Archive - January 2016

1
My Book Industry Ramblings
2
Symbiosis Launch
3
Symbiosis Countdown
4
Symbiosis Blurb Reveal
5
Symbiosis Front Cover Reveal

My Book Industry Ramblings

Jan 29 2016
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Of late I have been devoting my weekly blog posts to my new psychological thriller, Symbiosis (released last Thursday). Click here to read the reviews. In preparation for the release of Symbiosis I conducted some book industry research, some of which I relay here. I hope you find it interesting.

Amazon6

The bestselling adult Fiction printed book of 2015 was Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee. Total units sold in 2015: 1,599,189.

Amazon’s bestselling book of 2015 was The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. It is set to become a film starring Emily Blunt later this year.

Most fortuitous current book title — Girl on a Train by Alison Waines. Lots of readers confused the title with The Girl On The Train, resulting in tens of thousands of sales for its previously unsung author.

Current bestselling self-published book — A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest. Yes, vampires again.

Most anticipated book of 2016 — There are many books vying for this accolade, including The Last Days of New Paris by China Miéville. This alternative history novel is destined to be a bestseller.

Most anticipated non-fiction book of 2016 — Again this is a matter of opinion. There is certainly a lot of excitement over the release this spring of Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship With a Remarkable Man by William Shatner. It celebrates the man behind Mr. Spock from Star Trek.

2016

Genre currently on the rise — Adult colouring-in books. I was really surprised to discover this. Did I like colouring-in when I was a child? Quite. Do I want to do colouring-in now? Not really. But lots of people do. It’s cathartic apparently. I’m considering trying one out.

Genre to look out for — Bizarro Fiction is an up-and-coming genre. Bizarro Fiction titles are indeed bizarre. Take Adolf in Wonderland for instance.

The most lucrative genres are Romance and Erotica.

And now for some industry news.

Indie authors currently make up about 20% of the book market.

Amazon borrows are growing at the expense of sales. This is not surprising when one considers that Amazon Prime is now in 38% of American households. The Kindle Owner’s Lending Library (KOLL) is certainly controversial, and some well known authors have opted out of it altogether.  Currently I am a fan. This is because KOLL was primarily responsible for lifting my 2nd novel, Necropolis, from obscurity to the lofty position (yesterday morning GMT) of No.11 in the Kindle – Dark Comedy category on Amazon.com.

 

Symbiosis Launch

Jan 21 2016
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I am pleased to announce that Symbiosis is now on sale.

Symbiosis

The Blurb:

Identical twins Talulah and Taliah have never been apart. Viewed as curiosities by children and adults alike, they coexist in an insular world with their own secret language. But being identical doesn’t necessarily mean being equal…

Soon a series of momentous events will send Talulah and Taliah spiralling out of control, setting them on a collision course with a society that views them as two parts of a whole. Will their symbiotic relationship survive?

Moving and laconic, with impressive attention to psychological detail…

Symbiosis

Here are 2 short extracts from Symbiosis:

A staccato burst of cryptophasia piercing the air preludes Talulah’s finger prodding Taliah repeatedly in her arm, each occurrence sending a ripple of anxiety coursing through Taliah’s body, that escalates into waves when her arm is shaken vigorously.

‘You will not regress to cryptophasias, not here!’ shouts Hunter-Thornton. The scarlet-cheeked psychiatrist views with consternation the two expressionless faces staring back at him. ‘At Hunter-Thornton Integrated Counselling Services we accept cognitive disorders in all their manifestations, but insolence we will not. You have been warned.’
‘Ugi derriii bothi baldi.’ It is Talulah who says this.

Amazon.com – paperback ($10.99) & Kindle ($3.26)

Amazon.co.uk – paperback (£6.99) & Kindle (£2.29)

Thank you.

Symbiosis Countdown

Jan 15 2016
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My psychological thriller, Symbiosis, is being released next Thursday (January 21st) now on sale.

