Helen Glynn Jones

Three Weeks to Go…

I met Suzie at the Blogger’s Bash in London this year, and she is as lovely in person as she is on her blog 🙂 Now she’s challenged herself to complete a half marathon, raising money for two very deserving charities – let’s get behind her and give her some support!

Suzie Speaks

In a moment of madness I agreed to sign up for the Birmingham Half-Marathon in October and run 13 miles.

My physical state when I initially paid for my entrance fee in May was not exactly in brilliant condition. As someone who likes their food, along with the occasional cigarette and cocktail, my body has slowly increased in size to the point where I have easily gained 60+lbs in the last five years, and while I was fit enough to swim or run around for hours regularly in my youth, I could barely walk up the stairs a few months ago without feeling flustered and out of breath.

A sweaty Suzie with the lovely Andrew… Gorgeous. I’m thinking of adopting it as my new look…

After a month (ok, two months) of procrastination, my friend and I decided that we would start our training, which began in July. That first…

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Autumn Sky

I’ve posted photos of this sky before, and it seems to be turning into a bit of a series. The photos are taken somewhere I visit regularly, and at the same time in the evening, so are a good illustration of the seasons as they change. Now the nights are starting to draw in, the leaves burning with autumn colours. Soon it will be full circle again, back to the original image I took.

When I was in high school, I had an Ancient History professor called Mr. Mawson. He was always dapper in jacket and tie, his beard silver, his tone dignified. He had two sayings that he used often – one was, ‘Don’t be sorry, be on time.’ That one is self-explanatory, I think. The other was, ‘Look at the tree.’ This was a little less obvious. When he said it, he would gesture to the tree outside our second-floor classroom, and we would all look at the tree. There would be a moment of silence, then he would go back to discussing Sparta or Corinth or some other city-state, as though nothing had happened.

I never really knew why he said that. We all talked about it, of course. ‘What is the deal with the tree?’ I wondered whether it was to remind us of the impermanence of things, a commentary that everything comes to an end, just like the mighty civilisations he taught us about, their cities and accomplishments returning to dust. Or perhaps it was to mark the passing of the seasons, a reminder that time was marching on, taking us with it. I never asked him, and I wish I had.

And now, as I take pictures of the same tree through the seasons, I wonder if it was just about observation. But I guess I’ll never know.

The Proof Is In The…

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Just a very quick post today – the proof copy has come back for No Quarter, the second book in my Ambeth series, and so I’m focusing on one last read-through before hopefully, publishing by the end of this week.

I would recommend to anyone using Createspace or any other print-on-demand service, to invest in a hard copy proof. Already my pages are full of sticky notes – corrections to words, sentences or even how the text sits on the page. While you can look at something onscreen and get an approximate idea of how it will look once printed, it does not compare to actually holding the book in your hand and reading the printed pages. I spend a lot of time going through my proof copy, not only to pick up any missed indents or minor typos that escaped my 80496th edit, but also seeing how the text sits on the page. I try and eliminate ‘widows and orphans’ wherever possible (not actual widows and orphans, because that would make me an evil person). Instead, I mean a single line of text at the top of a page, or the first line of a paragraph starting at the bottom of a page. I can’t completely avoid them but, by carefully manipulating the text, I can remove most of them.

I’ve also had a bit of trouble with the cover on this one, as my design has been cut off at the outer edges. When I measured the book, I realised that it’s been trimmed about an eighth of an inch too short, which seems to be where the problem lies. So I’ve emailed Createspace and am in the process of getting it all sorted out. Once again, another good reason to invest in a printed proof.

Righto, better get back to work!

A Marketing Experiment – Follow-up

Last week, I wrote a post about a marketing experiment I was doing, the main objective being to increase my readership and, hopefully, generate some interest in my upcoming new release, No Quarter. I decided to offer Oak and Mist, the first book in the series, free on Amazon for a limited time, hoping to capitalise on some positive reviews.

I took advantage of the free five day promotion from Amazon, part of being enrolled in KDP Select. You get five days out of every ninety to list your book as free – you can either run the days all together, or break them into separate promotions. I chose to run the five days together, hoping to maximise my exposure. I also ran three paid advertisements during the promotion – one with Booksends, one with E Reader News Today, and one with Robin Reads.

So how did it go?

I ended up having 4415 people download Oak and Mist for free. Even if only twenty per cent of those people actually read the book, I’ve still substantially increased my readership, and potentially will be able to sell subsequent instalments in the series. I also noticed a large increase in my KENP pages, for which I get paid royalties, and sold several paperbacks as well. I received a new 5 star rating on GoodReads, and several more people on GoodReads marked Oak and Mist as ‘currently reading.’

