Latest book reviews

Here are my latest book reviews, and they may be the last for a while, as I'm going to concentrate on more studious endeavours!

Goodbye Britain: Talking to the Brits Who Packed Their Bags and Left, by Tom Beck

Tom Beck decided to interview people who’d left the UK to go and live abroad. He wanted to hear about their experiences, good and bad. The result, is a fascinating collection of short stories. Here’s the blurb:

My Review: Well hasn’t my life been boring!

This is a fascinating book, full of insights into people’s experiences living in different parts of the world after leaving the UK. One of the stories that I think will stick with me, is the anecdote from the woman who talked of moving to South Africa during the apartheid regime, and her horror at the way black people were treated — she was then treated like a pariah by other whites after inviting a black woman inside her home to use her bathroom. 

Writing Book Reviews is Hard!

I've started reading and reviewing a lot of independently published books, to try and support struggling authors, and help them on their journey. But I have to admit, I'm finding writing reviews hard. I can quite understand why some people decide not to leave reviews, or simply to leave a rating. 

More Books I've Enjoyed This Year

I've decided to read and review books by independently published authors to find the gems that have been overlooked by big publishing houses and support fellow authors. These are a few more of my favourite reads this year...

Hungry for Life by Rachel Richards

Review: Brilliantly written, totally insightful

This is the best book exploring the mind of an eating disordered person that I've ever read, and I've read a few. A compelling story that takes you through the life of Rachel and her inner demons as she descends into Anorexia and comes out the other side through eventual recovery. The only thing that strikes me as unexpected, is that she had quite a privileged life, and abundant opportunities which she embraced. I've tended to think that eating disorders are more likely to affect people who lack privilege and opportunity, but it just goes to show how it can affect people from all walks of life. Buy it here

Top reads for 2021

I've decided to read and review books by independently published authors to find the gems that have been overlooked by big publishing houses and support fellow authors. These are my favourite reads this year...

Drowning: A Memoir
By Andy Palmer

Review: Insightful memoir - revealing perpective into the life of an addict

Brilliantly written, this insightful memoir offers a revealing perpective into the life of an addict. It takes you on a journey, from Andy's childhood relationships and misdemeanours, through to his struggles with addiction as a young adult. The description really brings the story to life, but there's not so much detail that it becomes cumbersome or boring. I loved the description of Andy's grandfather's house - a real reminder of the 1970s, and I'd urge people considering reading this book to download the free sample, because the first chapter kicks off very well.

Medium - how does it work? Is it worthwhile?

Medium is a website where you can write whatever you want and publish it like a blog, or submit it to a 'Medium Publication'. If it's accepted, the publication will publish it on their platform for better visibility. You then get paid for reads and claps by paying subscribers. The rates are low, but if you get a lot of reads and engagement, then it can pay well, so I hear anyway. I have yet to experience this delight.

Why 'Write What you Want' isn't my favourite philosophy...

Whenever I ask the writing community on Twitter about lucrative book genres, best selling topics and market trends, I get some helpful responses. 

Then the "write what you want!" crowd wade in, with the message that writing for market is somehow unethical, wrong, and doomed to failure because it's not necessarily your first choice of subject. There seems to be a view that it's detrimental to the creative process. 

Amazon Advertising - does it deliver?

That's the question everyone's been asking in recent months, since I started advertising on Amazon. The early answer was 'no', but then I got Kindle Unlimited reads, followed by a sale - both as a direct result of the adverts - and suddenly found myself in profit.

Dealing with Amazon Haters

As a KDP author, what do you say when Amazon haters challenge your decision to sell books through Amazon?

A member of a local environmental group recently told me that Amazon is monopolistic, destructive to the high street, and unethical. Then he gave me a website linking readers to local bookstores. 

The trouble is, local bookstores usually only stock books from big publishers. There's not much interest in independently published works.

Working with Small Publishers

If you're losing the will to live after trying every literary agent in the world, you might now be considering whether it's better to self-publish or approach small publishers. 

I've done both.

Marketing Your Book: 3 months after launch

When I published my debut novel, Pestilence on 6 January 2021, I wrote a marketing plan to help raise awareness and generate sales. It was obviously limited by lockdown, but there was plenty I could do online. So nearly three months on, how's it gone? Well it wasn't a complete disaster...

Tell Everyone

The single most successful approach to marketing, which I cannot recommend highly enough, is to simply tell everyone. I told everyone I could think of.

30 years to publication

My debut novel, Pestilence, has just been published, and if you enjoy 'end of the world' thrillers, it might be just up your street! mybook.to/pestilencebook

The story behind this book is a long one, but I'll give you the short version. When I was about 15, I discovered James Herbert, and was smitten by his books and inspired to emulate him. So at the age of 16, I started writing the first draft of a story about a deadly fungus, which would bring about the end of the world. James Herbert's Rats had made him famous, and Shaun Hutson's Slugs did pretty well too. This was my attempt at a similar idea.