Symbiosis

The blurb:

Identical twins Talulah and Taliah have never been apart. Viewed as curiosities by children and adults alike, they coexist in an insular world with their own secret language. But being identical doesn’t necessarily mean being equal…

Soon a series of momentous events will send Talulah and Taliah spiralling out of control, setting them on a collision course with a society that views them as two parts of a whole. Will their symbiotic relationship survive?

Perceptive and poignant, Symbiosis explores our enduring fascination with twins and the complexities of twinship.

Click here to enter the goodreads giveaway for a chance to win one of three autographed copies.

Symbiosis

Here are two short extracts from Symbiosis:

During dinner that evening Talulah and Taliah’s cutlery does not move in unison with one another, and when they reach for their glasses of water, they do so at different times. Their unsynchronised actions continue into dessert, with Talulah rapidly consuming her Petits-Filous yoghurt, whilst Taliah eats hers at a leisurely pace, each time her teaspoon emerges from the pot, only the front end is covered in yoghurt.

‘You will not regress to cryptophasias, not here!’ shouts Hunter-Thornton. The scarlet-cheeked psychiatrist views with consternation the two expressionless faces staring back at him. ‘At Hunter-Thornton Integrated Counselling Services we accept cognitive disorders in all their manifestations, but insolence we will not. You have been warned.’
‘Ugi derriii bothi baldi.’ It is Talulah who says this.

Symbiosis is now available for preorder from Amazon.

Amazon.com – paperback ($10.99) & Kindle ($3.38)

Amazon.co.uk – paperback (£6.99) & Kindle (£2.29)

Symbiosis Blurb Reveal

Jan 08 2016
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There are only 11 days to go until the release of Symbiosis (Publication Date: 21st January 2016). Symbiosis is a Psychological Thriller. It is my third novel (Charles Middleworth & Necropolis). Last week I unveiled the front cover (see below).

Symbiosis

This is the blurb:

Identical twins Talulah and Taliah have never been apart. Viewed as curiosities by children and adults alike, they coexist in an insular world with their own secret language. But being identical doesn’t necessarily mean being equal…

Soon a series of momentous events will send Talulah and Taliah spiralling out of control, setting them on a collision course with a society that views them as two parts of a whole. Will their symbiotic relationship survive?

Perceptive and poignant, Symbiosis explores our enduring fascination with twins and the complexities of twinship.

A valuable addition to the monozygotic canon…

Symbiosis demonstrates Portman’s ability to populate his worlds with peculiar yet plausible characters.

Moving and laconic, with impressive attention to psychological detail…

I am pleased to announce that Symbiosis is now available for preorder from Amazon.

Amazon.com – paperback ($10.99) & Kindle ($3.38)

Amazon.co.uk – paperback (£6.99) & Kindle (£2.29)

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Symbiosis Front Cover Reveal

Jan 01 2016
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Happy New Year everyone! May 2016 prove to be a prosperous year for us all.

Late this morning I spent some time perusing my 2015 Jetpack annual report. If you don’t like stats look away now.

  • This blog received over 14,000 page views in 2015.
  • Visitors came from 123 countries including Kiribati.
  • I wrote 52 blog posts (every Friday afternoon).
  • March 20th was the most popular day with 341 views.
  •  My most viewed post was 7 Famous Writers Who Died Poor.

2016 promises more of the same.

2016

As many of you know my third novel, Symbiosis, is being released later this month (21st January).

Here is some information about Symbiosis.

  • Symbiosis is a Psychological Thriller (a story which emphasises the psychology of its characters and their unstable emotional states).
  • The main characters are twin girls called Talulah and Taliah.
  • Talulah and Taliah speak to each other in a cryptophasia. A cryptophasia is a secret language developed by a set of twins, which only they understand. The word originates from the Latin crypto meaning secret and phasia meaning speech.
  • The book’s themes include mental health.
  • Symbiosis explores our enduring fascination with twins and the complexities of twinship.

And now for the first time I present Symbiosis’s front cover.

Symbiosis

I hope you like it as much as I do.

Happy New Year.

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