Great ideas
I had this great idea – publish a novella I wrote years ago on mental health and depression and give the proceeds to a charity – e.g. Mind.
The idea is to supply Mind charity shops with paperback copies for £2 and they would sell them for £3+
I would make nothing, but then, like most fiction writers, I make next to nothing anyway. No loss there then. And if Mind shifted a few thousand, my Amazon algorithm would benefit, as would my sales figures. That brought me back to another question posed by a writer friend in the US.
The rub
Elyse Salpeter asked why so many people start reading our stuff on Kindle Unlimited and stop after 14 pages? My theory is, we are too cheap. When I was a kid, I took half what I earned on my Saturday job to the bookshop as soon as I’d been paid and bought books. I still have most, now very yellow and they include Metamorphoses and The Age of Reason.
It’s fair to say I was clueless, but read them cover to cover because I had worked as a delivery boy, (a job I hated) for several hours, in all weathers, to get them. I was committed to my purchase. Nowadays, eBooks are pitched at £0.99 and free with KUL. No commitment there then!
And that’s why my charity shop idea won’t work. I’m guessing charity shops are inundated with second hand books which they can’t move for £0.10 per item. Anyone spotting my book for £3 would be scandalised!
Give it a go
I’m going to try, anyway and have contacted Mind. If you buy a copy – the profit goes to them, I promise. If you read it on KUL, keep turning pages, please.
Fashion
It’s not fashionable to write about mental health, but sometimes one has to try and point out that actions have consequences, so this novella is aimed at those in power, who walk away from the consequences and retire to their yacht, leaving tens of thousands unemployed and without a pension fund.
And it is about politicians who short our currency to make a quick few quid, but in the process cease to operate in the best interest of the country and its economy. Both these groups have betrayed their nation.
But above all, it is about the people left to pick up the pieces, pay their taxes and try to make ends meet, for themselves and for the country. They are the heroes.
Beth and Manfred are my chosen few, along with Henrietta, their guard dog and an ageing Mercedes, which they need in order to find Beth work.
Pretty reads
It’s not a happy story, but we all have to find our solutions in the hostile world of work we occupy so in that sense, it highlights a negative solution.
I have a trusted beta reader, Charlotte, a recovered addict, who entered prostitution to fund her habits. She is now a successful artist and holding her life together. I admire her so much. That was a mighty achievement, the like of which I will never manage. She told me I captured the moment and that is a comment I have treasured and one that gave me the courage to publish The Holy Mere.
Another respected beta reader ended up in tears, which is a relief. The English are so into black humour, they don’t get tragedy anymore and The Holy Mere isn’t meant to be a pretty read.
Clive and Eva La Pensée 