Just a quick post today – I wasn’t planning to write anything, but then the features editor of our local paper, the Cambridge News, emailed to say that an article I had written for her about “Worm in the Blossom” would be going in the paper tomorrow (Friday 30 October) and was already online.
When I was writing the piece – she asked me to do it, because I am a regular columnist at the paper – I made sure to cover several key points:
- “Worm in the Blossom” is the third in a series – so there are actually three books you can buy
- there will be four more books, so even more ways to spend your money on Sam
- writing is a hard but rewarding process – this author (I tried to imply) does huge amounts of research both at her desk and on foot, and so deserves every penny of the £7.99 she charges per book (and remember, there are three available and four more to come…)
- you can buy all three books now in three local bookshops.
(I also wrote exactly to her specification: the right number of words, with the required photos at the preferred resolution. But you knew that anyway: always give an editor what she wants.)
I’ll keep an eye on sales, and if I get panicked calls from bookshops tomorrow afternoon, desperate to stock up after stampedes of eager readers have stripped the shelves, I’ll let you know. And if it makes no difference at all, I’ll let you know. So hard for the self-published author to predict what will prompt sales, if anything apart from dumb luck.
Susan Grossey 