BLOGGING

For far too long I've been using my blog simply as a platform to post my news. And you have to agree, there has been a lot of news to post. Yet when this blog first started, over five years ago, my intentions were very different. My original plan was to write a kind of diary of my journey to becoming an author. Along the way I became so busy being an author, that I lost my impetus to blog about it. To report on my journey has begun to resemble a list of boasts - CWA Dagger Award shortlist, accolades in journals as diverse as The Times and Star magazine, on both sides of the Atlantic, voted and selected for Best Fiction lists, hitting Number 1 on kindle and iTunes, and regularly appearing bestseller charts on amazon, Waterstones, WH Smith, amazon... yes, I'm boring myself. So my blog petered out, apart from the occasional interviews with other authors, and sporadic  posts about yet another promotion, special offer, or bestseller list. Only this week, COLD SACRIFICE was a 'Buzz Book' on iTunes, ROAD CLOSED reached the Top 10 on kindle, and DEATH BED was selected for the amazon kindle summer promotion, reaching Number 3 in crime and thrillers.

It's time to get back to the original purpose of this blog, and explore issues concerning the world of publishing, from the perspective of an author. I have no 'inside knowledge' beyond what I can gather from my own experience. So here's where I am right now.

My debut, CUT SHORT, came out in 2009 as an A format paperback - small, cheap, with a monochrome cover. By 2011 my first three titles had all become bestsellers, and my publisher 'branded' the series, bringing out all the titles in the series in B format, with lovely colourful shiny matching covers. You can see them all on my website LEIGH RUSSELL  if you want to see how smart they look. The row of covers on the virtual shelf on my kindle isn't quite the same.

Here's my little bookcase at home, like a trophy case, only hidden away upstairs where no one else can see it, with 15 editions of  my books on display plus three bookmarks. If you look carefully on the extreme left, you can see the eye on the proof copy of the first edition of CUT SHORT is looking in the opposite direction to the one on the spine of the sale copy.

When CUT SHORT was first published, a fellow author advised me to ask my publisher to bring it out as an eBook. Wait for my next statement... I wasn't quite sure what he was talking about! I'd heard talk of 'eBooks' but it was all something of a mystery to me then. Six months later, the eBook duly came out. The same process occurred with ROAD CLOSED. By the time DEAD END was published in 2011, eBooks were firmly on the map. The eBook was available to download on the same day the print book hit the shelves. Meanwhile, sales of eBooks began to overtake the print version. I'll deal with my response to that in another post. DEATH BED was due to be published in 2012. The eBook was released on December 2011, six months ahead of the print book. The same happened withSTOP DEAD, and that pattern seems to be continuing for the time being. I can't say "for the foreseeable future" because things are changing so fast, it's hard to look ahead.

Sales of eBooks are growing. Some statistics cite them as representing 20% of the market in a rapidly growing sector, other sources say they are now at 25% of the market.

In a statement accompanying its fourth quarter and full year results for 2012, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos neatly summed up where he sees the future of book retailing heading–especially for his company. “We’re now seeing the transition we’ve been expecting,” said Bezos. “After 5 years, eBooks is a multi-billion dollar category for us and growing fast – up approximately 70% last year. In contrast, our physical book sales experienced the lowest December growth rate in our 17 years as a book seller, up just 5%.”
(US Publishers Weekly, January 2013)

From the perspective of an author, it makes little difference in terms of income. The standard percentage royalties an author earns from sales of eBooks is higher for an author than on print books, as the publisher's overheads are far lower. Certainly the sales on eBooks are potentially huge compared to those of print books. My own books have sold hugely in eformat compared to the sales of my books in print.

Personally I'm in two minds about eBooks. I'm thrilled to be earning a living from my books, if a modest one. But I still love the look and the feel of physical books.

Oh, and the links here are to the eBooks on kindle... but you can find links to the print books as well on my website: WEBSITE

Special Edition

For my last signing of 2012 at Waterstones Hemel Hempstead my publisher sent a few of the hardback copies of DEATH BED. Only 200 were printed, and that's all there will ever be since this is a special limited edition, signed and numbered. They are usually only available directly from my publisher here Limited Edition Death Bed but here it is in the bookstore. It's a really lovely edition!

The busy life of an author

I've got a busy time coming up for the rest of July. Monday 9th I'm  meeting a BBC researcher to discuss how crime is depicted on the BBC. Wednesday 11th I'll be signing at Waterstones in St Albans. Thursday 12th I'm giving a talk at Yiewsley Library at 12.30, then at 7.30 I'll be appearing as a 'special guest' at Harrow Literary Eveninng. On Friday I'm travelling North for a tour of Waterstones stores in Manchester Arndale (14th) Warrington (15th) Liverpool One (16th) Preston (17th) Harrogate (19th) Wakefield (20th) York (21st) and Leeds (22nd).  Look out for a feature about my books in the Life and Style magazine of the Manchester Evening News. Then it's back down South for an interview with the Harrow Times on the 23rd and signing again at Finchley Road O2 Centre in London on the 28th. So that's the rest of July for me booked up and looking busy!

