As of thirty minutes ago, Wren book 6, Enemy of the People, is finished!!
Hurrah!
It is closing out at 85,000 words. It’s still a month until launch, so I’ll use that time to edit it, proofread it, polish it up. I think it’s pretty much polished already, so that shouldn’t be too hard. I already have the cover, and it is epic. I’ll share that shortly. What else is there to say?
Nothing much. I’m feeling super pleased. It is often the case through the middle of a novel that I am uncertain if I will be able to land it properly. This one had me more uncertain than usual. I knew I’d land it, because that’s just writing. But land it well?
I believe I hit my marks.
Reviews
In other news, reviews of the 5-book Wren series on amazon.com have all turned to 4.5 stars (apart from book 1, which is 4.1 currently and rising). This is great. Makes it look very attractive to readers considering a series.
I also got a fantastic review of the box set on Amazon US:
Christopher Wren is so much larger than life that he should be a humorous caricature. His exploits are Marvel Universe save the country ridiculous. This cannot be a serious series. Yet, some how it is. Characters are deep, complex, flawed and awesome. The action is great. How Mr Grist rides this edge I don’t understand. But then I don’t have to, I’m here to be entertained… and I was!
I love this. Thank you CloudSmasher. I guess this is what I am going for with these books – big time special effects and action, combined with complex characters. It wasn’t overt – I wanted to write a book series like a great action movie. This is what I got 🙂
Marketing
I continue with the Facebook ads as ever, while also trying to market Su’s book the Tokyo Bicycle Bakery. It is a really beautiful and uplifting romance that we’re struggling to find the audience for. It will be down to the blurb, cover, title, opening chapters – and we’ve recently reworked all those.
Yesterday we had 5 sales. Pretty great, off a very minimal ad spend. Today fewer. It’s a puzzle at this stage, as I don’t know romance well, and don’t have either the targeting of audiences or the ad copy mastered. We need to experiment who are her best comp authors. Also double-check her blurb and first chapter to try to make them appeal the most.
I may throw what we’ve got to a wider audience of authors and see if they have any idea why it doesn’t convert more.
Life
Since lockdown has eased we’ve had some lovely busy weekends full of socializing. Last weekend we went to Greenwich to see my old high school friend Nick with his wife and their 3 kids. It was awesome. A meal from Greenwich food market, coffees and cake, chased with football and frisbee in the park. It doesn’t really get any better.
Then we went to see my Dad and Aileen in Kent, enjoyed chatting it up and eating vegan burgers, walking around the fields.
This coming bank holiday weekend we’ll go back to Greenwich just to wander, shop, eat, drink and hang out in the park, then we’ll also go see my mom, where my sister with her fam and my brother’s fam will be. We’ll take along the cornhole gear and play some garden games. Looking forward to it. Haven’t seen these kids in a year, and my mom always puts on a great spread!