Hidden Gems is my first book. It was published as an ebook in December 2010, and immediately started gaining great reader reviews, and 5-star ratings on Amazon. Not everyone has a Kindle, however, and many people asked me when it would be out in print. Well, any new writer will tell you that getting a book published is a classic Catch 22: most publishers won’t take you without an agent, and most agents won’t take unpublished authors (unless you’re a celebrity).
The other option, to publish it myself, was expensive, especially for a penniless writer. Luckily, two friends stepped in: John and Karen Spencer. Both had read the book, and were adamant that it was so good it needed a wider readership. They offered to sponsor its publication as a paperback.
I set about doing everything needed to get it into print. This was a steep learning curve. I had to learn about ISBNs, wholesalers, distributing, the psychology of reading — and how that affects how a book is typeset and designed, the legal stuff, what it takes to get a book sold through Amazon and Waterstone’s, etc.
That of course was only the beginning. The difference between a successful and an unsuccessful book is not always how good it is, but how well it’s sold. So now I’m embroiled in marketing — organising signings, talking to magazines, newspapers and radio stations, taking advantage of everything social networking has to offer, and so-on. This takes a lot of time and energy. However I’m driven by the fact that I eventually I’d like to earn my living doing this, even though it’s virtually impossible to do so.
I’m also boosted by the fact that I’m promoting and selling a good book. I’ve had some great reader reviews for Hidden Gems, and they are what really matter to me. I’ve not yet tried for critical acclaim, and I’m in no rush to do so, because to me readers and their opinions are much more important. I love reading almost as much as I love writing. So I write for people like me, who love to read a good story, and get immersed in other worlds between the first word and the last. I’m sure I got more pleasure when someone drove past in a car, and yelled across the street: “I’ve read your book! It’s brilliant!”, than I’d get if I read a fine critical review of Hidden Gems in a national paper. I write to entertain. I also write because I love it.
So, what about Hidden Gems? Here’s the cover blurb:
A crisis in midlife and a midlife crisis are not necessarily the same thing. Arthur Pod is a wedding photographer, whose comfortable life is upset when his rare and ugly Russian sports car gets stolen. After being lovestruck by the voice of Etta, who he hears but doesn’t see at an Inuit-Irish wedding, he becomes embroiled in a misguided plot following the kidnapping of of her two poodles. Nathaniel Boot is a disillusioned diamond smuggler desperately trying to hang on to his reputation. Soon everyone becomes entangled in a twisted tale of love and loss. Hidden Gems travels a journey that shows how far each man will go to retrieve what they believe is theirs, only to learn what is really important to them.
A wry tale of adventure and romance, Hidden Gems reminds us to live and love life to the full, even when we’re scared by what it has to offer.
I could tell you more, but I won’t. You’ll have to buy the book to find out. Click on either of the logos below. Thanks.
