I know there are another few weeks to
go before we welcome 2014, but I think now is the right time to let you know
how 2013 has been treating me.
Sales of the Tom Gray thrillers have
exceeded all expectations. In fact, I was forced to register for UK VAT
earlier this month after reaching the threshold. The early months were
nothing special, but once Gray Justice went onto the Amazon free list in late
February, they exploded. Gray Justice spent over 8 weeks as the Amazon UK
number 1 free download, which led to bumper sales of Gray Resurrection and Gray
Redemption. To everyone who purchased a copy, I'm truly grateful.
Sadly, the tax man will get roughly half of the royalties, and my wife has her eye on a new bathroom and kitchen, so I can kiss goodbye to the rest. I was hoping to use the money to fund a 2-year hiatus from the day job so that I could write full time, but after the above have had their share, I’ll be lucky to get two weeks off.
Sadly, the tax man will get roughly half of the royalties, and my wife has her eye on a new bathroom and kitchen, so I can kiss goodbye to the rest. I was hoping to use the money to fund a 2-year hiatus from the day job so that I could write full time, but after the above have had their share, I’ll be lucky to get two weeks off.
In the meantime, there’s good news and
bad news for Tom Gray fans. I’ve been working hard all year on his next
adventure, and I’m glad to say I've finished it. The bad news is, it isn’t going
to be released until July 2014.
Why not, I hear you cry?
It’s because I was approached by Thomas
and Mercer, an Amazon imprint, and offered a 4-book deal for the Tom Gray
series. I penned the agreement in October and they are currently
working to edit and proof the first three books prior to a re-release in January 2014, along with some brand new covers. Book 4 is going to be put
through the wringer, too, and while that’s going on I’ll start work on my next
title. At this stage I don’t know if book 5 will be another Tom Gray
thriller, but I’ll keep you all posted.
As it is an Amazon company, the books will be exclusive to that site, so
if you’ve previously purchased the Tom Gray books from other distributors, I’m
afraid you’ll have to download the Kindle app to continue enjoying the series.
I’m really excited about this
deal. Every author wants to get noticed on Amazon, and my books should
get a fair few days on the front page. You can’t ask for better exposure
than that. I may realise
my dream of paying off the mortgage and quitting work to write for a living, I
may not. I guess I’ll know in the next 12 months.
So, all in all, not a bad year for Tom
Gray and the gang.
