The man from WH Smith, he say…

Tags

Amazon, bookshop, G David, Heffers, paperback, royalty, Susan in the City, WH Smith

…no.  As you may remember, I took my latest book – “Susan in the City: The Cambridge News Years” – into our local branch of WH Smith.  They weren’t keen on considering the Plank books when I took those in, but I thought that a book by a local author, a collection of columns that had appeared in the local paper, might have local appeal.  I had visions of a lovely yellow display alongside the newspaper…  The manager said that he would put the proposal to head office, and perhaps then I should have heard the distant knell of doom.

Anyway, I called in today and was told that, in the “current challenging book market”, WH Smith does not want to take on any new books until the start of their new financial year, in September.  I nodded politely, but inside I was saying, “Whaaaaaaat?”.  As everyone in the book world knows, physical books – as opposed to e-books – have made a strong recovery in recent months: indeed, sales through bricks-and-mortar shops rose by 7% in 2016.  And as for the idea that WH Smith is not going to put out any new titles on their shelves until September – I suspect that this is piffle.  If that’s really the case, they’re going to kick themselves for missing out on the new Ian Rankin paperback (due out on 15 June) and the new Jamie Oliver hardback cookbook (due out on 24 August).

Mind you, I can see how taking on my title in one branch might be too great a risk for head office.  I was offering them five copies, with them keeping 35% of the cover price, on a sale or return basis.  So if their copies did not sell, they could return them to me in any condition and not pay my invoice for £25.97.  Thank goodness they spotted that threat to their commercial survival – and handed any sales to the other two local bookshops that are stocking it, and to the online retailer they really dread.  Harrumph.

(And in case you think this is simply an enormous bunch of sour grapes, it’s not the refusal that has annoyed me: it’s the dissembling.  It’s the same as the email I received earlier this year from a small airline that I use regularly, informing me that, “in order to improve the customer experience”, they will no longer be offering free drinks on their flights.  We all know they’re doing it to reduce costs and increase profits – and why not? they’re a commercial airline, not a charity – so why the mealy-mouthed not-justification?)

Susan on the Shelf

Tags

Cambridge News, competitions, cover, Heffers, marketing, Susan in the City, WH Smith

OK, so it’s not a shelf – and it’s not quite the oak table – but yesterday I was delighted to see “Susan in the City” on the ledge at Heffers.  This is a, well, wooden ledge that runs at about chest height around the mezzanine floor of the bookshop, with the books angled towards strolling browsers, so it’s a prime place to be.  And I am sure you agree that the yellow cover of the book is very eye-catching:

In other news (I know I sound busy, but as all writers will know, it’s much easier to do all of this sort of stuff than to write, and you can still kid yourself that it’s “writing”…), I went into WH Smith and was told that the local manager has sent “Susan in the City” to head office for approval, and that he is going there today on other business and will chase for an answer.  I’m to enquire again next week.

And you may remember that I donated five copies of “Susan” to the Cambridge News (the newspaper in which the columns originally appeared) as prizes in a reader giveaway.  The competition is now closed, and the organiser told me that “we had 30 entries in total – the majority came from Cambridge addresses, with a few from Ely along with a couple from Newmarket and Haverhill.  The five winners reside in Balsham, Sawston, Fulbourn, Stetchworth and Cottenham.”  (Local readers will know what that means – all five are villages outside Cambridge, not Cambridge the city.)  I don’t know quite what I expected, and of course it’s impossible to gauge how many people saw the competition, thought “That’s interesting, but I never win competitions so I’ll just go and buy the book”, but I’m not thrilled with only thirty entries.  The five books cost me £4.50 (sounds cheap, but I bought in bulk and had them delivered by carrier tortoise to save money), so that’s 22½p per person for the publicity!  So maybe not too bad.

Columns of columns

Tags

bookmark, Cambridge News, CreateSpace, formatting, Heffers, Susan in the City

Well, here they are, at long last: my first batch of copies of “Susan in the City” – a collection of eighty of the 510 columns that I wrote for my local newspaper over the last decade:

I ordered these from CreateSpace waaaaaaay back on 17 March 2017 and (thinking to save the pennies) chose the slowest and cheapest of the three delivery speeds, being quoted an arrival date of 9 May.  I will never do this again: with the budget delivery option there is no tracking, and so – from the moment I had the dispatch notification on 26 March – I was looking out for the books.  And they never arrived.  The ones you are looking at are the replacement order that CreateSpace put together when I complained on 11 May and sent by super-über-speedy delivery to arrive on 15 May.  I cannot tell you the hours of angst I have had over this delivery, and so my lesson for today is: never order books without a tracking option.

