I have spent much of the day reeling in my lines, checking my bait, and hoping some gorgeous shiny fish will slip over the bow.
I’m talking about reviews. I’m also talking about my combined social media (FB and twit) plus my mailing list. That’s maybe 500 + 600 + 350.
How many of those actually read what I write, maybe 20%? I hope it’s that high. Engagement is tricky, and I have been notoriously absent on most media for lets be honest, ever.
20 delicious souls took on the role of beta reading The Lost for review. Thank you! I hope these souls have enjoyed it. To kick off with 20 reviews on promo day (Tuesday aug 18- both zombie books free!!) would be awesome.
And my numbers are rising. My earliest books of short stories are still languishing at around 10 reviews, despite being out for years. But- I don’t push them, so they are bait deep deep underwater.
I hope recent upsurge is a sign of increasing quality in my output. Also, maybe, in my marketing skills. Passive marketing like good covers and blurbs are key- I’m definitely better at that. In the zombie blurbs I don’t tell the plot (the steak) but try to focus on the excitement and challenge (the sizzle).
My covers now are dynamic. They feature people! In motion! Not one of my other 9 books could say that.
Pending a vast influx of sales cash ( 🙂 ) I will redo all covers of the Ruins War. They are so old and flat looking, right?
Angle away! Reel it in, old man, catch your Moby Dick and slap it on the belly then on the dinner table.
Other news
Today I jogged 7km at 5 minute pace per kn, which is pretty fast for me. SY is off in Brighton with her K-girl friends, eating fish and chips and admiring the white cliffs, while I angle and put off doing my marking.
13 students, each with 1500 word essays. That is at least 10,000 words to mark. Maybe it’s even more!?
I have done 3, which is 25%! But actually I’ve only done 2 :(. One of them was already marked by the course runner.
It counts!
Here are pictures of a cathedral with no roof, in Coventry. I went there a month back for a conference. This place got shredded by German bombs in ww2. Now there’s hardly anything left.
It’s sad, really. That loss haunts the place still.
On the right is the new build version. It’s nicely done, really.
Repairing the undercroft at left.
Stairway to nowhere.
