The publishers marketing form has been completed and returned to them. Two of the questions referred to the target audience of my book.

I thought long and hard about the answer. (As I did about all the answers   )  I am sure from the wording and positioning of the question the answer was expected to be an age group. I sidestepped the answer by answering ‘Light Science Fiction Fans’

The expected answer should probably have been something like Young Adult/ Adult/Teenager. I have a problem with categorising a book that way. Say I had answered ‘Young Adult’ for instance would it have put off more mature readers? I think the answer to that would be yes. The excluded audience can enjoy many books categorised that way. Take the (too often quoted!) Harry Potter for instance. It was put in the Children category but I know that many of my mature friends enjoyed reading it!

That series of books is an exception. How many books are avoided by people who would otherwise enjoy reading them because they have been specifically targeted at an age group they do not belong to?

What makes a book ‘Young Adult’ or ‘Teenager’ anyway, the age of the characters perhaps or the style of writing? Why should more mature readers be ‘excluded’ for those reasons?

I think the reader should be the judge. It is acceptable to have specific children’s categories for books because they have a marked difference for each age range. To further categorise books after teenager I think may well do a disservice to readers of different age groups and do a disservice to the book and the author. You can read a sample chapter at www.guardianscifi.com let me know what you think.

Have you ever read and enjoyed a book when you were not a member of the target audience?

PS Damn similes are still not working!

As I mentioned in the previous posting I have to complete a Marketing Interview Form for the Publisher. The form came with a letter outlining the marketing strategy.

As the author my responsibilities in conjunction with the Publisher is to exploit all opportunities. I have to;
a)    Contact local bookshops with a copy of the book and organise local signings
b)    Organise readings to a target audience via local libraries or interested group meetings
c)    Organise a book launch and invite friends family and potential customers
d)    Advertise any launch, event or reading activity via posters in shops
e)    Spread the word…

• Keep my eyes and ears open for alternative places to place or advertise the book
• Get friends and family on board and get them to do likewise
• Get people to order at their local library
• Get people to put reviews up on Amazon

Writing the book was the easy part. Now the work begins. As an author it would seem you have to be a sales person, public speaker and event organiser. It is a good job I’m not a nervous shy person!  lol

I have spent the last couple of days thinking up a response to the ‘Elevator Test’ and catch phrase questions in the Marketing Form.  (I mentioned them in my last post) I think I have finally got something useable.

The Elevator test answer is:
An ex Naval officer finds that due to a failed experiment he can communicate with the computers on a crashed alien vessel.  With the alien pilot he begins a quest to bring peace and equality to all enslaved races in the Galaxy.

Catch Phrase:
Guardian, from lonely zero to interplanetary hero.

I am quite proud of the catch phrase but I expect it has been done before and I will have to change it    Oh well, that’s what I am sending back to them so fingers crossed it’s what they are looking for. An example of a full marketing form can be found on www.partnership-publishing.com

P.S. Smilies aren’t working now! Have you noticed there is always something that needs fixing on these damn computers!!

As you can perhaps guess from the title of this blog I have at last thought of a title for book two

It still might change as the book grows but it is a step in the right direction.

Guardian is now available exclusively from my website.  Don’t forget if you purchase a copy from me I will be able to sign and date it.  I can add a dedication of your choice as well as long as you let me know at the time you buy the book.

Paypal lets you add a dedication to your order. If you purchase through Google then please use my contact form at the same time with the order details so I can match up the dedication with the order.  There are only 300 first edition copies printed. The second edition will have a slightly different cover so don’t leave it too long. You never know a signed first edition might be worth something on ebay one day LOL.

The official publishers Release date for Guardian is 14th June 2009.  It will then be available from bookshops and Amazon if you want to wait and purchase a copy from them.

I have now been passed to the publishers Marketing Dept. They have sent me a ‘Marketing Interview Form’ and a long list of instructions. The form looks quite daunting. The first two questions for instance;

1. The elevator Test – you have one minute/sentence to tell a top book reviewer or Mr Waterstones what your book is about. Start now, and make it good.
How on earth do you condense 76000 words into one sentence?

2. Every book should have a catch-phrase or sub-line to tell the reader  why they particularly should read it. What’s yours? (no more than 12 words)
Blimey! Another tough one!

Oh well I won’t get it done writing this so I had better get to it. If you would like to see the form yourself it is reproduced in full here

Guardian Two (The Elimination) word count 21500

I have just received the first twenty copies of Guardian. The quality of the cover and the paper are excellent. The publisher has included the last batch of changes I requested. Overall I am very pleased with the result.

I am now working on an updated website. It will include a flip page sample view (Like Amazon) plus links to Paypal and Google Checkout. As I have mentioned in a previous post I am able to sell Guardian from my web site before the official Launch.

If you purchase a copy from me I can sign the book for you. Also 5% of the net proceeds of each book sold from my site will go to Cancer Research. Lets face it; with out the work they do there would be no book! You can purchase a signed copy here www.guardianscifi.com

The price is 7.99 GBP plus 2.00 GBP postage and packing. Each book will be posted in a proper book mailer ensuring it is well protected on its way to you.

Once the book is officially launched some when in July it will be available from the likes of Amazon, Tesco Online and various other booksellers as well as directly from the publishers website. I will have no visibility of the sales process through those channels, as they will deal directly with book wholesalers through the Publishers distribution system.

I will be able to continue selling from my website after the official launch. So if you would like a signed copy you will still be able to purchase direct from me with the added benefit of the 5% donation that is not available from the other sellers.

Word Count Guardian Two:20,795

I have not heard from the publisher at all this week (what a surprise) so I decided to email them. Guardian was scheduled to go to print last week. With only a week to go to Easter I needed to know what was happening.

I received a reply back that the files went to the printer on the 25^th. They’ve been through pre press and are in the process of being printed. The publisher has asked that the printers send 20 copies directly to me. The Publisher told me they will be getting an update from the printers shortly and will get back to me with a firmer date as soon as they have one. We shall see!

On another note entirely; now I have my new blog up and running I thought I would review the Qumana software I found to remotely write and then upload a new blog. When I checked on the net most of the reviews were dated 2006 or earlier. I also thought they were unfairly negative considering the software was free!

When you load it on for the first time you are asked for details of your blog. Once they are entered correctly (I had a bit of a hiccup as my blog is hosted by WordPress but embedded into Rapidweaver) If I did not have the added complication of WordPress being embedded the process would have been very simple.

Qumana then goes and retrieves any old blog files you might have. Once they are downloaded they reside on your local computer so as well as typing a new blog off line you can if necessary edit an old blog. Once the files are downloaded you are presented with a screen like this.

Blog Select Screen

Here you can select an old post to edit. I don’t normally edit old posts so for me this facility is largely unnecessary. Also you can from this screen add another blog or refresh the stored posts.

Once you press the new blog button you are presented with the screen shown below. You have a normal text editing screen with all the normal font and formatting options similar to MS Word. You are able to change the date and add HTML code if required. You can select a category from the list you have already active on the blog. The only drawback I can see is that you cannot add a category.

Add a New Blog

There are a few extra facilities such as adding and collecting images from various sources for the next post, which I have not used. However for a free off line blog editor I do not think you can go far wrong.

Guardian Two word count: 20600