Things I'm learning from the world of online publishing

It's been about a week since I finished rewriting my first novel and uploaded it to Amazon Kindle. I naively hoped it might be as simple as uploading the novel and waiting for thousands of downloads. Of course I was wrong and it's going to take time and effort before people start to discover my book!

Here are a few things I'm learning about my online publishing experience that I hope to use to grow my profile over the coming weeks.

A cover and description is vital

A cover image is so important these days. We're not talking about simply a book cover, rather it's an identity for my work. The first cover I created was just a photo and it wasn't good enough. I've just commissioned a designer to create my current cover. It's got to look good on the cover or no one will believe it's any good on the inside. Similarly I'm learning there's an art to creating a good description which will capture people's attention. To learn this, I'm reading as many descriptions as possible and trying to take the best bits.

Downloads and reviews

My book hit the top five in the Amazon rankings for free political books.

Once the book's uploaded it needs to be read. Kindle's 5-day free promotion is a useful way to encourage downloads. The more downloads you receive during this free period, the higher the book goes in the rankings and more likelihood that others see it and buy it later on. Social proof, in the form of reviews, is also vital. I know it's going to be a challenge to get reviews for the book; so I'm trying to encourage reviews at every opportunity. If people get to the end of my novel I put a message about leaving a review and follow up info, such as a link to my website.

Find people who love books

Friends and family are great but the success of the book will come through finding people who love to read. I've tried promoting my book through an ebook email list and it received quite a few downloads. I've also promoted through Facebook. I guess this is the hardest part when I need to define what my author "brand" is and how to connect with people who love my stories.

Write more books!

The crucial difference I can tell between online and traditional publishing is that online self-published authors need to heavily engage with promotion. A lot of time seems to be spent in building a profile and spreading the word about books. Of course, the main thing is to also keep on writing! This is the enjoyable part and, with that in mind, I better get on with my next story!

The Ballad of Bono and Maggie is currently available online, free to read for Kindle Unlimited members - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00VJ39ILE

The Ballad of Bono and Maggie

It's been a while since my last post and since I published my first novel. At the time I wrote the book, the UK General Election was looming. I was keen to get something out in time for the election and it really helped to motivate me to complete the novel. I learned a lot promoting my book and got some good feedback. However, I quickly realised it wasn't quite the finished book I wanted to share. I removed it and started to work on revisions.

So what's changed?
1. The characters. While I really liked my character Zoe, I felt Adam wasn't fully formed. I made him slightly tougher, more indifferent and, crucially, less of a shy musical talent and instead one who was desperately searching for inspiration and approval.

2. Editing. I tightened up the story, reducing it by several thousand words and getting advice on being more economical with the language. It now reads much more smoothly.

3. Name and cover: The original name for the novel was a generic catch-all for the General Election, but it wasn't very inspiring. Instead, I came up with a name that reflects the two main characters. Zoe is referred to by others as the next Margaret Thatcher (or perhaps Theresa May!) and what better musician than Bono to use for the character, Adam, who wants to change the world through his music. Therefore, 'The Ballad of Bono and Maggie'. And I got a cover designer to create an eye-catching design far beyond anything I could do.

The book is now live on Amazon and I'm about to run a free book promotion. It would be great to have your feedback!

How do these bestsellers compare to my new novel?

I recently read two books, both of them featuring two main characters and both switching between each person's perspective. I wanted to read Gone Girl and One Day because they'd both been recommended to me as entertaining books. I also hoped to learn how my book, The Election, compares and how I could improve my future writing.

One Day has on my bookshelf for a couple of years. I was forced to watch the film before reading the book, and it was marginally entertaining romantic drama. I assumed the book was for women but actually when I read the first few pages what appealed to me was the way David Nicholls had characterised Dexter and Emma and captured their experiences from the 1980s the 2000s. It was a wonderful book from beginning to end and I followed the language of characters with great interest. I was also fascinated to see how David Nicholls writes tragedy into light-hearted drama. Dexter comes across as a spoilt rich kid at the start and the reader really grows with him in his journey over 20 years. Emma is completely different from Dexter but she needs him and he needs her. There is that ever-present tension between the two of them when they are together and I found myself willing them to get together.

