The Sea Detective by Mark Douglas-Home

The Sea Detective by Mark Douglas-Home

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Oh full marks, Mr Douglas-Home! A crime series which is new, original even, and on the literary side of the genre. It's a satisfying read and avoids many of the clichés common to crime novels. It's another crime series from Scotland which adds considerably to the mana of the Scottish crime genre.

Cal McGill is a PhD student in his late twenties. His doctorate is oceanography, specifically making a computer programme which will track the flotsam and jetsam of the North Atlantic. This fits nicely with his environmental, mildly eco-terrorist points of view. He can track oil slicks and fishing nets full of dolphins for environmental groups. He is interested in the feet in trainers which keep washing up on the beaches around Scotland.

The local police force is supposed to be solving this problem. Inspector Ryan is in charge and his detective constable is Helen Jamieson. He is a big bully, she is a shy, overweight intellectual. And we readers cheer at the end when she outwits him. The missing feet problem rapidly becomes something very nasty and it needs Cal's skills to sort it all out.

There's a moving subplot around Cal's grandfather and past family history but the book is beautifully knitted together so the subplot helps make for a very satisfying read. It also sets readers up with an understanding of Cal, as Helen's thoughts help readers see her as a rounded personality.
Good for readers waiting for the next book in the series.

You don't need to be a crime fan to enjoy this unusual book and it is well worth a read.





View all my reviews

Review 'Memory' by Margaret Mahy

Memory by Margaret Mahy

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


'Memory' is a great Mahy novel. Typically she tells a good story, makes the reader laugh and cry and leaves the reader with plenty to think about. The problems she examines in 'Memory' are ones teenagers might well be dealing with, and as she helps her hero through his problem she also shows the reader how to cope and hope.

Old Sophie West has trouble with her memory now she is developing Alzheimer's. It makes her vulnerable. Jonny might be nineteen but he is having a terrible time with his memories of a particular incident and how other around him coped. He isn't coping, has dropped out, gets drunk. keeps getting into fights. Now he is having to rescue Sophia from her problems. Bonny shared that incident but she has found a way forward. Together they all find a way out of those memories and into making better ones in a lovely muddley and very human way.

It's a lovely read and not just for YA. Adults will enjoy this novel too.



View all my reviews

Review: 'The One-In-A-Million Boy'

The One-in-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


It takes real talent to make a memorable novel from the tale of a very old lady, a boy scout, and the Guinness Book of Records. And it takes real talent to make the reader think about life, death, coping with grief, and one's own place in the universe through this gentle tale, but Monica Wood does it brilliantly.

Ona Vickus, 104, Lithuanian immigrant from the turn of the century, is still spry but needs a little help feeding her wild birds. The local boy scout troop are lined up to do Saturday help and record the life of the person they are helping. Ona's helper is Belle and Quinn's son, the boy in a million, who counts everything in tens and hoards everything in tens and we never really get to meet him except through the effect he has on the other characters. Because of his actions his 'not much there' father finds his place at last, Ona gets to live her last years challenging life not hiding away and his mother finds her feet and lives again.

It's a book I've already reread and will want to reread again. It's a pleasure to find a novel which can take the ordinary, and tell a story about it, and make those ordinary people and their lives have relevance and meaning for everyone.

Do read it.










View all my reviews

Three cheers for the Author earnings team.

Find them here, Indies and rejoice.
http://authorearnings.com/report/may-2016-report/

This  time they:
...went deeper. Instead of just looking at Amazon’s bestseller lists, we had our spider follow links to also-bought recommendations and also through each authors’ full catalog. This resulted in a million-title dataset, our most comprehensive and definitive look yet at author earnings. We were able to tally up precisely how many indie authors, Big Five authors, small/medium press authors, and Amazon-imprint authors are currently making enough from Amazon.com sales to land in a number of “tax brackets”.

And do read the article and check the figures. It seems that Indie author ebook sales are still climbing, and the big five publishers sales are declining.

Could that be the crazy price they set on their ebooks?

What is most cheering is that:

Fewer than 700 Big Five authors and fewer than 500 small-or-medium publisher authors who debuted in the last 10 years are now earning $25,000 a year or more on Amazon — from all of their hardcover, paperback, audio and ebook editions combined. By contrast, over 1,600 indie authors are currently earning that much or more.
The gap becomes even more pronounced when we look at those authors who first debuted in the last five years, or during the “ebook era.” And when we look at just the most recent debuts from each publishing path, only 250 Big Five authors and 200 recent small or medium publisher authors who debuted in the last three years are earning a midlist-or-better income from their Amazon sales.
By contrast, there are over 1,000 indie authors who debuted in the last 3 years who are doing so.
We see the same dichotomy play out in the $50,000/year “tax bracket”, which tallies up authors earning what would be a living wage in most parts of the US:

It might be hard work, Indies, but we are better off as Indies.

Review of 'Down Among the Dead Men'

Down Among the Dead Men by Peter Lovesey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Peter Lovesey has been writing good crime novels for many years, and they are good. He has some seriously prestigious awards for them.

