Tag: social media

Isabel Ashdown’s secrets and lies

We had the fantastic thriller writer Isabel Ashdownon the Bestseller Experiment podcast this week. Isabel is the author of bestselling thrillers Little Sister and Beautiful Liars, and she walked away from a successful career to focus on her writing and it all stepped up a gear when she entered a competition in a newspaper. I was also joined by stand-in co-host Sam Eades who is always good fun and does a mean jigsaw… You can listen to the podcast here.

Like many science fiction and fantasy authors out there, I found myself sighing in despair at this comment from Liz Thomson in the Bookseller. I am beyond proud to have been published by Gollancz, and I realise that this kind snobbery exists, but you expect better from Liz (who’s always been very chatty and friendly whenever I’ve met her) and the Bookseller, a publication that should celebrate all publishing regarding of genre. Sigh…

And a quick update on my fantasy novel The End of Magic– it’s now 80% funded over at Unbound, so it’s not too late to pledge to join the adventure and get your name in the book along with some other cool extras. Click here for more info.

Till next time, happy writing!

Mark

Surviving your first year as a debut author with Ed McDonald

I had the pleasure of speaking to the superb Ed McDonald on the podcast this week. Ed talks very honestly about his first year as a professional author, achieving his dream of getting published, and then he asks the question, “What next?” It’s a very revealing chat and you can listen here.

I was over the moon to see my friend Deborah Haywood’s movie Pin Cushion premiere at the East End Film Festival last weekend. It’s funny, dark, and cat lady mad with a brilliant cast. Have a look at the trailer here.

And if you’re looking for a major time suck, the BBC have opened up their sound effects archives for non-commercial use. There’s some really freaky stuff available for your delight. Listen to this doll singing Oranges and Lemons and tell me you won’t be sleeping with the lights on tonight…Oh, and I’m 77% funded on The End of Magic with less than a month to go! If you’ve not pledged already, now would be a wonderful time to do it. Just click here and hit that lovely blue pledge button.

Till next time, happy writing!

Mark

The End of Magic, Week 3 – and the meaning of life, the universe and everything…

This morning I was delighted to discover that we’ve hit 42% funded, with 93 wonderful, beautiful backers!

42, of course, is the answer to the question of Life, the Universe and Everything as featured in the Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy (definitely my Desert Island Discs book), and so I’m doubly happy. I’m still hitting my 1% per day target, and it would be great to hit 50% this time next week.

I’m still finding that personalised emails and messages are the best way to get responses and pledges, but my address book will inevitable run out at some point, so I’ve started experimenting with some social media ideas to get the word out there…

If you’re on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, do please share them far and wide and a huge thank you to everyone who has done so already.

And here’s a link if you’ve not pledged yet: https://unbound.com/books/end-of-magic/

More next week!

 

Three days to go till publication…

On today’s daily podcast – one of many in the run-up to publication of our book BACK TO REALITY (coming on Monday 16th October!) – we talk about to harness the power of social media to promote your book. Which is a fun thing to do… if our internet is working. Mine has been choked all day, which made today’s Google hangout rehearsal a fun trial…

In this episode the mania from the previous episodes has dampened and we’re starting to sound exhausted… by the way, do listen to the very end of each of these. Our editor Dave puts fun little stings at the end… CLICK HERE TO LISTEN NOW