markkingtheauthor@gmail.com
www.bookguild.co.uk
www.danieljonesfrenzy.co.uk
twitter@author
FRENZY by Mark King
ISBN 9781846248771
I came up with the title of my blog because I felt I was always hanging around for other people as I set out on my journey to become a published author. I decided at an early stage to take control of the situation so I was always planning my next step along the process. I took nothing for granted, and planned what to do at every stage of rejection that was to come along. This was very important in finally getting my book FRENZY published.
Every rejection hurt me deeply, but only for a day or two, and then I moved on because I had the next stage planned. I had an open mind, I was prepared to listen, and I mean listen to every rejection. Most people like to think they can listen but in truth; they listen but they do not hear.
Every rejection like I said hurts, but every rejection told me what to do next because I listened, and I had planned my next step expecting to receive a rejection.
This is what you need to do in what ever walk of life you follow. Expect rejection, plan for it, take in on the chin, learn from it, and move on.
So we come back to the title of today's blog; always-hanging-around, and why I'm still hanging around. FRENZY has been released, it has reached the best 5% top seller on www.amazon.co.uk, I am building a very loyal fan base through out the world including in the U.K, America, Germany, Russia, Canada, South America and many other countries with people who have bought FRENZY by Mark King, and who have followed my life through this blog, and at twitter@author_king.
FRENZY is an entry in the EDP www.edp24.co.uk Jarrold www.jarrold.co.uk East Anglia Book Award for 2013. It was an entry yesterday but the final round is not annouched until November so once again I'm hanging around for the results. Well that's what a lot of other author's will be doing, but not me. Frenzy's future does rely on this one event, but as I always say there is a but, I do believe it will get into the final of it's class because it's not only a very well written book, but it's also very exciting to read, and just stunning unique.
Regards
Mark
Friday 31 May 2013
Wednesday 29 May 2013
Risk Takers
markkingtheauthor@gmail.com
www.bookguild.co.uk
www.danieljonesfrenzy.co.uk
twitter@author_king
FRENZY by Mark King
ISBN 9781846248771
Back to normal today, well as normal as life can be in the King household except for the aching muscles left over from my one night camping adventure in our back garden.
As I've said before 'I will try anything once and if I like it I will do it again, and if I don't then I won't.' I do enjoy being a writer and it was a massive gamble I took to quit a secure job, and go for broke with my writing career.
I admire anyone who will give things a go. It's very simple to always take the easy road in life, and then slag off other people who try but fail, or as is normally the case to double your dislike for them just because they end up succeeding.
Some people who fit this model are the guys and girls at a new monthly magazine that hit the streets in my part of the world at www.icenimagazine.co.uk. For some years now society has been in an economic flux which has effected tens of millions of people around the world. Most have shuffled through it the best they can, but some have decided to turn a negative into a positive.
So if you are someone who has taken a risk like the guys at Iceni Magazine then I wish you all the best, and if you haven't then give at least give them your support.
Regards
Mark
www.bookguild.co.uk
www.danieljonesfrenzy.co.uk
twitter@author_king
FRENZY by Mark King
ISBN 9781846248771
Back to normal today, well as normal as life can be in the King household except for the aching muscles left over from my one night camping adventure in our back garden.
As I've said before 'I will try anything once and if I like it I will do it again, and if I don't then I won't.' I do enjoy being a writer and it was a massive gamble I took to quit a secure job, and go for broke with my writing career.
I admire anyone who will give things a go. It's very simple to always take the easy road in life, and then slag off other people who try but fail, or as is normally the case to double your dislike for them just because they end up succeeding.
Some people who fit this model are the guys and girls at a new monthly magazine that hit the streets in my part of the world at www.icenimagazine.co.uk. For some years now society has been in an economic flux which has effected tens of millions of people around the world. Most have shuffled through it the best they can, but some have decided to turn a negative into a positive.
So if you are someone who has taken a risk like the guys at Iceni Magazine then I wish you all the best, and if you haven't then give at least give them your support.