In terms of the paid advertising, I ran ads on the first, fourth and fifth day of the promotion, and on each of those days my downloads increased dramatically to over a thousand per day, propelling me into the top ten Amazon free books (I reached number 8). The days on which I did not advertise averaged at about three hundred downloads. I supported the promotion with a couple of tweets per day – most of which were picked up and retweeted. I was also fortunate to receive some wonderful support from fellow bloggers (you know who you are, and thank you once again!). Chris The Story Reading Ape was kind enough to post a promotion on his site, which was then reposted by several other bloggers.

In conclusion, this was a successful marketing exercise for me. I’ve increased the audience for my books and, hopefully generated some momentum for No Quarter, the second novel in my Ambeth series. The KENP and paperback royalties I received as a result of the increased exposure have already covered much of my advertising costs, and it was wonderful to get another five-star rating. I believe the complete results of this promotion are yet to be seen, and will be keeping an eye on reviews and reader stats over the coming weeks.

I write books because I want people to read them. I love Ambeth and the characters who live there, and it gives me great pleasure when other people enjoy the books. I had no problem in offering my work free for a limited time, and will definitely be employing a similar promotional strategy when I release Hills and Valleys, the third book in the series.

I’d love to hear about your own marketing experiences, and whether they were successful or not. I think our blogging community is such a great and generous resource for self-published authors – I know I’ve learnt so much already.

Thanks for reading 🙂

Walking Through Rivendell

This was the view from where I stayed — *This was the view from my chalet. Pretty nice, hey?*

About twenty-five years ago, I went on a trip around Europe. I was living in Canada at the time and this was my first big holiday by myself, so it was a Big Deal. The trip brought its own set of challenges and experiences, most of them positive, as well as some marvellous memories.

One of the places I visited was the valley of Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. I stayed there for a couple of nights, lulled to sleep by the sounds of the nearby waterfall and the gentle chime of cowbells. It was an extraordinarily beautiful place, and I felt the spectacular landscape had a fairy-tale quality quite unlike anywhere else I’d been before. While I was there, I also took the cog railway up to the top of the Jungfrau mountain, taking photographs of the scenery along the way.

What I didn’t know at the time was that J.R.R Tolkien had visited the same valley in 1911, and was so taken by its beauty that he used it as the basis for Rivendell, home to Elrond and the Elves. (Apparently, on the same trip, he also picked up an illustration that inspired his description of Gandalf.) If you look at Tolkien’s painting of Rivendell (which I don’t have permission to reproduce here, so here’s a link), you can see the similarities between his fantasy world and the real one.

The glacier on top of the Jungfrau - the original Pass of Carahdras? — *The glacier on top of the Jungfrau – the original Pass of Carahdras?*

I recently wrote a post about the landscape that had inspired my own book, Oak and Mist. Though not quite as striking as the Lauterbrunnen valley and its towering mountains, the park near my childhood home holds both beauty and memory for me, making it the perfect starting point for my story. And this is one of the things I love about writing fantasy – blending the real world with the one I create.

*The valley seen from the lower slopes of the Jungfrau – look familiar?*

I know you can visit Hobbiton and some of the other locations for the LOTR movies in New Zealand, and that they are spectacular. However, to walk through the actual landscape that inspired Tolkien to create Middle-Earth is quite something as well (even if I didn’t realise it at the time) 🙂

So how about you? Has your work been inspired by real places you’ve visited or lived in? Or have you walked in the footsteps of your literary heroes?

You can find me on Twitter @AuthorHelenJ, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Plus my latest book release, A Thousand Rooms, is now available on Amazon. Visit my Amazon Author Page to see more.

Official Release Day for SILENCED MEMORIES!

Fellow blogger and writer, Brittney Sahin, has just released her debut novel, Silenced Memories! Good luck, Brittney 🙂

brittneysahin

I am excited to announce the official release of my romance suspense novel, Silenced Memories. Thank you everyone for your support over these last few months!! Enjoy a few excerpts below.

Book Blurb:

Kate Adams has never found it difficult to keep a professional relationship with her clients . . . but then she’s never had a client like Michael Maddox. From the moment she arrives in Charlotte, Kate is tongue-tied by the devastatingly gorgeous former Marine and intelligence genius turned multi-millionaire entrepreneur. Michael seems at first glance to be the perfect catch, except for one problem. He doesn’t do relationships. And Kate doesn’t do one-night stands. But as the tension mounts between them, Kate discovers she has larger problems—an untraceable stalker . . . and a dangerous past. When Michael offers his protection, Kate is grateful, and yet afraid. For as they grow closer, she realizes that Michael…

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The Big Sky

The weather seemed to reflect my mood today.

It was all over the place. Rain was spattering my sunglasses, but I needed them against the bright sunlight coming from behind the clouds. As I emerged onto the park at the top of the hill, the sky opened up around me, grey rain and darkness to one side, blue sky and sunshine above, then rain again.

