Great feedback keeps coming in for LOST AMONGST THE STARS and I hope much of it will convert to actual reviews on Amazon in the coming days as they have stagnated. I still have lots of promises, but they’re no good unless people come through with the goods!

All this feedback is excellent for my motivation to continue writing the series, and that’s what I’m still doing.

WORK IN PROGRESS

The manuscript stands at about 65,000 words and this first revision pass is at about 35,000 words, so I’m well over half way. The story is coming along nicely. I’m hoping the word count doesn’t grow too much more, but I think below 70,000 will be fine.

I’m nowhere near at a point when I can think about when this is going to be ready to release.

MARKETING & PROMOTION

I’ve been playing around with the Amazon ads for LATS and I’ve come to the rather obvious conclusion that it’s not able to be profitable yet, but at least I know it can sell. I might dip a toe in again when the audiobook is out and perhaps when the next book is on pre-order.

IN THE END is ticking over with the ads. The Amazon revenue is paying for the ads and the audible income is the profit. I remember a time when I was making 100-200% profit. The Amazon price drop in the UK is in part to blame for this issue. I cannot attribute any sales to their promotion and saw no evidence that the book was promoted other than along with the massive catalogue of other books that were also discounted. If I can find the setting where I opted in then I will be opting out very soon.

There could also be a chance that the ads are saturating and I need to give it a break.

On the promotion at events front, I’m thinking about getting a new roller banner, this time for the LATS series as it’s not included on my last roller banner. The only issue is that most venues the stall size isn’t large enough for two, and I’d have to carry it. I will keep thinking on it!

EVENTS

Last weekend I was at Lyndhurst and although the books sold well across the board, and I was one of the highest selling stalls on the day, the footfall was slow, so sales were only average and nothing like those from last year. I’ll be close by next week, in Lymington, and I hope that proves to be a better result. The great news was the interest in LATS, which was the second best seller behind FATE’S AMBITION.

That’s it for now. More to come next week.