As for the books themselves, I am delighted with them and their lovely, sunny yellow covers.  The interior is good as well: cream paper, clear font and plenty of space (I do loathe books that use every inch of paper and force their text to the edges, so that you have to practically break the spine to read to the end of the lines).

So what is their fate?  Five were donated to the local newspaper, the Cambridge News – where the columns originally appeared – to serve as prizes in a reader competition.  I don’t know whether this will lead to further sales (I never know whether anything leads to further sales!) but I did slip a Plank bookmark inside each, just in case.

And five were delivered yesterday to Heffers, the bookshop in Cambridge that has always been so supportive and encouraging of my Plankish efforts.  They hinted that “Susan in the City” – having local interest – might even make it onto the oak table.  The oak table is, as you might imagine, a large oak table and it is right at the front of the shop – in pole position, as Hamilton and Vettel might say.  Nothing I have written has ever appeared on the oak table, so I have everything crossed that the sunshine yellow might seal the deal.  If it does, rest assured that photos will appear.

Party for poison pens

Tags

bookmark, bookshop, Heffers, Portraits of Pretence, print-on-demand, promotion, self-publishing

Great excitement: I have just been invited to participate in “What’s Your Poison?”, the summer crime party held by local bookshop Heffers.  I missed it last year, as I was away on my writing retreat, but this year the stars are in alignment and on Thursday 6 July 2017 I will be rubbing shoulders with fellow crime addicts and writers.  Do come along if you’re around: they are always lovely events, with some terrific books on show.  And I will be handing out bookmarks!

I have been asked to prepare a three-minute reading from my latest book, which is “Portraits of Pretence”.  I don’t do readings that often; when I am asked to speak (quite rarely these days, as I have not been putting enough effort into chasing speaking opportunities, bad writer that I am) I tend to focus on the process rather than the product.  And people are usually so fascinated by the mechanics of self-publishing and print-on-demand that we run out of time.

But I do know that choosing the right excerpt is quite an art.  You need something that can stand alone (I don’t like doing big explanatory introductions) and yet tempt your listeners to buy the book so that they can read on; that gives a flavour of the main character and perhaps a couple of others; and that hints at the plot without giving anything away.  I’m going to have to give this some thought…

Bookmark bookkeeping

Tags

bookmark, G David, Heffers, marketing, promotion, sales, Samuel Plank

They’re done!  And here!  I have now taken delivery of 250 thick card bookmarks, printed in colour on both sides – quite the Rolls Royce of bookmarks, my dears:

I have already given ten each to the two Cambridge bookshops that stock the Sam Plank series – Heffers and G David.  I know that sounds a bit mean, as we imagine that bookmarks should be given away by the fistful, but – and I know plenty of you are interested in the commercial side of things – let me give you the figures.

The design of the bookmarks cost £79.  The printing and delivery cost £25.74, making a total of £104.74 for this first batch of 250 – which works out at 42p per bookmark.  Goodness, that’s a lot: perhaps I should have done those calculations before ordering!  But for subsequent orders – i.e. without design costs – it comes down to 10p per bookmark, if I order the same quantity each time.  The tricky thing, of course – all but impossible, I fear – will be to gauge whether they pay off in terms of extra sales.

Every bookshop in the land

Tags

Daunt Books, G David, Heffers, Nielsen, royalty, self-publishing, selling, Toppings

I can imagine that you think I am just sitting around, gazing out of the window and eating bonbons.  Far from it.  My latest project – apart from “Plank 5”, of course – is to figure out how to get the Sam Plank books into more bookshops.  My ploy thus far has been to woo individual booksellers with silver-tongued emails and then go in person with a delivery of books.  This is (a) time-consuming, and (b) not practical on a country-wide basis, much as I would love (now here’s a retirement project) to visit every independent bookshop in the UK.  And so I have gone the traditional route.

As I understand it, the majority of booksellers – from the small to the large – buy their stock from book distributors.  King among the UK book distributors is Nielsen.  They get their stock, for selling on to the bookshops, direct from publishers.  And, through a combination of dogged determination, charm, begging and a gradual sea-change in the attitudes to indie publishing, I have managed to persuade Nielsen to recognise me as a publisher.  I have a login and everything.  And associated with me as a publisher are the four Sam Plank novels.

