Composing Mr. Composure

Well, isn’t today an exciting day?

Why?  Because it's a Tuesday!  Is that not a good enough reason?  You want to know more?

Well (again)...

Last year, my novel Sin was serialised on Wattpad – the YouTube of books with over 14 million unique hits per month.  I’d posted samples before this point and was surprised and delighted to be asked to put the whole book up there.  Of course this was a risk.  If people could read it, why would they buy it?  In the end, however, this hasn’t mattered.  At the point of writing, Sin has had over 607,200 reads and some very humbling comments.  The fact i now have such a large fanbase wipes out any concerns I had about book sales.  I’d much rather have someone tell me they’ve enjoyed something I’ve written than have a couple of quid and not hear anything.

Anywho-de-do.

Earlier this year, my wife and I watched a movie.  The premise of the film was that all crime, for twelve hours, would be legal.  The movie was called The Purge.  It was a little disturbing, to be honest, as it showed what some people might possibly do just because they could.

A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted by the lovely Caitlin at Wattpad with another opportunity, one she wondered if I’d be interested in.

It seemed NBC Universal were bringing out the sequel, this time called The Purge: Anarchy.  It also seemed Wattpad were involved in the promotion of the film and had contacted their “top writers” (!) to ask if they’d like to write a story, based on the premise of the film, to coincide with the release of the film.

Would I be interested?  WOULD I??

That’ll be a yes!

Now, I admit to a little concern about this.  Not only was the story going to be tied in to the release of what I don’t doubt will be a successful film, but it was also outside my comfort zone.  I generally write paranormal thrillers.  Yes, I’ve dipped my toe in the waters of children’s poetry and erotica, but mainly it has a supernatural side.  For this, I figured ghosts or Death would be a little out of place.  Wattpad had said they wouldn’t mind a paranormal twist, so I set about writing.

I surprised myself.  The story seemed to come quite naturally, and I’d taken a different, hopefully original, path to tell the tale while still keeping it true to the premise.

It wasn’t easy going, to be honest.  I desperately needed a new computer at home so thought this was the perfect time, and excuse, to buy one.  It turned out my new PC didn’t want to download anything on Windows Update.  I spent two nights, when I should have been writing, trying to solve this issue.  Once I did, I then spent time getting the machine all set up.  Then I began to write.  Then the wireless keyboard decided to not want to play.  Then the helpdesk warranty people instructed me to do a system restore – back to just before I’d installed all the software.  Then I had to mess about doing it all again.

But...

The story is to be written in four parts.  The first part of my work, Mr. Composure, will be going live today - 24th June - with subsequent parts being uploaded weekly.  Not only will it be going up on my own page, but NBC Universal will be featuring it on their page too.

And it will be used, over the course of the year, to promote the film!

Can I just say WOW!?!

So, please drop by and take a peek.  I hope you enjoy it!  And, watch out for the release of the film next month!

My Wattpad page is here.  You'll find Sin, along with lots of other stories by me and, now, part one of Mr. Composure!

NBC Universal's page is here, where you'll find my story plus others and a whole lot more!

Have a look at the trailer for The Purge: Anarchy.  Looking good!

Update!  As of 10:33am (UK time) on 28th June, Mr. Composure has had a massive 21,565 reads!  It's also been called 'the best story on Wattpad' and 'simply stunning'!

Wow!

Update 2!  As of 07:55am (UK time) on 30th June, we're at 27,146 reads!  That's unbelievable!  Thank you so much to everyone who's dropped by.  I appreciate you taking the time to read my work and so many of you have left incredible comments!  Part two will be uploaded tomorrow (Tuesday).

It's an ePODemic

Print on Demand.  There’s so many options, it’s difficult to know where to turn.

 

And that’s my problem.  I don’t know where to turn.  A veritable plethora of PODs to pick from.  But which is the best?

 

Everyone seems to have their own opinions and pertinent points.  One offers free alterations, another has lower shipping costs, another better distribution.  But one might insist on a larger wholesale discount and another has greater printing costs.  It’s a conundrum which has my head spinning.

 

I’m looking from a UK point of view, remember.  I don’t know how these companies work in your respective countries, but the main options here include:

 

CreateSpace

Lulu

FeedARead

Lightning Source

Ingram Spark

 

FeedARead is sponsored by the UK Arts Council, I believe, and Ingram Spark is essentially Lightning Source for people with less than 30 books – which removes Lightning Source from the options anyway.  CreateSpace doesn’t actually print in the UK (I could be wrong) and I’m worried about shipping costs.  Lulu is OK (I’ve used them before), but the shipping costs aren’t cheap and others have less production costs too.

 

Then there’s ‘Global Marketing’ or ‘Extended Distribution’ or whatever each company wants to call their particular flavour of getting your book out into the big wide world.  They don’t all take returns, which could rule out independent bookstores taking on copies.

 

CreateSpace are part of Amazon, so your books will be on there, which is great, but they all, pretty much, get your book on the Mighty A.  With CS, your book will always be in stock, whereas with others it could say it’s normally 3 weeks delivery.  Or 6 weeks, even.

 

Ingram Spark are, as the name suggests (and by association Lightning Source), part of Ingrams.  This means your book is automatically on the Ingrams catalogue, a very useful thing to have.  FeedARead apparently make sure you’re listed on Bertrms and Gardners, again, very useful when you want your baby in bricks’n’mortar stores.  In the UK, some of these list on Waterstones too.

 

I’m heard the CreateSpace interface for adding your book is fantastic, a real breeze.  Lightning Source, on the other hand, is meant to a real pain.  Lulu isn’t too bad but is somewhat awkward.

 

Who do you use?  And why?  And why not one of the others?  Of course, it’s each to their own.  It could come down to the toss of a coin, but I’d be interested in views.

 

It’ll help me make my own mind up!