Tag Archives: Bestseller

The Business of Books: Millions of Thrills – Jane Cable meets USA Today bestselling author Louise Jensen

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Louise’s first two novels, The Sister and The Gift, were both No.1 bestsellers, and have been sold for translation in sixteen territories. The Sister was nominated for The Goodreads Awards Debut of 2016. The Surrogate is out now.

1) How much of your working life does the business of books take up?

I’m quite structured and tend to work 9-3.15 every day to fit in with school hours. If I’m taking a book through the editing process I come back to my desk after the school run and work through until about 5.30 and I generally work for a part of most weekends too. Writing full time is busier than I’d anticipated. Writing new words is only a fraction of my day. There’s admin, interviews, events not to mention social media and blogging. In all honesty it’s taken me about a year to find my feet and settle into a good routine.

 

2) What’s your business model to earn a living from writing?

I didn’t have one! I started writing as a hobby but after completing the first draft of The Sister I read it back and realised I had something really special. I sat down with my husband and told him I’d love to work part-time for six months to give me a chance to really polish it and submit to agents and publishers. We went through our finances and realised it would be tight and sat down with the kids and discussed it as a family. Everyone agreed I should at least try. Within six months I’d signed a three book deal and six months after that I was fortunate enough to be in the position to be able to write full time.

3) What do you write and what do you consider to be your major successes?

I write psychological thrillers that also have an emotional thread running through the story line. I adore commercial fiction and thrillers and like to blend genres where I can. I love the feeling of being unnerved one second and then having a lump in my throat the next. I want to take readers through a whole spectrum of emotions when they read my stories.

Both my first two novels, The Sister and The Gift were No. 1 International Bestsellers and USA Today Bestsellers and have been sold for translation to sixteen territories. It really was a dreams come true year. The Sister sold half a million copies within the first six months and I was nominated for the Goodreads Debut Author of 2016 and also for the CWA Daggers New Blood 2017. The Sister spent over a year and a half in the psychological thriller top 100 so far.

Initially I published with Bookouture, a digital imprint of Hachette, but Sphere (Little, Brown) have since acquired paperback rights to my first three books, and a fourth to come next year, and I can’t tell you how exciting it is to walk into a bookshop or supermarket and see my stories on a shelf.

 

4) Tell me about your latest project.

The Surrogate is newly released and is the story of Kat and Nick who are desperate to be parents. They’ve almost given up hope when Kat runs into Lisa, her childhood best friend, who offers to act as a surrogate.

Kat’s longing to be a mother makes this book an emotional read, but the layers to all the characters also make this the darkest book I’ve ever written. Everyone has a secret!

I had such fun writing this story. There was no planning involved and there were so many twists and turns each day was an adventure. The ending completely took me by surprise and made me gasp out loud and so far, no reader has figured it out either, despite the clues I went back and planted.

 

At the time of publication The Surrogate is featured in a special promotion where the eBook is £0.99/$1.31 across all digital platforms for the next week. You can buy from Amazon here.

You can also find Louise at www.louisejensen.co.uk where she regularly blogs flash fiction and writing tips, and she also spends far too much time over on Twitter.

 

The Business of Books: Jane Cable meets Sunday Times bestseller, Elaine Everest

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THE BUSINESS OF BOOKS: SPREADSHEETS & SAGAS

Jane Cable meets Sunday Times bestseller, Elaine Everest

How much of your working life does the business of books take up?

 

I can honestly say that books take up all my life. When I’m not writing I’m teaching novel writing to my talented students at The Mick Jagger Centre in Dartford, Kent. I’m also a committee member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association so you’ll find me organising social media and blogging for the Association. I would say that over 50% of my working day I’d be working on writing although I’m not creating words. Authors also need to be aware of Public Lending Rights, ALCS and other organisations where we need to keep our book details up to date as this will generate much needed funds,

 

What’s your business model to earn a living from writing?

 

I’ve been a freelance writer for the past twenty years so from the days when I was selling short stories, pitching features to magazines and organizing workshops for writers I’ve been conscious that I have to earn a certain number of pounds each month. Working in accountancy since leaving college, until moving into the writing world, I am addicted to number crunching so spreadsheets and cash flow predictions were part of my daily life. I could always tell at the push of a button if there were lean months ahead and would know to pitch more – and to write more fiction! This has changed slightly since moving onto writing novels as these days I’m aware when royalties and other payments are due and can plan accordingly. Those spreadsheets still come in handy!

