Tag Archives: Clown

January 2, 2013 · 3:56 pm

Hitting the target

Well well well… It finally happened.

Hallo, yes, I’m back, by the way. Happy New Year! The Mayans didn’t get me!

You can expect to see a few more posts from me imminently, including some new reviews (yes, I am still reading, and enjoying some of those books). And, funnily enough, it’s reviews I wanted to talk about today.

True Color ImageTrue Color Image

I’ve been drifting along with Clown for a variety of reasons, but I’m very happy to have picked up a number of reviews on the Goodreads and Amazon US and UK sites, and for that, I’d like to thank the reviewers. Obviously, commenting directly on a review is usually regarded as taboo, so I’ll refrain from that, but I will make some mentions here.

However, this isn’t going to be of the “Argh! You posted something negative, therefore I must bash your own book in retaliation!” nature. See, I’ve picked up some three star reviews, and I’m actually pretty pleased with them. They offer an insight from a reviewer/audience perspective. Authors far too often get so caught up with their own baby that they’re convinced it’s the greatest thing ever written, and the readers who don’t appreciate it are morons. There was a lot of things I tried to do with Clown, playing gently with expectation and subverting the genre in small ways. From the technical format, through to perspective, and a whole host of other things. For my own amusement and experiment, more than anything else. Some of it works, some of it doesn’t, and different readers will see things differently.

Did they pick up on everything that I wanted them to as readers? No.

Is that their fault or mine? It’s mine. I’m the writer.

Did everything I tried to do work for the readers? No.

Is that their fault or mine? It’s mine. I’m the writer.

Did they get where I was coming from, did they understand the innermost workings of my mind every time? No.

Is that their… you know what? Let’s just make it very clear:

If the reader does not “get” or “appreciate” something I was trying to do or say in my book, it is not through any fault of theirs. I am the writer. I am the conveyor of my story. The words, the phrases, the settings, the characters, the scenes… they all come from my head. Any message I want to get across has to be delivered by my hands.

Oh, and this isn’t some self-pitying rant, by the way. No writer has the ability to reach every single reader on the planet. I’m comfortable and confident enough to know that my writing succeeded on some levels. I’m not arrogant enough to insist it succeeded on all levels. The feedback I receive gives me something to work on. I’m damned grateful for it. Admittedly, a small part of me wants to weep and wail, “Why don’t they like me?”, but that’s just a natural emotional response. Write something, anything, and you set yourself up as a target.

Which brings me on to the second part of this post. I’ve also been lucky enough to receive a one-star review on Amazon’s US and UK sites.
Strangely, this is from an unverified purchase, and not from someone I’ve provided a free copy to.
Oddly, the reviews make strange comments: “For a book about a clown, this isn’t even funny”, “This book is about a clown lost in his own labyrinth”.
Weirdly, they are the reviewer’s only reviews. Well, apart from the one review they’ve done on their own book. Funnily enough, that got five stars.
But most bizarrely of all, and surely coincidentally, they’re from an author who received a very poor review from me (although, I hasten to add, the review I did write was a much restrained and far less damning one than his book deserved).

Sigh.

The bullseye was placed on my book, and someone took a cheap shot at it. Am I going to lose any sleep over a negative, malicious review like that? Heh. If it had been a well-thought out critique, then I would spend a lot more time thinking about it. As it is, I’ll focus on my other reviews, from people who’ve taken the time to read and digest, and give me something constructive to work with.

Thank you, peeps. Here’s to a bright and prosperous 2013!

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October 2, 2012 · 3:34 pm

Free book! Clown, by Paul Montgomery

Okey-dokey, my favourite peeps, it’s about that time!

Yes, freeby promotion time!

Yes, it's promotion time

Clown is going free!

Clown, that lovely book on the side there, will be running free on Amazon from October 5th until October 9th. Five free days to get a new book for your collection. To take a trip into the fantastic. To see what all the fuss and delight is about.

Go on.

Mark the date in your diary, and get a copy for yourself. You know you want to. All the cool kids are doing it…

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September 26, 2012 · 2:39 pm

Inspiring inspiration

Inspiration comes in many forms. And like sleep, it is at its most elusive when its being searched for.