Regards
Mark
Monday 27 May 2013
What next?
markkingtheauthor@gmail.com
www.bookguild.co.uk
www.danieljonesfrenzy.co.uk
twitter@author_king
FRENZY by Mark King
ISBN 9781846248771
What next? That very thought was going through my head last night as the family and I slept in our back garden. Let me tell you what was going on. One word says it all; Camping. Well in our case it was more of a case of tenting because we have decided to go camping in three weeks time. We are spending a long weekend at a lovely site at www.kellingheath.co.uk. We went two years ago to very same place after we borrowed a neighbours tent. The family loved it so much we bought a bargain tent in a sale, and it's been sitting in the garage ever since. Until last night that is.
We decided that as it's another bank holiday weekend we would try out the tent by erecting it in our own back garden and spending Sunday night under canvas. When I say we what I should say is the wife and children because I was quite happy to sleep in my comfortable bed.
I must admit that I do like my two weeks in the sun at a decent hotel with a pool to lounge about, but as the finances are tight at the moment camping the U.K is the best I can do.
So there I was last night and did I get any sleep? Not much. Fist of all it got very cold once the sun had waved its last good bye, and it didn't take long to get damp either. My air bed was uncomfortable and when I thought I would at last get to sleep my son wanted the toilet.
I had told everyone if they wanted to answer a call of nature during the night they would have to go behind a bush in the garden, but my wife was having non of it so we ended up having to dart through the cold, back into the house, and then when finished dart back to the tent.
What next I thought. Slowly I started to drift off when the wife thought she could hear an intruder in the garden. The fence rattled then there was a thud on the dirt before a presence was felt investigating the tent. It was a bloody cat.
I was finally falling to sleep when the birds started to tweet their early morning calls to announce that the sun was on it's way. Boy o boy were they loud.
I have been knacked all day but never mind. The children just loved every moment of it and that's all that counts. We spent the morning clearing up and putting the tent away ready for our camping trip, and here I am now writing Mondays blog. I could have given it a miss today but, and as I say there is always a but, I didn't want to let down the many many people from not just the U.K, and America, and Germany, and Russia, and Canada, and New Zealand, but from all all the other parts of this wonderful world who seem to enjoy reading my thrice weekly writings.
So I'm looking forward to a good nights sleep; that's of course as long as our neighbours don't decide to have a drunken jacuzzi night in their back garden.
Sleep tight.
Regards
Mark
www.bookguild.co.uk
www.danieljonesfrenzy.co.uk
twitter@author_king
FRENZY by Mark King
ISBN 9781846248771
What next? That very thought was going through my head last night as the family and I slept in our back garden. Let me tell you what was going on. One word says it all; Camping. Well in our case it was more of a case of tenting because we have decided to go camping in three weeks time. We are spending a long weekend at a lovely site at www.kellingheath.co.uk. We went two years ago to very same place after we borrowed a neighbours tent. The family loved it so much we bought a bargain tent in a sale, and it's been sitting in the garage ever since. Until last night that is.
We decided that as it's another bank holiday weekend we would try out the tent by erecting it in our own back garden and spending Sunday night under canvas. When I say we what I should say is the wife and children because I was quite happy to sleep in my comfortable bed.
I must admit that I do like my two weeks in the sun at a decent hotel with a pool to lounge about, but as the finances are tight at the moment camping the U.K is the best I can do.
So there I was last night and did I get any sleep? Not much. Fist of all it got very cold once the sun had waved its last good bye, and it didn't take long to get damp either. My air bed was uncomfortable and when I thought I would at last get to sleep my son wanted the toilet.
I had told everyone if they wanted to answer a call of nature during the night they would have to go behind a bush in the garden, but my wife was having non of it so we ended up having to dart through the cold, back into the house, and then when finished dart back to the tent.
What next I thought. Slowly I started to drift off when the wife thought she could hear an intruder in the garden. The fence rattled then there was a thud on the dirt before a presence was felt investigating the tent. It was a bloody cat.
I was finally falling to sleep when the birds started to tweet their early morning calls to announce that the sun was on it's way. Boy o boy were they loud.