 

What do you write and what do you consider to be your major successes?

 

These days I write historical fiction set in the 1930s and 1940s. It is a fascinating period to cover and when not writing I will have my nose in a non-fiction book researching social history, looking for fresh plot settings and generally fleshing out the world where my characters live.

 

My major successes are my novels with Pan Macmillan. Readers have taken my Woolworths Girls to their hearts making the first book a Sunday Times bestseller.

 

Tell me about your latest project.

 

The Butlins Girls was published in May so I’m still busy promoting and blogging about my girls at the end of World War Two. As I write this I’m looking at the final book edits for Christmas At Woolworths, which will be published in November, and these have to be completed by – tomorrow! I know there’s an email notifying me that first edits will be with me in two days for Carols at Christmas, a novella that will be published a few weeks before CAW. Writing wise I’m working on Wartime at Woolworths, which will take my girls through to the end of 1944. This will be published in May 2018. I’ve found the trick is to stay focused on the current work in progress while trying to fit all other aspects of my writing around it – and remembering to stop and eat occasionally. I can recommend writing retreats where I find working whilst gazing out to sea from my desk can be a welcome rest from my desk at home!

 

 

 

Elaine Everest has written widely for women’s magazines, with both short stories and features. When she isn’t writing, Elaine runs The Write Place creative writing school in Dartford, Kent, and runs social media for the Romantic Novelists’ Association. Follow Elaine on Twitter @ElaineEverest.

 

 

Inaugural Kobo Book Report Reveals Top eReading Trends from 2014

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gone_girl_ver2_xlgAll readers of Frost Magazine know that we love books. Supporting authors and sharing what we loved to read is very important to us. So we found the Inaugural Kobo Book Report Reveals Top eReading Trends from 2014 very interesting indeed. Gone Girl and The Fault in Our Stars are no surprises but there are a few others that we must put on our reading list from kobo.com

It’s been an exciting year in the world of publishing, and kobo’s inaugural Book Report reveals insightful 2014 eReading trends from its world-class platform, which includes a bookstore of more than 4.2 million titles.

 

“Overall, the eBook market makes up about $14.5 billion in sales globally and is expected to reach more than $22 billion by 2017,” said Michael Tamblyn, President and Chief Content Officer, Kobo.  “The advances that we’re seeing year-over-year are incredible, with more publishers, users and authors changing the face of the industry at an unprecedented pace.”

 

“This year, we wanted to look beyond the bestseller. A book’s position on the bestseller list may indicate it’s bought, but that isn’t the same as it being read or finished,” said Tamblyn. “A lot of readers have multiple novels on the go at any given time, which means they may not always read one book from start to finish before jumping into the next great story. People may wait days, months, or even until the following year to finish certain titles. And many exercise that inalienable reader’s right to set down a book if it doesn’t hold their interest.”

 

The typical bestseller list often looks very different when you compare books purchased versus books read cover to cover. In fact, the most completed book doesn’t even feature on the UK Bestseller List (as seen below); Rotten to The Core by Casey Kelleher was the most completed book in the UK, with 83% of people reading it cover to cover. Whereas, the number one bestselling ebook in the UK, One Cold Night by Latia Lief was only completed by 69% of those who read it.  Although James Patterson’s books do not feature on the Top Ten Most Completed Books of 2014 list, overall James Patterson was the most completed author in the UK for his entire portfolio of books.

 

Kobo Book Report’s UK Bestseller List – ebookshelf must haves 

  1. One Cold Night – Katia Lief
  2. Gone Again – Doug Johnstone
  3. Gone Girl  – Gillian Flynn
  4. The Fault in Our Stars – John Green
  5. My Sister’s Keeper  – Bill Benners
  6. The Husband’s Secret – Liane Moriarty
  7. The Cuckoo’s Calling – Robert Galbraith
  8. Her Last Letter – Nancy C. Johnson
  9. Twelve Years a Slave – Solomon Northup
  10. Bloody Valentine – James Patterson

 

 

