Waiting, so much waiting. Between books writing can be something of a waiting game. I’m expecting editorial reviews of the fourth book Called to Account. The Kirkus review is due on 3rd October, and reviews from LoveReading and The Historical Fiction Company are due around the same time. Those will allow me to draft the paperback back cover blurb and get it to my cover designer Jacqueline Abromeit.
I’m waiting for my audiobook producer, Simon De Deney, to complete The Spy who Sank the Armada, so that I can get him started on Fire and Earth.
I’m waiting for the proof copy of the paperback of The Spy who Sank the Armada from Ingram Spark. At present my books are only available on Amazon. My publicist, Brian, has persuaded me to also publish the paperbacks via Ingram Spark. That’s because Ingram Spark are a wholesaler and distributor to bookstores worldwide. They operate a returns policy, and bookstores won’t stock your book unless they can return them.
I’m waiting for paperbacks to arrive from Amazon. Brian also persuaded me to try and get some speaking engagements with local bookstores, libraries, and historical societies. I visited our local Waterstones and had a chat with the manager. He seemed interested that I was a local writer, and suggested I drop copies of my paperbacks in for him to look at. He agreed that they could only set something up once the books are available on Ingram Spark, but I thought I’d drop him off the Amazon versions to look at. They’ll have the same manuscript and cover, so should be pretty identical. Next I’ll approach the stores in Bath and Bristol to see if they’e interested.
Brian is setting up a series of radio and podcast interviews around the launch of Called to account, and I’m waiting for the interview coaching to begin.
There are some things I can be doing. I need to complete the cast-list for Called to Account for Simon, but until he completes the first book, it doesn’t feel that urgent. I daresay it’ll be like waiting for a bus. You wait and wait, then I’ll be in a mad panic with everything arriving at once.