The Ups and Downs of Promotion

I thought some readers of the blog might be interested in an interview I was asked to do by the promotion site Humanmade, now that I have two of my novels featured there.

I had to answer lots of questions about promoting books and I've tried to be as honest as possible. As you know, there's a huge difference between what used to happen in traditional print publication and the need to bring e-books to the readers' attention.

Anyway, you can read my take on it all in the Humanmade interview - they're my opinions and no doubt they'll keep changing as much as publishing does!

Rosemary

The Joy and Pain of Editing

I'm not updating the blog quite as much during the summer, partly because it's good to have a slight break from constant online activity while the sun shines, and partly because I'm in the middle of edits for my new full length historical from Tirgearr Publishing, Midwinter Masquerade, which will be published late October/early November, all being well.

This has been an interesting novel to work on, as I had already sliced about 5,000 words off my original manuscript before even submitting to Tirgearr - much needed redrafting and sorting of some plot problems. Not that it was anywhere near perfect even then, of course. But after acceptance, my lovely editor got to work with me. I love this part of the book's progress to publication. We need a professional, objective eye cast over our 'baby' as we're far too close to the words, ideas and plot lines we create.

This is where it helps to have a good, trusting working relationship with an editor. I couldn't be happier with GA as she spots inconsistencies and repetitions and makes excellent suggestions which I then incorporate into the story in my own voice. Sometimes, we have to get rid of passages that add nothing to the story and which might actually slow it down, at other times I have to add more. I hope she would agree that my failings are not to do with grammar or punctuation and such basics on the whole but, oh boy, you should see the list of words I tend to repeat which I have now printed out and left on my desk for future work! And I tend to get carried away with the story and cause all kinds of needless complications in the plot for my characters at times.

But it's all worth it in the end when that next novel sits on Amazon begging to be read, so I'm taking a deep breath before tackling the next few chapters and can now see the glimmer of light at the far end of the tunnel. At least when I'm working on another novel, or any piece of writing, I can arm myself with that list of 'words to watch' and hopefully make the editor's job a bit easier in future. Now if I could only become more of a plotter and less of a pantster, that might get rid of some unnecessary complications in the next novel. The joys of writing and editing - and learning more with every single publication!

Rosemary

Staying Local

Sometimes, all it takes is a good dose of sunshine to make us appreciate our own local area, without feeling the need to jump in the car and drive miles away in search of an interesting day out. We stayed more local this weekend, as it was far too hot to go far. Like most of the country, we're having to learn to cope with unusual temperatures!

We're lucky in having both river and countryside on our doorstep. The swans were taken at a nearby walkway beside the river. The boat is our famous paddle steamer, The Waverley, which still plies its way up and down the Clyde and across to various islands we used to visit as children. We haven't been on it for years but hope to remedy that before it's too late.

On Saturday, we headed down to the new Arts Centre at the river front for coffee and a walk where we discovered these classic cars belonging to a group of friendly guys who meet together each week - as you can see they include one unique car that was made by its interesting owner!

After coffee, I noticed a large poster advertising paintings by a local artist so we went upstairs to investigate and found it was the final day of the exhibition. What amazing large canvas paintings of all kinds of ships through the years and wonderful shipbuilding scenes in the once famous yards that are now all gone. Fascinating reminder of our heritage.

Hope everyone has managed to survive the heat and enjoyed the weekend.

Rosemary

A Cottage with a View

 

I was lucky enough to visit the aptly named Cliff Cottage up in Aberdeenshire one day last week. It’s owned by a very kind writer who loves to share with other writers the inspirational quality of the cottage and its situation overlooking the North Sea.

After an early start for the fairly long journey by train in the delightful company of two of my friends, we arrived in time for the fun crime writing talk and exercise given by one of our ‘up north’ friends.  And fun it was, with each of the small groups trying to construct a crime story from the given characters and setting. Amidst the laughter, we all managed to come up with some kind of scenario and plot. It was such a lovely day, we were able to sit on the patio nibbling on fresh fruit while we exercised the little grey cells.

 

But the day was mainly about catching up with writer friends normally spread around different areas of Scotland, enjoying the lovely buffet lunch, and admiring the stunning views and cottage. Unfortunately, we had to travel back late in the day rather than stay over in one of the pretty bedrooms but the cottage worked its magic on us just the same. And I’m sure I don’t need to tell the female readers of this blog how much talking we did on the homeward journey! An excellent day out all round.

Meanwhile, for anyone interested in children’s fiction, my delightful Featured Author on the Flights of Imagination blog is Antje Hergt who is visiting from Germany and talking about the inspiration behind her debut novel, Darinel Dragon Hunter.

Now to apply some of that inspiration from the other day to my writing in progress!
Rosemary

Links for Twitter Tips

Since Twitter has now been around for a long time and doesn't seem to be going away, many more writers are discovering its use for social networking. I have to confess that, although I've been on Twitter for ages and have a reasonably large following on it, I don't use it nearly as much as some writers.

Like all social networking and Internet distractions, keeping up with Twitter eats into work time yet is an often valuable tool. I only access it from my computer (no Internet access on phone) and it can seem overwhelming at times. But I've met some lovely people there and it's a great place to hear what's happening in the writing world, if you can ignore the amount of self-promotion some writers do.

If anyone wants to dive in and have a go, you might like to follow some of the links on the Bookbaby Blog and tips on Indie Author News first.

The best idea is to sign up and see what it's all about. You'll never keep up with everyone but lots of interesting information, competitions and publishing news wings its way around Twitter. Something every blogger could do right away (without being on the sites yourself) is to add the social networking button to your blog (includes Facebook, twitter etc in a row). This allows others to tweet and FB your blog post straight from the page.

Good luck! My Twitter handle is @rosemarygemmell if you want to find me there.

Rosemary

Free or Bargain Reads

The following are a few books being offered free at the moment, plus a couple of bargain buys. Maybe something to tempt you over the weekend?

A free eBook anthology, Virago is 40, available to download Amazon. For forty years, Virago has been the outstanding international publisher of books by women. From 1 July through to the end of December, the publisher is celebrating Virago's fortieth birthday and have asked forty of their authors to write something inspired by the number forty.

A collection of Short Stories from well-published author Patsy Collins, Not a Drop to Drink, is free on Amazon and Smashwords.

Bill Kirton’s unusual book, Alternative Dimension, set in a virtual reality role-playing game, is free on Amazon. 

Bargain Buy

An opportunity to get Frances Garrood’s wonderful novel, The Birds, Bees and Other Secrets, at a reduced price of £2.09 on Amazon.

My own short romantic novella, The Aphrodite Touch, featuring Aphrodite and Adonis, is only £1.28 from Amazon.

If anyone knows of other free books or bargains this weekend, please let me know and I’ll add them to the blog.

Enjoy your weekend,

Rosemary