I have been knacked all day but never mind. The children just loved every moment of it and that's all that counts. We spent the morning clearing up and putting the tent away ready for our camping trip, and here I am now writing Mondays blog. I could have given it a miss today but, and as I say there is always a but, I didn't want to let down the many many people from not just the U.K, and America, and Germany, and Russia, and Canada, and New Zealand, but from all all the other parts of this wonderful world who seem to enjoy reading my thrice weekly writings.
So I'm looking forward to a good nights sleep; that's of course as long as our neighbours don't decide to have a drunken jacuzzi night in their back garden.
Sleep tight.
Regards
Mark
Friday 24 May 2013
The conspiracy
markkingtheauthor@gmail.com
www.bookguild.co.uk
www.danieljonesfrenzy.co.uk
twitter@author_king
FRENZY by Mark King
ISBN 9781846248771
In Japan there is a famous painting of a giant wave called the Tsunamis. For centuries scholars have argued about if the painting was based on legend or on fact, but what they all did agree was that they would never know. How wrong were they?
Within a decade two massive tsunamis were to cause mass death and destruction. In the case of the second one the Japanese were to find out that the legend was not a story, but was based on fact as a massive tsunamis knocked into the country. Two nuclear power stations were destroyed and if the other four on site had gone the same way then the Japanese would have become the new Jews of history. The whole island would have had to be evacuated, and the whole nation would have wandered the earth for the next two thousands years before they could return to their home land.
This leads me to what happened this week in Oklahoma and the tornado the size of which people have never seen before. Event after event caused by mother nature has been more terrible than the last and more than we dare to imagine. From continent wide flooding in Australia to droughts in Russia and America.
So what is causing it?
Well if you want to know and are one of the many people who follow this blog every week from around the world then read chapter 11 The Great Silence, and chapter 20 The Diary in FRENZY, and you will have your answer.
Our glorious ruling class will scoff, and cajole us ordinary people into thinking we are wrong just as they did when leading us into a pointless war in the middle east which has now caused a deadly, and horrendous civil war throughout the Muslim world. Just like they also did with the world financial system when they lied to us, and said that uncontrolled capitalism would bring untold riches to all when in fact it was the biggest theft of wealth from so many by so few.
So go purchase your copy of FRENZY by Mark King, read it and then discuss what I have said.
Just one last passing thought; NASA was for its first four decades an institution of exploration pushing the boundaries of human endeavour and travel. For the last decade it has given up on this and has a new mission as it concocts different means of defence while it looks into deep space!
Regards
Mark
www.bookguild.co.uk
www.danieljonesfrenzy.co.uk
twitter@author_king
FRENZY by Mark King
ISBN 9781846248771
In Japan there is a famous painting of a giant wave called the Tsunamis. For centuries scholars have argued about if the painting was based on legend or on fact, but what they all did agree was that they would never know. How wrong were they?
Within a decade two massive tsunamis were to cause mass death and destruction. In the case of the second one the Japanese were to find out that the legend was not a story, but was based on fact as a massive tsunamis knocked into the country. Two nuclear power stations were destroyed and if the other four on site had gone the same way then the Japanese would have become the new Jews of history. The whole island would have had to be evacuated, and the whole nation would have wandered the earth for the next two thousands years before they could return to their home land.
This leads me to what happened this week in Oklahoma and the tornado the size of which people have never seen before. Event after event caused by mother nature has been more terrible than the last and more than we dare to imagine. From continent wide flooding in Australia to droughts in Russia and America.
So what is causing it?
Well if you want to know and are one of the many people who follow this blog every week from around the world then read chapter 11 The Great Silence, and chapter 20 The Diary in FRENZY, and you will have your answer.
Our glorious ruling class will scoff, and cajole us ordinary people into thinking we are wrong just as they did when leading us into a pointless war in the middle east which has now caused a deadly, and horrendous civil war throughout the Muslim world. Just like they also did with the world financial system when they lied to us, and said that uncontrolled capitalism would bring untold riches to all when in fact it was the biggest theft of wealth from so many by so few.
