This week I have been fully engaged in being an author and it has been fantastic. My head is bursting with ideas from the London Book Fair and many of my other ideas are coming to fruition at the same time.

Newsletter

My first newsletter has gone out this morning! The newsletter contains a cover reveal for my new novella, progress on Before The End and details of the work I have started on book three which already has a working title which I reveal to my subscribers!

If you are interested in the mechanics of setting up a mailing list, the mistakes I made and sending out a newsletter, you can check my recent post here! If you wish you hadn’t missed my first ever edition of the newsletter then I will provide a link in the welcome email when you sign up. You can sign up here.

I am still running a giveaway for a free copy of my audiobook from audible.co.uk and the next prize will be given away today. You have to be on the list and based in the UK to win. An international prize coming soon!

Out in the Wild

On Monday I visited my old school and was treated like a celebrity as the head teacher introduced me to lots of teacher, each saying something along the lines of ‘Oh you’re the author!’ It turns out they have been having assemblies about me and doing various World Book Day activities which included my book. The culmination of the visit was a Q&A with around twenty sixth form English Literature students. They had some really great questions and I was able to explain the difference between self-publishing, indie publishing and the traditional route. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day and I have been invited to continue a connection with the school in the future.

On Tuesday to Thursday I attended the London Book Fair which turned out to be an amazing three day bombardment of information and new experiences, including meeting some actual people who previously only existed in the virtual world! I have far too much to share in the post so I will be collecting my notes together and putting something dedicated together next week.

Book Signing

The week is finished off with another book signing, this time in Staines, Middlesex (16th March 2019). I will be at WHSmith in the town centre from 10am to at least 3pm.

I have a new pitch ready. New bookmarks and a real sense of growing confidence and momentum!

Reviews

Reviews for IN THE END are pretty static at the moment, or so I thought. I have had my first two one star reviews, both for the audiobook. One stated that the narrator was too flat and one stated that the story was flat. However on the other hand I have another eight 4 or 5 star reviews for the audiobook shouting the virtues of both the narrator and the story. You really cannot please everyone and I am comfortable in that fact. I also gained another five star review from the amazon.com site!

Marketing

My primary focus on marketing has been working in Facebook groups around the apocalypse and zombie fiction, writers and readers. Along with having a great time, I’ve been gaining new friends and followers and a few people have been buying the book. The five star review I mentioned earlier came directly from one of the members buying the book, reading it in 48 hours and then leaving a review. This is definitely the way to go. I have also found specific groups where you can advertise your Kindle Unlimited books for free.

The active involvement in the groups has resulting in adding 50% more Facebook followers in just two weeks.

During March I have been involved in a cross-promotion and I’m confident I have seen a consistent rise in KU reads and I attribute that in part at least to the cross-promotion.

I have a plan to map out my sales figures across each channel and product and highlight key marketing efforts along the journey (when I have time). If I get around to this I will happily share any insights.

For reasons I shall explain in my London Book Fair post, I am now actively using my instagram account and my first post is a sneaky peak of the proof for the novella which arrived yesterday. You can check it out here https://www.instagram.com/gjstevens_author/. Follow me and I will follow you back.

Another Milestone!

This week has also seen my followers on WordPress surpass 1,000. So thank you to all those who follow me. I never really know how many people are just following to attract attention to their blogs, your active comments and feedback are how I judge the acceptance of the material posted. However it is a nice round number!

Audiobook Previews

For those of you who may be interested in the audiobook I have posted links to the US and UK audible stores below. You can listen FREE of charge, to the first chapter of the book.

IN THE END – audible.co.uk

IN THE END – audible.com

I think we can all agree that is just about enough from me. Next week you can expect more interviews and lots of content coming out of my attendance at the London Book Fair 2019.