My cynical side

  New Year is the time for Book Lists.

Books we should have read in the past year, and books we should look out for in the coming year.

I have to confess I almost never find anything on those lists that I have read or will likely read. I don't know who puts these lists together but I suspect it may be  people who a) work in the wide book world b) wish to promote certain books that suit their taste but not that of anyone else. I am pretty sure it won't be put together on the highest number of book sales. It may well be put together on how much a publisher is willing to pay to have it listed but that's my cynical side showing through.

Does anyone find strange things happening in the IT world? My heart has skipped several times over this holiday period when going to a site I use almost daily I found it has changed it's format. Sometimes it has stayed in the new format and sometimes it has reverted to its normal form after a day or two. Either way it is distressing  (not to a life threatening degree!) - perhaps I should have said annoying, which is more true to my feeling at the time - because then I have to spend time figuring out what has changed and how to deal with it. If the site deals with statistics then it is doubly annoying because years of figures can be lost. 

I've found that changing the title of an e-book on KDP means loss of sales reportage, reads, everything  prior to the date the change was made.  Had I known that I would have taken precautions, might not have made the change at all. Perhaps I ought to have realised it would happen. But I didn't, so I thought I would warn others.

Am I using AI tools?

  I asked Google Chrome what the year 2026 would bring for indie authors. Here is what it told me:-


"For indie authors, the new year is expected to bring continued growth in AI-assisted tools, increased need for strong author branding amid content saturation, and a rise in opportunities for direct-to-consumer sales and global reach. The environment will remain competitive but full of potential for those who adapt and innovate.

It seems to me that we are all using AI tools whether we know it or not. People tell me Photoshop is basically AI, and editing programmes like Grammarly are too. I used to pay to use Grammarly but now there is an equivalent on  my pc, so I use that free of charge. Am I now using AI tools?

I'm told via social media that some authors are already using AI to "write" half a dozen books a year but -I suspect readers will soon notice the difference. AI isn't perfect; the programme tells you it might make mistakes. Seasons, eye colour, names etc may all inadvertently change or it is possible the plot may change halfway through the story. 

If an author has a strong voice such easily identifiable, then I suppose that makes it easy for AI to imitate. Those authors with a less strong voice may squeak through without being endlessly copied. 

It also suggests that those who have the expertise may do well to sell through their own website and abandoned the popular sales channels. More authors will venture into the podcast and audio markets. Others will collaborate on promotions and gain that way. 

I am looking to unpublish some of my paperback versions. They don't sell well and take a lotmore effort to produce than an ebook. Cover measurements were always a minefield for me.

Matho never went to Hampton Court

 

Re-branding completed on the Matho Spirston Saga! Fair Border Bride is now officially the prequel to the trilogy, and is now priced at just 99p. Good news for anyone who likes reading historical fiction.

Matho never went to Hampton Court but he may get there in the future. Not that I think Henry VIII would be pleased to see him. Perhaps he'd better stay north of the border now.

Working on a new murder mystery and trying to disentangle all the threads I had. I started it some time ago and got myself in  a muddle, so left it alone for a while and wrote a romance which happily is doing quite well. This new book may well be called Saturday Morning Murder.

Christmas is almost upon us, and everything is likely to go quiet for a while. Either that or the internet will explode! Whichever it proves to be - Have a wonderful Festive Season!

Time for a re-think, PR wise

There is such a lot of old clutter on Amazon if you care to look - because Amazon continue to offer old paperbacks for sale and there's nothing authors can do about it if the rights  belong to a publishing company - even though the company has gone forever. Old covers, old editions proliferate, plus reviews. Hopefully, most people look only for the new stuff and don't see all the dross!

While wishing everyone a Happy Christmas, I am thinking of updating my books and bringing titles together where I can. For example: I have 4 books that I uploaded to KDP as I finished writing them  -  several years apart. They should really be brought together as one complete package. I called it the Scots Queen Series but really the hero, and the thread throughout the four books is, Matho. I aim to PR them under this sort of banner now:

THE MATHO SPIRSTON SAGA

Love, loyalty, and survival across the Borders of England, Scotland, and France.