So go purchase your copy of FRENZY by Mark King, read it and then discuss what I have said.
Just one last passing thought; NASA was for its first four decades an institution of exploration pushing the boundaries of human endeavour and travel. For the last decade it has given up on this and has a new mission as it concocts different means of defence while it looks into deep space!
Regards
Mark
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Cut off from the world.
markkingtheauthor@gmail.com
www.bookguild.co.uk
www.danieljonesfrenzy.co.uk
twitter@author_king
FRENZY by Mark King
ISBN 9781846248771
On Tuesday the King house hold was cut off from the world. Our cable service went down from 2pm until 9pm. We had no T.V, no broadband or wifi, and no telephone service. We had nothing.
It was a very strange feeling, very strange indeed. I didn't know what to do with myself! I still have an older style 2G mobile phone, and have been holding off from up-grading to a more modern 4G phone; so it's no use for surfing the net or watching the screen. I went into cold turkey, pacing around the house, rubbing my hands, the stress was showing, but after an hour or two the feeling of hopelessness started to fade, and I settled down on the sofa. My two children joined me with a book in hand so we snuggled together as I read them a story.
Once they were in bed I decided to restart reading a very large historical book that I had found very hard going so had not touched it for some weeks. The wife decided to finally put some family photo's into the pictures frames that she had bought years ago and which had been sadly hanging on the walls all these years begging for some attention.
The little ones were safely tucked up in bed so I stretched out on the sofa with my feet up. I could hear the birds outside tweeting their good night calls as the sun slowly set. I had one of them moments which sadly can be hard to find, and that was a moment of total relaxation as I spent two hours doing nothing more than reading.
The evening flowed at a gentle pace and some time around nine-o-clock the cable service was repaired. The T.V flickered into life. the light on the wifi box came on, and the phone clicked on.
The wife and I could have stayed up and watched the news. Bugger that, we went to bed.
The next day when I eventually caught up with the news I saw the horror of the tornado that had devastated parts of Oklahoma, but that's another story for this Fridays blog posting.
Regards
Mark
www.bookguild.co.uk
www.danieljonesfrenzy.co.uk
twitter@author_king
FRENZY by Mark King
ISBN 9781846248771
On Tuesday the King house hold was cut off from the world. Our cable service went down from 2pm until 9pm. We had no T.V, no broadband or wifi, and no telephone service. We had nothing.
It was a very strange feeling, very strange indeed. I didn't know what to do with myself! I still have an older style 2G mobile phone, and have been holding off from up-grading to a more modern 4G phone; so it's no use for surfing the net or watching the screen. I went into cold turkey, pacing around the house, rubbing my hands, the stress was showing, but after an hour or two the feeling of hopelessness started to fade, and I settled down on the sofa. My two children joined me with a book in hand so we snuggled together as I read them a story.
Once they were in bed I decided to restart reading a very large historical book that I had found very hard going so had not touched it for some weeks. The wife decided to finally put some family photo's into the pictures frames that she had bought years ago and which had been sadly hanging on the walls all these years begging for some attention.
The little ones were safely tucked up in bed so I stretched out on the sofa with my feet up. I could hear the birds outside tweeting their good night calls as the sun slowly set. I had one of them moments which sadly can be hard to find, and that was a moment of total relaxation as I spent two hours doing nothing more than reading.
The evening flowed at a gentle pace and some time around nine-o-clock the cable service was repaired. The T.V flickered into life. the light on the wifi box came on, and the phone clicked on.
The wife and I could have stayed up and watched the news. Bugger that, we went to bed.
The next day when I eventually caught up with the news I saw the horror of the tornado that had devastated parts of Oklahoma, but that's another story for this Fridays blog posting.
Regards
Mark
Monday 20 May 2013
The Jacuzzi
markkingtheauthor@gmail.com
www.bookguild.co.uk
www.danieljonesfrenzy.co.uk
twitter@author_king
FRENZY by Mark King
ISBN 9781846248771
We have lived in our present home for two years and nine months. The council district of Broadland was recently stated in the national press to be the best place to live in the U.K when set against a whole set of measures, and I have to say that I must agree with them.
