Authors Electric

So here we are – December 2015 and I’ve been at this self-publishing indie lark for nearly five whole years! I started back in February 2011, after many years of what are generally known in the industry as "rave rejections" - we love this but we can't sell it kind of thing. Well maybe they couldn't. I could and I did, as I've proved several times over. Rat Run was released in November. The sixth (and final) book in my 3+3 dark and gritty crime series. The process has been refined many times over the years and time and experience bring enough confidence to carry me through the moments when the self-confidence nosedives, that point in a book where the initial heady rush has long gone, but the end is nowhere in sight and I have absolutely no idea where my plot is going ... I know that if I persevere, my subconscious will come through for me and eventually I'll hit that long galloping race to the end. And then it's cover design - relatively easy now as t...

FREE. Something-for-nothing. It’s worth what you pay for it. Cheap-and-cheerful. Race to the bottom. There are lots of opinions about free in the context of free books. Or specifically free ebooks, since free paperbacks don’t make any kind of economic sense; I give away free paperbacks only for review purposes (and very occasionally to friends), since they have a specific unit print cost. But free ebooks cost the author nothing. Except lost revenue, I hear you cry. When I have slaved away over a hot keyboard for many years, why would I want to give away my books for free? How can I make a living, a profit – or just break even – if I’m not earning any money from sales? I used to think the same. More than four years into this self-publishing lark and I was a staunch decrier of free . I’d never given my books away, other than for reviews or as competition prizes or occasional giveaway promotions. I was a firm believer that the readers I wanted to attract were the ones who ...

Writing can be a lonely business. Whether you live alone or are married and/or have a large family, the act of committing your imagination to paper or computer is highly personal – just you and your words against the world. Of course I’m discounting all the people that live in your head and whisper to you at odd hours of the day – if I admitted I talked to imaginary people, I’d have even less of a social life than I do already! It’s slightly different in the 21 st century – the internet helps us connect to other like-minded people, sharing ideas and offering support across the world via facebook, blogs and even sites set up specifically for writers to share their work. These can help even the most isolated of writers to talk to people who understand what it’s like to sometimes feel you are living two lives at the same time. But you can't beat physically meeting up with other writers. Whether it's to share work in progress or just socialise, you know you are with people ...