Writing during a Pandemic

For months, I have complained about lack of time and blamed my failure to complete my second novel on that and on personal circumstances.

Since the Lockdown, I have had time, but the onset of a virus (maybe THE VIRUS) succeeded in giving a justifiable reason for not writing. Serious coughing caused me to hit keys that transformed my carefully crafted words to farcical nonsense. 4 weeks have passed and I can no longer blame illness and so, I am ready to return to my second novel. The great thing about the break is that I have had distance from my book and its weaknesses are clear and can be addressed.

My teacher in the Dream Author Coaching Programme, Sophie Hannah, asks us to set our dream goal for the future and smaller goals to get there. My small goal is to write a short piece of fiction or non-fiction most days so I produce 5 pieces of work each week in addition to moving my second novel forward.

In the meantime, Silencio has been relisted in Ebook format on http://www.amazon.com and http://www.amazon.co.uk and is also available as in paperback through Amazon and at http://www.troubador.co.uk

Relisting of Ebook of Silencio

I’m pleased to announce that the ebook version of Silencio has been relisted on http://www.amazon.co.uk and http://www.amazon.com

Busy Days

Life is a whirlwind at present and I haven’t had many spare minutes but I wanted to give you a heads up. Anyone living near Winchester may want to visit the University on the evening of June 13th and speak with some of the authors who have books in the Published Book Fair. I’ll be there and would love to see you.

Find out more by following the link:

https://hampshirewriterssociety.co.uk/book-fair-2017/

Speaking at the LiveLaughLove Ladies Club

Lindsay with Michelle the founder of the LLL clubs

 

I was honoured to be invited by Michelle to be the lunchtime speaker at the local branch of the LiveLaughLadies Club. The event was well attended and I gave my audience an insight to life as a writer, the true facts behind my novel Silencio, and what it’s really like to publish a book.

The LLL concept was conceived by Michelle and the following statement from the website gives you an idea of the aims of the clubs.

‘Founded by Michelle Bartlett in 2014 on the south coast, Live Laugh Love Ladies Club is a club with a difference. These clubs are about fun, love and laughter for ladies over 18 to meet, relax and enjoy an inspirational guest speaker, delicious food and great company. It’s not a club for business, it is a social club for all women.’

Spanish Baby Trafficking Affects UK Mother

Silencio, my suspense novel, is based on true events in Spain during the 1900’s and tells the story of a journalist’s investigation of babies taken from maternity units and sold or given to other families.

This did not just affect Spanish women as a story in the British press reveals. Now MEPs are asking for answers.

Follow the link to find out more.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-40006603

I’m the Guest Author on Rita Chapman’s Website This Week

I am delighted to announce that the lovely writer Rita Chapman interviewed me for her guest author spot. Rita originates from the UK and now lives in Australia and has a love of travel. She has written several romantic travel books in addition to a crime mystery and a horse lover tale.  Click on the links below to see my interview and to find out more about Rita.

http://ritaleechapman.com/guest-authors

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5834608.Rita_Lee_Chapman

https://www.facebook.com/rita.chapman

http://www.ritaleechapman.blogspot.com/

Preparing As a Guest Speaker

The lovely Michelle from the successful LiveLaughLove Ladies Clubs in the UK has invited me to be the guest speaker at one of the luncheon events in May. While I am confined to the settee, recovering from a fractured ankle, I am using the time to plan the agenda and content of my 45 minute slot.

It is difficult to achieve a good balance between book promotion and my experience as a novelist. Some of the women have expressed an interest in the process of writing and publication and this made me realise what a mysterious world the book industry is. I lived every step of producing Silencio over a 4 year period and it probably takes the average reader less than 2 weeks to read it.

Never mind the trauma of producing 100,000 words (give or take a few), there are the rewrites (6 at least), editing, proof reading, and deciding on publishing routes. Then I had to choose the typeface, paper, book cover image including matt or gloss, and so on in addition to writing blurbs, author information sheets, deciding on a marketing strategy. . . The list goes on and now I am wondering why I am writing another novel. Motherhood is hard and writing a book is a labour of love.

Does Price Dropping Work?

The ebook version of Silencio has now been discounted to £.99 for 9 days. At the end of the 14 day period, I will evaluate the impact of price on sales. I am not sure how sensitive pricing is in the debut novel market.

Have any of my readers put their own books in to a price drop situation? How successful was it at driving sales? I will enjoy reading about your experiences.

Marketing of Silencio

As the person responsible for the marketing of my novel Silencio,  last week, I had to make a difficult decision about price promotion. I decided to reduce the price of the ebook version of my book to £.99 for a period of 14 days.

It wasn’t an easy decision because my novel represents 4 years of work and I do not want to undersell the effort that it took. However, I am aware that the global marketplace for ebooks is vast and could represent the path of success for the debut author. Breaking in to the crowded market requires notable sales and without a huge publicity machine, this can not be achieved without promotional activity.

I have been fortunate with my book sales but now things are slowing down and a boost is needed.

It will be interesting to witness the effects of my price promotion on the number of book sales.

Interview for The Quay Magazine (Poole, Dorset)

@LABerryNovels, author of Silencio, is interviewed in The Quay magazine! You can find out more about her book here: https://t.co/5x9XudOewM

— Troubador Publishing (@matadorbooks) August 16, 2016

I am thrilled to be featured with my novel Silencio in The Quay magazine this month.