So, on to the aspiring and actual writer’s most useful tool: A notepad. Or, at least, something to record those invaluable ideas when they arrive. Whether it be a notepad, an application for your phone/tablet/laptop, a Dictaphone, or the back of a cigarette packet. The absolute worst thing is memory. “Ah, I don’t need to write it down. I’ll remember it later.” No. You won’t.

But the internet, and the blogosphere abound with suggestions about how and where to take notes. I just need to reinforce it, because, let’s face it, no one wants to lose that million-book-selling idea. Make sure you record it. Someway, somehow, make sure it’s recorded – and in a way that will make sense to you later!

Instead of belabouring that point, I wanted to scribble a few lines about where I find inspiration these days.

It was suggested, some time ago, that I go for a walk – watch the world, and pick up inspiration from the things around me. Sometimes that works well. More often than not, it doesn’t. Dreams? Sure, dreams are good – depending on what you can remember. Lots of people use them.

No, what works best for me is other people.

Yes, yes, hush. No plagiarism here. See that book over there, the one called Clown? It’s called Clown. It’s an original piece of work. It’s not about Ebeneezer Clown, or Sherlock Clown, or somesuch. If you’re in any doubt, click on it. Trial it, buy it, read it. Go on, you’ll enjoy it. (OK, shameless shilling over)

What I’m talking about is when a line or an image leaps out at me (as the audience), and becomes something I can play with. In the context it’s presented, it can mean one thing, although it might even be something completely throwaway, that means something specifically to me. My background, my experiences, my outlook, my knowledge, my beliefs, my ethics, my circumstances – everything that makes me uniquely me, all conspire to take that one particular phrase that means nothing to anyone else, and make it my own.

It might take a while. It might take a lot of mulling about. It might take a lot of playing with. It might take to the point where something else comes along to spark it into life, and then it all makes sense.

I have the aforementioned notebook, filled with scribbles. Some names, some lines, some phrases, some outlines. A lot of them stand alone. Some of them are vaguely linked. Sometimes when I flick through it, I can start to draw a line between one particular entry and another. It may be a character and a situation, and together they suddenly click.

Sometimes something just sticks. At the moment, there’s a line going through my head from a song. It’s a single, throwaway line from a song which was never particularly huge. Or, at least, it wasn’t for me. I hadn’t heard of it before it popped up in a movie soundtrack. Me and Julio Down By The School Yard, by Paul Simon, appearing in the latest Muppet Movie. Some great lines in there, but the one that stood out was this:

“I’m taking my time, but I don’t know where”

Every time I hear that, it makes me smile. It’s a line that, for me, fills with possibility. “I’m taking my time” is that old phrase, perfect for a casual attitude, that suddenly gets twisted “but I don’t know where.” It suddenly changes to “I’m taking my Time, but I don’t know where”, and becomes that much more interesting and inspirational.

Who? Who are you, my mysterious friend, so casual in where you’re going, and so unknowing of your destination. And more to the point, how are you carrying your time? What kind of world or circumstance exists where you can carry your time? Why don’t you know where you’re going? What happens when you do get there?

Questions, questions. Answer them, and you have your tale. It’s one of those perfect leaping-off points. For me. I want to do something with this one, simple little line, that could make a whole world. This could easily be a quick little story, or a sprawling epic. It can easily be a sci-fi, fantasy, horror, thriller, comedy – or possibly even all at once. Hell, it could be whatever I want, and that’s what works for me. The best kind of inspirational moment. I can introduce other random scribblings in my book of ideas, and get something truly wonderful from it. Or, I can labour with it, and get something poor. Or, I can just sit on it and do nothing, but think of how wonderful it could be… (Fear of starting. A topic for another day…)

But, let’s make this clear. This is what works for me. It might work for you. It might not.

That’s the big trick with writing. Finding what works for you. Personally, I can’t write in the silence everyone else dictates. Can’t stand it. I need some comfortable, familiar background noise. That’s what works for me. By all means, take a principle, but adapt and personalise it. You have to find what works for you.

