General – Page 129

As I move on with the third draft of my romantic thriller I’ve taken the step of sharing my jacket blurb on Facebook. I’ve also shared Chapter 1 to give a taste of my writing style. My theory is that even if only 1 in 10 people who see the post actually go in and read either one of them then my marketing has started successfully. If I am fortunate enough to attract any reasonable comments I’ll add a second chapter to my blog next month.

Ten Days - Cover idea — A working cover for the e-Book

My graphic is a working cover page for the e-Book and may not resemble the finished article. I’ll use Twitter and local media when the time is right and I’ll continue to plug the story on Facebook. My other intention is to print off and distribute five copies to readers for market research purposes.

The jacket blurb I’ve used is only an experiment and may well change, but the first chapter is close to the finished article as it stands now.

My main investment has been time and effort but depending on the result of my strategy I may have to put money into the pot. I’ve worked out at the moment that a single photocopy of the manuscript is going to cost me £9. If all goes well I hope to recoup whatever outlay I have in that area.

I will very shortly live up to my promise to myself to reduce my retail working hours which will mean a serious drop in pay, but a vast increase in time invested in writing. In order that I don’t look as if my retail work is actually going backwards and out of control, I fully intend to alter my status and profession on any social media with which I’m connected – so watch this space.

Krefeld First School (pencil) — Krefeld First School, Krefeld, Germany

My featured graphic is a drawing I completed of Krefeld First School in Krefeld, Germany. Our son went there after a short time attending Wavell Junior School in Catterick. The drawing was to go on to become the front cover of official handouts from the school featured. Apart from the notion of advancing steadily I feel it’s worth noting that there was a simple, but accurate compass painted on the playground. How military is that! That was rhetorical, so please don’t inundate me with suggestions. Why mention the compass? Apart from advancing it gives a loose connection to going in the right direction. Okay, I’m stretching a point. No, I refuse to say a compass point.

If you’re still with me the whole theme of advancement is to do with my romantic thriller, ‘Ten Days’. I’ve now completed the first two drafts and things are going well with the third. In an effort to give more substance to the two main characters I’ve allowed them both a chapter apiece at the start. They had previously been sharing both the first chapters but I’m now happy with the change. Apart from saying it’s romantic and a thriller I can confirm that the main story takes place in Panama, Central America.

For the time being I’ll withold the jacket blurb and the front page strapline but I can now confirm I’ve requested our son Andrew to design the front cover for me. As an artist I have ideas, but Andrew is creative naturally and professionally so it would be foolish of me to go it alone.

What’s next? Of course we should really look forward if we’re calling this post Advancing Steadily. My intention is to complete the third and final draft by early October. I will have five sets of the manuscript printed and give them to a variety of pre-selected readers with a standard questionaire to give me feedback. If all goes well I will self-publish as an E-book in November.