An interesting thing has happened. How’s that for a hook? Needs work, but never mind that – something has happened to my debut novel, The Shelter. The publishing rights have reverted back to me less than 12 months after it was first published (and that much be some kind of record). I won’t go into the who-shot-John of why because the fact that the rights are now mine is the headline story, and what I do next with them is the key question.
A re-launch, you say? Why, of course. Sometime in June The Shelter will see new life. I’m re-editing the MS and a new cover design is in the works, so it’s happening. I’d been pushing for the rights to come back to me for a while but I didn’t expect it to happen so soon, so I didn’t anticipate having this extra work right now. I’m already busy planning the launch of my next novel, Mika Ito, but I’m glad to have The Shelter’s rights back. It’s a welcome distraction, and I can make time for it now that Mika is with the editor.
The Shelter is an established property, so no need for a big song-and-dance launch. I’ll be marketing it for what it is: backlisted, which means the marketing will require quiet, slow but sustained movements via Facebook ads. Meta’s advertising platform is one I’ve never mastered, I admit, but this time I’ve done my research and I’m ready to have another go.
This will be good practice for the Mika Ito launch that’s pencilled in for August. After 12 months of 6am rises and working late after I get home from work, Mika has become a monster, and it haunts me. How can any launch do justice to all that effort? The answer is, it can’t. But what if I get the timing wrong and botch the launch day? Or run all the wrong ads and haemorrhage money? The release is approximately three months away, but even this far out I’m having release day anxiety. The only way I can maintain is by reminding my self that none of this really matters, and the book will find it’s own audience in time. Just because I spent so much time on it and worked so hard doesn’t give it a right to be read- the book might not any good for all we know. So, for good or ill, the book will find it’s own level. And as I’ve always said, you can’t fool the market.
Anyway, launch day hubbub only means so much – it’s how good the book is that matters, so nerves be damned. Ah, still the questions bother me – To pre-order or not to pre-order? Discount price at launch of full price? Bookbub ads or no? Maybe I should scrap the whole idea and get to work on my sequel to Notting Hill – Hugh Grant is in massive debt because he owns a book shop in central London and no amount of books can pay that rent. Julia is making big plans for the future that Hugh can’t afford, and his pride won’t let him admit it or allow her celebrity money to pay for it all. But now the loan sharks are after him, but it’s OK, because prior to being a bookish fop, he was a mob hit man and…. OK OK, it’s gone way off the rails and I’m not sure about any of this. It’s a kind of anti-romance novel that no one will buy, but feel free to work on that idea and get back to me if the royalties roll in and you’ve discovered a whole new genre of weird gangster sequels to rom-com films. When the first draft is done, and I’ll look it over and we’ll do well.
Enough of that. A new month is calling, so let’s get to it. And thank you to all the kind folks in the facebook groups that have been so nice to me lately when I’ve discussed my writing efforts. It’s a strange and new experience for me and I do appreciate it.
PF, May 1st, 2022.
Tales From The Typewriter:
Thirsty
A bass guitar noodles through the loudspeakers as Tuesday Tony sets up a sound desk on the Thirsty Scholar’s stage. Only there is no bass guitar, or noodles in the air, just a memory of mine playing back in high-def and mixing with the present. The old photograph is still on the back wall, the…
Launch Day
It’s been 18 months in the making, but the day has finally come. Today, I’m launching Mika Ito. It’s now available on amazon in kindle, paperback and hardcover formats. Find it here. It’s the story of Dylan Solly, a British journalist trapped in Japan on the day of the Fukushima disaster. When Dylan collapses, local…
The Parakeets of Kensington Gardens
The Queen’s coffin began it’s journey to Edinburgh today, and massive earthquakes have hit Papua New Guinea and parts of Indonesia. It’s also the anniversary of 9/11. It certainly seems like a day to reflect. Me and Helen were walking our dogs when the Queen died. Helen checked her phone when we got home and…
Peter Foley Official 