'Down Among the Dead Men' is a British police procedural about one of his popular detectives, Peter Diamond. This time Diamond has to play spy in a neighbouring police force, checking on the claims of wrongful imprisonment and suppression of evidence. He does not want to do this but his commanding officer, Georgina Dallymore, has ordered him to accompany her on the job. Peter is even more reluctant when it seems that an old colleague and friend is the officer under investigation.

There's a nice brisk plot with lots of twists and turns, some interesting characters, and subplots which all tie in neatly at the end. It's a good read, not grim and gritty, but witty and clever. An excellent read for all those who like police procedurals and an excellent book for those who are new to the genre and want to see what a really good writer can do in the genre.



View all my reviews

Book Review 'The Ashes of London'

The Ashes of London by Andrew  Taylor

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Andrew Taylor can certainly write. He knows how to research too. The end result is a novel well worth reading. Taylor also writes modern thrillers and he knows how to pare down a plot and make it full of surprises. There is a neat surprise right at the end of this novel.

'The Ashes of London' begins with London burning in the great fire of 1666. Soon we reading about the personal problems of James Marwood and Catherine Lovett and how they become entangled with King Charles II's hunt for the last of the regicides who killed his father.

There is plenty of good period detail but Taylor does err on the man's life as nasty brutish and short side of historical writers. I wish he had included a brief bibliography to help readers find out more about the Fifth Monarchists and the regicides. But there is enough in the novel to allow readers to understand what the Dissenters and regicides were up to.

My only problem was that the main characters are not likeable. Catherine is peculiar and James rather feeble and running scared of problems with his father and the Fifth Monarchists. It is understandable that James should be scared of the consequences, but he was bit of a drip at times.

Niggles apart Andrew Taylor writes a darned good historical mystery with a cracking climax and a great plot. Fans of the historical mystery genre would enjoy 'The Ashes of London'.




View all my reviews

The Book Blast - 5 days of PR

Seems to me that writers need a lot of PR sales help and advice. 1've posted my Promotion results in several places where other readers can access it. Now I'll tuck them in here to help with October's sles push
THE PLAN
Kindle countdown deal for 5 days, our novels reduces to 99 cents then rising to 1.99 and back to the original price of 3.99
Beginning Wednesday, May11th 2016 finished Sunday, May 15th
BOOKS ON PROMOTION
Kindle versions of ‘Tizzie’ and The Effects Of Henry’s Cage: Elean’s Story’
The reason I ran the two books was to see the difference in sales between my book, which had an Amazon rating of 4.3 and eleven reviews and my writer colleague’s just launched novel. We both expected that my sales would be far better because I could advertise at most of the book sites which sent out newsletter to their readers. Very few book sites accepted a new novel, most only take novels with at least five 5 star reviews and a star rating of 4.
2
PREPARATION FOR THE CAMPAIGN.
During April I sent out regular blog posts, tweeted about the campaign, posted on Goodreads in various groups which allowed an author to advertise, and posted a note on the home page on my author’s website.I spread the news verbally too, and wherever online I could find.
DAY 1, Wednesday May11th 2016
1
Announced the opening of the promotion via Google Plus, Linked In, Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads, my personal blog and website.
I used a front page promo on the ReadersintheKnow.com website where I have an author’s page. My colleague had a front page announcement on AskDavid.com.
2.
Each day I had organised promotions for our books in book sites which sent out email newsletters
BOOK PROMOTION AND NEWSLETTERS: WEDNESDAY BOOK SITES
http://www.ebooksoda.com would not accept a newly launched novel, but did accept mine and made a good job of a place on the website and in their newsletter. Nice clear website without overcrowding of the book covers.
http://www.thefussylibrarian.com is harder to get into. It did accept my novel and made a good job of the newsletter, the book on their site, and offered an author webpage.
www.readersintheknow.co.uk accepted both books and did a good book of the day advert and place in the newsletter. The site offers a good author page and useful perks.
www. http://readingdeals.com Here we went for the free promotion version and did not get a place. However as there are over 50,000 readers, the website is a good clear one and the newsletter well produced I think it might be a site worth using.
https://choosybookworm.com, again the free version of a promotion is a lucky dip and we did not succeed. It might be worth paying as the newsletter is good.
http://www.freebookshub.co.uk/authors Again a nice, clean, easy to see website, with a good promotion of the novel. I missed seeing the newsletter.
RESULTS.
Kindle Sales were 110 which was great. The promotion had worked.
DAY 2, Thursday May 12th
1.
Put a sale reminder on Google Plus, Linked In, Twitter, my personal blog and website.
My colleague had a front page promo on the ReadersintheKnow.com website where she has an author’s page. I had a front page announcement on AskDavid.com.
2
I set up the Indiesunlimited.com Thrifty Thursdays e-book sale for both books.
3.
BOOK PROMOTION AND NEWSLETTERS: THURSDAY BOOK SITES
http://www.peoplereads.com provided a good clear website coverage of both books and promoted both novels in their newsletter.
http://askdavid.com is a little different but well worth using. Their promotion is for 6 months. They have a very good website, promote the author and book very well at the site, you even have to write a special unique blurb for them, and they supply you with promotion on their Twitter book site. They also give the author fifteen special tweets to use. Their twitter site is specifically for their signed up readers.
http://www.worldliterarycafe.com I found their website too busy and with too many ads. Missed the newsletter too.
http://www.thekindlebookreview.net..This is not a bad site but a little expensive for what they give which is only the same as the other sites. Also my serious historical novel was promoted as a romance which the site seemed to favour.
http://www.freebookdude.com gave a one month sidebar but the site was a little crowded and the book covers smaller than on other sites.
RESULTS.
Kindle Sales were 129 which was great. Also by this time my novel, ‘Tizzie’, had risen in the ranks:
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,320 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
    #78 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction
    #133 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Historical
This meant more Amazon PR for the novel.
My colleague had sold 3 books.