Of course there are always other places you wish you could be at any given moment especially when the weather is crap which it has been here for the last few days, but generally I feel lucky to live in a nice area which I consider to be as near to heaven on earth as you can get.
But, and there is always a but, there are things which can upset this image of perfection. It's like living somewhere tropical that on a good day will take your heart away, but on a bad day will be hit by a hurricane which can take your life away.
Well for me it's not quite a hurricane that gets my pulse flying, but a bloody noisy Jacuzzi. Last summer our neighbours purchased an outside jacuzzi for their back garden which happens to back onto ours, and is only metres away from our bedroom window. Now we've never had any argument with them, and they are generally nice intelligent people until that is when the alcohol starts to flow, and the whirl of jacuzzi bubbles at night becomes to much of a lure for them to resist.
As I write this I am tired, and when I'm tired I get grouchy, and moody, and the reason I'm like this is because of a bloody noisy jacuzzi, and the even more loud, and drunk, people using it on Saturday night. The engine was whirling, the bubbles where bubbling, and above this noise level was a group of people who had to out-shout each other to be heard. It started about 8pm and was still going after 11pm.
Now I like a good party and generally I'm relaxed about other people enjoying themselves, but last Saturday night took the piss. See I told you I was grouchy.
At the end of the day this is a minor irritant and people have to put up with a lot more noise than this. One thing I remember about New York City when I last visited is how noisy it was at night because the dustbin men have to empty the bins every evening, and boy o boy does a dust cart make a racket.
I also read a good article in the daily telegraph www.telegraph.co.uk by Ruth Sherlock on Saturday reporting from Damascus. It explained how people still went to pray in the Sayyida Zainab mosque even though they have to put up with shells exploding above their heads, and bullets whizzing by.
And there are many others out there in this big wide world that have to put up with more than just the annoyance of a jacuzzi; so as we British are supposed to do I will get over my grouchy spell, my mood should improve with the weather, and next time the jucuzzi is bubbling I might see if I could do what they do in Latin America, and join in with the party.
Regards
Mark
www.bookguild.co.uk
www.danieljonesfrenzy.co.uk
twitter@author_king
FRENZY by Mark King
ISBN 9781846248771
We have lived in our present home for two years and nine months. The council district of Broadland was recently stated in the national press to be the best place to live in the U.K when set against a whole set of measures, and I have to say that I must agree with them.
Of course there are always other places you wish you could be at any given moment especially when the weather is crap which it has been here for the last few days, but generally I feel lucky to live in a nice area which I consider to be as near to heaven on earth as you can get.
But, and there is always a but, there are things which can upset this image of perfection. It's like living somewhere tropical that on a good day will take your heart away, but on a bad day will be hit by a hurricane which can take your life away.
Well for me it's not quite a hurricane that gets my pulse flying, but a bloody noisy Jacuzzi. Last summer our neighbours purchased an outside jacuzzi for their back garden which happens to back onto ours, and is only metres away from our bedroom window. Now we've never had any argument with them, and they are generally nice intelligent people until that is when the alcohol starts to flow, and the whirl of jacuzzi bubbles at night becomes to much of a lure for them to resist.
As I write this I am tired, and when I'm tired I get grouchy, and moody, and the reason I'm like this is because of a bloody noisy jacuzzi, and the even more loud, and drunk, people using it on Saturday night. The engine was whirling, the bubbles where bubbling, and above this noise level was a group of people who had to out-shout each other to be heard. It started about 8pm and was still going after 11pm.
Now I like a good party and generally I'm relaxed about other people enjoying themselves, but last Saturday night took the piss. See I told you I was grouchy.
At the end of the day this is a minor irritant and people have to put up with a lot more noise than this. One thing I remember about New York City when I last visited is how noisy it was at night because the dustbin men have to empty the bins every evening, and boy o boy does a dust cart make a racket.
