Kenneth George's Blog

People will tell you that if you want to sell books in the USA you have to set them in the USA and write the book in American. That makes the American reader seam very lazy and I'm not at all sure that it's true.

Since I started using Book Report I've noticed where my books are selling. The sales are almost exclusively in the USA and Canada. Only one of my three books is set in the US at all and that contains only a small portion set in Seattle.

Feedback I get seems to come from people who have visited the UK or have distant relatives here they enjoy the descriptions of Britain and the British way of life just as much as we enjoy descriptions of things in their country.

Well, I've finally succumbed to the power of the evil empire. All books are now available to read free for subscribers of Amazon Unlimited. I would have done it long before now, I'm quite happy to be paid per page read. What has kept me away has been Amazon's insistence on exclusivity.

The Unsold Child is now available in print from Amazon at:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1980698554
It has been an uphill struggle but at last it's done

I've decided to relaunch Hammer Blow with a better title new Blurb and a new cover. Unfortunately, Good reads do not seem to want me to show you the new cover, but it is available if you click through to Amazon or other bookshops using https://books2read.com/u/38g5ZB

I always try to write American dialogue for American characters, but since most of my stories are set in the UK I use UK grammar, spelling and punctuation.

I contribute to websites whose readers are mainly American. Over the years I've had my fair share of vitriolic feedback from people who don't seem to understand the difference. This has led me to question whether I should start to Americanise my writing. Then this morning I get this.

"Love your writting style. Being from states it makes me feel I am in england with your language use. I just love it."

Isn't that what we writers were supposed to do, take the reader to another place. How can I change things now?

I think it is time to accept that I absolutely suck when it comes to marketing my self and my books.
I recall an interview Steve Wozniak (Co-founder of Apple) gave a TV program.
He said,
'If someone sat down beside me and asked about my machine I could tell them what it did and how it did it. But if you asked me to stand up in front of a group and say "This is my machine and this is what it can do, Isn't that cool" I couldn't do that.'
I know exactly where Woz was coming from.
Hammer Blow has had good reviews from the people who have read it, so why isn't it selling?

I've read a lot of the stuff written by people who rode the KDP wave back when it was new. "How I get a six-figure income from self publishing" However, it seems that most of that income comes from selling courses on how to sell books, as opposed to actually selling books. I need to post more on social networks but that is where the Woz problem comes back to bite me. How do I convince myself that people want to hear what I have to say?

It was a sad day this Friday When Ether books closed its doors for good. Maureen Scott started the company with the intention of bringing short stories to people on the move by using their smartphones. As with all new things it took some time and a lot of money to get started but soon she was attracting big names like Hillary Mantel and Paul McCartney. Sadly the publishing industry in Britain is very slow to change and by the time reading books on your phone became mainstream Maureen found herself competing with much larger better-financed organisations
I got on board with Ether in the early days and I will always be grateful to Maureen for giving me the chance to get my work out there for people to read.

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Wow! This book is really something Shari Lapena really keeps you guessing. and present tense narration really adds power to what must be a traumatic situation.
It's not really a spoiler to tell you that the plot centers around a stolen baby. A couple return from a dinner party at their next door neighbour's to find the front door open and their baby gone. The author skillfully throws suspicion on each of the people involved and portrays the immense heartache of the parents. Even when she reveals the kidnapper the story doesn't end it just becomes more complex.
This is a story that will grip you right down to the very last sentence.



View all my reviews

I was approached today by an organisation called author.booktasters.net. They were offering me reviews on Amazon and Goodreads at $10 per review. Of course, I had to also supply a copy of my book free of charge. It sounded very much like buying good reviews to me, and that is something I'm not prepared to do.

I've heard of influential websites and publications asking for money to publish a review but I never realised that Joe Bloggs off the street could charge for reviewing a book. Maybe I'm on the wrong end I could make more money writing reviews.

Got my first Amazon UK review for Hammer Blow. Five Stars. Keeps calling you back she said. Exactly what I was trying to do.