UK’s TOP PAGE-TURNERS – The Most Completed Books of 2014

  1. Rotten to the Core – Casey Kelleher
  2. The Tycoon’s Vacation – Melody Anne
  3. The Traitor – Kimberley Chambers
  4. Concealed in Death – J. D. Robb
  5. Wrongful Death – Lynda La Plante
  6. All Revved Up – Sylvia Day
  7. Present Danger – Stella Rimington
  8. The Empty Cradle – Rosie Goodwin
  9. The Witness – Nora Roberts
  10. The Promise (Fallen Star Series, Book 4) – Jessica Sorensen

 

Homegrown British Talent
As the book world becomes ever more international, British readers continue to love British writers, with a remarkable one third of the Kobo UK’s Top 100 Bestseller’s books written by British authors. Lee Child features heavily, with Not a Drill (A Jack Reacher short story), James Penney’s New Identity/Guy Walks Into a Bar (Storycuts), Killing Floor: (Jack Reacher 1), and Deep Down (A Jack Reacher short story) all featuring in the Top 100 Bestseller’s list. Fiona Gibson also featured twice with Take Mum Out, and The Great Escape. Other notable homegrown talent includes J.K Rowling (and her pseudonym Robert Galbraith), Helen Fielding – Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, Kate Atkinson- Life After Life and E.L. James – Fifty Shades of Grey.

 

Different authors also show up in the UK’s Most Completed list, with 14 of the top 100 books being written by British authors. These include Adele Parks – The State We’re In, three books by Carole Matthews (A Place to Call Home, Summer Daydreams, A Cottage by the Sea), Jessie Keane – Ruthless, and Judy Finnigan – Eloise.

 

Beating the January Blues
Not surprisingly, self-improvement books, including cookbooks, health, and self-help books are more popular during the month of January than at any other time of year. More self-improvement books and books overall were downloaded in January than any other month, likely to kick-off some New Year’s resolutions.

 

It seems that Monday is the most popular day of the week to complete a book in the UK (16%), with Friday being the least popular day, with only 13% of book completed at the end of the week.

 

Opening up the Nightstand Drawer
Overall, Brits find Romance to be the most engaging genre, with 62 per cent completion, followed by Crime & Thriller (61 per cent) and Fantasy (60 per cent).  Romance is also the most engaging genre in Italy (74 per cent), the Netherlands (67 per cent) and Canada (62 per cent), while the French (70 per cent), Australians and New Zealanders (64 per cent), and Americans (44 per cent) prefer a good Mystery.

 

Business and celebrity-focused books also enjoyed popularity in the UK in 2014. Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt by Michael Lewis came out as the top seller perhaps due to his literary status of being the most famous non-fiction writer working today. While reality TV Geordie Shore’s Vicky Pattison’s I Didn’t Come Here to Make Friends, David Walliams Camp David, and Lynda Bellingham’s heartbreaking memoir There’s Something I’ve Been Dying to Tell You, came top of the most completed celebrity biographies.

 

From the eScreen to the Big Screen
Several books made their big-screen debut late in 2013 and into 2014, including Twelve Years a Slave, The Best of Me, and Gone Girl.  The release of Gone Girl on the 3rd of October in the UK this year certainly created a ripple effect which transferred into book sales. Over a three month period, 34% of book sales took place in the week prior and the week after the film release.

 

Kids Love Kobo
Kids are going digital! Children’s eBooks, including picture books, children’s and young adult novels are gaining traction as parents are realising the appeal of eReaders for a tech-savvy generation.   Children’s titles, available at the Kobo Kids’ Store offering 100,000 titles, made up more than 6 per cent of Kobo’s overall 2014 book sales. This kid-friendly browsing experience even lets parents set up reading allowances so that kids have the freedom to select their own eBooks without needing access to a credit card.

 

And top kids’ picks for 2014? The younger generation is definitely in-the-know when it comes to new releases, so it was no surprise to see three of the most anticipated 2014 titles topping kids’ wish lists this year. The Dairy of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul by Jeff Kinney led the pack followed by Gangsta Granny by David Walliams and The Iron Trial by Holly Black.

 

The new 6.8-inch HD Kobo Aura H2O is available in black and retails for £139.99 online at kobo.com and in-store in the UK.

 

 

 

Gone Girl {Film Review}

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This particular movie was built on the marketing that you had to see this movie (or read the book) to understand why you had to go see it yourself. The trailers were reminiscent to when Alfred Hitchcock gave away little to nothing about the plot, only snippets here and there. Our curiosity only grew and grew from movie posters designed as ‘Missing Person’ posters and word of mouth. David Fincher had our curiosity and now has our attention. That is the power Fincher has used to full use and the film itself doesn’t disappoint.