I also read a good article in the daily telegraph www.telegraph.co.uk by Ruth Sherlock on Saturday reporting from Damascus. It explained how people still went to pray in the Sayyida Zainab mosque even though they have to put up with shells exploding above their heads, and bullets whizzing by.
And there are many others out there in this big wide world that have to put up with more than just the annoyance of a jacuzzi; so as we British are supposed to do I will get over my grouchy spell, my mood should improve with the weather, and next time the jucuzzi is bubbling I might see if I could do what they do in Latin America, and join in with the party.
Regards
Mark
Friday 17 May 2013
From Bump to Baby
markkingtheauthor@gmail.com
www.bookguild.co.uk
www.danieljonesfrenzy.co.uk
twitter@author_king
FRENZY by Mark King
ISBN 9781846248771
Since posting Monday's blog FRENZY has kept climbing up the Amazon chart from 69,500 on Monday to reach 16,800 by Wednesday. From the humble beginnings at number 1,500,000 I have watched as first it got into the top 1,000,000, then into the top 500,000, then 250,000 to then break through the 100,000 barrier to finally making into the top 5%. This isn't bad when compering it against some of the other books have been released months, if not years earlier.
It's was like watching your baby grow up.
I was thinking of this the other day as me and the good wife have been clearing out cupboards, the loft, garage, and wardrobes of items ready to be sold off in the mad world of the car boot sale.
A lot of the things that we hope to move on are items purchased before, and during, the early years of our children lives. It very hard to let them go because everyone has a memory attached to it.
One thing I don't like to let go are books. I don't have a massive library, but what I do have is varied in it's content and reach, and this includes a book on babies names and other such related children's topics. Another good book for expectant parents is From Bump to Baby by Natasha Harding. We have no plans to add a third child to the super two we already have, so I don't have a need to keep these type of books on the shelves, but, and like I have said before there is always a but, I just don't like to get rid of a book once I have bought one.
My mother in law has an attic full of toys and other items which she has hoarded, and which she now uses for the grand children. At the time my father-in-law would moan and groan about it especially when they moved house, and all these old things had to move with them.
So the books are staying because you never know! Although I still like think like I'm in my twenties at heart, you never know when a book about babies or there names will come in use full in the future?
Regards
Mark
www.bookguild.co.uk
www.danieljonesfrenzy.co.uk
twitter@author_king
FRENZY by Mark King
ISBN 9781846248771
Since posting Monday's blog FRENZY has kept climbing up the Amazon chart from 69,500 on Monday to reach 16,800 by Wednesday. From the humble beginnings at number 1,500,000 I have watched as first it got into the top 1,000,000, then into the top 500,000, then 250,000 to then break through the 100,000 barrier to finally making into the top 5%. This isn't bad when compering it against some of the other books have been released months, if not years earlier.
It's was like watching your baby grow up.
I was thinking of this the other day as me and the good wife have been clearing out cupboards, the loft, garage, and wardrobes of items ready to be sold off in the mad world of the car boot sale.
A lot of the things that we hope to move on are items purchased before, and during, the early years of our children lives. It very hard to let them go because everyone has a memory attached to it.
One thing I don't like to let go are books. I don't have a massive library, but what I do have is varied in it's content and reach, and this includes a book on babies names and other such related children's topics. Another good book for expectant parents is From Bump to Baby by Natasha Harding. We have no plans to add a third child to the super two we already have, so I don't have a need to keep these type of books on the shelves, but, and like I have said before there is always a but, I just don't like to get rid of a book once I have bought one.
My mother in law has an attic full of toys and other items which she has hoarded, and which she now uses for the grand children. At the time my father-in-law would moan and groan about it especially when they moved house, and all these old things had to move with them.
So the books are staying because you never know! Although I still like think like I'm in my twenties at heart, you never know when a book about babies or there names will come in use full in the future?
