Tag Archives: Spanking The Governess

I think I’m growing as a writer.

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Figuratively speaking, anyway. I’m already 5’10”, I don’t need to be any taller.

I was just updating my Amazon Author Central pages when I noticed a new review on my Victorian Vices series. It’s one of those damned with faint praise ones – I can’t tell if she’s being a bit snide and taking a pop at the genre or just words things badly.  The first time I got one of these reviews I was quite upset. Now, though, my skin is thickening and I’m starting to think like a real author.

I added up how much it cost her to share her feelings – £9.78 – and thought about what I’d spend her money on instead.

Like me, love me, flame me, shame me – just buy my books, if you please. I’ll work through my emotions on the lovely foreign holiday you’re helping to send me on!

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Wow. Apparently I’ve made some money.

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First of all, hi. Once upon a time this was a real blog, not something I dropped into once or twice to plug a book release. Then real life took over and between keeping on top of the day job and trying to write I let this slide. New resolution: at least two blog posts a week, not including book release posts.

Today, I got an email regarding royalties. I need to say that a clause in my contract says that I am not allowed to discuss this matter in any detail, so I’m going to be deliberately vague. Not that I would have mentioned figures anyway; Mum always insists that talking about money is vulgar, which is a bizarrely middle class notion from a solidly working class woman but we all have our little idiosyncrasies, don’t we?

Anyway, I got my first ever royalty statement. I’ve been thinking about this for a little while as a matter of curiosity rather than anything else. I had convinced myself that I would never sell enough copies of my books to earn any royalties; I was satisfied with the advance payment (again, no details) from my publishers. I have been able to buy a few new things that I needed, with money left to tuck away in a little savings account. To be completely honest, I rather felt a little sorry for my publishers. The fools! They paid me advances that they would never make back! Ha! I get to see my name in eBook print, and they pay me for the privilege!

I think this only goes to show just how naive I am about the whole way this publishing thing works.

Today I got my royalties statement and even though it doesn’t tell me how many copies I sold, it did tell me that my publishers owed me royalty money. It’s not J K Rowling money, not by a long chalk, but it was a genuine surprise to discover that my very first book, the one that I think is my weakest, earned me so much. Well, so much to me. As I think we’ve established, I have no idea about things like this work. At all.

With some fairly simple maths, I think I can work out roughly  how many copies of the book I sold and again, I’m amazed. This, from what I think is my weakest book? My word!

Best of all, my publisher said that the next time I’m due royalties, the amount will be more!

I think flabbergasted is probably the best word to describe me right now. It’s not huge sums of money at all but to me, who never expected to earn anything from them at all, it’s an absolute fortune.

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I was hoping I’d be able to post this!

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All three of my Victorian Vices series are now sitting  in the top three on Amazon.co.uk! Being British, this means a lot, probably more than getting to the top of the Amazon.com list if I’m honest.

 

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Spanking The Heiress did make it to the number one spot this morning, but then I beat myself with the very first book I ever wrote!

I’m feeling incredibly happy with myself right about now, and I would like to say thank you very much to everybody who has bought any of my books. The only reason I’m feeling so happy now is because of your generosity. Thank you!

 

The Little Story That Could!

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It’s the little book that could!

My first book, Spanking The Governess, has been out since September and has been bouncing about the top twenty in Victorian Erotica ever since – very respectable for a brand new writer with no experience!

I expected it to quietly sink down the rankings – after all, there are some very well known authors in this genre, and I have another book out that I think is much better, Spanking Miss Sophia.

Right now, Spanking The Governess is back up at number one in the UK Amazon Victorian Erotica genre, and Spanking Miss Sophia is number two!

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How does it feel to be an author?

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For as long as I can remember I’ve had my head in a book. So much so, in fact, that my father lovingly called me Edna for the majority of my childhood. You know – short for Edna Book.  (It was better than his first nickname for me, which was Kojak. Both Telly Savalas and I suffered from a distinct lack of hair in the late seventies.)

I read anything and everything I could get my hands on – pulp sci-fi, nineteenth century children’s books, murder mysteries, autobiographies, historical non-fiction, backs of cereal packets; you name it, I read it.

What at made me think I could write a novel? Is it because I read so many that the next natural step was to write one myself? Or is it true that all of us have a novel inside us, and mine just found an easy way out? There was none of Hemingway’s opening up of a vein and writing – all I needed to do was open a Word document.

Blushing Books have given me the biggest compliment anyone could – they looked at my silly little story and thought it was good enough to be made into a proper book. I’m still not quite sure how I managed to fool them into thinking I, or the book, was something that people would like to read.  Either they’re very stupid, or the book must be fairly good.

You don’t last long in the business world being stupid, and they’ve been around for a while. I suppose that means the book must be fairly good!

It’s a strange concept, that the words buzzing around inside your brain will be buzzing around in somebody else’s very soon.

I’m not sure I’m quite ready for it – but it’s too late now! The release date for Spanking The Governess (guess what it’s about, go on, guess) is September 11th 2015.  On that date I’m going to turn into one of the people that have brought me so many hours of pleasure over the years! I lurch between excitement and pants-wetting terror on an almost hourly basis.

Is that how a real author feels? I’m not sure. But it’s how this author feels.