 I'm also working on co-ordinating a new initiative for the CWA (more about that later on - you'll be the first to know!) and writing of course.

With Death Bed on the shelves in paperback, I've finished the 5th book in the series which has gone off to The Editor. The one after that, Geraldine Steel number 6, is half written at about 42,000 words. So it's all go!

I hope that explains why I've been too busy to post here much lately. If you haven't had time to read Death Bed yet, I hope you check it out soon. It's been getting some good reviews! http://leighrussell.co.uk/

I'm back

In a shameful dereliction of my blog, I haven't posted here for... well, longer than I can remember. Now I'm back I really don't know where to begin. Meanwhile, I have been posting almost daily brief updates on facebook so please check it out. You'll find lots of photos of recent events at bookshops, and festivals, this year, including drinking champagne with Jeff Deaver, and catching up with fellow authors Lee Child and Peter James at CrimeFest https://www.facebook.com/leigh.russell.50
In other news, my wonderful publisher has secured a fabulous deal with an Italian publisher, and brought out a special limited edition hardback of Death Bed, signed and numbered. These are only available from my publisher directly so do check out the link which you can find on my website http://leighrussell.co.uk/
I've been busy visiting bookshops and libraries.  It's so important to support them both. Last Saturday I visited Waterstones in Guildford to sign my books.  This is apparently the busiest store in the entire chain. There I sat, watching a queue of women lining up to pay for 50 Shades of Grey. For all the ccriticism of this book, denigrated as a jazzed up Mills and Boon, it has been a sales phenomenon thanks to all the hype about 'mummy porn'.  I said my title would have to be 50 Shades of Purple... But seriously, I have to admit it doesn't appeal to me.  My publisher (who also hasn't read it) suggested (joking?)  that I write an 'erotic crime' novel.  You can read quite a few responses to that idea on facebook!

Oh well, I have to go. It's time to revise my WIP...

Thank you very much to all of you  who have continued to
follow this blog even though I've been largely absent. I'll
try to do better!

Paying a Visit...

Recently one of my contacts on the police force invited me to visit a Homicide and Serious Crime Command Unit. In the course of a fascinating day, I visited the police cells - taking great care not to touch the panic strip on the wall on the way! Apparently it’s not unheard of for new recruits to set off the alarm by mistake, but as a visitor I didn’t want to make a nuisance of myself – not on the way to the cells at any rate…
I’ve seen police cells on the television, of course, but it was a strangely eery and depressing experience to see what little space is allocated to those held in custody. The cells are clean and safe, but very grey. Needless to say, I was glad to leave the custody suite. There was no dramatic clanging of metal gates or jingling of massive bunches of keys. Compared to representations on the television, it was all very low key (Sorry! Bad pun. Very bad.) The ‘rights’ read to prisoners are also very long compared to those you ever hear read out on the small screen, and very dull.
I admit to having a lively imagination – I do write fiction after all. So after my visit to the custody suite, it was with some trepidation that I accepted an invitation to visit a closed prison to talk to prisoners about writing crime fiction. The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on me, and I couldn’t help wondering how my talk would be received. The gates of the prison clanged shut…
I can’t speak for all establishments in HM Prison Service, but the prison I visited offers educational and cultural opportunities for the prisoners similar to those offered in many colleges. Whatever your views on the rights and wrongs of such provision in prisons, there is clearly an admirable agenda to rehabilitate offenders and facilitate their return into the community. Whether or not it is effective is a complex issue to unpick, with so many other factors involved.
What I can tell you is that my prison visit was fascinating. Although the prison officers and the prisoners were very friendly and welcoming, I was still glad to leave. The visit also helped in the writing of the fifth book in my Geraldine Steel series – but you’ll have to wait until the end of the year to find out what happens to Geraldine in prison, and to read my description of her visit to prison in the book that follows Death Bed!
And don’t forget, DEATH BED is out very soon http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1842435949/pocketessentials and the limited edition hardback is available directly from my publisher, numbered and signed http://www.noexit.co.uk/dbspecial/

Invitations

I'm off to visit a prison tomorrow, where I've been invited to talk about writing crime fiction. If I don't post again, you'll know they didn't let me out... It should be an interesting event, and very useful research for a scene in the Geraldine Steel novel that comes after Death Bed.