In theory, therefore, a book buyer can go into any bookshop in the land and, when they ask for a Sam Plank novel and find the shelves bare (apart from in Heffers and Davids in Cambridge, Toppings in Ely and Daunts in Cheapside, of course), demand that the bookseller order one for them.  Said bookseller then logs into his Nielsen account, looks up Sam Plank and voilà! there he is.  Order is placed, book arrives and reader is satisfied.

What I am a little hazy on is what precisely happens in between.  I know that when Nielsen receives an order for Sam Plank they will forward it to me – his publisher – for fulfilment.  And I know that I am responsible for pronto delivery to the bookshop that has ordered him.  However, I do not know who has to pay for postage; I am assuming that I do.  And, more critically, I do not know what royalty I get from Nielsen-generated orders.  This is uncharacteristically lax of me, I know, as I am usually pretty hot on royalty levels and all that.  But in all honesty the Nielsen website is so (whisper it) unfriendly that I simply couldn’t find definitive answers to my questions, and so I have decided to wing it: I’ll wait for my first statement from them and work it out from that.

Of course, to get a statement I will need to have an order or two.  And so far: zilch.  I am torn between wanting at least one order so that I can see how the system works, and terror that I might get dozens of orders for multiple copies that I am entirely unequipped to fulfil.  After all, in order to supply copies I need to order them from America (we’ve been through this before), and I keep only limited copies in readiness.  As ever, I’ll keep you posted.

A week in marketing

Tags

audiobook, Heffers, marketing, Portraits of Pretence, promotion, review, The Man in the Canary Waistcoat

As foreseen, this is a rather peculiar time – I’m promoting one book, overseeing the audio-fication of another, and starting to research and write yet another.  Of course “proper” authors do this all the time, and so have I in past years, but now that I have decided to really put my back into marketing, the dislocation seems much more obvious.  That said, my determination to shove “Portraits of Pretence” under the nose of anyone I can think of is paying (very small) dividends.

Next month I am going down to London for a tour around the Pennington Street vaults, which feature significantly in “Portraits” – finding the right person has taken some persistence, but she’s happy to see me and wants to read the book as well.  And of course I get to walk in the very underground caverns where Sam and his customs officer friend Ben Sharpe… ah, but I can’t tell you what happens there in case it spoils the story for you.

There is a chance that I might be taking part in a workshop about self-publishing as part of the alumnae celebrations at my old university college next September.  It’s many months away, but planning is already underway, and I am going the week after next to see the woman who is in charge of the event programme.

Yesterday I called in to one of the Cambridge bookshops stocking my titles, and the manager of the crime department asked whether I had been on the radio, as there had been “a run” on my books – two sold that very day!  And while I was there, I was invited to take part in their annual Christmas crime event – “Murder Under the Mistletoe” – which is a fabulous opportunity to entice new readers, and a lovely, convivial way to catch up with other (mostly local) authors.

So I think the grand plan is working: slow, constant marketing pressure is needed, and not just a launch blitz.  If only I didn’t have a day job as well…

Oh, and my lovely reviewer “Hooked on Books” is back, with a five-star appraisal of “The Man in the Canary Waistcoat”.  Turns out that she’s a vintage jeweller, so she’s going to love “Portraits” when she gets there!

Among friends

Tags

bookshop, Fatal Forgery, Heffers, Martha Plank, Samuel Plank, The Man in the Canary Waistcoat, Worm in the Blossom

Yesterday evening I attended an after-hours crime fiction party at a local bookshops, Heffers, called “Murder under the Mistletoe”.  There were about a dozen “crime writers” there (still excited to be counted in that group) and lots of loyal readers taking advantage of the opportunity to get their book-based Christmas shopping done in a quiet bookshop, with us on hand to sign any of our books that they might buy.  (Personally I would sign anything, but apparently it’s frowned upon if it’s not your own book.)  It was such a pleasure to catch up with a couple of authors I met at my first such event in July – and a great thrill to hear that one of them was so enthused by my tales of self-publishing that she went straight home that very evening and started preparing her latest novel for self-publication.  (And this is someone who has had a “proper” publisher for years – she just thought that the idea of having total control over the whole process sounded so exciting.)  Quite by chance, she had the very first copy of this new self-published work in her bag, and we were able to coo over it together.  (It’s “The Corn Maiden” by Barbara Cleverly – I’ll be reading it over Christmas.)

