Monthly Newsletter
November 2020

Hi there,

In case you never thought you'd see the day, 2020 is almost over! Be careful what you wish for, though: sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel really is an oncoming train...

In the meantime, let's get excited about the pending arrival of Christmas. It's absolutely my favourite time of year, and I'm very big on tradition.

My wife and I will probably spend the day on 15 December setting up and decorating the tree while listening to Christmas songs on Spotify, and it'll stay up until 5 January. Even though we don't have kids, the tradition is important.

How about you? How do you celebrate the festive season? Do you have any non-negotiable traditions?

By the way, welcome to all my new members. I hope you enjoy my monthly ramblings.

Don't Forget: Enter to Win $5!

Speaking of new members, you probably don't know that you can win a $5 ebook voucher to the store of your choice, every single month. Even if you're not new here, maybe you just forgot, and could do with a reminder.

Basically, all you need to do is write a review of one of my books (yes, it can be the one you got free for signing up), publish it on Goodreads, and post a link to it in our special "Members Only" Facebook group.

Of course, you'll have to be a member of that group first, so if you aren't yet, click the button below to visit. Then click the Join button, enter the email address you used to subscribe to this newsletter, and wait for me to approve you.

Once approved, check the Pinned Post at the top for the terms and conditions of the competition.

Good luck.

Visit the Group
Featured Author
Bill James

Bill James is the alter ego of two South African authors who have drunk together, sold books together, and now finally written a book together. That does not make it a bromance. Despite their having collaborated on a steamy sex scene.

Their first book has no redeeming qualities whatsoever....

Find Them on Goodreads
Bill James
Big Day Out

Set in Johannesburg in the near future, Big Day Out is a mad mercenary romp through the dystopian nightmare that Covid-19 might have become. Might still become, if we don't keep our self-appointed leaders on a very short leash.

Good old-fashioned don't-give-a-toss action. You don't like it, don't buy it.

"Complete kak. Not a single witch or demon in the whole book." - John West, author of the awesome Burning Books series, featuring witches and demons and serial killers.

"Where are the puzzles? And the trains?" - Richard Edwards, author of the even more awesome Puzzle Train series, full of puzzles and trains, islands and castles.

"I didn't like the ending." - Connor, main character in Big Day Out.

Shop now

You might have noticed that Bill's book is available on Scribd.

I love Scribd, and in fact, I'm an affiliate for them. So if you're not a subscriber yet, click here to use my link and get sixty free days to read as much as your heart desires.

Need a Last-minute Stocking Filler?

If you have (or know) small children who like colouring in, take a look at these gorgeous colouring books my wife and I put together a few years ago.

Each one's filled with 64 themed colouring pages, printed on premium, high-grade paper (not that recycled toilet paper you get at the grocery shop).

Click on the image above to see all the places where you can buy the books. You can get them literally anywhere in the world, from the United States, to the UK, to South Africa, and others.

Depending on where you are in the world, I can't promise you'll have them by Christmas, but the sooner you order, the better your chances.

Shop Now

What's Your Favourite Book of All Time?

It's been a while since I blogged about anything. Not since 7 April 2020, in fact. What can I say? Lockdowns have been hard, and it's been tough to get in the mood, much less think of something to write about.

And what better way to re-enter the blogging world, than to announce the (if I'm not mistaken) third annual "Favourite Book of All Time"?

So here we go. Click the image above to visit my blog post about the topic, and then fill in the form to vote for your favourite.

I’ll keep the voting open for about a month, until Tuesday, 22 December 2020. Until then, please fill in the form and write in your favourite book of all time. Don’t forget to share this post with all your friends, and ask them to vote, too.

On 22 December, I’ll publish a new form with all the write-ins collated, and we can pick an ultimate winner from there.

Please only vote for individual books, though. Not the entire series. I won’t accept “Harry Potter”; please tell me which specific book in the series is your favourite. Ditto for “Lord of the Rings” (which is a trilogy, in case you didn’t know).

Finances: October 2020

Technically, I took a huge loss in October. But that's because I bought a promo in the Bargain Booksy newsletter for my Urban Fantasy novella, Memoirs of a Guardian Angel. Because of the poor Rand/Dollar exchange rate, that promo cost me a whopping R731.71!

The thing is, the promo was only scheduled to go out on 4 November, so I had to wait a whole month to find out if I made a profit. 

Depending on the retailer (I earn different royalty rates at each retailer where my books are sold), I would've had to sell an average of 65 copies to break even. 

Did I make it?

You'll just have to wait until next month to find out. 😉

I also ran a Facebook ad which didn't bear any fruit.

On the income side, I failed to sell a single book in October, on any platform, but I'm grateful to have made some money off affiliate links and advertising.

Here are the figures, converted to South African Rands using the rate at the time of this writing:

  • Income:  R  53.69
  • Expense: R 833.17
  • Loss:    R 779.48

Want to Help?

If you'd like to help support me and my business, there are plenty of ways.

First, buy and read my books. It sounds obvious, but so many people open this email religiously every month, click on my links, even reply to tell me how happy or proud they are of me... and haven't read any of my books.

Second, if you've read one of my books and enjoyed it, tell a friend. Although authors like me put a lot of effort, and spend a lot of money, on marketing, the very best marketing remains word of mouth. Nobody's going to know about us unless people tell them.

And if you're really passionate about the book, don't stop at just telling your friend about it. Why not buy it for them as a gift? Plenty of ebook stores allow gifting, and if they don't, you'll surely be able to buy them a voucher or gift card, and gently suggest that they use it to buy my book.

Third, write a review. Reviews are word-of-mouth marketing meant to reach people you've never met. It takes very little time to pop onto Goodreads and rate and review one of my books. In fact, my personal philosophy is, "If there's no review, it never happened!"

Finally, if you're really dedicated and want to make a living out of it, have you considered becoming an affiliate marketer? Most stores have this option: sign up for their affiliate programs, then advertise their products (which hopefully includes my books), and earn commission when people buy them. It's a lot of fun, and many people make respectable livings on affiliate marketing alone.

Month in Books

Slow reading month this month. But then, this time of year, it generally is. I only managed three books in November.

How about you? What books have you read this month?

Click on the covers below to read my reviews, and find out where you can buy the books.

David H. Wilson
Amped

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Lois Lowry
Gathering Blue

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

M.C.A. Hogarth
Rose Point

⭐⭐⭐

Graham Downs

Verwoerdpark, Alberton
South Africa

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Many of the links shared in this newsletter are affiliate links. If you click on any of those links, and make a purchase from the site in question, I stand to earn a small commission from them.

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