What did I learn from One Day? The importance of creating distinct characters with separate points of view and ways of thinking. At times, I feel my characters don’t always distinguish enough from one another. Perhaps I need to work harder to develop my own voice and put myself in the bodies of the characters that I am writing.

Gone Girl was a thrilling read. I remember seeing posters everywhere on the London tube a couple of years ago. Nothing really gave away the story and nothing really prompted me to read the book, but after heavy marketing and of course an all-star movie, I was really intrigued to find out what it was about. I was also keen not to watch the movie first as I did with One Day, as I didn't want it spoiling my experience of reading the story. Just as with One Day this book flicks between the two main characters’ perceptions. Gone Girl seems to distinguish the characters even more starkly than in One Day where the characters tends to flick between perspectives even within the same paragraph.

Nick Dunne is neither hero nor villain but simply a man who has made mistakes and neglected his wife. Amy is the more complicated character, who at first appears to be something that soon changes later in the novel. It's hard to write much without giving the plot away but it was fascinating to see the interplay between two characters. There's an element of tension throughout which keeps people guessing until the end of the book. I really admired Gillian Flynn’s way with words as she, for example, described Nick smashing a glass and experiencing the sound and the smell of the whiskey with the words "I experienced rage in all five senses". These kind of sentences made me think that I still have an awfully long way to go as a writer but maybe it’s the plight of every author to doubt themselves.

I hope that the more I read of this kind of fiction, the more I will absorb the best techniques of successful and talented writers. Anyone who enjoyed Gone Girl or One Day would find my book, The Election, of interest. I would also be keen for other people's recommendations of similar books.

A woman's place is in the...

I recently met a lady called Emma on Twitter, who has produced some fantastic t shirts stating “A woman’s place is in the House of Commons” (link to purchase below). Feminism and politics is too big an issue to cover in one blog post, but I wanted to explain why I’ve written “The Election” with a female politician protagonist.

Zoe Fletcher is one of the two main characters in my novel. She starts off as a student debater at Durham University and quickly fights her way to the top of her student society to become President. Right from the outset she faces misogyny and sexism from the “old boys” of the club. However, Zoe triumphs at university and she quickly rises up the ladder of a political career in Westminster. Of course, she faces some opposition along the way but I haven’t painted too stark a picture for what it’s like for women in politics.

The thing is, I don’t think women of my generation are as encumbered as previous generations. In 2015, women leaving school and university have exactly the same opportunities as men of the same age.  Somewhere along the way a gap appears and perhaps there is still a glass ceiling. But I think the ceiling is beginning to crack. Just look at the recent General Election leaders’ debates featuring Nicola Sturgeon, Natalie Bennett and Leanne Wood – they have made David Cameron, Nick Clegg, and Ed Miliband look decidedly dated. The men strain to assert their authority and credentials as leaders, but the women seem confident in their style of consensual politics and appear as far more natural leaders. I’ve also been in contact with some fantastic female parliamentary candidates on Twitter who I’m certain will make a massive positive difference to government if elected.

I sense the tide of politics is changing in favour of equal representation for men and women (but still only around 25% of female PPC though, which needs to change). I wanted to write a political story from a woman’s point of view as I don’t think there’s too much of that out there at the moment. Of course, I am a man writing from woman’s perspective so how can I really know what I am writing about?

Judge for yourself by downloading my book from Kindle! - www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VJ39ILE

If you want to buy Emma’s t shirt, here’s the link - https://www.etsy.com/shop/finprint

Why does a novel need a soundtrack?

When I wrote The Election I set out to tell the story of two characters who pursue very different career paths but constantly find themselves being pulled together. Zoe is a fledgling debater at university who goes on to pursue a successful parliamentary career. Adam discovers a talent for writing songs and becomes a successful musician.

It has been said that politics is rock music for ugly people. Regardless of the veracity of that statement I do think there is an element of attraction for politicians to the celebrity of pop music. Sometimes this has disastrous consequences, such as John Prescott’s attendance at the Brit awards in the 90s, and sometimes it can become cringeworthy such as Tony Blair’s appropriation of Noel Gallagher for Cool Britannia. On the flip side, musicians are often drawn towards politics in the hope that they can truly make a difference to the world.

