New book deal, just trying to keep up

I was thrilled to be offered a new three book deal in January. I wasn't so thrilled to find out I had to write all three in 2023, hand in dates 31 March, 31 July and 30 November. Ouch. Especially since I didn't start the first book until 16 January so I only had ten weeks to write what will be book 4 for Bookouture. 

At least I don't have any edits to do for the other books as Dreams of the Cottage by the Sea (and no, I don't make up the titles) comes out on 4th April and is all done. It's so lovely to come to it all polished and I even was able to enjoy a story I know inside out. Sometimes you're just sick of a book, to be honest!

Book 4, which doesn't have a name yet, is coming along nicely (up to 55k words) but I never know if they are any good until I've had a proper edit and hard prune, before I hand it in. I made the mistake of trying to write alternate chapters (two separate timelines) but I think the characters work better if you invest in the 100% and write two separate stories, linking them up through editing. Deep down I'm a novella writer, I just link two stories together.

Interestingly, book 1 has received all the publicity and has sold really well. It's also come out in audiobook and I was thrilled to find out yesterday that Memories of the Cottage by the Sea and Dreams of the Cottage by the Sea will both get the same treatment, and I get a lovely advance as well. Hooray! It's available on Audible too. 

For those of you who have asked recently, Bookouture now has a SFF imprint and had taken on its first writers. I'm looking forward to seeing if there's a place for Finding Noah, my unpublished contemporary fantasy. Who knows what will happen after book 5 and 6 are done?

New book, new year

Well, where has the time gone? I'm loving how book 2 is finding its own way in the world and book 1 has sold well. It seems like it's sold well to me, anyway! 

I'm working on a new one, while putting the final polish to Dreams of the Cottage by the Sea. I'm still not in love with the titles, to be honest, but i can't come up with good titles so bow to their greater knowledge. It's selling in pre-order very well, so I'm pleased that readers who liked book 1 have followed up. 

 Marketing is still a mystery to me. I thought they would launch book 2, Memories of the Cottage by the Sea, but instead they gave a boost to book 1. And it worked, they used Bookbub to bump book 1 into the 31 on Kindle in the UK and 32 in the US. I actually have no idea what Bookbub is but - yay! Great.  

Meanwhile, back at the desk... I am trying to get my head around a new computer. Worse, it's a Mini Mac (why, why?) that has MS Word on it. It's been a challenge just trying to find everything, but i think I'm there. My old one hasn't handled the many upgrades to new versions of Windows and Word very well, it no longer copes well with track changes and sometimes just stops working. I can't remember why I thought going for an Apple computer seemed like a good idea. I don't have an I-phone or I-pad or anything. But the new book is rolling off onto that and the old computer is finishing off book 3. 

I now feel like a proper commercial writer, writing stories (sort of) to order but being able to come up with stories, shape the characters and largely not stick to any sort of formula. I finally got paid - not very much, just one month's money - so I can donate all my pre-order money to the Children's Hospice SW. As the sudden breadwinner, I can see that over time, I'll have enough revenue to replace my husband's unexpectedly whisked away income. 

I still yearn to write crime books though. I'm going to have to pay(!) for a structural edit of the crime book I have almost finished. I like the idea of developing my main characters, they seem so real now after several years of working with them. Anyway, back to checking the final files of book 3 then - whoosh! off it goes. It's released on 4th April 2023, and it's £1.99 on Kindle.