Hello Dear Reader, it’s been a while.
It has been one of those nights. I actually went to bed late, 1am, and was still awake at 2 am when believe it or not someone rang my buzzer. It was only a couple of quick buzzes and it was not repeated so I didn’t answer. The deed was done though – no sleep for me. I have been up since which has allowed me time to write something.
In the beginning I posted quite often to try and get noticed. Build the brand so to speak. Not sure how, as these blogs never get more than 10 people viewing them. That is not surprising though, being the reluctant blogger. I have nothing anyone wants to hear. Therefore, back in September I changed tack and took to Twitter to do the same thing, but although I have made some friends and useful contacts, the primary purpose of building an audience has not been a great success. I am nearing 10,000 tweets – which I am gobsmacked about and am not sure how I reached this number – and in that time I have sold 11 books. The thing is that those few that read them do like them. If people didn’t I would pack it in. They have left some nice reviews.
When I was checking the number of books sold since my attack on Twitter, I decided to have a total count. Rewind and Trouble Cross have been on Amazon since December 2012 and Once Upon A Week since 2019. These are the figures:
Rewind 68
Once Upon A Week 24
Trouble Cross 12
There has also been one sale of Pratt, Pratt, Wally and Pratt Investigate and one of Doctor, Oh No! following the splitting of Trouble Cross into three. (Both Twitter people and again good feedback.) If one also takes into account my very first novel which sold 72 copies way back, I have sold a total of 178 books in thirty one years. Not that has all been solid writing. Working full time means it takes me about 4 years to write a novel, then there is the ensuing fallow period of demoralisation after the agent rejections before I start again.
It is over a year now since I finished my fourth novel, The Puzzle, and still no agent for that. Twenty five rejections so far including two this week. I do not want this one published the same way as the others. I didn’t want to self-publish and sort of fell into it without realising that was what I was doing. There are thousands of self-published authors on Twitter, all of them doing a far better job of it than me. I am not a designer or a marketer. I crave the traditional publication method where you have an agent that finds a publisher. I regret that I am getting bitter about this now. Every celebrity that says they are writing novels in addition to what they are famous for angers me. They have no trouble getting published.
In other news, we have started a Wordle League on Twitter. I had the original idea and figured maybe it would be nice to get twenty people. I am doing it jointly with another guy on Twitter and he has a far bigger following than my meagre 450. (On that though, 450 people following me! Why I hear you ask? No idea. They must like my punny nature.) The league has mushroomed into something far greater than I imagined. It keeps us both busy on a daily basis keeping track of the entries and scores. My spreadsheet has over 200 names on it and we have at least 100 who play Wordle and share their scores on a daily basis, with others playing more spasmodically. They seem to like the competition and banter that results between them.
Football is a laugh isn’t it – not. Following United’s worst season in the Premier League, we get poor England performances now. As I tweeted yesterday, there are in fact the same odds of Baldrick becoming the new US president as those of England winning the World Cup. Football is no longer an escape for me, it just fuels my malcontent.
As does the TV, or rather the lack of it. Disney Plus nicking NCIS was the last straw. What do all these different companies think we can pay to watch TV? It is ludicrous all these different subscriptions. And to exacerbate the situation, can someone tell me why Britbox is showing original new series? Why are these not on TV? I think Why Didn’t They Ask Evans would be far more entertaining than watching sewing, dog grooming or incessant singing shows. And who the ____ thinks that Bargain Loving Brits By The Sea, Big Brits Go Large and World’s Most Expensive Break Ups is entertainment. Too many channels and not enough quality programmes so they put any pile of poo on.
And finally, if the above has been a bit dire here is a joke from Twitter – one of the Wordle League guys sends one in with his entry every day.
Why is Cinderella never picked for the football team? Because she always runs away from the ball.
Enjoy your Sunday. And whilst you are here why not visit: