Leigh Russell

I was very pleased to receive an invitation from BBC 3 Counties Radio this week to discuss the popularity of crime fiction live on air. This was in response to a recent report from the library service that crime novels have overtaken romance as the most borrowed genre in 2011 (Read more on this from You’re Booked here)

The 10 most popular authors on the list were crime writers, with James Patterson at number 1 and two … Read More >>

I love crime fiction. It makes up about 90% of my reading material, and it’s what I write. Or at least, I thought it was. I had my crime novel all plotted out, with the culprit clearly identified, and plenty of red herrings and clues along the way. But when I sat down to write it, I felt stifled, trapped by my own meticulous planning. The meticulous planning that I had thought necessary in order to … Read More >>

Peggy Blair

Now I had never heard of a blog tour until one of my Twitter followers mentioned she’d be organizing one. But it seems like a great way to market a book.

The jury seems to be out on whether it’s the publicist who arranges it, a fan, or a third party contracted by the publisher and there’s even an organization on-line where you can search for blogs that might be interested in participating. (There are … Read More >>

I’m just about to start the second draft of my third novel (yet to be named). In fact it’s my fourth, but it will be the third to be published. 

I’m not a creature of habit or routine – I’m more of an adapt and survive character. But over my years of writing, I have developed a process of sorts that seems to work for me. I learn with each new stage of each new project, but what … Read More >>

When we watch television – anything other than the good old BBC – we are constantly bombarded with advertising. Buy this body spray and every woman will fancy you. Buy this loaf of bread and your husband will eat it all and you’ll ruin his shirt. Buy these vegetables and your kids will be the brainiest in their class. Even online, it’s constant and apparently tailored specifically for me – how does Facebook know to advertise … Read More >>

Leigh Russell

I’ve blogged before about the rapid vicissitudes of being a “successful” author. A recent episode with my new book, Dead End, has been a microcosm of the whole capricious experience when my latest book was selected for amazon kindle’s summer promotion.

Knowing little – OK, practically nothing – about the book trade, my initial response was scepticism about the sense in giving away the results of my hard work for 99p.

But as Dead End shot … Read More >>

Today’s Daily Mail says there’s a tortoise crimewave. No they’re not armed and dangerous, hanging around street corners and mugging old ladies; they are apparently being stolen in ever-increasing numbers, though nobody is quite sure why. It’d take a lot of tortoises to make a fur coat – or a suit of armour – and what do you do with one if you receive one as stolen goods?  “And in my rare creature display, I have … Read More >>

 I’m no expert on this, but since I’ve been writing about e-publishing lately, one of my posters suggested that this would be a good topic for a blog post.

(If any of you have experience e-publishing, please comment away on what I’ve missed or on how to make the process even easier.) I’ve mentioned Smashwords specifically because it seems to make e-books available to all the major e-book retailers, but if you have other suggestions, please put … Read More >>

Never judge a book by its cover. But when you see a list of possibly thousands of books and all you can see is a thumbnail picture, how else can you judge what is worth perusing further? In a virtual world, there is no bookshelf, no shop, no physical caressing of a book – checking the blurb, feeling the thickness, maybe reading the first paragraph – all you have to go on is that tiny picture.

So … Read More >>

Leigh Russell

In some ways writers are similar to visual artists, in their close observation of details. Painters seeing a landscape might rearrange the composition in their heads, select colours for a canvas, respond to light and shade, (I’m guessing here).

As a writer even the most mundane detail transforms into words in my head – a carrier bag flapping in a gust of wind, the smell of earth beneath dry leaves – anything can be used … Read More >>

Hamelin's Child by Debbie Bennett

Debbie Bennett recently self-published her e-book on Amazon – below she gives a few tips to those considering doing the same. 

Six weeks into this ebook experiment and I’ve learned a few things:

Edit, edit and edit some more. There are some shockingly bad ebooks out there. You may have seen the book review blog that went viral recently, where some poor woman criticised a reviewer for picking up on bad grammar. Rather … Read More >>

Peggy Blair is a regular contributor to You’re Booked. This month she offers a post not about the process of writing, but about living. Read her regular blog, Getting Published, here.

I had the very great pleasure of meeting a woman today who has terminal cancer. I had contacted a number of owners in a condo building I’m hoping to find a place in, to see if anyone was interested in selling. I decided, in my letter, to … Read More >>