From the blazing borderlands of Tudor England to the storm-lashed castles of Scotland and the treacherous courts of France, one man’s courage is tested against impossible odds.

Matho Spirston begins as a humble guard, but fate thrusts him into the heart of history—caught between kings and queens, ambition and betrayal, love and loss. Whether aiding a doomed romance, stealing a queen for England, or carrying secret letters across war-torn Europe, Matho must fight not only for survival but for the chance to protect those he loves.

This sweeping saga blends romance, adventure, and political intrigue in the turbulent mid-sixteenth century. Perfect for fans of historical fiction who crave daring heroes, feisty heroines, and the perilous dance of duty and desire.

Start with Fair Border Bride, the gripping prequel, and follow Matho through Abduction, The Queen’s Courier, and Queen’s Letters for a journey you won’t forget.

Lady Phee's Scandal

 Finally - it is finished!

The e-book is now for sale on Amazon. I shall be watching to see what happens for the internet is awash with rumours and people telling the world that the Amazon algorithm has changed recently which is the reason  so many authors are finding their sales dropping. 

At the same time more and more self-professed gurus are claiming they know the secret and will tell what it is - for a small fee, of course. I have not succumbed. 

I will wait and see what happens and believe me I shall be watching with interest! Just let me say I think Lady Phee is worth a read. (But then I would, wouldn't I? ) 

I am considering making it free for the first few days to see if that helps spread the word.

LADY PHEE’S SCANDAL A Regency Romance

Submitted 2 Dec 2025 $3.99 or £2.99

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G4RSYN6S

Changes Afoot

Improvements all round on my new cover due to some welcome comments on the Indie Cover Project. Thanks guys!

I know I ought to  ask a designer to do the cover for me, but I so enjoy doing it myself. (I think if I had been a young person choosing a career in the last decade or so I would have covered the subject correctly. Alas, graphic designer was not an option when I was choosing a career. No one had dreamed that books might sometimes be read on a small hand held screen...)

I am now loading it up to KDP. As always, I end up "losing" the file among all my files and struggle to get the right file loaded. I think I am not consistent enough with what I do. The gap between publishing titles is long enough for me to forget how I did it last time and I suspect KDP changes how it wants it done! But I'll get there in the end, and hopefully before the end of the year. I'd like it to be published in time for Christmas, and why not? 

I was surprised to see that Shutterstock, which is where I get most all of the images I use, now has AI generated images. That was bit of a surprise and I had chosen this one before I realised it was one of them. 

Cringing at the idea

 I lied. I had not finished my new book. It seems to want to go on and on!

 I added another two chapters and did yet another full edit. 

The title is now Lady Phee's Scandal. I've done the cover - and may yet tweek the title placement, but  it's getting there. I shall let it rest for now and see what I think of it all tomorrow.

I intend to have this done and on the market within the month though  I can't be sure of the exact date. Certainly before Christmas. 

Received an early Christmas present of a new mini I-pad this week and I'm busy switching things over. My old one was fifth generation so there are quite a few changes in how to use the technology. Lots of information automatically switches over, including photographs, which is a boon. I had thought I'd have to move them all over individually and was cringing at the idea. 

There are so many pitfalls with technology these days. I do wonder why these cards** that scan every other card in the vicinity (illegally) and then go and take all the cash out of someone's bank are allowed to be on sale. (That is if they are on sale.) I am sure they cannot have a legitimate purpose. Safer to go back to cash, really, especially now the banks are departing the highstreets. We've needed to travel twenty miles to reach a bank since the middle of this year. We can go to the post office on the High Street, so I'm told, but I have not done that yet. There are 2 machines  which will give cash but they are hardly ever working. 

**An RFID card is a card that uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to wirelessly transmit data to a reader. It contains a chip and an antenna to communicate through radio waves, enabling uses like contactless payments, security access, and electric vehicle (EV) charging authentication. The card is tapped or held near a compatible reader, which then transmits and reads the data to complete an action, such as granting access or processing a payment.