Personal Update
Last weekend I was away camping with family and friends. We had a great time battling the wind which seemed to be nowhere else other than the field we were in! The last day the wind dropped and caught us off guard and we all left with red faces!
Now it’s back to the day job, but at least I have another trip planned next week.
Pre-orders Open!
Having a guaranteed delivery date for the copy-edit of AFTER THE END and having finished the blurb (see below), I’ve been able to confirm the release date as 27th November 2020. This book brings the trilogy to a conclusion with what I hope it is satisfying ending. I plan to write short stories in the same world every so often, with the first coming out in December. The Kindle version is now available to pre-order from Amazon. Pre-orders are looking healthy so far, helped with a Facebook boosted post to all of my Facebook page followers.
You can check out the blurb below. This is the first I haven’t had written for me, but I have used a mentoring service which suggested a few updates.
Having barely survived leading the children to the military doctors and their promise of safety, and with Cassie still alive despite the creature’s bite, Logan’s thoughts turn to finding their own sanctuary.
When the hospital soon comes under attack, not only from the demons risen from the dead, but from the bombs raining from above, Logan looks to the reporter in the car park, Jessica, who defied her curse to broadcast the terrible news in hope the public would believe her and protect themselves.
As the world continues to fall apart around them, when it becomes clear Jessica knows more than most, they’re forced together despite the questions her actions raise. As Logan discovers the children are not in safe hands and Cassie might be something other than cured, it’s a race against time to prevent the children becoming guinea pigs of twisted experiments whilst not only being hunted for their meat, but shadowed by the military. Running for their lives, Jessica can’t help but discover more about the monster she has become.
With the odds stacked so high against them, can Jessica control her unnatural hunger long enough to find the secret to living a normal life, and can they rescue the children before it’s too late?
WORK IN PROGRESS
Other than working on the blurb for ATE, I’ve been leisurely working on an edit of FROM THE DEAD, the third Carrie Harris novel. This edit is mainly to bring up the level of my latest writing style as it has evolved since I wrote this book over 2 years ago. I’m improving the grammar and structure and making sure the plot works.
Whilst not writing I’ve been mulling over one of the known plot issues and I think I’ve now pretty much nailed it. The solution not only solves a few technical issues, it also adds depth to the main supporting character and I’m excited to find out what it brings to the MS.
With half of the book to go on this edit, I’ll be working on this for a little while longer.
EVENTS
No new November / December events added this week, but I’m on the hunt. If you know of a Christmas market or event with vendors in the South East of England, then please let me know!
SALES AND MARKETING
Sales bombed as the end of August and I ended up with the lowest profit from any month since I’ve started advertising, but the quantities shifted were only just below that of July. I can’t put my finger on why, but instead of staying frustrated, I’ve gone back to testing previous ads against the new one, including different combinations of blurbs and ad copy. This has so far edged the success of the ads up a little, plus it is surprisingly showing that my old ad has a better level of success than the previous.
I’m going to test a few more ideas out and see where I get to.
The positives to take out of this month are that I had over 100,000 pages reads in August, and each sale of IN THE END and BEFORE THE END is a possible future sale of AFTER THE END, which will retrospectively boost profit. If my readthrough stays at 20% thats approximately 600 units of AFTER THE END!
That’s about it for now. Comments and suggestions welcomed as always!
GJ Stevens 