April might well be the cruellest month, but May is the crappest. For me anyway. Sales have pretty much flatlined, and I managed to put my back out so have been grumpy, hobbling round on a stick, occasionally shaking it at the world and feeling sorry for myself
I’ve made no progress on my non fiction book, though the second draft is complete so I can pick it up again soon. It’s a personal story though, so I have to be in the right mood. Maybe it’s because I’ve been feeling low, but I’ve also been unable to motivate myself to get on with the next novel, which is only about 5000 words short of the complete first draft. I think the main reason is that, while I actually love the story and characters, I’m very aware that yet again, I’m not writing a particularly commercial book. Don’t get me wrong, I think it will be one of my strongest in terms of quality and engagement, but it has no genre to speak of, and follows the story of five intertwined lives, but has no discernible marketing hook, except for the plot twist, which I obviously don’t want to use to promote. I think I’ll leave it aside for a while and move to one of the other ideas, one with a stronger pitch. The reason is quite selfish. It’s demoralising to launch novels that I think, quite objectively, are good. I truly believe in time they will find an audience, but like many an early stage author, I don’t have a platform or significant fanbase, and probably need a viral success to kickstart interest in the other books and my style of writing.
Before you mistakenly assume I might be arrogant about my writing, I’m really not. I’m one of the most self-critical people there is, as you’ll see from some upcoming posts, but I’m practical enough to realise I set myself an uphill battle with my writing choices, the tone and characters, the lack of genre etc. My first, Man in the Bath, while quirky, is maybe the most mainstream and commercial of the books I’ve put out so far, so my next is likely to be a more commercially appealing story, which I’ve wanted to write for three decades (it was originally the script for a partly-made student film).
So, the upcoming posts? Well, against probably all rules of marketing, and in part as an exercise for myself, I’m going to re-read and post reviews of my first four books. And I’ll be quite honest and probably brutal, and potential put off any prospective readers but hey, what do I know? Once the book leaves my pen and keyboard I’m just another reader. So my thoughts are no more valid than anyone else’s. Quite looking forward to re-reading and seeing where I’ve gone wrong, or right!
Then onto revising the non-fic and writing the newer new one.
Stay safe,
Kit