A remarkable thing happened to me this week. Something I have been looking forward to for months now. Some of you reading this will have experienced this yourselves, others will be looking forward to it, while others still will never achieve it, either because they don't want to or they will never get around to making it happen.
On Wednesday 31st August 2011 I held in my hand a paperback copy of my book, Have a Nice Weekend.
After two years of writing, re-writing, editing, tweaking and fretting, I could touch it, smell it, sit down in a chair and read it. It is now sitting on a bookshelf, my name proudly displayed on the spine for all to see. Well, for me to look at each time I walk past, anyway. I can't guarantee that the rest of the family even remember it's there. Not that they are not proud of me, but they have things to think about.
Now of course, as you would expect, everyone I know says they want to buy a copy, where can they get one? Unfortunately, at the moment it is only available on amazon.com, and to get it shipped to here in the UK the delivery costs are rather high. Don't worry, they say, let me know when it's available over here. That's OK, I reply, you can get it on Kindle, it's only £2. But I don't have a Kindle, is the standard reply.
Now, at this point, those of you who are writers can probably stop reading; you are going to know about what I am going to say. The rest of you, please read on.
You do not have to have a Kindle to buy books from the Kindle Store. All you need is a Kindle reader. This is free, and can be downloaded onto your laptop, PC, iPhone, Android, iPad and Mac. It's simple to install - even I managed it without any problems. I now have one on my laptop and one on my HTC phone. And the beauty of it is that they synchronise, so I can read at lunchtime on my phone, then in the evening I can go back to the same place in the book on my laptop. It's really easy.
Now I know for many people they would still rather have the book in their hands. I agree. Reading a book on a screen just cannot compare to reading it from a printed page. But I am slowly coming round to the idea that eBooks might just be the future. I would love still to be buying records, but I am sitting here with my earphones in, listening to Miles Davis on my MP3 player. I have now owned Kind of Blue on vinyl, CD and download.
Which brings me to my point. I really want people to read my book. Not just friends and family, but the wider public, people I will never meet. In order to achieve that goal, one thing I need to do is get more sales, as these will raise my ranking on Amazon and give the book a higher profile. Which is where my friends and family can help. And anyone else who is reading this and would like to read my book. All are welcome.
All you need to do is spend a couple of minutes downloading a FREE Kindle reader to whichever device you choose, and then £2.09 or $3.99 for the book. You could then browse the thousands of free and cheap Kindle books that are available, including many of the classics.
Then, when it is available over here in paperback, you could buy another copy. It's like a music formats in reverse. There is nothing wrong with owning it twice. You don't even have to read the Kindle version, you could just leave it sat on your PC and forget about it until the paperback is is out. It's up to you.
But I would really like it if some of you read it.
I have just read through this post, and am wondering if it sounds a little pleading. It's not meant to be. If I can just get a couple of people to spend a couple of quid, then I shall be happy.
And I will of course let you all know when the paperback is out.
On Wednesday 31st August 2011 I held in my hand a paperback copy of my book, Have a Nice Weekend.
After two years of writing, re-writing, editing, tweaking and fretting, I could touch it, smell it, sit down in a chair and read it. It is now sitting on a bookshelf, my name proudly displayed on the spine for all to see. Well, for me to look at each time I walk past, anyway. I can't guarantee that the rest of the family even remember it's there. Not that they are not proud of me, but they have things to think about.
Now of course, as you would expect, everyone I know says they want to buy a copy, where can they get one? Unfortunately, at the moment it is only available on amazon.com, and to get it shipped to here in the UK the delivery costs are rather high. Don't worry, they say, let me know when it's available over here. That's OK, I reply, you can get it on Kindle, it's only £2. But I don't have a Kindle, is the standard reply.
Now, at this point, those of you who are writers can probably stop reading; you are going to know about what I am going to say. The rest of you, please read on.
You do not have to have a Kindle to buy books from the Kindle Store. All you need is a Kindle reader. This is free, and can be downloaded onto your laptop, PC, iPhone, Android, iPad and Mac. It's simple to install - even I managed it without any problems. I now have one on my laptop and one on my HTC phone. And the beauty of it is that they synchronise, so I can read at lunchtime on my phone, then in the evening I can go back to the same place in the book on my laptop. It's really easy.
Now I know for many people they would still rather have the book in their hands. I agree. Reading a book on a screen just cannot compare to reading it from a printed page. But I am slowly coming round to the idea that eBooks might just be the future. I would love still to be buying records, but I am sitting here with my earphones in, listening to Miles Davis on my MP3 player. I have now owned Kind of Blue on vinyl, CD and download.
Which brings me to my point. I really want people to read my book. Not just friends and family, but the wider public, people I will never meet. In order to achieve that goal, one thing I need to do is get more sales, as these will raise my ranking on Amazon and give the book a higher profile. Which is where my friends and family can help. And anyone else who is reading this and would like to read my book. All are welcome.
All you need to do is spend a couple of minutes downloading a FREE Kindle reader to whichever device you choose, and then £2.09 or $3.99 for the book. You could then browse the thousands of free and cheap Kindle books that are available, including many of the classics.
Then, when it is available over here in paperback, you could buy another copy. It's like a music formats in reverse. There is nothing wrong with owning it twice. You don't even have to read the Kindle version, you could just leave it sat on your PC and forget about it until the paperback is is out. It's up to you.
But I would really like it if some of you read it.
I have just read through this post, and am wondering if it sounds a little pleading. It's not meant to be. If I can just get a couple of people to spend a couple of quid, then I shall be happy.
And I will of course let you all know when the paperback is out.
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