At last I had what looked like a week at my desk rolled out in front of me, when I could finally get some proper work done on the new
Midsummer Nights Dream and other creative projects, after weeks of schools and other travel (which meant I've not put pencil to paper since October 30th. That's three whole weeks!
See worksheet here.)
So what did I do? I did what I always do, I got distracted. This time I got distracted by a suggestion someone had made at LFCC two weekends ago - why not do a Webtoon? I have no idea how one monetises a webtoon, maybe someone can clue me in on that. But because it was suggested by someone who's a very successful self-publisher (though not, it must be said, of webtoons) I gave it a go. It won't take long, I thought, to convert and upload The Book Of Esther. It took all day.
Getting distracted by other people's suggestions is something I'm rather prone to at this time of year. You'll recall two years ago I was so inspired by Tony Lee's "they don't have to be well written" speech that I had my first unsuccessful stabs at writing a crime novel (still not got the buggers out there) then got sidetracked into making colouring books. And where did that get me? Well,
as this blog post records, by October 2022 I was selling a rather promising 65 books a month and had just sold 11 books in one day. Then in November 2022,
as this post records, I had my Amazon KDP account closed, never to be reopened.
Though I've got most of the books back out there, via Lulu (for the colouring books) and D2D (for the graphic novels), they sell a fraction of what they were doing direct through Amazon. But that ship has sailed. And, on a more positive note,
Richard The Third (published through D2D) has already sold 75 copies in a month and a half, which is more than any of my previous graphic novels sold online through any route. Also I spotted this today...
Yes,
Richard The Third is
available through Waterstones. Though it might take 5 weeks to arrive, so if you want it for Christmas, get it from me!
Updates that should put further nails in the coffin of the colouring books are that I appealed to Amazon KDP again this week, after a year, and was told "Our Amazon Content Review Team has re-reviewed this matter and they are upholding the decision to terminate your KDP account. On 11/08/2022 and 11/11/2022, we explained the reason for terminating your KDP account. We will not discuss this matter any further or provide additional insight."
Also my Punk & New Wave Colouring Book stopped being available on Amazon via Lulu. I was told, by Lulu "We were notified by our distribution partner that your title was rejected for being a low content book. Amazon does not allow these books to be sold on their site any longer, but you can still sell through our bookstore"
So, colouring books were a distraction that was fruitful for a year, then a curse. Webtoons is a distraction that wasted a day, but you never know might reach someone I'd never reached before. Richard The Third remains the most popular thing I've done yet. And those crime novels are waiting to get finished and get out there.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I must resume work on Midsummer Night's Dream. Check the worksheet to see if I end up doing anything. (Reader, I ended up drawing 5 pages)
My Books and where to get them:
Shakespeare Omnibus Collection (all 3 books) -
Amazon
