Poor sales - how should I respond?

 I have put a new title on Amazon, the third in a series. I have started a new advertising campaign, to publicise that series. But sales have been low.  

All of these are fantasy titles. Is that why they have failed? Should I adopt a new strategy? 

One option would be to start a new series, one that is straightforward adventure rather than fantasy.

But that is a huge commitment. The first book would take months. And all the expert advice says an individual book will not sell - you need a series. So I would be committing myself to at least a year's writing output. 

But it could be the best option.

Publication of a new novel, 'The Russian Conspiracy'

The fourth novel in my 'Royal Telepaths' series has now been published on Amazon, in both ebook and paperback format . I started writing the series in 2016. I had intended this story to be the fourth in the series, taking place in 2019. But as the Covid crisis developed, I realised that the fourth novel would take place in the middle of 2020 - when the country was in lockdown.

I did not want to place the actions of the novel after the crisis. Nobody knew when the crisis would end. My solution was to move the intended fourth novel to the spring of 2019. 'The Russian Conspiracy' would therefore take place in the autumn and winter of 2019 - just before the lockdown was imposed. 

The Russians are meddling in the Middle East, propping up an immoral regime - that's one conspiracy. Britain organises a covert operation to upset their plans - another conspiracy. Assassins are appearing in London. The Russians deny they are responsible. The Guild of Magicians become involved in the campaign to stop the assassins. My recurring characters, a group of magic users, play a large part in this campaign. 

  

New short story

 My second short story has been accepted for the Fantastic Middle Schools  magical schools anthology. The editor made this comment about the introduction.

I think your blurb is lovely! You made it very intriguing and I think that it will make the reader enjoy it all the more. Might I recommend, to bring your blurb into keeping with the style of the rest, that we present it this way?

The author writes: “The viewpoint character in my story, Constance, appears in a story in Fantastical Schools, Volume 2 and my novel The Arabian Conspiracy. 

The story was inspired by a novel in Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series. In it, the British 'Magic police' arrest a Russian witch. She then sneers at them, saying that they would have to let her go because no 'conventional prison' could hold her. As an author, I was disappointed that Ben's police officer tamely accepted this.

It occurred to me that, if a conventional prison could not hold a witch, what about an unconventional one? My next thought was "The Tower of London", because as prisons go, it is as unconventional as you can get. I had a vague recollection of a ceremony at the Tower. An internet search told me that this ceremony took place every three years; and the next occurrence was six weeks away. I told myself that if I missed the opportunity to witness it, I would never forgive myself.

Insurrection and inspiration

 Insurrection is defined as:  the act or an instance of revolting, violently against an established government.

And that is what happened in Washington on 6 January.

That event was truly shocking.

And the organisers could try again.

But any event, no matter how shocking, can act as inspiration for an author. I am now setting out the guidelines for a novel based on the aftermath of those terrible events.

The president and the senate are now under siege, psychologically if not physically. How will they respond?

Publishing my third Urban Fantasy novel

 I have just arranged for the third novel in my urban fantasy series to be published on Kindle. In this story, Two Prisoners,  a member of Britain's Guild of Magicians has been renditioned and held prisoner. But the Americans have seized the wrong man; they mistook him for somebody else. Then, in a bizarre twist, an American magic-user is arrested in London. He needs to be held in a place where he cannot use magic to escape. But the Guild has an answer to that problem and he is taken to a very different prison.

I had hoped to publish all of the novels in the Royal Telepath series before the end of the year, but the artist I chose to provide my covers has suffered several delays. The latest setback is that his home has been flooded. 

Because of this delay, it could be some time before I can bring out paperback versions of these novels.

I am aready working of the fourth and fifth novels in this series.