Hello loyal Hellions,

I hope all of you are well and enjoying life!

I thought it’s time I gave you an update on where we are at the moment, as well as an insight into what I’ve got planned in 2015.

BRAVE NEW WORLD

So, Adrian Hell #4 – “Brave New World” (Part 1) is coming along very nicely. Not including the 4-week break I took from writing it, I reckon I’ve been working on this latest novel for a grand total of 5 weeks so far, averaging 90mins a day, 5 days a week. So, in 37.5 hours of writing, I’ve got just under 50,000 words written – an average of 1300 words an hour!

I’m really happy with the progress, and compared to the first three books in the series, this latest one is looking set to hit the 90,000 word mark comfortably. We might even hit 6 figures! I’m probably about halfway through the story anyway, so things are going very well so far.

THE FOUR WEEK BREAK

I mentioned just then a month long break from writing. This was because of my first experience with writer’s block. I can honestly say it’s a truly depressing feeling for an author to want to write something and physically not be able to. It’s like someone had broken my fingers! I re-wrote a particular part of Brave New World (around 6,000 words total) three or four times before giving up on it. No matter what I did, it just wasn’t right. So I stepped away from it – taking a week away from writing completely, then spending the remaining time planning the future of Adrian Hell, experimenting with novellas and looking at marketing strategies for next year. When I finally came back to it, the words flowed out of me. I couldn’t understand how I ever struggled in the first place, which was actually quite annoying! But we’re back on track, and my aim is finish the first draft by Christmas.

2015

So, what does the future hold?

Well, in terms of Adrian Hell, we have Brave New World, parts 1 and 2, down for release next year. That much is set in stone, as far as I’m concerned.

In addition, I have two new (yet related) projects I’m working on that will finally start to get some more attention. I won’t give too much information away at this stage, as there will be some surprises in store, but I can say this:

Adrian Hell: Origins…

A proposed series of three novellas (short stories, typically between 15,000 and 30,000 words) detailing moments in Adrian’s life prior to the events in Crucible. My plan is to give the first of these away free to subscribers of my mailing list. The main drawback with that currently being I don’t have any… I’ll get to my plan for that later. The second and third of which I will publish at £0.99 / $0.99 on Amazon, as well as submit them for consideration to the Kindle Singles scheme – a marketing tool Amazon run for short stories. I can tell you that one of these stories will tell you (in more detail) how Adrian lost his family. This story has been discussed briefly in Crucible, but that particular adventure deserves more attention, I think.

A New Series…

So, I’ve been teasing on and off for a while about a new series and a new character. The initial storyline I had for them simply didn’t work, and I abandoned it after 8,000 words. I have since re-visited the idea and have come up with something that not only works, but that I’m excited to start writing. No giveaways as to name and plot, but I will say this: the character is introduced in Brave New World, and their first two stories interlink with Adrian Hell’s fourth and fifth books! I’ll give out more information once they’re “out there” and Brave New World – Part 1 has been released.

Are we excited yet? Good – so am I.

MARKETING

The main hurdle any independent author faces is self promotion. It’s difficult and it’s expensive. Word of mouth from friends and family is always the starting point – and I thank everyone for their support and ask that they keep spreading the word as best they can.

I have the website now, which has been positively received. Alongside this blog and the Facebook/Twitter pages, I’m also a member now of various Goodreads Communities, which has resulted in a few more fans and sales. I’m also looking to invest in various promotions early in the new year – focusing on one book per month, running promotions for each one on the run-up to the release of Brave New World, hopefully sometime around April.

AND FINALLY…

In an effort to break into the mainstream, I have recently sent the manuscript for Crucible for consideration to the Darley Anderson Literary Agency. For those of you playing the home game, these are the people who represent Martina Cole and Lee Child! Turnaround time is typically long with these types of things, so the fact I’ve heard nothing after 3 weeks doesn’t faze me (although I’m not hold my breath!).

I also entered the competition run by This Morning on ITV in association with Curtis Brown Creative (another top ranking UK Literary agent) where, to celebrate National Book Month, you submit the first 3,000 words of your current, unpublished/unfinished book and the winner wins representation by the Agency and support for publishing your new book when it’s finished. Sounds great, and the 5 finalists are on TV on 27th November for the results. At time of writing, that’s in two days’ time, and given I’ve heard nothing, I’m assuming they don’t want me on TV in 48 hours… but again, it’s nice to get yourself out there and, after all, you never know!

So that’s it from me. Thanks for reading and remember to check out the website at http://www.jamespsumner.com for information on my books and links to the blog, social media sites and the mailing list subscription.

Bye for now,

JPS