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What’s the best way to unite the whole world? Negotiation around a table in the United Nations? Nah, that’ll never work. Pacts and treaties? Tried that. Fail. But what about an aggressive alien invasion? That would force everyone to unite to repel the unwanted extra-terrestrial invaders wouldn’t it? Well, yes, but no, not everyone. You see, while most of the world would surely unite to fight for the human race’s survival, there would be one group of people that would likely w

Here’s a book sales insight I can share that may ring true with other writers: the first 2 days of a month and the last 3 days are consistently my worst days for sales.   This seems strange to me as most people pick up their pay packet at the end of the month, so you would have thought these days might be the time when book buyers would be most likely to have a few spare dollars/pounds (most of my sales are in the USA by the way) to invest in one of my masterly novels, novell

I keep a close track of my book sales, KENP reads and Amazon giveaways. It’s enabling me to see what’s generating the best sales – and whether any social posts are directly responsible for an uptick.   When it comes to X (Twitter) I’ve experimented with getting one of those blue ticks that supposedly increase your reach and engagement.   One thing about those blue ticks - they’re not blue. They’re transparent at best, but usually white. Minor detail but a major gripe if you’r

A free sample of the Jon Lymon novel Seller V this close to Christmas? Does that still count as Christmas coming early? I’m shocked when I return from a prolonged visit to the bathroom to find a different guy standing beside the filing cabinet with the middle drawer open. He’s smoking a pipe which is daring as smoking is banned in the apartment block. “Put that out!” I demand at high volume, but the guy’s unflustered. “Get in,” he says, pointing a long forefinger at the filin

How do you know when a project isn't working? Is it when a short story is short of an exciting lead character or a brilliant ending, or a gripping beginning, or all three? Or is it when writing a novel turns out to be not quite so novel as you imagined it when you first thought of the idea? Most writers have projects lying unfinished and abandoned in drawers like a shopping cart left in a multi-storey car park. We hope they won't be there forever, rusting away, but right now

Got there. It took over a year but I finally nailed this epic doorstop of a tome. But I'm not sure how I can review it, as I can't remember the first half of it (like I said, it's taken me over a year). All I know is a lot of people died, some getting dragged into the gutter, like loose dog stools. Nasty way to go. It was long, IT. Short title, long book. Could it have been trimmed in places? Quite possibly. But I'm no editor or hairdresser. It was certainly episodic, flip

Let’s start with the painful truth: I’m not a particularly successful author/novelist. Moderately successful, yes.  But successful enough to send the day job packing off into the sunset with a raw behind? Nope.   So here’s what I’ve learned in over a decade of not being a particularly successful novelist. A list of 6 quick and easy things you should not do unless you want to risk being in roughly the same place I’m in now ten years down the line.   DON’T NOT CHEAT WHEN IT COM

It's the moment all writers dread. Writing a synopsis. You 've written 70,000 plus words, and now's the time to distill all the twists, turns and character arcs into a few hundred words. Gulp. So , imagine my discomfort when I wrote my first synopsis for one of my novels, and came up with some story ideas that were better than what I'd written. Forcing yourself to explain your story in as few words as possible and in the style of the sort of thing you'd read on the back of a

Getting book reviews are big currency in the self-publishing world. A shit one is better than none at all, certainly if the Fifty Shades series is anything to go by. But how do you get them? I've approached a few bloggers and reviewers (very politely, I might add) and have yet to receive a reply, let alone a review. I've resisted the urge to write my own under some alias or other as that just seems a toe-curlingy bad way to go. But as I've only received a few on Amazon, I'm o

It's not all about getting it right first time.Those who write don't mind getting down some crap on the page. They know they're going to rewrite and rewrite and rewrite until they get it, well, right. Those who think they can't write get frustrated by a blank page. They won't put anything on it until they think it's perfect, and often, that means nothing gets put on the page at all.To write, you've got to be prepared to write crap first. And you've got to believe that the cr

A free sample of the Jon Lymon novel Seller V this close to Christmas? Does that still count as Christmas coming early? I’m shocked when I return from a prolonged visit to the bathroom to find a different guy standing beside the filing cabinet with the middle drawer open. He’s smoking a pipe which is daring as smoking is banned in the apartment block. “Put that out!” I demand at high volume, but the guy’s unflustered. “Get in,” he says, pointing a long forefinger at the filin

A good few years ago now, there was I, watching the evening news, trouble in Syria and the like, then on comes an item about JK’s new book. A big close up of the cover on screen and an interview with the author.   Now, the cover’s pretty bright and I’m sure the book’s very good. I’m also sure the Potter series deserves all the plaudits it’s got.   But is the BBC news the place for this sort of thing? Is it news? Or just blatant promotion?   The Beeb is supposed to be impartia

How many new books get uploaded to Amazon or Smashwords every day?Thousands.Every single day of every single week. Thousands of books by unknowns, wannabe's, those on the road from anonymity.And every single author reckons their work has the chance of becoming the next big thing, the next number one seller. Yet 99.9% of these will sell nothing, or next to nothing, which is, like, 1, isn't it?Insurmountable odds. Ridiculous in fact.You have to be deluded to think you are goin

In the pro prologue versus anti-prologue debate which is raging precisely nowhere as far as I can see, I’m definitely on the pro side of the fence.   Many of my books have one, nay, positively need one, to set the scene for readers. Some of my books boast several prologues, one of the benefits of being self-published ie, I can do whatever I like!   But I don’t like my prologues too long. Anything longer than 5 pages and I’m itching to get to the main thrust of the action, the

Just to repeat that for SEO purposes, Jon Lymon’s new novel Dead Headz is in production. Ground has been broken on what promises to be an epic.

Having been on somewhat of a zombie book reading frenzy over the last couple of months, while writing a new book with zombies called Dead Headz, I’m in a good position to recommend a few best zombie books that fans of the genre might want to check out, if you haven’t already. And yes, this post will end with a promotion of one of my titles that heavily features zombies. This more salesy part of the post will be well sign posted.   Autumn: The London Trilogy by David Moody Now

Dear [insert name here] Sorry. Sorry for not always being there physically. And sorry for sometimes being there physically but not mentally. Sorry for trying to grab every moment I can with my laptop. Sorry for using the printer at half one in the morning. Hopefully, I'll soon be able to afford a quieter one. Sorry for regularly disappearing upstairs for short periods, or dipping my head into my phone. I'm not up to anything dodgy, just checking my Kindle Reports and D2D dash

What a way to start the working week - a free sample from Last Writer Sitting: My hair had grown long and greyer, even white in places thanks to the stresses of the year, with the luxury of a haircut something I couldn’t entertain as regularly as I used to. My daughter had offered to step in and snip, but my loyalties lay with the brilliant Lucio’s barber shop just off the high street. Cuts there gave me a rare chance to converse with fellow males away from the enclosed world

Sportsmen have long accepted injuries as part and parcel of their trade. Even touring musicians have had their fair share of incidents on stage (usually falling off it) – think The Edge and Dave Grohl in recent years.   Unlike their sporting counterparts, and to their eternal credit, neither of the above performers were seen rolling around in agony following their pretty serious injuries. Grohl, in particular, proved the legend he is by living out another showbiz legend: the

The Diamond Rush, my first novel, has built up a cult following since being published in 2012. And by cult I mean small, niche.   The early drafts of the Money Star were written while I lived in a flat above a pub on Leather Lane, the next road west from Hatton Garden. And it's on Hatton Garden, down an alleyway that you could easily walk past if you didn't know it was there, that this gem of a pub can be found if you look closely enough. Here's the view from the street. You