Lofty ambitions
Lowly reality
IN BRIEF:
Gonna plug it again, for reasons. A Sound Inhuman is on sale now. This sci-fi homage to King Kong and Heart of Darkness is the sixth Ray Adams title.
Save the Date - 24th October, Norwich Indie Book Fair at the Forum. I’ll be there, with all the usual. Come along, buy a book, get it signed etc.
ON WRITING:
As mentioned above the sixth Ray Adams title, A Sound Inhuman, is on sale and, indeed, has been for just about a month now.
I’ve sold one copy.
I even spent money on a modest amount of FB advertising. Dozens and dozens of Likes, 1,600+ reach, multiple posts, this newsletter, my personal FB page and stuffs…
I’ve sold one copy.
Let’s not even talk about the months of work writing the thing.
Aww, woe is me, right? Well, no…
This isn’t a pity post. I’m not looking for sympathy, or sympathy sales1. Truth is, when I look back over my sales figures, this might be my worst launch performance to date but, truthfully, not exactly by a huge margin. When you’re a self-published author with a miniscule budget in a staggeringly huge marketplace, you’d be a fool to expect to set the world alight. I’ve no doubt there’s other self-pub authors with similar budgets who would still laugh at my low sales, but if I achieve nothing else with this newsletter, then at least let me do other writers setting out on their journey the honour of setting the bar really, really low.
There will be more. I’ve a couple of orders to hand deliver. There will, I’m sure, be a trickle of sales over the coming months online. Then there’s the lucrative2 in-person events. And if all else fails, I’ve a bunch of emails from randompersonbutdefinitelylegit@gmail.com who reckon they can get my unrecognised talent in front of their thousands of readers for just a small upfront charge…3
As an indie author, you should expect the worst. Months and months of hard work on a thing that, when the day comes to put it out there, garners little more than a universal shrug of indifference. The golden age of being an author meaning something was over years, decades ago. This is not the reality we live in now. My experience may not, won’t, be yours. You might hit the big time, it is still possible, of course. Just don’t, you know, bank on it.
That solo sale is, in fact, the perfect illustration of who you should be writing for. That all-important audience of one: you4. When you decide to sit down, for months at a time, and bang out that novel, the only person who matters is you. Do it for yourself. Make yourself happy. Do it so that when you get that author copy and put it on your shelf next to the other books you wrote and a handful of people, probably friends and family, bought, you can look at it and be happy that you did it and that it exists. If you can achieve that, you’re golden.
And if you do hit on the secret of self-pub success, hit the button…
Full disclosure: I wrote this on Wednesday. I have now sold three copies.
I have enjoyed:
Breathless - I don’t in any way consider myself a film buff, I’m just a guy who enjoys watching movies. There are plenty of classic movies that I’ve never seen and until the other week, Breathless was one of them. Jean-Paul Belmondo plays Michel,a small-time thief who, at the start of the film, steals a car and ends up shooting a cop. On the run, he heads to Paris to collect some money he’s owed to aid his escape and to look in on his on-off romantic interest Patricia, played by Jean Seberg. We follow the couple as they bum around Paris, with Michel trying to persuade Patricia to run away with him. She’s unsure, attracted and repelled by his outlaw character. A classic of the French New Wave, it’s one of those films that has an overwhelming sense of familiarity even when seen for the first time, so influential has it been in the language of cinema.
It seems someone did fancy a pint. Josh Rouse - It’s a staggering 21 years since the last time we saw Josh Rouse in concert, back in 2005 at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire, supported by the wonderful Erin McKeown. At the peak of his popularity, after the success of his albums 1972 and Nashville, Rouse decided he wasn’t cut out for the limelight, moved to Spain and settled down to a quieter life. He’s since released ten more albums, but it’s telling that 1972 and its successor still make up the bulk of his setlist on this stripped down, one-man-and-his-guitar tour of smaller venues. What’s surprising is that, stripped of 1972’s striking production values, the songs more than stand-up after two decades, and he seems totally at home in an intimate setting playing them solo. The quiet life was obviously the right move for him.
Josh Rouse at Norwich Arts Centre Dead Pixels - Between Fresh Meat, Call the Midwife, Ghosts and the Mike Wozniak series of Taskmaster, it’s safe to say that Charlotte Ritchie has a bit of a Midas Touch when it comes to her TV choices. 2019 sitcom Dead Pixels seemed to slip by relatively unnoticed, which is a shame because it’s another Ritchie-related gem. Alexa Davies and Will Merrick play Meg and Nicky, two gamers who spend most of their lives inside MMORPG Kingdom Scrolls, much to the bafflement of Meg’s old schoolfriend and flatmate Alison (Ritchie). Also in the mix are Meg and Nicky’s American squad-mate Usman (Sargon Yelda) and Russell, a new guy at Meg’s work (the flat-out superb David Mumeni) who she initially fancies and gets to join the game, only to discover he’s a total idiot, obsessed with making his character do stupid stuff and having fun, which IS NOT THE POINT OF KINGDOM SCROLLS. It’s a wickedly sharp show which, while leaning into gamer stereotypes, does so from an obvious viewpoint of both knowledge and love. I’m currently rewatching via CH4’s streaming service and falling in love all over again.
L-R, Nicky, Russell, Usman and Meg’s avatars in Kingdom Scrolls. My caption game is off this week, it seems. Dark-chocolate covered gooseberries - Yeah, I thought so too, but they are surprisingly more-ish. Get yourself down to Herbs & Spices on Norwich Market.
Gareth Butcher, the Herbs & Spices dude.
You can buy It’s Hard to Tell You This, Parallels, and Greyskin directly from Deixis Press. Playtime’s Over is published by Propolis. All should also be available from all the usual places, online and off.
Ray Adams’ self-published books are available from Amazon, until I get around to finding a more ethical alternative, or out of my garage.
I also review books on my website, most of which are available through my affiliate book shop on uk.bookshop.org - it’s a great alternative to certain online leviathans owned by Trump-supporting billionaires, and supports independent bookshops. Affiliates also get a % of books sold through them, so if you buy something from them, I gets paid...
Although, you know, on sale now…
I jest.
That Contact page on my website really paying off…
I’m not saying that the one sale was actually me. It was a real person. His name is Dave and he’s my best mate. So shut up.
I would also like to know the secret to finding buyers!
I may have just recommended my own book to my book group...is that naughty...? (My friend, who also is part of the group, suggested I do it, about a year ago. I finally caved.)