Christmas is coming.

This week I have come to a big decision. I attended a monthly webinar for authors of Panoma Press, led by their boss Mindy Gibbins-Klein (aka the Book Midwife).
Before the one-hour meeting had started I was already leaning towards my decision. In the event, I chose to take the next step in my author’s life without much deliberation.

That decision? I will turn ‘Feel it as a Man: a fool’s guide to relationships’ into an audio book. I thought of delegating the task to a professional reader, but Mindy advised me to read it myself. “Buyers of audio books like to hear the author’s own voice,” she told me.

This is an exciting step and will enable me to relaunch my book in the autumn when the audio process is complete. I understand that Panoma send an expert audio producer to my home to oversee the recording, which is expected to take about six hours – chapter by chapter, and there are 12 of them. So that makes about 25 minutes per chapter with a five-minute break between each one.
I can’t wait to proceed.

“Polonius: What do you read, my lord.
“Hamlet: Words, words, words.”
Hamlet, Shakespeare, Act 2, Scene 2.

Tips for authors

Also at the webinar there were useful tips, shared by Mindy and fellow-authors in an international group, who came from Sweden, India, Nigeria, and the US, as well as the UK. Rob, an American author, would have the 400th book to be published by Panoma. A mighty milestone for the St Albans-based publishing house with their American CEO.

First, we were reminded that reviews on Amazon are highly prized, especially if you can get up to 100. This can be achieved by texting friends and contacts, and asking them to write a review if you send them a free book. Alternatively you can text or WhatApp them with a request to download a Kindle version and review. And the authors agreed to undertake a session of swapping reviews for their books.

I have a long way to go with reviews of my book, but at least I’m in double figures. So if any readers want a free copy of my book on condition that they review it, please contact me.

Secondly authors can promote their book by speaking at events and writing articles in media relating to their topic. Social media is another useful area for promotion. I have concentrated on LinkedIn, after quitting Facebook last year, and Twitter. Instagram will now come into my marketing mix.

Finally, Mindy advised all that autumn is a good time to ramp up marketing and promotion, as “Christmas is coming”. And she asked us all to commit to making our books happen in the last six months of 2021.

So that’s my goal for the rest of the year, spearheading my efforts with the audio recording. I will keep you informed about the process.