Regards
Mark
Wednesday 15 May 2013
Amazon V Waterstones
markkingtheauthor@gmail.com
www.bookguild.co.uk
www.danieljonesfrenzy.co.uk
twitter@author_king
FRENZY by Mark King
ISBN 9781846248771
Amazon www.amazon.co.uk in the U.K stock over 1,500,000 books and in the U.S a lot more than this. They also have a ranking system, and the more your book sells the higher you go. After six weeks on release FRENZY has reached 69.800. That puts my book into the top 5% of sellers. Your ranking will go up and down on a daily bases.
On the high street the main store chain in the u.k is Waterstones. People cry about the death of the book shop because of the competition now offered by on-line retailers, but if my experience with my local Waterstones is to go by then they deserve there final downfall.
Two weeks before it's release date FRENZY was available on both Amazon, Waterstones and other websites for pre-ordering. I went into the Norwich branch of Waterstones to speak to the store management, and advise them that it would be in their interest to have copies of the book ready as friends etc would be in to buy it.
The store manager wasn't in so I spoke to the assistant manager instead. He was as useful as a wet fart in a space suit. 'We might be able to get a copy in,' he said. I tried to explain that the store could sell dozens of copies in the first few weeks, and that people would go else where if they couldn't supply them. I got no where and left him a card with all the details of the book. When I got home I backed up this visit with a direct email to the store manager explaining all. I got no reply.
After FRENZY was released I got reports back from people to say they had been into the Norwich Waterstones store and could not find a copy. What made it worse was that no member of staff made any effect to get the book for them when they made enquiries.
I sent the store manager another email explaining again that as a local author he was loosing trade because of their failure to stock my book. Again their was no reply.
Four weeks after it's release I was still being told people could not purchase a copy of the book in my local Waterstones even though you could buy it all over the world through various websites.
I paid the store another visit and could not find it! It then turned into a joke when I made an enquiry with the young assistant at the counter. She told me,'we don't stock the book,' when I pointed out that it's on their website she double checked and then replied, 'o, you are right, we do stock it.' She stood there giving me a blank look, made no effect to sell it to me, and I walked out in disgust.
I sent the store manager another email and have since then advised everyone to go through Amazon.
I can see now why Waterstones has sunk more times than ships in the Atlantic during the Second World War.
Waterstones stores can't beat Amazon on price because of their larger overheads, and can't beat them on convenience, and although I'm not keen on buzz words, but if they haven't got a unique selling point (and what is more unique then promoting local authors) then Waterstones will end finally doing a Titanic.
Regards
Mark
www.bookguild.co.uk
www.danieljonesfrenzy.co.uk
twitter@author_king
FRENZY by Mark King
ISBN 9781846248771
Amazon www.amazon.co.uk in the U.K stock over 1,500,000 books and in the U.S a lot more than this. They also have a ranking system, and the more your book sells the higher you go. After six weeks on release FRENZY has reached 69.800. That puts my book into the top 5% of sellers. Your ranking will go up and down on a daily bases.
On the high street the main store chain in the u.k is Waterstones. People cry about the death of the book shop because of the competition now offered by on-line retailers, but if my experience with my local Waterstones is to go by then they deserve there final downfall.
Two weeks before it's release date FRENZY was available on both Amazon, Waterstones and other websites for pre-ordering. I went into the Norwich branch of Waterstones to speak to the store management, and advise them that it would be in their interest to have copies of the book ready as friends etc would be in to buy it.
The store manager wasn't in so I spoke to the assistant manager instead. He was as useful as a wet fart in a space suit. 'We might be able to get a copy in,' he said. I tried to explain that the store could sell dozens of copies in the first few weeks, and that people would go else where if they couldn't supply them. I got no where and left him a card with all the details of the book. When I got home I backed up this visit with a direct email to the store manager explaining all. I got no reply.
After FRENZY was released I got reports back from people to say they had been into the Norwich Waterstones store and could not find a copy. What made it worse was that no member of staff made any effect to get the book for them when they made enquiries.
I sent the store manager another email explaining again that as a local author he was loosing trade because of their failure to stock my book. Again their was no reply.