And so when I wrote my novel about these two characters, it seemed right to include lyrics of songs for Adam to sing. After all, I have included excerpts of Zoe’s speeches during debates. The songs that Adam sings have been written and recorded. As part of the experience of reading the novel, I want people to listen to these songs to get an understanding of where the characters are coming from and I hope it enhances the storytelling.

Finally, I’ve discovered that when it comes to promoting a book nothing is very easy or fast paced. It takes several days if not weeks to read a novel. Even the prospect of downloading a novel is scary for a lot of people. Hopefully, by listening to the songs associated with the novel, people will become more interested in the story and even if they don’t read the novel itself they will understand what I am trying to tell. And, after all, telling stories is the ultimate goal.

You can listen to the tracks on my sound cloud page – www.soundcloud.com/phil-sidney

Why I wrote a political romance novel

I've just published my first novel on Kindle. I've styled it as a political romance story, which may seem like an oxymoron. These are the reasons why I've chosen to write my story:

Cynicism - There's too much bad feeling towards politics in the UK at the moment. A lot of people think the main parties are all the same and it's still male-dominated. I wanted to introduce a new female political character, Zoe Fletcher, who is different from the same old names we've seen before and wants to make the country a better place. I've taken her back to her student days and tried to show what motivated her to become involved in politics in the first place.

Apathy - Despite the recent advent of election fever it remains true that real life politics just isn't as exciting as fiction. One of my lead characters is a musician and I've tried to create a story that links the real world to politics. It's not just a political story set in the closed halls of Westminster. 

Opportunity - I'm not a marketing expert but you've got to agree that if I was going to write a novel about politics, then the UK General Election is the time to release it. While it's not all about politics, I hope that this story will gain some traction during an important time. It also gave me a vital deadline to aim for when I started the book in January, as I knew it had to be ready by now. Deadlines are important to me, just ask my wife. 

Challenge - I can't think of a political story in fiction or real life that's ever been a straightforward love story about two people. If you can, please let me know. It's too easy to descend into smut and intrigue, which I think has it's place (and there's a bit of it in the book) but I wanted to see if my characters operate beyond that. You can decide if I've achieved that. 

My first novel, The Election, is out now and can be downloaded (currently for free) at this link - www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VJ39ILE 

I'm genuinely interested in feedback so please read and let me know what you think. 

Best wishes, Phil

I’ve just written my first novel and this is what I learned…

After many years of writing short stories and starting longer novels, I have finally finished writing my first full length novel called “The Election”. It will soon be available for sale on Kindle. Here are the top things I learned:

Goals and deadlines are important

It’s not enough to simply want to write
a story. You need support in getting to the end. I’ve started several stories and stalled after around 30,000 words. With this one, I set a goal of writing 1,000 words per day until my story was done. I also set a deadline – my story is focused on the UK General Election and it had to be done in time for the start of the campaign, otherwise I would have to wait another five years before telling it.

Time can be squeezed from the most unlikely of places

Looking back to my days as a student I can’t believe how much free time I squandered. Now I have a full time job and a 2 year old daughter. I spent a lot of time researching procrastinating about how top executives and leaders get the most out of their days. A lot of people get up really early and I’ve read all sorts about delegation, outsourcing, etc. At the end of the day it’s important to find a routine that works for you and I managed to carve out a daily writing habit.

Stop when you’ve still got enough steam to carry on

I think this is a tip from Ernest Hemingway, who suggested that we should always stop writing when we’ve got enough interest to come back to the work the next day. It’s incredibly demoralising to exhaust myself writing 10,000 words and then completely run out of energy or inclination to go on.

Enjoy the process

At the end of the day, how many authors actually sell millions of books and make a living by writing? Very few. I wouldn’t want to rely on writing as a full time job and I’ve got other interests. Writing is a part of me. It’s something that I enjoy doing as often as possible. With a bit of discipline I could call myself a writer but I’ve heard from too many authors who feel jaded and unappreciated. Even if no one else reads my books, at least I enjoy writing them. Write for yourself, not for anyone else.

My book, The Election, is currently on Kindle. Get it on Amazon now - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00VJ39ILE