Back from Holidays and Am A Bookshop!!

I haven't managed to post anything for a month as I was on holiday, and first it was too cold so we went camping further south, then it was too hot...
I had planned to finish the first draft of my third book during my 4 weeks off, but I only managed a few chapters. Turns out I'm not one of those compulsive writers who has to be dragged from their keyboard kicking and screaming...
And I so want to be able to write in my bio "she divides her time between Dublin and the Dordogne" but that only fair if she actually writes in the Dordogne - do you think?
Of course another reason my third book is slow is that I am still dealing with selling the first one. 300 printed copies arrived at my house today, with a book launch planned for sometime in September. They are taking up a lot of my living room!

My Mum, who has just finished reading a proof copy, could find nothing in Despite the Angels to criticise except the things that I had already fixed - which is some sort of record, as she has a fault seeking missile installed in her brain- so I am feeling encouraged!  It is almost equivalent to a five-star review!

Hollywood Here I Come!!!!

My 'book trailer' is finished! My huge thanks go to Derek and Maire for acting, to Fergal for filming, and to Nigel for editing. (I just wrote it...) I think it's great: have a look, and pass the word to others who might find it entertaining!  "A Frustrated Angel"

Life's rich tapestry...

I have sometimes confused people by saying "Life is not just too short, it is too narrow as well" -meaning I want to do lots of things Now, not simply live a long time. But I never knew how many of life's experiences would come my way as result of self-publishing.
Publishing your own book, though fraught with difficulties and puzzles, is actually the easy part. (Well actually writing it is the easy part, but that's another story!) Getting the book out there to people who would enjoy it seems to me to be like the torment of Sisyphus!!
I did a course on epublishing a while ago with Catherine Ryan Howard, who suggested making a book trailer. She showed some examples that she felt would work, and they were all little stories in their own right, not descriptions of the book. So I wrote a script. It is about a man who can't find a cheque, and his guardian angel's attempts to help him. I'm lucky to be in two drama groups, and from one I assembled a team - two actors, a great cameraman, and a film editor. We had two rehearsals, then last Sunday was filming day. I watched with huge pleasure as two friends acted their hearts out (and missed a lot of sunshine, it was the best day of the year, maybe the decade!) and the others wielded camera and clipboard with great skill. We had 74 separate takes by 4pm, when we all went home to enjoy the sun and cool and calming drinks!!
It will be a week or more before this is all cut together to make a less than 5 minute 'play' which I hope will entertain people enough that they will share it with their friends.
It felt a huge honour to have these four great friends (five actually, as the editor's wife came along to take notes; not to mention another partner who provided great sandwiches!) spend this time on my work. When else, in the normal world, would I get the chance to be a film author or film director? And set-designer to boot! It is great to be able to have such experiences.

Top photo: Cameraman and editor/director. Middle photo: an angel trying to move a table mat. Bottom photo: Human and angel waiting for cameraman to say 'rolling', and director to say 'and Action'!
You will be the first to know when "Listen to your Angel" goes live!

So what effect does a free promotion have?

Over my three-day promotion, which ended at midnight California time, a total of 1248 books were downloaded. All but 13 from amazon.com, .co.uk, and .de . During the promo, Despite the Angels rose and fell, its highest ranking of free books was #455, which was at 2.15pm Irish time on Sunday. It hit a high point of first place in 'Romance-paranormal-ghosts' for a few hours, and then settled to #3. This was a little mystifying, as there are no ghosts at all in the book!
I decided eventually that someone in Amazon must have seen the phrase 'spirit guides' and latched on to 'spirit'. But of course spirit guides are definitely not ghosts!
The book also got up to 8th position in 'romance-paranormal-angels'.
All that is of no importance really, it is what happens now that is of significance. And sadly, that is not likely to amount to much. The book is at 315,003rd overall in amazon. This is probably about half way up, but it is still totally invisible. It would be similar to your book being stocked by a big bookshop, but left in the storeroom!
People who specifically look for either ghost or angel books may stumble across it, at #204 out of 1399 for ghost, and #128 out of 633 for angels; but looking at the others in those lists (only the covers, admittedly) made me feel they were not attracting the readers who would want and enjoy my kind of angels!
So I have more research to do, to work out where to market it next. if any of you have read "Despite the Angels" and are familiar with Amazon's genre selections, maybe you would be kind and give me your opinion?

It is FREE now !!

The big push is on, and nearly 10 hours into the free offer, "Despite the Angels" is ranking 2,890th in the free list, but #10 in 'paranormal-ghosts' which is mystifying as there are no ghosts in the book!!
Please both download the book and pass the word around. This is my book's chance to become 'heard of', and visible to the casual browser.
And it's a cheerful read, anyway, so it's one of those rare win-win situations.
Thanks
www.amazon.com/dp/B00C438T0E      and www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00C438T0E
if you don't have a Kindle you can download a free 'kindle app' onto your pc/ ipad etc, and then download the book

And by the way - those who prefer paperbacks can now get one from www.createspace.com/4232303

'Despite the Angels' FREE this weekend!

This weekend, 25th -27th May inclusive, the exact starting time to be chosen by Amazon in USA, my book "Despite the Angels" is free to download to Kindle. If you don't have a Kindle, download the free 'Kindle App' from Amazon onto your pc/ipad etc, and then you can download the book.
If you like the book, please go onto amazon.com and amazon.co.uk and leave a glowing review!! Ebooks depend on good reviews to become visible to the casual browser, and strangely, Amazon only consider 4 or 5 stars out of 5 to be good. A three-star review can help a book to sink further into obscurity, even if the accompanying words are fulsome in their praise! Weird, but that's how it is, so please give 4 or 5 stars unless you think it deserves a bad mark.
For those of who who prefer to read off paper, a little more patience only, it is nearly available in print!

I'm really looking forward to hearing what everyone thinks of my story....

Back from a holiday

So I survived the A to Z challenge - congratulations to all who did! It was a hectic month, as I also published "Despite the Angels", and formatted it for a paperback version. My first proof copy arrived, and I found I had the 'gutters' too wide, numbers on the blank and 'front matter' pages, and had forgotten to right-justify! So back to the drawing board, and as I write this I am expecting the new proof to arrive. The photo is of me ordering it from Createspace. We have no Wifi where we stay in France, so I 'have to' go either to a friend's, or as here, to the local bar/restaurant. They do a very good rosé wine which pays for my use of their facilities without causing me any distress at all! (They also do very good food, and best of all, they know us and greet us with kisses.) The weather was cold, I think all of Europe is having an extra autumn this year.
I'm back now, and getting back to my third book, as yet un-named.