DAY 3, FRIDAY May 13th
1.
Put a sale reminder on Google Plus, Goodreads, Twitter, my personal blog and website.
2.
BOOK PROMOTION AND NEWSLETTERS: FRIDAY BOOK SITES

http://www.freebookshub.com/authors Not a bad site but it did put my book up as Free which it was not. Didn’t see the newsletter.
http://ebookshabit.com We went for the free ads and missed. It would be worth the $10 fee because it is a good clear site and has a good newsletter.
http://awesomegang.com Not bad but only 7,000 readers.
http://www.blackcaviar-bookclub.com This was an interesting site which did a good webpage spread and newsletter.
RESULTS.
The Kindle Countdown promotion had now raised the price to $1.99, so sales dropped to 19 and my colleague had 2 sales. The Amazon rankings for my novel, ‘Tizzie’, went to 88 in the top selling 100 kindle historical novels. However that still meant promotion from Amazon.

DAY 4, SATURDAY May 14th
1
Chatted about the promotion and sales on Google Plus, Goodreads, Twitter, my personal blog and website
2
BOOK PROMOTION AND NEWSLETTERS: SATURDAY BOOK SITES
http://www.ebookbargainsuk.com I hoped for better UK sales from here. It is an interesting and expensive site to use, which only send out a newsletter and does not showcase books on  its website.
http://www.goodkindles.net did a good job with a nice webpage and newsletter coverage. This site had an enormous number of readers and I thought was worth paying for.
RESULTS.
The Kindle Countdown promotion had now raised the price to $1.99, so sales dropped to 11 and my colleague had 1 sale. My Saturday morning amazon rating was now:
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,429 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
    #90 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction
    #144 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Historical
Also, thanks to the AskDavid.com promotion, I received 24 tweets and retweets about Tizzie from people I did not follow but who were linked to the AskDavid.com site, and from a couple of Tweet book sites. Good coverage for me as an author even if the sales had dropped.

DAY 5 SUNDAY MAY 15TH
1.
Chatted about the promotion and sales on Goodreads, Twitter, my personal blog and website
2.
BOOK PROMOTION AND NEWSLETTERS: : SUNDAY BOOK SITES
http://www.booksends.com This works like a cheaper version of Bookbub and works in a similar fashion. Well worth the fee as there are many readers but again you have to be accepted.
http://ereadernewstoday.com Another very good site, expensive and works like bookbub and has a large number of readers.
RESULTS.
The Kindle Countdown promotion had now raised the price to the normal price of $3.99, so sales dropped to 11. The Amazon rankings for my novel, ‘Tizzie’, went to 98 and 99 in the top selling 100 kindle historical novels. However that still meant promotion from Amazon and I had raised my mana (prestige) at Amazon for a short while. I do not know if they store such information and that makes me a ‘noted’ author. It would be nice to think they did!
CONCLUSIONS
Was the promotion worth it? I certainly covered my costs in sales, but not by a large amount. The sales have dribbled on in ones and twos since the promo.
My followers on Twitter shot up, my profile on Amazon shot up, my books received a lot of attention, my website and blog were visited. I learned where best, for my serious historical novels, to find promotion. I found a lot of sites promote free books only or give them priority, and quite a few sites are heavy on Romance. Certainly the sites with a big readership and a good newsletter produced results. This was clearly shown as far as sales for my colleague went. She could not promote her books in at the sites with newsletters and only sold a total of 9 books. Obviously the first thing an author must do is get those reviews and the star rating then they can start promoting for sales. Overall most of our sales were in the USA, with a few in the UK and Australia.
    Would I do all the work again? Yes I would.With Amazon publishing over 3 million books a year we authors need to get out there and market our books. I shall be doing a major promotion like this at the end of the year, but it won't be a kindle Countdown. I know the Kindle Select programme allows you a few dollars if readers read your book - so much per page - but I think I should be getting more UK/EUopean sales and will just have a five day 99cents/pence sale I thnik next time.

p.d.r. lindsay