Point of No Return

There’s no turning back now. End of the line. Point of no return.

THE CHILD THIEF proofs are done. I’ve read through; I’ve gritted my teeth whenever I’ve seen something I want to change but can’t; I’ve dotted the t’s and crossed the i’s . . . no wait, is that . . .? oh, you know what I mean.

Anyway it’s done and now I have that feeling of helplessness. Reading the typeset page proofs is usually the last time I read my book (I haven’t read DRY SEASON or DARK HORIZONS since they were published) and it’s always a difficult read. I’ve been over the manuscript dozens of times. I know the story inside out. I know the characters inside out. But that last read-through is the one where I start to wonder . . . ‘could I have told this differently?’ ‘Have I done enough?’

But only you can tell me that now.

THE CHILD THIEF is out of my hands and soon it will be in yours.

 

Be vigilant . . . it’s coming.

The unbound page proofs have arrived. It’s not much to look at – just a pile of papers. No pretty cover, like the book proofs, but this is it. The final stage.

No going back.

So I’m going to submerge myself in the harsh world of THE CHILD THIEF one last time. I’m going to scour those pages for errors while, somewhere across the country, a proof-reader will be doing the same. And then it’s ready for printing; ready for you to read.

Be vigilant. The Child Thief is coming. And I think you’re going to like it.

 

That’s all.

 

 

 

How to be a best-seller

So, how do you become a best-selling author? Well, you write a great book, loads of people buy it and you hit the best-seller list, right?

Wrong. There are lots of best selling novels that aren’t really all that great, and there are lots of great novels that aren’t best sellers, so that can’t be it.

Come to think of it, how do authors manage to sell any books at all?

Imagine Mr Debut Novelist. He’s been working hard and has written his first novel – well done – and he’s managed to secure himself an agent (no easy thing) and now he has a publisher (amazing). The book is published to no fanfare and no marketing at all. It’s one of a zillion other books published that year and Mr Novelist begins his online campaign using his website, Twitter, Facebook, Blogging etc.

Wow. This is fantastic. The novel floats to the surface and bobs there for a while. There’s a quote from a best-selling author! There’s a nomination! There are a couple of good reviews in national publications! Real life proper bookshops buy some copies in!

But that’s not enough. Readers glance over those reviews because they’ve never heard of Mr Debut Novelist. The bookshops stick their copies in the A-Z shelves, spine out, where no one will find them unless they’re specifically looking (which they’re not, because they’ve never heard of Mr Novelist, remember). So people buy, but there’s no mass stampede at Waterstones, no clogged servers at Amazon. People aren’t jabbing at their Kindles or hurrying out to the bookshop.

So what is it that gets people worked up? What is it that brings a certain author’s name to the public eye? How do they become known? I really am intrigued by the ability of some novelists to shift huge numbers of their books – particularly debut authors who become instant hits.

Think of Audrey Niffenegger. Tom Rob Smith. Steig Larsson. Regardless of whether or not you like their books – how did they do it?

Is it word of mouth? Is it advertising? Is it witchcraft? Is it a combination of those things, all mixed in with a sprinkle of pixie dust and a fistful of luck?

So, Audrey, Steig, Tom, don’t walk away. We’re looking at you. C’mon. Fess up. Is it alchemy?

 

That’s all.

coming soon

Can you smell that?

Can you smell that? Can you feel it? That’s normality, that is. It’s creeping back, tapping at the window, hooking its fingers round the door, sliding up behind you.

Normality.

The end of the year always takes on a strange life of its own. All that time off. The children away from school. Eating and drinking things you wouldn’t normally indulge in, at times you wouldn’t usually consider, and in quantities that . . . well, you know all about that, right? You know the last week of December and the first few days of January exist in a weird, hazy bubble. You’ve just been there. You survived it.

But now the bubble has burst and normality has returned with a grin. And it’s staying. It’s not going anywhere.

I could give you a run down of my 2011, but I’m not going to. I could even give you a run down of my hopes and dreams for 2012, but you don’t want to hear about that, do you? You’ve got enough of your own.

So all I’ll say is that I hope you have a good year. I wish all kinds of luck on you and yours  – and we’ll talk later; when things are more settled.

That’s all.