There’s light at the end of the tunnel for the second book in my James Lalonde series. I’ve made a tonne of progress this week on fixing the issues in the story arc. In book marketing news, I started dabbling in Amazon ads for the US store. I’m going to share why I turned off the Amazon Ads on the UK store. On top of all of this, I experienced a few exciting author first’s this week.
Coming up in this episode, I’ll share my experiences in experimenting with Amazon advertising and the results of the book promotion services that I purchased during the last week in January. And, I’ll discuss how I discovered that I’d written a pile of garbage which is the current state of book two in the James Lalonde series.
Coming up in this episode, I discuss exactly what I did during my first ever book launch. And, I’m also going to discuss a few experiments in book marketing as a new author. I’ve also changed my mind about something essential to my book marketing plan.
Coming up in this episode, I’m going to discuss where I’m at in the publishing process for Missing, my thoughts and plans on how I’ll self-publish my mystery novella, and a few more marketing ideas. Before we dive into my exciting publishing news, I want to first talk about a slight change to my podcast and why I struggled with consistently publishing episodes. And, what I plan to do to overcome these issues in the future.
Over the years, there has been a big push by some well-meaning people to avoid putting all your eggs in one basket and publish your books to all of the platforms or go wide. But, is this the best advice for a new author? In this episode, I’m going to discuss the difference between going wide and enrolling in the KDP Select programme and what you need to consider before deciding. And at the end of this section of the podcast, I’m going to share three actionable steps to help you decide which option is right for you. After that, in the second part of the podcast, I’m going to share with you a short behind the scenes author diary update.
In celebration of the start of season two, I’m taking a look back at the most popular podcast episodes from season one with help from the Blubrry Statistics dashboard. The episodes in this roundup style post are included purely based on the number of downloads, and complete or partial listens since the podcast was first submitted to iTunes and stitcher back in December 2017.
Welcome to the second Ask Me Anything on Writing Episode, in this video tutorial I will discuss how to use scrivener to organise, write, revision, and edit a novel.
Have you been thinking about starting a podcast but have no idea what podcast microphone to buy? Perhaps you’ve already purchased a microphone and realised that it picks up every single sound in your house. Or, maybe you’re on the fence about starting a podcast and are wondering about the basic set-up to get started? If any of these situations apply to you then this podcast tech unboxing is for you.
In the pursuit of sharing what I know and building a sustainable career as an author, I’ve turned to use Patreon as a writer to create another stream of income for my business. The one thing I’ve learned in business through my successes and failures is not to put all your eggs in one basket and to create a business that sustainable long term.
For quite some time, I’ve been sitting on the fence about whether I should share my writing goals progress report with you. Part of the reason for my indecision was the first half of this year didn’t go as planned. The first six months of 2019 were filled with some distractions, getting back into writing, and the editing process not going the way I had expected. Every time I share my writing goals and progress reports, there seems to be a familiar theme; things didn’t go as planned. If this is something you can relate to, then you’ll feel right at home on this blog. But first, let’s take a quick trip down memory lane.
When Will Thatcher, doesn’t show up for work, James Lalonde is forced to attend an afternoon tea with Alistair Carmichael in his place. The lovely autumn afternoon tea comes to an abrupt end when a body turns up on the lawn of the Carmichael Estate with strange markings on his neck.
But, something is missing, a priceless painting is off the wall. However, it’s no ordinary painting, it’s a Van Gogh purchased in an auction a few months ago. After discovering fresh tracks, most likely left by the murderer James realises the murder is still in the estate.
Rookie reporter James Lalonde is bored. And, he isn’t a journalist. He’s an all-round dogs-body, to editor-in-chief, Rhys Kelly. But, his luck has finally changed. After eavesdropping in on the morning editorial meeting, James learns he has his first-ever story. There’s one catch. If the story gets too complicated, it will be taken away from him and given to another journalist with more experience. Sure it’s a boring interview with the soon to be sworn-in magistrate, Albert Harrington, but it finally gets him out of his six-month slump as an editorial research assistant.
The following day, James turns up to his interview with Albert to discover a trail of blood smeared through Albert’s house, an empty safe, the murder weapon on the floor, but no body. Detective Anwar Khan turns up to the crime scene, puts two and two together, and believes James murdered the controversial magistrate. Can James clear his name and write his first-ever story before his editor takes it away from him?
James has a nose for trouble. But that’s nothing new. This time, things are different–his life is on the line. James is the chief editor of a small newspaper. It’s hardly captivating work. He’s bored. But all of that is about to change.
Late one evening, he returns home to discover his long-time girlfriend and journalist, Valentine, has left. Early the next morning, James fails to reallocate her assigned story. To avoid blank space in the culture section and losing his job, he decides to write the story on the local museum’s latest acquisition, Excalibur. But, there’s one thing he didn’t count on–Excalibur is missing, and a dead body is at the crime scene.
If you love gripping cloak and dagger mysteries with twists and turns, then you’ll love this first instalment in the James Lalonde Amateur Sleuth Mystery series. Get it now.
86,532 of 85,000 Words
Yesterday, I sent Duplicity off for proofreading. Yay! And I’ve set up preorders for this novel on Kobo, B&N, and Google Play with a release date of the 24th of November 2022. And, I will be making this novel available for free to my James Lalonde Insiders reader club. You can become an insider here.
0 of 60,000 Words
I’ve decided to add an extra book between the second book and the start of the byline series, where James arrives in New York. Book Three will be set in a 24 hour period in London. This novel will be available in ebook on all major ebook retailers by the end of mid 2022. And, the paperback editions soon after. I will be making this novel available for free to my James Lalonde Insiders reader club. You can become an insider here.
112,960 of 99,000 Words
Book Four the James Lalonde series needs one final round of revisions before I can hand it off to my editor. This longer novel will be published on all major ebook retailers in early 2023. And, the paperback editions soon after. I will be making this novel available for free to my James Lalonde Insiders reader club. You can become an insider here.
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