. Dipping in and out of different projects. I remember the first time I came here, as a child.”

She slowly walked the length of the illuminated glass display cases, and Jon joined her. She was half looking in at the remains of history and turning occasionally to look at him.

“Is that why you decided to be an Archaeologist?”

“Partly. I remember walking in, seeing the burial offerings from Sutton Hoo and looking up at my dad and saying wow. As he took me around I kept tugging at his sleeve and pointing things out. It was the first time I felt it.”

“Felt what?”

“That tingle. That delicious moment of discovery. I guess it’s a surge of adrenaline. Whenever I come here I try to feel it again. But it’s different every time. Each time I unearth something. The first time is always the most memorable.”

She chuckled to herself and he was smiling at the innuendo.

“It’s easy to get boxed into a subject, to be consumed by the minutia of work. I like to drift around these galleries, looking at things I normally steam past on my way to somewhere else and just remind myself how much there is still out there we know nothing about. So much waiting to be discovered.”

“But why this gallery? Why the sudden fascination with the expeditions of Sir Marc Aurel Stein?”

She stopped and turned to him, “Because of you.”

“Why me?”

“Silk. It’s your obsession. Surely you’ve travelled up and down the Silk Road in the course of your business?”

“Many times,” his eyes lit up.

She had pressed a button, found something.

“Of course, it’s rather more civilised than in the early twentieth century. In Stein’s day it was camels and tents and months in the saddle. These days it’s air conditioned four by fours and helicopters. Still, the area has changed little in thousands of years. These specimens were retrieved from the Cave of a Thousand Buddhas near the oasis of Dunhuang. But I guess you already know that.”

She nodded slowly and smiled.

“I can’t shake the sense there is a connection.”

“A connection? What do you mean?”

She paused, looked around the gallery, “You know what. Let’s take a seat and I’ll tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

She slid onto a polished wooden bench along the spine of the gallery and Jon perched beside her, his knees turned into hers.

“I was looking through old microfiches of The Times newspaper in the library this morning. I started looking for something else for the research we’re working on but it occurred to me to take the opportunity to look for reports of ancient Greek manuscripts. I ended up wasting a lot of time, and just as I was about to give up, I came across some of the reports and columns Stein wrote following his expeditions along the Silk Road. There was a mention of a manuscript written in Greek. It was a passing reference, nothing more but it made me question it.”

“Could it be? Do you think…Could it have been in the Dunhuang library cave?” the colour had drained from Jon’s face.

“Perhaps? It’s certainly worth further investigation. It would be out of place and worthy of note so it’s odd there’s no other mention of it.”

“Some sort of cover up perhaps? Or maybe it went missing? Or never made it back England?” his face was pinched in thought.

“Any of those things could have happened. You’re right though. It’s odd there’s no other mention of such a manuscript? Perhaps it did go missing? While I’m here I may as well make the most of my access to the old records. I’ll do some digging and see if I can find any reference to it.”

“You really are a remarkable woman Sasha Blake. Allow me to buy you lunch!”

“That’s very kind of you, thank you.”

He stood, and offered her his arm, trying to wear a serious face which quickly wore off when she took his arm and allowed him to lead her out of the gallery and into the sunlight.

Inside one of the galleries at The British Museum (image from: https://yy1.staticflickr.com/32/90232364_00663ef2f7.jpg)

Kate Winslet as Sasha Blake (image from: http://www.spicycelebrities.com/gallery/kate-winslet/kate-winslet-05.jpg)

Tom Hiddleston as Jon Solomon (Image from: http://www.cinemablend.com/images/news_img/37029/tom_hiddleston_37029.jpg)

Coming soon - Solomon's Secrets is in the final stages of preparation for publication. Help me to see it in print by pre-ordering now.

• e-Books £3
• Signed paperbacks £10 (inc P&P)

http://bit.ly/SolomonsSecrets_Fund

Serials and decisions...

Last week for:

Operation Author: 365 Actions to Becoming a Successful Author

I started to serilaize Solomon's Secrets. I didn't quite keep up with a daily update, other things got in the way. However, I did still complete my seven actions for the week.

As well as publishing the first 5 chapters on here I also finished the second draft of Solomon's Secrets and made some decisions.

I made a decisions about the crowdfund. I'm not afraid to admit that I bit of more than I could chew when I set my original target! After meeting with Fundsurfer and looking at the options, I've now reduced the fund amount to £1,000 and extended the deadline to 28th July. The event is cancelled and I'm focusing on publishing alone.

https://www.fundsurfer.com/project/independently-publishing-solomons-secrets-event

I've done a new update on the blog on here too:

https://www.fundsurfer.com/node/77/updates

If you know anyone who likes mystery adventure stories, with some history, archaeology, suspense and surprising plot twists, tell them to check out #SolomonsSecrets and help me get it publsihed by getting advanced copies through the crowd fund: https://www.fundsurfer.com/project/independently-publishing-solomons-secrets-event

Print books: £10 (inc P&P)
E-Books: £3

In the meantime, look out for more chapters here as I 

continue to serialize the first part of the book.

Thanks :)

Solomon's Secrets: Blurb and Prologue

This week, my seven actions for  

Operation Author: 365 Actions to Becoming a Successful Author 

 I will serialize chapters from Solomon's Secrets, 1 a day for 7 days.

Enjoy, and please leave comments. Thanks

*

Dunhaung, China 1908 – An archaeologist discovers an ancient temple, but legendary library rumoured to be at its heart is what he really wants to find.

The present - Archeologist, Dr Sasha Blake has been studying a replica of an ancient manuscript.  Offered sponsorship by a wealthy silk trader, Jon Solomon, she is desperate to locate the original and four powerful rings that accompany it.  But her investor is hiding terrible secrets.  

As Sasha begins to realise the truth about Solomon she becomes the bait in a web of conspiracy set up by a covert organisation, The Agency, and Agent Tom Sheridan is her only ally.

Can Sheridan and Blake find the manuscript in time to stop Solomon, or are they about to fall into his trap?

PROLOGUE

SECRET LOCATION SOMEWHERE IN PARIS - PRESENT DAY

  

Tom Sheridan gazed down the corridor, an unlit cigarette dangling between his fingers.

He watched while his men dragged the detainee towards the holding cell. Bound, gagged and hooded, she fought them as they bundled her towards him.

He didn’t know why he’d taken up smoking again, all he knew was that he enjoyed the head rush and warmth in his throat. It made him feel alive, when most of the time all he felt was numb.

His hands started to shake, he needed the reassurance and the kick right now, but would have to wait until after the interrogation. He slid the cigarette into his shirt pocket and folded his arms, steadying himself, building up courage.

He’d done this a thousand times. Usually the people he questioned were real scumbags, they deserved what was coming to them. But not this time. This one would be the worst of his career. This one meant something.

 Tune in tomorrow for the next chapter...

Coming soon - Solomon's Secrets is in the final stages of preparation for publication. Help me to see it in print by pre-ordering now.

• e-Books £3
• Paperbacks £10 (inc P&P)

http://bit.ly/SolomonsSecrets_Fund


Thanks :)