It's not long now until the launch party for Death Bed in June. Please email me on http://www.leighrussell.co.uk/ for an invitation if you'd like to join us in celebrating the publication of the new Geraldine Steel novel. All my blog buddies are welcome!

If you can't make it, there are still some signed Limited Edition hardbacks available from http://www.noexit.co.uk/dbspecial/

Hardback

A hardback edition of Death Bed is available directly from my publisher as a Special Limited Edition, numbered and signed.

Followers here will know that Geraldine Steel novels don't usually come out in hardback. In fact, this is a first!

http://www.noexit.co.uk/dbspecial/

Limited Edition

Limited Edition Hardback of Death Bed numbered and signed.. Here's my publisher making sure none of the copies were left unsigned. Purchase from http://www.noexit.co.uk/dbspecial/ - it's first come first served.

Limited Edition!

I am VERY excited my publisher is printing a Special Limited Edition of Death Bed in hardback, individually signed and numbered. These are only available from http://www.noexit.co.uk/dbspecial/  This is a collector's item - or would make a great present (maybe even an investment as there are only 200 and they are not expensive!)

News for Christmas

It's just been confirmed that DEATH BED, the new Geraldine Steel novel, is one of 35 thrillers included in the amazon kindle Christmas promotion. You can download it for 99p! Please tell all your friends and help to spread the word. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Bed-ebook/dp/B006ML8JPY/pocketessentials
And DEATH BED is now on amazon.com kindle @ $1.54 http://www.amazon.com/Death-Bed-ebook/dp/B006ML8JPY/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=A7B2F8DUJ88VZ&qid=1324845657&sr=1-1-catcorr
Happy Christmas everyone!

ebook original

1. Look at the home page on my publisher's website http://www.noexit.co.uk/index.php
2. Read the article on Crime Time http://www.crimetime.co.uk/mag/index.php/showarticle/2358
3. Check out the original ebook  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Bed-ebook/dp/B006ML8JPY/pocketessentials
Thank you for looking and hopefully buying an ebook original this Christmas!

Tunbridge Wells

Thanks to one of my loyal fans for sending me this photo he took at Waterstones in Tunbridge Wells.

I'm looking forward to seeing you next year, Alex, when I'm back in Tunbridge Wells, signing Death Bed.

In the meantime, I'm looking forward to signing at Waterstones in Guildford this Saturday, 19th, and Waterstones in Harrow on Sunday, 20th. On Thursday 24th I'll be supporting Pinner Pantomime Evening, signing my books at WH Smith's.

Life is starting to get hectic in the run up to Christmas!

News

Edited manuscript for Death Bed, fourth in the Geraldine Steel series, went to my publisher today!

Dead End was Number 49 on the kindle Bestseller List for 2011, so it's officially a bestseller in the UK as well as internationally.

In the words of my publisher, "Nice one!"   

Writer's Block?

The MS for DEATH BED is with The Editor so I've been working on the next book, 5th in the Geraldine Steel series. My publisher wants to print the opening at the end of DEATH BED, which is no problem as I've nearly finished the 5th book. (We just need a title, so any suggestions will be gratefully received! I've already been sent quite a few on facebook. Thank you.)
Right now I want to share a few thoughts about the nearing-the-end-of-a-book syndrome I always experience at this stage.
With just 5 out of the 70 or so chapters still to write, I'm finding myself slowing down. I know what is going to happen, more or less, and the synopsis is written, more or less. (I say 'more or less', because I never know when something might crop up that changes things.)  It's pretty much sorted. All I need to do is settle down and finish writing it. 
Does anyone else experience the same slowing down as the end of a book approaches? I suppose it's a kind of writer's block, and it happens every time I am near the end of a book. 
There are number of reasons for this phenomenon. The book and its characters occupy the author's thoughts for a while and it can be hard for a writer to let go, like a mother seeing her child leave home.  It's worse than feeling reluctant to finish reading a book.  You can reread a book.  You can't rewrite one. At the same time, there's the anxiety that accompanies completing a MS. Throughout the writing process it's a work in progress, and the author's attention is all on the writing. Once it's finished, the questions inevitably start: 'Does it work?' 'Is it any good?' and 'What have I done?'

So what is the solution to this writer's block against finishing a MS? - apart from a publisher's deadline, which is a very effective cure for 'writer's block'!

The truth is, I have a cracking idea for the following book - 6th in the series - and I'm impatient to see how to make that work.  The joy of writing a series is that as soon as one book is completed, there's another one waiting to be written. 

That's what drives me on to finish a book once the end is just a few chapters away. Of course I owe it to Geraldine's fans, waiting to read my next novel, and to my publisher who has signed me up for three more books in the series.

But if I'm honest the real reason I can't delay finishing the WIP for long is that can't wait to get on with the next one!  Love that writing!