Well, Stuart Ayris has bravely made his sales for Tollesbury Time Forever available on his blog at http://tollesburytimeforever.blogspot.co.uk, so I’d thought I’d do the same for my debut novel…

My first ideas for The Serpent in the Glass began right back in 1997. Around 2003-2006 I received a number of rejection slips (including one for the agency that had signed up J.K. Rowling) from publishers/agencies. Then, in 2010, a friend showed me an ereader, but I didn’t think much of self-publishing back then, though it did stick in the back of my mind. Then, fed up with postage and rejection slips, I reworked my children’s novel for the Kindle and published it at the end of 2011. I only made about 10 sales per month (and a few of those were to people I personally knew) in November and December, but it was thrilling to see it on Amazon.

Since then I’ve released a second and a (final) third edition of the book, as well as a paperback version. Below I chart how my book fared in 2012 on the Kindle. The Serpent in the Glass isn’t currently available on other digital platforms because it is enrolled in the Amazon KDP Select program. Although I have made some paperback sales, they are small and thus not included here (and, to be honest, I’m not quite sure how to get at all that data anyway!).

Kindle ebook sales (and borrows) of The Serpent in the Glass during 2012

• Jan: 70 (11)
• Feb: 65 (33)
• Mar: 1217 (288)
• Apr: 219 (48)
• May: 56 (22)
• Jun: 42 (12)
• Jul: 47 (16)
• Aug: 39 (9)
• Sep: 30 (5)
• Oct: 21 (10)
• Nov: 20 (8)
• Dec: 169 (380)

Total: 1995 sales (842 borrows) with a breakdown split of US 1584 (833) & UK 411 (9)
(sales through other sites, chiefly Germany, have been negligible and perhaps add 10 or so to the total, so I got a little over 2000 Kindle sales in 2012)

As for ratings:

You can read the actual reviews here:

• Amazon US
• Amazon UK
• GoodReads

A big “thank you” to all who’ve supported me in my first year! I hope to have 2-3 new releases out in the first quarter of 2013 — and I may yet start that sequel to The Serpent in the Glass!!!

This free service creates a link for your Kindle book that allows the potential customer to be taken to the Amazon site based on their region without the need for multiple links to the US, UK etc.! Give it a go with my link to The Serpent in the Glass: viewBook.at/B0062A7UVE to see if it correctly detects your region!

Here’s where you can input your link: www.viewbook.at

Let me know if you have any comments on/experiences with this – I’ve only just found out about it.

NOTE: I believe the site may include its own Amazon Associates’ tag (fair enough), so please take that into account.

NOTE2: Looks like they also do author pages.

Yes, yet another paperback giveaway! This time hosted by LitPick.com and joint with paperbacks from 4 author friends…

And the authors and their paperbacks are as follows…

“BeSwitched” by Molly Snow

“Alice Parker’s Metamorphosis” by Nicola Palmer

“The Adventures of Cecilia Spark: The Mystical Mountains of Terra” by Ngaire Elder

“The Pet Washer” by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez

“The Serpent in the Glass” by D.M. Andrews

You can see the ad at the bottom of the LitPick.com homepage, though you’ll need to log-in/register to enter.

The Serpent in the Glass, 3rd edition (released September 2012), will be free on Kindle from the 7th to 8th of December. (Customers with older editions can download this new one to update their Kindle).

Amazon.com: LINK

Amazon.co.uk: LINK

The Great Book Giveaway – ends 26th November 2012

ENTER before November 26th to win one of these books! Yes, one of them is mine

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The Wonderful Holiday Giveaway – ends December 12th 2012

ENTER before December 12th to win one of these books!

Want to show some reader love to your favourite authors on Amazon? Here are ten quick and easy things you can do to help make your beloved authors more visible on Amazon!

In the points below we will mainly be looking at the product page. This is simply the page you arrive at when you click on a book in the charts, categories or via a search. So, for my middle-grade novel, The Serpent in the Glass, the product page on Amazon.com is http://www.amazon.com/Serpent-Glass-Thomas-Farrell-ebook/dp/B0062A7UVE/

Of course, you can repeat the activities below on Amazon.co.uk and on other Amazon sites where the book exists. You should also make sure you are logged into Amazon for most of these, too (some may require that you’ve made a purchase at some point in the past).