If you find your best ideas come when you lie on your bed with your finger up your nose and you stare at the ceiling… Go for it (although not when entertaining company. It’d just be a bit too weird).

If you find you write best when you’re on the train, with someone sharply jabbing you in the ribs to keep you awake… Go for it.

What works for you, works for you. Do not rely on someone else’s techniques. Find what works for you.

This is what works for me.

And I wish you every success in the world!

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July 30, 2012 · 9:44 am

The (W)rite of Passage

And lo, it came to pass, as ever it must for every author of any stature, it has been received. I have it now, and so I am a man.

The first bad review.

Naturally, I take to these pages to address it. Kind of. Because it’s fairly common knowledge now that no author should address a bad review. It never goes well, and in some cases leads to spectacular meltdowns – they’re easy to find on the internet. Tantrums from authors who argue that the reader just didn’t get it; that everyone else says the book was good, therefore you must be a total douchebag to disagree; that it’s my baby and I made all this effort for it. Worse, when the reader posts a review saying that they didn’t finish the book. “Argh! How can you say you didn’t like it if you didn’t give it a chance?!”

Well. Because they’re the reader. And there are (potentially) millions of them out there. Every single one will have different interests, different passions, different perceptions. Personal experiences, social status, ethnicity, orientation, location, vocation, and a million and one other things will have an impact on how a person reads a book, how they connect to it, how they connect to the characters.

Is it possible to please every single person out there? Hell, no! Stephen King, JK Rowling, Terry Practchett are three of the world’s biggest authors – and they have their critics. Shakespeare, Dickens, Dostoyevsky – phenomenal writers all, and they too have their critics. Would I dare compare myself favourably against them? No. Nowhere near. So, if they can have their critics, I’m damn sure I’m going to have mine.

But, how to deal with it? A book is, to many authors, a little like their own baby. They spend ages building it from scratch, nurturing it, investing their time and lives in shaping it. Their heart and soul goes into it (unless it’s a cynical attempt to cash in on the lastest craze by churning out another poor entry in the field). And, as proud as a new parent they upload that book, and press the publish button. There it is. All out in the world, and suddenly, there’s a target on their book. A small target to begin with, but as more and more people read it, that target gets bigger and bigger – sooner or later, someone’s going to take a shot.

And it might be anything, absolutely anything that pulls the trigger. A particular character, scene or action. The cover. The title. The lack of formatting, spelling, proofreading, editting. A particular character’s beliefs – religious or political. Maybe there’s a moment which reminds the reader of an obscure book or movie they once saw, and they cry plagiarism. Maybe the dialogue doesn’t read true when the reader puts it in their voice.

That’s a key problem with writing. In your head, the voices and the words sound one particular way. No matter how well you describe it, people will always interpret it their way. And good for them! Characters should be personal to the reader. How many times have you seen a film adaptation and been disappointed by how a particular character looked, because it wasn’t how you saw them?

So, sooner or later, every author is going to attract that bad review. It’s inevitable – accept it. And then look at how you deal with it.

Tantrum? Attack the reviewer? Go on a little rampage? Sulk? Listen, it’s only human to be a little upset by it, a little offended by it. This is your baby. It’s fine. Don’t sweat it. Look at it again. Let me use mine as an example. It raised several points, which I’ll summarise as follows:

  1. I didn’t finish the book
  2. The book was very well written
  3. The book is well put together and literally beautiful
  4. Painfully boring and slow
  5. Conversations between characters are extremely flat

Guess which points drew my attention and emotion first? If you said 4 and 5, you are correct, and you may help yourself to a cookie!

Why? They’re the most negative things in there. They hurt. Boring and slow? Flat conversations? But… but… in my mind they sparkle and flow! I wanted a slow book! I didn’t think it was that slow! I… I… I’m wrong. Of course. To the reader, that reviewer, the conversations are flat. They’re not reading with my voice. Should I condemn them for that? Should I track them down, and force them to listen as I read the book the way I believe it should be? Of course not! How absurd.

