A few thoughts - a fortnight after publication...

I've seen a lot of people over the Xmas period and obviously our book has come up in discussions – by which I mean I haven't stopped talking about it. As Lily Allen once tweeted: People say I'm self-obsessed. But enough about them. Anyway, having listened to our customer base, it's clear there are a few misunderstandings I'd like to attempt to address.



Firstly though, a huge thanks to those who have bought the book and reviewed it so nicely – you have no idea how much it means to us. And as for the people we neither of us know who have raved about it on Amazon, well that really is why we bothered to tell a story. To those of you who have bought the book and not yet read it, or have no intention of getting round to it, we thank you for our ten pence. We promise not to spend it wisely. For those of you with no interest I apologise once again for stinking up your internet without mentioning cats or food. Anne will rectify shortly.


Now for some thoughts:

1.  It is not romantic fiction. No bodices are ripped. There is no dark and handsome man with deep character faults some sadly deluded heroine/author thinks she can cure. It does not end happily. And it is not written for people with the reading age of 10. (Unless any of that is what attracted you to the book, in which case please ignore all I've just said and tuck in.) True, it is an unabashed love story, but a grown-up one for grown-ups. Ok, so it isn't One Day but that was roughly where we were aiming.

2.  It is not self-published. Yes, I realise it's not in Waterstone's, but we're at the cutting edge of future publishing, where books are digitally launched cheaply into the world to see if they will fly. The book does come with the seal of approval of one of the world's largest publishers, I promise you. We're not trying to force on you a piece of toot no-one deemed to have any merit. Not yet anyway. My Shropshire book will be self-published shortly...



3.  A 5 star review does not mean a 5 star review. I totally understand anyone who has problems with this. In a normal world even I wouldn't give Farewell Trip 5 stars. I reviewed films for fifteen years and only gave twelve films 5 stars. I've read thousands of novels and would rate fewer than ten that highly. But this is 2013. It's about PR, marketing and lies. Grade inflation is all. A four star review on Amazon doesn't mean it's a great read, one of the best books I've read for ages. It means “meh”. A three star review doesn't mean “read this book, I really liked it.” It means “what a bore”. The best way to think of a 5 star review is as the equivalent to a C Grade A-Level in 1983. And we really do need 5 star reviews if we're to get any traction. So can I ask those of you struggling with that conundrum to put 'helping friends' first and 'critical honesty' second. If it does reach an audience, and we need your help with that, don't worry there will be plenty of people out there ready to redress any grade imbalance.


4.  Yes, of course I wrote all the dirty bits.


Thanks.