 

The movie is based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Gillian Flynn (who also wrote the screenplay). The story revolves around Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck), who one morning on his wedding anniversary finds his wife Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) missing. The police investigate the crime scene, finding no evidence to suspect a kidnapping. Eventually, everyone starts pointing fingers at

gone_girl_ver2_xlgNick, from police, neighbours and even talk show hosts. Though as the story progresses, we cut back to diary entries from Amy herself. Giving two completely different perspectives and asking ourselves; who is telling the truth?

 

This movie is the definition of edge-on-your-seat. Fincher is the master of mystery/thriller filmmaking (as evidenced in Se7en, The Game and Zodiac). His eye to detail is so immaculate, with the production design to the bleak but beautiful cinematography by Jeff Cronenweth. Every clue is never left unnoticed. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is discomforting but also hypnotic (as Fincher said when giving direction for the score “Think about the really terrible music you hear in massage parlors. The way that it artificially tries to make you feel like everything’s OK. And then imagine that sound starting to curdle and unravel.“). That direction to the music is certainly what is felt through-out the entire duration of the movie. The more we find out Nick and Amy’s marriage, the more we realise it is not what we perceived from the start. This movie satarises the media, forcing us to rethink how we look at the stories that are laid in front of us. Even when answers are not met or answered, we’re so eager to accuse anyone to have some sort of resolution (just like Robert Graysmith in Zodiac). Even when one talk show host (played by Missi Pyle) flat out accuses Nick to not only be Amy’s killer but also accuses him to have a incestuous relationship with his sister.

 

Ben Affleck is continuing to mature as an actor. Fincher cast him the part as Nick Dunne because Affleck himself has been through hell in the eyes of the media and public. You can certainly see the weight that has been brought down on his shoulders. The supporting cast members were equally terrific, especially the surprise performance from Tyler Perry (probably given the most hilarious line in the entire movie, and one that summarises the Dunne’s; “You two are the most fucked up people I’ve ever met and I deal with fucked up people for a living.“) Though the stand-out performance has to be Rosamund Pike as Amy Dunne. She is unbelievably outstanding and one I would vote to get a Best Actress nomination. As mentioned earlier, talking more about her role would reveal a lot of the twists. Suffice to say, it is a performance everyone will be talking about the rest of the year (especially the ending may make couples feel uncomfortable or at least awkward).

 

Overall; David Fincher delivers an intense, no holds barred thriller. It is expertly crafted from everyone in the production. Stellar performances and award-worthy performance from Rosamund Pike. Easily one of the best movies of this year and highly recommended.

4 out of 5

Bestseller Enables Those In Financial Or Emotional Debt To Turn Life Around

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 By 27, she owed £2million.


By 29, she was debt-free.

 

By 35, she was worth £4million.

 

The Compass of Now  follows one woman’s incredible journey from destitute widow to one of the world’s most powerful entrepreneurs and inspirational leaders.

 

the compass of nowIt documents, in moving detail, how she fought back from the brink of financial ruin just months after giving birth and then suddenly losing husband to a heart attack, and emerged emotionally stronger – and significantly richer – than she could have ever imagined.

 

But The Compass of Now is more than just an inspirational success story. It is the definitive guide to taking control of your finances – and your life. It’s step-by-step advice to financial and emotional freedom has already made the book a global phenomenon with more than 1.4million sales worldwide.

 

Author and self-help guru DDnard is the bestselling writer of all time in her native Thailand and one of the country’s most sought-after celebrities. She is now set to become a household name in Britain with the release of an English-language version of The Compass of Now, which hits the shelves for the first time this month.

 

This internationally-acclaimed title, released through Life Compass Publishing, merges the best of Eastern and Western world thinking, mindfulness and emotional healing techniques to reveal the practical, tried-and-tested steps that Brits – including the estimated 70 per cent in debt – can take in order to:

–          Manage and overcome personal debt

–          Become financially and emotionally free

–          Unleash their full potential and live life to the fullest

Speaking about the 216-page, full-colour paperback, DDnard, who lives in Bangpakong, Thailand, said: “This inspiring book is filled with the message of hope and personal strength, and will help you come to understand that your future truly is in your own hands.”

The Compass of Now by DDnard (Life Compass Co., Ltd.) is available now.