So let’s get to helping out your authors!

1. LIKE

At the top of each book’s product page on Amazon you’ll see a “like” button thus:

Just click it! Simple! Note that once you’ve liked a book you can also share that like as illustrated below:

2. SHARE

You can also share the book simply by clicking one of the options to the right of the book. See the bottom-most arrow in the image below.

3. WISH LIST

If you’ve not bought the book yet, why not add it to your Wish List by clicking the button of the same name? Other people will then be able to see your favourite books (you can also opt to keep them private, but then they won’t show up in public searches and help the author as much). This is illustrated in the image above (the top-most arrow).

4. VOTE REVIEWS UP OR DOWN & COMMENT

Beneath each review you can opt to choose whether or not the review was useful. You may also choose to comment on a review.

5. WRITE A REVIEW

Reviews can be as little as 20 words. Take the time to write one. It really helps authors in lots of ways! English speakers can do this on both the com and co.uk site.

6. REVIEWING OTHER BOOKS

Where appropriate and kind, you might also mention your favourite author’s book in reviewing other books you have read (or in the comments under reviews) from other authors. Amazon’s review guidelines state that “the best reviews include not only whether you liked or disliked a product, but also why. Feel free to talk about related products and how this item compares to them.” (Amazon General Review Creation Guidelines) However, be kind.

7. RECOMMEND OFFLINE

Readers are not generally aware of how powerful and effective personal recommendations are to family and friends. Please don’t forget to tell them about the good books you read!

8. TAGS

If you scroll down the product page of your chosen book you’ll find something like this:

Click on the indicated place to open up all the tags (you won’t need to do this if there are only a few tags). You’ll then see something like this:

You can click on the box next to a tag in order to agree with it (see top arrow in image above). You can also add your own tags by typing them into the little box (see bottom arrow in image above) and clicking the “add” button. You can add up to 15 tags (“adds” and “agrees” combined) and change them later if you wish.

9. RECOMMEND ONLINE

Mention the book on social media sites, in forums, etc. This is a powerful way to promote your favourite author and books. You can also mention it on the Amazon forums, and even start a discussion about it (if one hasn’t already been started):

The forum links to the right (in the above image) can help you find existing places to discuss the book. The button “start a discussion” will allow you to start your own thread about the book (and it will display on the product page thereafter).

10. LISTMANIA

LINK TO FULL INSTRUCTIONS: how to set up a Listmania list.

Use the above instructions to set up a Listmania list. This is essentially a personal list of books you create, but which is viewable by all. For example, for my book Pied and Prodigious I might set up a list called “Books based on Pride and Prejudice”. This helps books become more visible.

I hope these 10 things help you to help your favourite authors and their books! Get clicking! And do post any comments or questions below.

The paperback for the Third Edition of The Serpent in the Glass is now available at Feedaread.com! This time I’ve gone with a UK PoD publisher. The book should be available via Amazon, and able to be ordered in such stores as Waterstones, around mid to late November. You can order it from the publisher right now!

The Third Edition is around 73000 words (24000 words shorter than the first publication of the novel). It is largely the same, but some minor characters have gone, a few places have changed, and a lot of fluff has been removed from the first part of the book in response to reader feedback. I hope you enjoy the new version!

This novella will be free on Kindle Amazon from the 24th to the 28th of September…

UK link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jack-MacFadden-Faerie-Realm-ebook/dp/B008EYT4IS

US & International Link: http://www.amazon.com/Jack-MacFadden-Faerie-Realm-ebook/dp/B008EYT4IS

Tell all your friends!

Indiejane has graciously included my parody, Pied and Prodigious, as one of the 20 pre-loaded novels on their Kindle Fire giveaway. If you enjoy Austen, then you can read more at http://indiejane.org/2012/07/anniversary-giveaway-kindle-fire-and-20-novels/

I’ve been interviewed about my latest book by fellow author Jennifer Alvarez! Check out her site, and my interview, at
The Jennifer (Author) Diaries