Exciting Things!

It's almost December, and the weather is certainly obliging -- as I type this, my fingers are freezing, thanks the chilly air drifting in through our ancient sash windows. I've been rather neglectful of this blog recently, mostly down to exciting events with my alter ago, Talli Roland.

My first novel, The Hating Game, is due out this Wednesday, December 1, as an ebook ahead of its paperback launch next year! I've organised a Take On Amazon Web Splash, with almost 450 bloggers, Facebookers and Tweeters helping to spread the word about my quest to get as high as I can in the Amazon sales rank.

I often take for granted people know what sales rank is and why it's important. If you look on any book listing on Amazon, you'll see the book has a number beside the words 'sales rank'. The more copies people buy, the higher (or lower, depending on how you look at it) the bestseller list the book climbs. If you manage to get into the top 100, it can make a massive difference to your sales. The book is more visible and being labelled a bestseller gives it validation. Not only that, good sales figures for an ebook can also generate pre-orders for the paperback and hopefully make it easier for the hard copy to get into bookstores.

A number of sales over a short period of time (say, one day) has the power to get the book even higher up, since the sales rank algorithm takes into account not just the sales but the period over which the sales were made.

So! All this to say, fingers crossed for December 1! If you'd like to take part in the Web Splash, all the information you need to post (just copy and paste onto your blog on Dec 1) is here! And if you'd like to buy a copy of the book on that day, that would be fantastic, too! Just click the link for Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk. If you don't have a Kindle, you can download the app for PC, Android, Mac, iPad and more. And if you're using Amazon.com, you can even buy Kindle ebooks for others as gifts now.

Sales pitch over! I'll be back on Wednesday with the Splash! Until then, have a great week.

Book Birthdays and More!

Every time November rolls around, I always shake my head in disbelief that the year's almost finished. This time more than ever -- it's been one year since 24 Hours London was published! You can read about my year in review over on my Talli Roland blog.

With everything that's been happening, time has certainly flown. Electronic proof copies for The Hating Game are ready, and things are gearing up for the Dec 1 e-book release! I've now got over 400 people signed up for my Web Splash; big thank you to those participating!

And now, I leave you with this little gem. Ah, The Daily Mail...