Build it and they will come

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Faith Hope and Trickery, marketing, Plank 6, plotting, review, Shots eZine, The Fussy Librarian, Victoria Blake

I know, I know: it was but a few short days ago when I declared that I was – temporarily – abandoning all marketing efforts in order to concentrate on writing.  And to be fair to me (if I can’t be fair to myself, what hope is there?) I have indeed concentrated on the writing – or, more specifically, the plotting – of “Plank 6”.  And I can announce that I have a twisty, turny and frankly rather nasty plot in mind for you – I had no idea that I could be so unpleasant and devious.  But, in the odd manner of things, as soon as I turned my back on publicity it started seeking me out.

In example one, a review that has been pending since May, when “Faith, Hope and Trickery” was published, has just appeared.  It is on the website of Shots Crime & Thriller eZine and has been written by the lovely Pippa Macallister, whom I know from a local crime book group.  You can read it yourself, as I blush rather to repeat it, but let me just say this: “There is a wonderful warmth between [Sam and Wilson] and Sam’s wife Martha, which contrasts with the cold, hard reality of life in the areas where they live and work.”  You will also spot the typo in the title of the review: I am minded to leave this as it is, as I figure that people might notice it and – as the marvellous Oscar Wilde so astutely commented – “There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”

And in example two, I have been contacted by an e-book marketing company called The Fussy Librarian and asked to take part in their regular author Q&A feature.  I was recommended to them by my fellow – and kind and generous – historical fiction author Victoria Blake (if you haven’t read her novel “The Return of the Courtesan”, a real treat awaits you), and the questions the FL has sent to be answered are really interesting and quirky.  I don’t know when it will appear on the FL’s newswire (I haven’t even sent in my answers yet) but when it does, I’ll let you know.  The FL is based in Iowa in America, so it certainly can’t hurt to introduce Sam to a wider transatlantic audience.

The more, the merrier

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blogging, Jaffareadstoo, Portraits of Pretence, review, Samuel Plank, Victoria Blake

I really can’t get over the kindness of reviewers and other authors, who have rallied round to help me promote “Portraits of Pretence” in particular and the Sam Plank series in general.  Today, for instance, fellow historical author Victoria Blake has featured a Q&A with me on her blog.  When she suggested the idea and I had bitten her hand off, she sent me the questions and apologised for there being so many, and said that I could have a fortnight to reply to them.  Well, give me a chance to talk about Sam, and there’s no fortnight needed – she had her answers the same day.

It’s a fascinating thing, this writerly co-operation and mutual support.  I think what we all realise is that it’s not a zero sum game.  Yes, when someone is choosing what to read next, there is an element of competition and elimination: if they’re reading Victoria’s book, they’re not reading mine.  But the more good books there are out there, and the more variety there is, the more people will become readers.  And the more people read, the more capacity they seem to develop for reading.  I know myself that when I’m on a reading jag, I can gobble down a book a day.  So thank you Victoria, and thank you Jo, and thank you to all the reviewers and authors who have taken time from their own work to promote mine – I am so very grateful.