And meeting readers – what a treat!  One very kind lady came dashing over and asked, “Where’s the third?  I’ve read the first two and loved them and have been waiting for the third!”  Well, what can you say?  I somehow refrained from showering her with kisses, and simply grinned so broadly that I looked slightly manic and handed over a “Blossom”.  “Lovely colour,” she said, and – this was the best bit – started reading it straight away.  Now, don’t tell anyone as this is something of a guilty secret, but I am longing for the day when I get on a train or tube and see someone reading one of my books.  Well, this was very nearly as good.  Reader, I purred.

So for Sam and Martha, it has been a great week: they made new friends in Histon library and met old ones in Heffers.  And I am so fired with excitement that I am devoting the whole of today and the weekend to “Plank 4”; Sam has just discovered a body in a boarding-house, and I’m longing to know what he’s going to do about it.

Praise and mistletoe

Tags

Heffers, library, publicity, research, review, Samuel Plank, Worm in the Blossom

Apologies for the silence this week (I was away working all week – much as I would love to spend all of my time with Sam and Martha, I do still have to earn a crust at the day job), but I do have some updates for you.

After my despair last time, a really lovely review of “Worm in the Blossom” has appeared on Amazon, written by Debbie Young, the author, book blogger and champion of independent authors.  [Apologies to both ladies for confusing her, in an earlier version of this post, with Jo of Jaffareadstoo.  That’s what comes of writing blog posts while listening to “Desert Island Discs” – I was probably distracted by a bizarre musical choice.]  Unfortunately Debbie says how much she enjoys the historical picture that I paint of 1820s London, which simply gives me permission to go back to the library next week and spend another day “researching” (i.e. browsing newspapers and magazines from Sam’s day, and rewarding myself for all that “hard work” with a cheese scone for elevenses).  But I am delighted with this very generous and encouraging review, and have already drifted off into daydreams about who I would cast as Sam and Martha for that Sunday evening slot…  I’m quite keen on Claudie Blakley for Martha (perhaps with a bit of padding), but keep changing my mind about Sam.

This coming week I have two promotional events coming up: on Wednesday I am doing one of my library talks, in Histon (a village just outside Cambridge) and on Thursday I am schmoozing with the cream of Cambridge crime writing society at the Heffers “Murder under the Mistletoe” party.  That nice James Runcie will be there – he wrote the novels behind the “Grantchester” series, so I can pick his brains about this casting concern of mine.

But is she writing anything, I hear you cry.  Things have ground to something of a halt as my Macbook charger has given up the ghost and I’m waiting for a replacement, but I have discovered a new way to generate ideas.  What I do is, whenever I notice something I ask myself how I could use it for Sam.  So I was in Guernsey this week, and one morning I had to get to work early and found myself walking through the dawn.  It was magical, and I think I might make Martha kick Sam out of bed one day so that he can see it too.  And next time, I’ll tell you all about my first literary festival!

Seeking storefronts for Sam

Tags

Daunt Books, G David, Hammicks, Hatchards, Heffers, Samuel Plank, Toppings

As regular readers will know, the Sam Plank books appear in the flesh – well, the paper, ink and glue – in three physical bookshops: Heffers and G David in Cambridge, and Toppings in Ely.  (Who knows whether they will appear in the new Amazon store in Seattle!)  They were also stocked in Hammicks Legal Bookshop in Fleet Street until that closed down a few months ago – the closure was nothing to do with Sam, I am assured.  And astonishing though the reach of Amazon is, there is nothing to compare – for authorly satisfaction and browsing availability – to having physical books on a shelf in a bookshop.

I have not forgotten that some months ago I hinted that I was pursuing a third stockist here in Cambridge – negotiations are still ongoing, as is my fear that naming them might jinx it, but if it happens you will not go untold, I promise you.

And now I am thinking about new representation in London.  The problem is (and not just with London) that the big chains are not interested in self-published authors.  Their concern is two-fold: self-published stuff might be rubbish, and self-published stuff is not supplied via the usual book distribution services.  Both fair points, and too tricky for me to overcome alone, so I don’t worry about the big chains.  But finding places that are not unexpectedly connected with the big chains is tricky – I once approached Hatchards and had a lovely long (and I thought promising) chat with a manager, only to be told at the end that they’re part of Waterstones and do not have much ordering independence.

Several people have suggested Daunt Books, and so this is my latest venture.  I have sent a hello email to their Marylebone shop, with lovely (and I hope tempting) pictures of the book covers, and asking whether I could call in with samples when I am in London the week after next.  If I haven’t heard from them by next week, I’ll try the dreaded telephone call, when you have to fight your way through successive layers of staff to get to the crime buyer, without uttering the call-ending words “my self-published book”…