Because it’s been a funny sort of day. I’m just going through the formatting on my second book, plus I’ve some other writing work to do. I also connected with a dear friend today about collaborating on another writing project. And for the life of me, I couldn’t settle on one thing to write about.

I tried one of Mel’s Writing Menagerie prompts, and ended up with a short (unfinished) piece about being an artist’s model. At least, I think that’s what’s happening, but knowing me it could end up anywhere. I also added and amended some sections in my book, seeing where they were needed as the formatting was completed. I might have spent a bit of time on Twitter. I know I spent a bit of time trying to catch up with everyone’s blogs – though I’m still a bit behind. I uploaded my cover template, ready to be added once the manuscript was finalised. I checked the numbers on my free Kindle downloads, and printed out some royalty reports for the tax office.

Like the weather, I was all over the place.

And yet, as I came up over the hill and saw the sky, I felt like it was going to be okay. That I just need to stick with it and get to the other side. The old arrow drawing back in the bow, the deep breath before the cold plunge. Publishing is like that, doubts rising to plague you as you read through your manuscript for the 8067934th time. But you just have to get on with it. And it will pass.

Like the weather.

———

Just a reminder – The Kindle version of Oak and Mist, the first book in my Ambeth Chronicles, is free to download from Amazon until tomorrow! myBook.to/oakandmist

Conor Kelly’s Legends of Ireland, my latest book-baby flies the nest!

A new release from Ali Isaac about the legends of Ireland’s past. Ali is a wonderful writer who captures the mystery and magic of legend so well – this is definitely on my ‘to-read’ list!

The Sticky-Note Mystery

My proof copy of Oak and Mist - each sticky note marks a correction! — My proof copy of Oak and Mist – each sticky note marks a correction!

I’ve mentioned before that I usually have a notebook with me in which to jot down ideas, whether for stories, client work or blog posts. I also make copious use of sticky notes – several decorate my computer monitor as I type this, with more on my desk and sticking out from the pages of my notebooks.

When I opened my diary the other day and flicked back, wanting to check the date for something, I found another sticky note. It had several titles on it, most of which I recognised as blog posts I’d already written.

Except for one.

It read, ‘The Wizard of Oz and the expensive cocktail.’

!!!??

I’m assuming this is a blog post I was considering writing, as it’s with a list of other posts. But I haven’t the faintest idea what it would have been about (other than the obvious), nor can I remember the connection between these two things. Perhaps some of the brain cells I wasted so profligately in my youth have finally given up the ghost, perhaps this was an idea brought on by an ‘expensive cocktail’, hence the memory loss – whatever the case, the idea is gone.

So I’m putting it out there for someone else to use. Consider it a writing prompt of sorts. I’d love to hear what you come up with 🙂

Oh, and if I remember what I was going to write, I’ll let you know.

A Marketing Experiment

Tomorrow I’m going to be running a little experiment in marketing.

Oak and Mist, the first book in my Ambeth Chronicles, will be free on Amazon Kindle for five days starting tomorrow. The paperback will still be full price, but the e-book – free.

I realise there are differing schools of thought on whether we should offer our work for free, and I’ve done a bit of reading and thinking before coming to this decision. However, on reflection, there were several reasons it seemed like a good idea:

This is a free promotion that I get from Amazon for being part of their KDP Select programme, so I think it makes sense to take advantage of it at least once.
Oak and Mist is the first book in a series of six, so by offering it free I hope to reach more readers who, hopefully, will enjoy it enough to purchase the next books in the series. Thinking back to my Marketing classes at school, I believe this is called a ‘loss-leader’.
The promotion is for a limited period of time – five days only. I have heard that making the first book in a series free permanently is also a good way to attract readers but, as I’ve not yet published any other books in the series, I’m not ready to do that.
No Quarter, the second book in the Ambeth Chronicles, is very close to being published, so the timing of this promotion will, I hope, generate interest leading to further sales.
I have positive reviews on Amazon UK, US and Australia, as well as Goodreads. Hopefully this promotion will capitalise on the goodwill in those reviews, leading to more people deciding to download my book.
I have far fewer e-book sales than paperback sales, so would be interested to see if I can increase that number.

I’ve also submitted to Robin Reads, E-News Reader Today and Freebooksy, all of whom have accepted Oak and Mist for promotion during my free offer period. I’ll also be promoting the free offer on my Facebook page and Twitter.

So I’ll let you all know how it goes. While this may seem quite a businesslike post, and a departure from my usual scribblings and musings, it is also part of the writing process. As independent authors we should be informed and able to make the right decisions for our book – after all, once we self-publish we are essentially running a business based on our own products. I’ve learnt a great deal from many generous bloggers who have shared information about their own promotions and results. Now I hope to be able to do the same.

xx Helen

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