Well, what about the fact that they couldn’t finish the book? Oh, no. How terrible. They missed the ending, the developments, the twist. But that’s their right! There’s been plenty of films and books which I’ve just switched off on. Life’s too damn short! If I bought a videogame and started playing it, knowing that there were a good 40+ hours of gameplay, but didn’t enjoy it, should I continue playing it? Call of Duty is a major game. It does not hook me at all. Does that make it a bad game? No, it’s just not the game for me.

So, what should I take from this review? My writing is very nice. I’ll take that. I’ll happily take that, along with the suggestion to tweak my dialogue in future work so that it’s a bit sharper. And then I’ll leave the review alone. I’m not going to change it by dwelling on it. I’m not going to gain anything by responding to it.

But now I have it. My first bad review. I’m sure that more will follow, and that my next (W)rite of Passage (you see what I did there?) will be the first malicious review that comes my way. It’s coming. I know it is. Not only do I have a book out, but I’m reviewing other books in these pages. Some of the reviews that I write are fairly critical. Thankfully, the responses to criticism have been well (and graciously) received so far. Full credit to the authors involved. However, inevitably, someone will take offence at something – either the author, or someone who reads the review on their behalf. Probably. Possibly. Maybe I’m being a bit too cynical. But that malicious review is out there, somewhere.

Patience…

 

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July 18, 2012 · 2:58 pm

Why read Clown?

Slowly but surely, some nice words are coming in for Clown. Thought I’d share some of my favourites with you from various reviews:

“Clown is an enthralling book”
“I want to heartily recommend this to everyone”
“The book leads you on a journey of ups, downs, fast paced action and slower descriptive scenes”
“Love the writing, the story and the characters”
“It’s kept me up late two nights in a row”
“The ending is a hit that leaves you thinking back over all you have read as you realise how its all interconnecting and nearly everything that you thought may have been being described for no reason does have an important part in creating the story as a whole.”
“The novel carries such an air of intrigue and mystery that just keeps you turning page after page”
“…you will become enmeshed in the tale and willingly carried along in Clown’s evolving heroic quest”
“Montgomery is a pleasure to read.”

And my favouritest of favourite quotes:

“He can spell.”

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· 11:50 am

Refunds?

Random post for the day.

I’ve had a few more sales come through for Clown (that lovely book up there on the right). However, amongst them has come two returns. And this baffles me.

I respect anyone’s right to return a product they’re not satisfied with, and I’ve done enough work in retail to know what people can be like, but books… On a Kindle? I’ve never done that. The concept is just alien to me.

If I buy a book, the thought of returning it never crosses my mind, no matter how bad it might be. Even if it turns out to be in a genre I’m not interested in. If it’s a hard copy, I’ll pass it on to someone else who may enjoy it – or a charity shop if I can’t think of anyone.
On a side note, if it’s a book I know I’ll only read once, I’ll do the same. I’ll also very happily lend out books that I really enjoy to people who I know will enjoy it, just to make sure that they read it. This has led me to purchasing Neil Gaimen’s American Gods a dozen times or so…

But that’s me.

I worked as a Cinema Manager for a few years, and regularly had people come out and complain about a film not being good. Sadly, this wasn’t the fault of the cinema – we didn’t make the film, afterall. And we would offer a refund to anyone who came out in the first 20 mins of a film. But this is where the audience have a kind of responsibility to find out what they’re getting into as well – film posters, quotes, trailers and reviews are there to give you an idea of what you’re getting.

Ditto for books. Especially for Kindle.

The cover is there on the page. Admittedly, it’s smaller than a movie poster, and may not be very revealing. I like to think Clown’s cover indicates that there’s going to be a journey of sorts, but I also think that it could be better.

There are a couple of reviews up there on the page. Admittedly, I need more, and I’m hoping that some of the readers will be kind enough to put words up there.

Most crucially, though, there is the option to “Look Inside”. This gives a substantial peek into the book (too much, for my preference. I know what my ideal cut-off point would be), and can tell you about the writing style, subject of the book, etc.

Hmm… I can appreciate that people don’t have the time to go through that. May make an impulse purchase, or have a good reason to request a refund. And they have every right to do so. It’s an available option, after all. It’s just not something I can ever see myself doing.

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July 10, 2012 · 4:26 pm

Trying to move on…

And so, a return to my own writing.

