James McKenna assesses self-publishing. James McKenna’s self-publishing portfolio increased on the 9th June 2013.

James McKenna’s new crime fiction title released June 10th 2013

As a crime writer I am a great fan of self-publishing. The reason? Well, self-published volumes now make up 20% of titles in crime, SF, romance and humour electronic books which were sold last year in the UK alone.

How do I know this? I have been rooting around in the new market research carried out by Bowker Market Research. Mind you it’s not a statistic I want to shout about particularly as only 2% of books bought are e-books.

E-book crime sales are still rising slowly

However, taking lies and damned statistics as my phrase of choice and focussing on adult fiction and non-fiction then e-books compose 14% of sales. Yet SF, crime, humour and romance actually account for 20%. The research is done by interviewing 3000 purchasers every month.

Whatever the why, wherefores, figures and trend, writing in the digital age has finally arrived and everyone can now publish with relative ease. What happens after self-publishing is another matter entirely. I will deal with that in a later bog post.

This week, as author James McKenna I am publishing my latest book The Unwanted

I am also releasing a children’s book (which just for any statistician reading this) accounts for 3% of e-book sales. There has been much commentary regarding self –publishing as it is such a phenomenon. Andrew Franklin who is the managing director of publishing company Profile Books vented his spleen at a recent Literary Consultancy Conference entitled Writing in the Digital Age. For more information, click here.

What he had to say was definitely thought-provoking and some of it I actually agreed with. Yes, some people think self-publishing might give them fame and fortune. Well, it might, but it does mean that titles are written, completed, designed and published which is an achievement in itself and shouldn’t be underestimated. It also has to be promoted and that is where self-publishing competes with the money a publishing house will spend.

Book publishing always has been, is and always will be exciting. I enjoy all the boo ha ha that goes with the publicity and have really enjoyed linking up with all my Facebook fans and keeping abreast with all the re-tweets and so on surrounding the publication date. If you want to join the community then click here.

On the other hand you might just want to look up James McKenna The Unwanted on Amazon and get a hold of it in its first week of publication click here. I am really looking forward to reading your reviews.

James McKenna is fascinated by the NSA controversy. This week author of The Unwanted talks surveillance and book launches

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books. crime thriller, crime fiction, enjoy reading, good read, James McKenna

In crime fiction manuscripts, editors can be critical about relying on coincidence as a plot driver.  Yet isn’t coincidence a fabulous thing?  It is said that life is stranger than fiction and sometimes you ‘couldn’t make it up’!  Why do I write this? Well, this week I have been fascinated by an article I read on the Mail Online.

The article concerned a job advert.  Nothing spectacular about that.  However it was a vacancy for a ‘digital network exploitation analyst.’  This is actually an internship.  That is also non-controversial.  Yet it comes at a time when the National Security Agency, as it is they who are advertising, is surrounded by controversy and an element of fear and anger.

Digital snooping is what is exorcising people globally.

Do you ever know who is listening in on the phone, on email or has hacked any number of social media accounts?  I wrote some time back about how technology is compromising crime fiction plots.  But hey; in fact they also generate so many more interesting ideas to write about.  This makes me think that with the progress of technology perhaps I should add a sequel to my crime fiction thriller, The Unseen, because if they can go into your media site without your knowledge, they can also plant subliminal psychotic suggestions to subliminally influence you brain.  Scary!  It is.

NSA collects information usually covered by privacy policies

Anyway, should you choose to apply for this internship you will learn about both discovery skills and their resulting analysis.  It would be fascinating.  I wish I could apply as NSA is currently being criticised for using and exploiting all kinds of data collected digitally which would normally be protected by privacy policies.  Think what you might discover!

Would you trust them in a crime fiction thriller?

When you consider that every type of account from YouTube to Skype, Google, Yahoo and all points between are under surveillance it is worrying.  Therefore a company that cannot coordinate themselves when posting a simply job advert in the middle of a crisis leads to some concern.  Well, would you trust them?  After all, this is the company who works with Verizon Wireless who just happens to be the mobile phone company with the biggest clout in the US.  What have they been doing?  Well, for one, giving the NSA a list of daily phone records.

The launch of James McKenna’s The Unwanted this week

So, as I struggle for ideas concerning the plot of my next crime fiction thriller, having read this article I certainly have a million thoughts.  Meanwhile my team is gearing up for the lunch of my new crime title The Unwanted which is published on Kindle tomorrow, 10^th June.  I am very excited.  You can visit the site at http://tinyurl.com/c9ultl3

James McKenna’s Top Tips for Marketing Crime Fiction titles. James McKenna markets his new crime fiction novel The Unwanted

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books. crime thriller, crime fiction, enjoy reading, good read, James McKenna

James McKenna quite likes inhabiting the nineteenth century! Unfortunately I regularly get dragged kicking and screaming into the twenty first, especially when it comes to undertaking promotion for my new crime fiction title The Unwanted, which is published in paper back and on Kindle the 10th June 2013.

This week I have been pondering just what publicity opportunities exist for writers using this steam driven, new-fangled thing called social media! Actually I jest, because I really enjoy interacting with all my Twitter and Facebook followers. It has been really exciting watching the lists and likes over the last twelve month growing with the vibrancy of an electronic grapevine. James McKenna now reaches all over the globe across all continents and that’s brilliant.

So, anyone thinking about promoting a book here are a few tips to assist and I will certainly be using them to market The Unwanted this summer. I hope you really enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

James McKenna’s new crime fiction title released June 10th 2013

James McKenna’s Top Tips for Marketing Crime Fiction titles (and any other genre too!)

1. Use a social media management like Tweetdeck, Hootsuite or new kid on the block Leadamo
To help you schedule tweets, without this it is almost impossible to manage. It also allows you to search for more leads, outlets, opportunities for engagement, publicity, fans and all points between, it really is a must have in my opinion and has done much to drive sales of my other titles, The Unseen and The Uncounted.
2. www.topsy.com is absolutely fantastic and allows me and my PR team to look right across the globe to see what is trending on Twitter allowing us to link up with all the relevant people in our crime fiction niche.
3. Certainly much publicity material will be going on Tumblr as it’s great to post graphic postings to ring the changes.
4. Facebook – well, it gives me a great way to engage, keep up, post all kinds of feeds and generally keep James McKenna crime fiction writer in the news feed. If you don’t have a business page then get one now!
5. YouTube is so popular these days and many people enjoy watching videos. The James McKenna publicity machine has made use of YouTube and the traffic has been great as a consequence. Videos can be made simply and cheaply you don’t need to employ the likes of Alfred Hitchcock. We are going to experiment with readings on Soundcloud too – so check them out.
6. Pinterest at present is a large void for the James McKenna crime fiction team but we are working on it and you should too. It is filled with all kinds of possibilities. I have added a link at the bottom of the blog for those who are interested.
7. If you really don’t have a writing life or are looking for some diversion from finishing a chapter then try Twitter Stars by Twitter Counter, Viral Heat and others. This is the way to keep your author ego massaged ha ha; however it can be somewhat addictive and keeps crime fiction writers away from their true vocation. You have been warned.
8. I have been recommended http://www.PubliSeek.com which is a service which offers PR opportunities to those in need. They provide a daily list offering ways to gain marketing opportunities and are new and upcoming and more importantly offering a free service.

Anyway, must get back to it. This is just a quick overview but there are plenty of other sites which will help you promote your books and being a crime fiction writer or author has never been more exciting or more full of possibilities. Check out Amazon to see a complete list of James McKenna crime fiction titles.

http://pinterest.com/
To go directly to James McKenna’s Amazon author page click: http://tinyurl.com/c9ultl3