Ducie’s Diary: March 2022
What a beautiful spell of weather we’re having here in the UK. For the past week, I’ve been working with my office doors wide open and we’ve eaten lunch in the sunshine several times as well. (There’s even been the odd lunchtime glass of rosé, which is a sure sign summer is on its way.) And as for the garden: daffodils, tulips and hyacinths all vying for space in the flowerbeds, the air heady with the aroma of wild garlic, and the shrubs bursting with buds. Yesterday I spotted a whole swathe of lily of the valley shoots. We had masses of that fragrant white bell in the garden when I was a child and I’ve been trying to reproduce that effect for years. Finally, it looks like I’ve succeeded. I’m so proud of myself, although all I really did was plant the original bulbs and wait. But enough about my green fingers. What going on in my writerly world?
Writing This Month
The editing for book 2 in the Coombesford Chronicles series is coming along nicely, and I’m on schedule to finish this week. Earlier this month, I announced the title of this one as Poisoning at the Post Office. Then, a few days later, I realised that wouldn’t work, and I changed my mind! I can officially announce that Villainy at the Village Store will be published in October 2022. And I’m going to get the wonderful Berni Stevens working on the cover right away, so it’s not changing again!
And talking of covers, what do you think of this little beauty? For Coombesford Calendar volume I, my collection of short stories set in the same village as the murder mysteries, I wanted something that signified the countryside and Englishness; and also which I could use more than once in a series. I am delighted with the outcome. Designed for me by Carin from GetCovers in Ukraine, I think it fits the bill beautifully. This book will be out towards the end of April. But if you fancy getting your hands on a free Advance Reader Copy in return for an honest review, then drop me a line. The copies will be available next week and you will have around three weeks to read and review.
Sales and Marketing
It’s been very quiet this month on the promotion side of things. I’m still working on Amazon Ads for Murder at Mountjoy Manor but have seen little or no response to my adverts so far. Next month, I’m going to take the same approach to one of my Business of Writing series. Maybe trying it out for a non-fiction book will give me more of an insight into what makes adverts tick.
Counterfeit! continues to be permafree and I’m still getting a small but regular level of downloads without any additional promotion. At the end of this week, I’ve got a promotion running via Hello Books, the new platform running via Self Publishing Formula. I’ll let you know next month how that goes.
The co-promotion on growing your brand, run by a group of eight authors, of which I was one, has now finished. It resulted in quite a few new sign-ups to my writers’ mailing list. It was a relatively painless way to promote my own brand, and I will be looking out for other such opportunities. So if anyone is thinking of running co-promotions on business books or cozy mysteries, and wants more partners, just give me a shout.
Out and About
The first week of March was completely taken up with the Women in Publishing Summit, which I’ve been banging on about for months now. Running out of the east coast of America, there was a bit of a time difference to contend with and networking at midnight or later is a tad difficult, especially for someone who is very much a lark rather than an owl. But it was such an energising experience! I’ve still got loads of pre-recorded material to go through, but luckily there’s no time limit. And I got a brilliant discount on Pro-Writing Aid as one of the sponsored bonuses. Can’t recommend this community highly enough!
What Have I Been Reading Lately?
I discovered this month’s featured author when she was a speaker at last year’s Exeter Literary Festival. And I am very excited to be attending a one-day Masterclass being run by her for Chudleigh Writers’ Circle next month.
Karen Maitland is an author of medieval thriller fiction who weaves carefully researched historical facts with mythology to produce some stunning prose. We first meet her latest hero, Daniel Pursglove, in 1606, in the aftermath of a devastating tidal wave that has destroyed Bristol. Fans of C J Sansom’s Shardlake books would love after the political intrigue in The Drowned City.
But for me, it is one of Maitland’s earlier books that I found chillingly memorable. Company of Liars is set in 1348, against the backdrop of the plague. It was bought for ma as a Christmas present and I barely moved from my chair until 28th December, so enthralled was I in the story, It has a twist ending that will stay with me for a long time.
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