Boy, am I struggling! See, it’s been a few years since I actually wrote Clown. After that, it sat gathering dust and getting the occasional edit until I got off my backside and published it.

Now, there’s a few things vying for my attention, which is bad enough, but I’m so out of touch with actually sitting down and writing that I’m struggling again. Add to that the distractions which surround me, and I’m REALLY struggling. So, let’s just count up the problems, shall we? (Why not? This may actually prove to be a useful exercise)

1. Time. I have precious little time to write at home. (I considered trying it on train journeys, but ended up falling asleep. When I don’t, I read instead.) I get home from work around 6.30pm, and by the time I’ve changed and eaten, it’s anywhere from 7.30 – 8pm. With a little ‘un to look after, and a good lady to spend time with (sure sacrifices have to be made, but I like spending time with them); or things to be blown up on the Playstation after a stressful day at the office; or a gym to be visited… There’s not much time left for writing. Especially as I need my sleep! And this doesn’t even consider the wealth of games, TV and movies which I want to catch up on (Supernatural, Battlestar Galactica, Warehouse 13, House… all calling for me! I’m desperately trying to leave Skyrim alone, but they’ve just released a new expansion. Bastards!)

2. Distraction. When I do get the chance to get down and write, I invariably find myself distracted. There are too many forums to pop into. The invariable Facebook/Twitter catch up. There’s always something…

3. Writing. And this is the real p*sser. When I do finally settle down. I’m comfortable. I’m relaxed. I’m distraction-free. And I start to write… Or, more accurately, I stare at the screen. Then I write something. Then I delete it, and try again.

Right now, I have five or six ideas for work that are all vying for attention. They’ve all seen Clown make it out of my head, and that people are willing to download and read. Those ideas are jealous. They want to be written and read.

I’m bouncing between a horror/slasher tribute; a sequel to Clown (largely focussed around the Dark Clown); another fantasy piece (Mischief); a collection of fairy tales; a collection of linked urban fantasy stories. And today, another one – which has been tickling at the back of my mind for a long time, and the missing piece finally fell into place.

Because I haven’t been writing for a long time, I can’t quite get into the groove again. I can’t find my voice again. Which is quite phenomenally frustrating.

I tried starting the slasher piece again, but hit a wall. For that, I need to do some character sheets (something I didn’t really use for Clown).

I tried kicking Mischief off again, but there’s a very definite tone in the telling of that book, and I couldn’t quite get to it. Not yet. So it’ll need to wait for a while.

I tried writing a new story. From scratch – just a short, so that it could fit in with the fairy tales collection. It started well enough, but again, I’m hitting that block…

…

…

Sometimes I do my best thinking through distraction. Wander into something else, and the original line of thought somehow becomes clearer.
Sometimes I like to take a walk, or gaze out the window, and a particular line or next step will come to me. Sometimes it works particularly well in the bath.

Hmm…

I think, by your mercy, I’m going to start a story here. I seem to be able to type well enough on these pages, and I’m able to offer critical review to the books I read, so maybe a new approach will work.

Let’s see, shall we?

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July 2, 2012 · 12:28 pm

Promotional Experimentational

I may have mentioned the experiments I like to run every now and then with Clown (on the right hand side of your screen there).

For those interested, Clown is enrolled in KDP Select. One of the benefits available with KDP Select is to have five promotional days per 90 day period through Amazon – these days allow you to sell your chosen title/s for free. Reason being that more people will download a free book, thereby increasing likelihood of reviews, and raising your title/s in the various selling lists so that there is greater awareness and likelihood of people seeing them post-promotion. Plus, more people will be reading your book (which is always nice).

And, naturally, there’s lots of advice within the writing community about how best to promote your work. Depending on your current situation (i.e. number of reviews, current standing in the various genre/sales lists), it can affect your total number of free downloads – with results reaching up to 10,000+ in some circumstances.

