Paper vs. digital, an update

by David Batten-Hill
18th December 2011

Hi All,

Following on from my previous question...

I've published my debut novel as an e-book (I've written and had published non-fiction twice before) with Amazon.

'This Son of York' has sold two download copies, one bought by a friend.This is just to say that, after a number of rejections and (so far) three non-replies from agents, it's nice to see my work 'out there', albeit digitally for now.

I've also put the MS up to Smashwords, which is far, far easier than Amazon's KDP. Careful formatting means the automatic proofreader AutoVetter hasn't complained. They check the MS visually so I'm hoping there won't be too much to fix. All being well, this version should be 'live' in about a week.

Meanwhile, I've been working on a website for my book. It isn't complete yet but you can take a look at www.tsoy.co.uk.

Sorry this isn't a question but I thought you might like a progress report.

Replies

Congratulations David!

We'll tune our office radio into your interview and listen with interest! Best of luck with future sales.

Best wishes,

Writers' & Artists' team

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Writers & Artists
04/01/2012

Hello all,

Happy New Year!

Just another swift update. I've published two websites, at tsoy.co.uk and thissonofyork.com

I went for a dotcom because Google seems to ally .co.uk sites largely to UK searches. I'll have to see what happens in Analytics.

The good news is that, thus far, seven copies of my book have sold.Royalties worth £18.62 aren't much for two years' work but things are just beginning.

I've an interview on BBC Radio York at 12:30pm on the 6th Jan - to go out live from the Carlisle studios. And I have a five-star review at Amazon. It's from a friend but I make no apologies. He's given another book a half-star review and is known to be truthful.

So, I'm trying to build the foundation of 2012 as being 'my year'. No sales via Smashwords or Lulu as yet but it's still early days with them.

Fingers crossed!

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David
Batten-Hill
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David Batten-Hill
01/01/2012

Thank you both!

Good point, Vincent'. Chapter 1 is basically two paras so I've added two and a bit chapters to the site as a preview.

Just another quick update. I also published to Lulu - bit tricky as the EPUB file conversion isn't quite right (font size inconsistent) and the cover's gone a bit iffy. I've written for help as there's nothing awry pre-upload.

Now i just wait for all the people who got a Kindle for Christmas!

As before, I'll keep posted.

Profile picture for user davhill@_20385
David
Batten-Hill
270 points
Practical publishing
Fiction
Speculative Fiction
Adventure
Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Comic
Autobiography, Biography and Memoir
Popular science, Social science, Medical Science
Practical and Self-Help
David Batten-Hill
20/12/2011