Writing Update
In part 45 of this series of blog posts – on Imposter Syndrome – I said I had a goal of fifty star ratings on Amazon for my novel The Kill Chain. I am pleased to report that as of ten days ago this was met. Once a book has achieved this, I’m told the algorithms begin to assist with promoting your book to others while browsing so I’m hoping to realise some further sales on the back of it. As I previously noted, I considered my book a success. After many rejections, I managed to become published, people bought it, reviewed it and within a year I’ve hit fifty star ratings on Amazon. I consider this a success and although I didn’t actually do anything to celebrate, I did allow myself a moment of reflection and tell myself I did good. Then I got back to my work in progress as there is much to do.
I am humbled by the fact that this number of readers took the time to give me a rating. I still sneak glances at my author page, though by and large I’m now over worrying about what people may say. I have briefly seen there are reviews on Goodreads, but I haven’t taken time to go through them. I know I’m never going to please everyone. I’ve had my one star no comment review and at that point you really do feel like a real writer. The world’s most popular authors, both alive and indeed dead, have their share of them, and there’s no reason why I should be any different. Does it hurt? Of course it does, and it can be brutal depending on what else is going on in your life at that moment. But I put the book out. It goes with the job. I hope over the next year more readers will come along and more reviews will appear.
I’m not with one of the big publishers and as a hybrid-indie it’s a lot of work doing promotion and putting together new posts to publicise my writing. I’m working on a cover for a new novel which was called The Canongate Containment and it’s surprising what a drain on time this part of the process is. It is time that needs to be spent, but I’m always aware I could be writing instead of playing around with images. I have lived with this title since late 2019. The book was queried and then rejected and I parked it to write what became The Kill Chain. It has undergone a deep edit and I’m more than pleased with the results. I’ve still a few things to tidy up to finish it, and I’m proud of how it’s turned out. I like the title, and if you read the book, it makes sense. However, this weekend I have considered changing the title completely. It’s a dystopian detective crime thriller, and the title of Dead Man’s Data, came to mind, so I now have to spend a few days with this possibility and change the wording on the draft cover and see what it looks like. I won’t go into how many times I’ve changed the font, the colour, the background and so on, and then spent hours moving the lettering a fraction this way or that. I can’t afford to pay for a good cover so I have to put the hours in. Come to think of it, I am also thinking of Dead Man Data, removing the apostrophe ‘s’. Writers will know that such things can occupy the mind for weeks.
So what is the takeaway from all of this? Keep going, put the effort in and don’t worry about the things you can’t control. The writing is what is important, and if a few people like it along the way, then that is a bonus. I’ve written a follow-up to The Kill Chain and I don’t know if it will be out any time soon. I’m already planning a third novel in the series. Why? Despite the effort that went into The Kill Chain, the second book was relatively easy and I enjoyed writing it.
I don’t know how to get my work in front of the committees drawing up shortlists for awards or to get noticed by one of the national media to give me a write-up and review. This is something I need to research further. I’ve entered competitions before, and it’s not been a positive experience. Writing isn’t a competition, but I get in some quarters it has been reduced to that. If I was to win something or other, I would be pleased, but would wonder about the great writers I know who didn’t enter. If my work isn’t being judged against what I consider the best, then what would winning mean to me? I suspect I know the answer, as I haven’t entered any competition for awhile now. I chose to revamp the shorts stories I had and relaunched them last year on Amazon. If I write more, I suspect I will do the same again. A novel competition maybe an option of course, but again that is time consuming. I like the speed and flexibility of the indie market.
Anyway, on a positive note, for this current novel, I’m in charge of the entire process and with that comes creative control and the opportunity to do as I please. The last few days I’ve taken a break from actually putting words down on paper and I’m planning to take a couple of weeks off. This will involve scribbling down ideas using pen and paper at odd times during the day and continuing with my Spanish lessons while thinking about new projects, but this is a break in my world. Getting up early and sitting at my desk and writing has been full-on this year, so I feel it is time to take stock and prepare for the rest of the year. I also hope to dabble some more with my synths and come up with some new music. I’m looking forward to it.
The Fiction Factory 