Last time I did it, I did the following:

  • Promo ran Fri – Sun, over Father’s Day weekend
  • Promo did not run at the start of the month, to avoid getting lost in all the other promos
  • Hyped up promo on Facebook, blog, Twitter, beforehand, etc
  • Contacted key websites to advertise free book for that weekend
  • Placed localised free adverts (Gumtree, Craigslist, etc)
  • On the promo days, used Forums, websites, Twitter, Facebook, etc to get attention

End result – just over 750 downloads. I was mightily pleased, given that I had come from 20 sales and three reviews only. Afterwards, I managed a small (approx. 14) number of follow-up sales.

So, this time, I ran a little experiment. I had 2 days left to use by the 15th July, so I did the following:

  • Ran a 2 day promotion over this weekend
  • The weekend was at the end of June/start of July
  • The promotion was completely unannounced
  • The promotion was not marketted or mentioned in any way to anyone

Enough time had passed for Clown to have dropped down the sales lists to a very non-prominent role. And by “non-prominent”, I mean that unless you’re specifically looking for it, or you’re flicking through page after page in the fantasy genre books, you’re not going to find it.

So, I wanted to see what would happen. Which is, probably, the reason I’ve given for most of the things I’ve done in my life.

Result – Total of 82 downloads. 33 in the UK, 48 in the US, and one more in Germany.

My friends and family already have Clown downloaded, so it’s absolutely not them. Given that this was unannounced, and the timing, I’m pleasantly surprised that anyone picked it up and I really wonder how it happened. The only difference, and I suspect this may be a key thing, is that I now have a review up on Amazon US (5 star – I’ll post it up at some point). Oh, and I changed the brief description of the book – maybe it actually is a difference-maker!

I’d love to know how this happened, and will post up some theories a bit later – when I can think of some!

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June 22, 2012 · 9:34 am

Breaking the rules

It’s been a generally busy week over at TrueJDK Towers, with the day job, home life, and whatnot. And also with attempting to do a little more writing, reading, reviewing, and networking.

So, today, I’d like to talk about the rules. Or, at least, some of them. The classics, mainly. See, when it comes to writing, most guides will offer a variation of their “rules for writing”, with some common offenders coming up regularly.

For example – “Write what you know“.
This one irritates me generally. I do agree to a degree, that a writer shouldn’t just make stuff up where the correct information needs to be, as they will get caught out, it doesn’t necessarily hold true all of the time.
I would fail miserably about detailing a surgical operation. I have no idea of the names of procedures, of the medication required, etc. I could probably ask for a bit of help from a suitably knowledgeable source to get me through, though.
However, I have never met a dragon. I have never been to an alien world. I have never run from a faceless demon. I can write these things through the wonderful power of imagination.
The reason I say this, is that I see too many people taking “write what you know” literally, and writing stories based on their own lives, their own experiences, and staying very much within their own comfort zone. We have imaginations, and like any muscle, the more you exercise them, the stronger they become.
I believe this is why fantasy, horror and sci-fi can be such popular genres to write. The world is defined by you! Don’t like the way the law works here? Want to create your own form of society? Want to define creatures, physics, social interactions the way you want them to be? Want, essentially, the power of a god? Use your imagination. Create that world. Create the people, the countries, the histories, the flora and fauna, the interactions, the customs. It may not work first time round. But then, first time in the gym after a few years will probably be pretty painful as well. The more you do, the easier it is.

  • Write what you know, by all means. But don’t just write what you know.
  • If you don’t know it, but want to use it, find out about it.
  • And if it doesn’t exist, use your imagination.

The next one that bugs me is that you need to write in silence.
Says who? Writing in silence, distraction-free, is an opinion only. It’s what works best for that particular writer. It doesn’t have to be what works best for you.
Personally, I work best having something which sets me in the genre I’m writing. When I was writing Clown, I usually had something like The Princess Bride, or a Studio Ghibli film playing in the background. Something that I’d seen so often it was background noise that set me in the right mood.
Writing Survivors, I usually have one of the Friday 13th movies on in the background. This is what works for me.
I’m not suggesting this is the best way for you. I’m saying, bluntly, find what works best for you and use it.
If you work best in one particular room, at one particular time, with a certain radio station on in the background – go for it.
Spread a little – try doing it at different times, different locations, expand your comfort zone, by all means. But don’t be dictated to that you cannot write unless you have a place which is totally silent and distraction-free. You’ll drive yourself crazy trying to find it, and waste too much writing time.
Oh, and for me, having something on in the background can also provide a source of inspiration for moments when I get stuck. I’ve taken a few ideas from others, played with them, twisted them around so they’re totally different from what they started as. But having them there to begin with helped me.

