I published my latest novel, Shooting at Strangers back in May of this year. I have to be honest and say that, despite getting some good reviews, sales have not been forthcoming. I published the book physically, as a paperback (so far I’ve only had fifty copies printed) and made it available mail order through Strelitzia publishing (my own publishing company, so far with only one author on its books – me!)

I also published it as an ebook on Amazon. In some respects, this is an ideal solution, allowing authors to get their books out there for minimal, or even zero, cost. In practice, getting your book noticed among the millions that are published each year seems to be difficult. I’ve tried setting up an ad campaign, but though I’ve had thousands of impressions (an impression, as I understand it, is where your book shows up somewhere on a page) I’ve only had two clicks. Fortunately, you pay per click, rather than per impression; if it were the other way around, I’d have spent a lot of money by now! You can set a daily, as well as an overall budget for the campaign, so if people start clicking on your advert ‘willy-nilly’ without a corresponding level of sales, you can stop the process before you’ve racked up a huge bill. The Amazon ads interface is, I have to say, dreadful – not exactly intuitive or easy to use.

I discovered Goodreads, largely thanks to Gretchen of Thoughts become Words (who was kind enough to review Shooting at Strangers). Goodreads is an interesting platform. It’s a good resource for readers, with access to reviews of books, and the opportunity to engage with the community, including by posting your own reviews of books you’ve read. So far though, it hasn’t generated any sales for me.

I’m trying to get my novel into local libraries. Of the libraries in my two closest towns, one is closed for the foreseeable future due to the discovery of so called RAAC concrete in the building structure, and the other isn’t answering my emails (the next step is to go in and speak to them). Shrewsbury library (a wonderful historic building – worth a visit if you’re ever in the area) is supportive of local authors and have kindly taken a copy.

Getting your book out there is, I think, an involved and time consuming process. There’s a lot more for me to do, but finding the time is proving difficult, even though I am now, nominally at least, retired (although it doesn’t seem like it!) I’m still doing some work -I am, or was, a horticulturalist – and other aspects of my life are taking up a lot of time too. I’m not naturally inclined to the job of marketing – I don’t have the aptitude or the motivation. In truth, I’m more interested in getting on with the writing of my next novel (which is one of the things that is limiting the time available for marketing!)

I’m confident of my ability to produce good work that will be enjoyed by readers, and all the evidence so far confirms that my confidence is not misplaced. Shooting at Strangers has been well received by the few that have read it so far, and so I certainly don’t want to give up on it yet. I really do need to free up more time to publicise the book.

The dream of making a career as an author has passed, particularly as I’m retired – I no longer want a full-time job. For me, it’s now all about getting my work read (and hopefully enjoyed) by as many people as possible. That will also justify continuing to do one of the things I enjoy most in life – writing fiction (or as the author and illustrator Nick Hayes termed it, give me an artist’s permit). Of course, it would be nice to earn some pocket money along the way.

My next project is rather different to my previous books. It’s going to be more of an adventure, with more action and more peril, as the main character undertakes a rather unusual, and somewhat risky metaphorical journey. It’s definitely a book with a message. Oh, and it’s also going to be a comedy. It’s proving to be a challenge, mostly due to the amount of research required, and the difficulty of working out all the implications of something that has never really happened before. Intriguing? I hope so, but I can’t tell you too much more at the moment. But while I’m excited to be working on a new novel, I really must spare the time to continue promoting the last one.

text & photos © graham wright 2024