2 months after getting published – the reality!
Thank you all for following my progress.
As you know my first novel, The Istanbul Puzzle, was published Jan 19 by Harper Collins UK.
The Istanbul Puzzle cover art
The last two months have been very busy. There was great excitement in the first few weeks when the book was reviewed very positively in the UK Telegraph newspaper, The Irish Independent, The Lancashire Evening Post and The Examiner. I was also pleased to be interviewed on TV3′s AM morning television program, the Ryan Tubridy show on RTE radio and on some local radio stations. All that was great.
I was delighted too, and it makes me very hopeful, to learn that The Istanbul Puzzle has sold to be translated into 8 foreign languages: Spanish (world rights), Italian, Greek, Polish, Czech, Turkish, Serbian and Slovakian. I look forward to supporting the publishers in all these territories.
My goal is to support myself and my family from my writing. It’s a big ask. Only about 5% of published authors earn over £75,000 a year, never mind the millions that people often think published authors earn. My earnings to date are very limited, given that I only got a small advance and will have to wait until everyone has paid up before getting anything from any sales. One of things that has stuck me forcefully in this process is that with the publisher’s system of only being paid twice a year for royalties you had better have a job or a rich spouse supporting you, even long after you get a publishing deal, if you want to survive.
I expect to start earning enough simply to live on about two years after getting the three book deal, that is about a year from now. That will be the point that I have two books out, and the second is being sold to foreign languages, and I start getting royalty payments from the first and second books mid year after earning out my advance.
As I was made redundant four months ago I am living on borrowed time too. So I have decided in the next three months, before I have to go back to the nine to five, that I will write a guide book to social media, called Social Media is Dynamite.
I intend to make it a practical guide to how to get the most from social media. It will feature my experiences of how social media helped me win a three book publishing contract and some of the things I have learned that enabled me to build twenty thousand followers and many great relationships on the way. I also plan to offer social media consultancy. If any one needs help with social media let me know.
UK sales are good, The Istanbul Puzzle is selling in the tens of thousands, and it is holding up well on the Kindle charts. If you liked it please tell your friends and review it on Amazon whatever you thought of it or even just like it. I am working on the next installment, The Jerusalem Puzzle, right now. I am on the ending at the moment. It will be a multi part ending, which I hope will pull together some of the loose threads left dangling from the first book.
I will keep you posted on progress occasionally (monthly most likely) and I look forward to your comments, bad or good, in the meantime.
Here is a picture I took a few weeks ago when I was on a research trip in Jerusalem:
A monk collecting candles
That is tough – with high rewards as and when a title *takes off* – best of luck with it all. Looking at the reality, it is less and less surprising that more authors are going indie – although that too requires time, energy and social/marketing strategies.
Look forward to seeing Social Media is Dynamite ! Best of sales to you, good luck !
Social media is a fantastic idea! It is something that many of us are still struggling to figure out. It can be a terrific tool, yet can be very dangerous at the same time. Good luck with it, and I for one, look forward to catching sneak-peeks!
Cheers,
Amma
Rich spouse or a not to hungry stomach…
BTW. Even got my hubby reading and loving the Istanbul Puzzle, and he is VERY hard to please.
Thanks so much for the update. I think writers everywhere would love to hear about how you landed your book deal and acquired 20,000 followers. And love the idea of your layered ending that ties up plot threads. Sending good wihes from Portland, Oregon
i read somewhere that being an author should never be a career move. but i think the career comes in when an author gets involved with the sales and the promoton of his or her book. it can be turned into a business like any other artisitc business- fashion design, music, art. these are all moves that can either keep you on the ground or put you up in the clouds. its all about determination, the product and its market.
i write because its a release for me, its a way for me to share my thoughts and my imagination with everyone else and as Carmen Desousa author of ‘She Belongs To Me’ says…. its great rewriting a beautiful ending for a tragic story….
Congratulations on the book deal! I’m a little curious as to your thoughts on epublishing.
I have no problem with epublishing. But keep writing something new and don’t rule out getting a big publisher too.
HI Laurence,
Enjoying your blog. Your info about what it’s like when you actually get a publisher is informative as most aspiring authors haven’t a clue. Good luck with your novels. Any advice for good writing courses in Dublin and if you think they’re worth it?
Hi Alan,
Many thanks for your comment. I went to three night courses at the Irish Writer’s centre in Parnell Square and found them all very useful. They start again in September, I think. I’m leading an 8 week night course from 19th Sept in Dublin in the Centre for Creative Practice (cfcp.ie) on getting your work noticed using social media. Good luck with your writing! Never give up!
I’ve had three publishers and I also self publish. I write non-fiction, music books, so don’t expect to make a fortune. However, I’ve found the publishers I’ve worked with to be pretty hopeless. None have marketed or promoted the books sufficiently. Consequently sales have been disappointing. In fact, I’ve sold more books by self publishing, and I get to keep all the profit and have complete control, which means the books look the way I want them to look. Unless I write a blockbuster, I won’t be using a publisher in future. Dot it yourself. Yes, it’s hard work, but it’s more fun and you reap the rewards, not a publisher.