There are others which bother me, and which I’ll come back to (such as not having multiple POV’s, keeping your protagonist clear, etc), but those are the ones which annoyed me most.

Sometimes the best things can come from breaking the rules, from stepping off the trail and creating a new path.

Love to hear what works best for you.

 

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June 18, 2012 · 11:07 am

Putting Clown back in the box

And, the promotion is finished…

And how did it go? Delighted to tell you!

Let me break it down a little:

Background
In the UK, Clown had sold a total of 19 copies. The majority of these I can attribute to friends and family, with maybe a handful bought by people I don’t know. Three reviews, two glowing “family and friends” automatic 5-star reviews, and one honest 4-star review from another friend.
In the US, 1 copy sold. No reviews.

Strategy
I opted for a three day promotion, covering the Father’s Day weekend, in the middle of the month.
Three days covers one week day, and two weekend days.
Father’s Day gives me an extra gimmick.
Middle of the month is different from the standard start of the month, when most people post their promotions, so less combinations.
To increase awareness, I hit the following:

  • Facebook and assorted groups
  • Twitter, also contacting various e-book promoting users, and some celebs
  • Several forums
  • Promotional websites
  • Free domestic advertising sites

Final result:
224 downloads in the UK.
517 downloads in the US.
12 downloads in Germany.

Some thoughts overall:

  • I’m pretty pleased to have beaten 750 downloads. That’s a hefty increase from 20!
  • Where the hell did the German downloads come from?
  • At various points, I was in the Top 500 free ebooks in the UK, Top 1000 in the US, and Top 2000 in Germany.
  • I was being downloaded more than The Brothers Grimm. Yay!
  • I was very popular in the World Mythology and Fairytales category (Top 10).
  • Sales went well on Friday (initial barrage of promotion), dipped a little on Saturday (no promotion), and climbed very well again on Sunday (more and different more promotion).
  • By and large, most of the tweeters ignored me. However, I did get a large pickup after retweets from former professional wrestlers Lance Storm and Rowdy Roddy Piper!
  • The various websites were very helpful and positive in listing my promotion*
  • Seriously, who the hell found me in Germany?

Final thoughts:

The domestic advertisers I used (places like Craigslist and Gumtree) are free, simple and quick to use. Gumtree doesn’t like the advertising, but I’m going to make a suggestion that they have a category for free books. Not sure how much benefit they bring, but it’s easy to get a load of adverts on quite quickly. Just choose your timing well.

One subject I hadn’t even thought of for advertising was through a friend who plays and enjoys World of Warcraft. He generously retweeted for me, and I secured a few more downloads. It’s a fantasy game with a huge online community, in which he plays a major part – and runs a podcast! Something to bear in mind next time I promote a fantasy book.

I did ask for retweets from 50+ celebs, and got 2. They obviously led to some sales, so I’m pleased, but I think they’d rapidly get annoyed by a barrage of requests. I thanked them, and will leave them alone now. Hopefully they read the book and enjoy it, though.

A number of others also ran promotions, with their results hitting in the thousands, typically 6,000 – 10,000. Obviously, I’d love to do the same. But, for an initial run, with no reviews at all, I’m not going to beat myself up about it. They tend to have good numbers of 5-star reviews and whatnot, so it’s easier to sell. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

One poster in a forum roundly derided the use of promotions, giving away books which take away from actual sales; that no one would read them; that we were destroying the system as a whole. Rar rar rar.
In some ways, I agree with him. I would much rather people paid to download my book and put a little money in my pocket, as any author would. On the other hand, I’m happy that people are actually reading it. And, in order for people to read my book, they need to know about it. In order for them to know about it, I need to be able to promote it/have it recommended. So, I need to take a short term hit, for long-term gain. I hope.

I’ll let you know how I get on.

 

*I will be posting a separate page full of links and useful names for new writers shortly.

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