Four weeks after it's release I was still being told people could not purchase a copy of the book in my local Waterstones even though you could buy it all over the world through various websites.
I paid the store another visit and could not find it! It then turned into a joke when I made an enquiry with the young assistant at the counter. She told me,'we don't stock the book,' when I pointed out that it's on their website she double checked and then replied, 'o, you are right, we do stock it.' She stood there giving me a blank look, made no effect to sell it to me, and I walked out in disgust.
I sent the store manager another email and have since then advised everyone to go through Amazon.
I can see now why Waterstones has sunk more times than ships in the Atlantic during the Second World War.
Waterstones stores can't beat Amazon on price because of their larger overheads, and can't beat them on convenience, and although I'm not keen on buzz words, but if they haven't got a unique selling point (and what is more unique then promoting local authors) then Waterstones will end finally doing a Titanic.
Regards
Mark
Monday 13 May 2013
Two years to the day
markkingtheauthor@gmail.com
www.bookguild.co.uk
www.danieljonesfrenzy.co.uk
twitter@author_king
FRENZY by Mark King
ISBN 9781846248771
Since the release of FRENZY six weeks ago I have been concentrating on learning a new art form.The art are getting oneself noticed. It is now two years to this day when I officially started out on my writing career. After resigning from my job in the early months of 2011, I finished work on the 12/5/11.
The saying " today is the start of the the rest of your life" bore true for me on the 13/5/2011.
When I first started I had wanted to stay totally in the shadows. I wanted no one to know who I was, not even my name, I wanted to be like the street artist Banksy. I planned to get published with no name on the cover, and defiantly never ever have any photo's of myself published.
I'm a great fan of Banksy, and believe he (everyone presumes he's male, what a shock it would cause if he was actually a she?) has achieved the ultimate balance in life. Fame and success without the need to sell his soul for the sake of the audience.
Banksy can sit on a train and have a good scrummage with his finger if his nose is itching, without having to worry that some stranger will film that personal moment on their phone, and then post the clip to various websites so that by the time he reaches his station, millions of people will have commented on his nose picking incident.
Unfortunately I had to relent. After listening to others I used my true name on the cover of the book; although after turning down my publishers strong advice I managed to keep my picture off the book cover. The problem came with the media, the only way I could get any coverage in the U.K was to submit to their demands, and have my picture taken for the various articles that have appeared, and are still to appear in the local media.
Still many followers of always-hanging-around.blogspot.com from America, Germany, Russia, Canada etc have purchased a copy of FRENZY through sites like www.amazon.com and www.thebookdepository.co.uk, or on Kindle without ever seeing a picture of me. Through the new media spectrum like blogs, twitter, and email you can build up your own picture of who, or what someone looks like.
On Sunday as I carried out my verger duties for a wedding I had two of the guests, who were strangers to me, come over, stop, then look at me, stop again and then say; 'don't I know you from somewhere?' I politely replied, 'no but it's pleasure to meet you,' and left it at that. I could have said, 'yes you have properly seen me in the local papers, I'm the author Mark King.' As I said in a recent posting it's the brides big day and I shouldn't do anything which would take away from that.
I would still like to be able to achieve writing success without the need to be personally famous, but I have a feeling I will find it hard to achieve this while trying to stay the Banksy of the literature world.
Regards
Mark
www.bookguild.co.uk
www.danieljonesfrenzy.co.uk
twitter@author_king
FRENZY by Mark King
ISBN 9781846248771
Since the release of FRENZY six weeks ago I have been concentrating on learning a new art form.The art are getting oneself noticed. It is now two years to this day when I officially started out on my writing career. After resigning from my job in the early months of 2011, I finished work on the 12/5/11.
The saying " today is the start of the the rest of your life" bore true for me on the 13/5/2011.
When I first started I had wanted to stay totally in the shadows. I wanted no one to know who I was, not even my name, I wanted to be like the street artist Banksy. I planned to get published with no name on the cover, and defiantly never ever have any photo's of myself published.
I'm a great fan of Banksy, and believe he (everyone presumes he's male, what a shock it would cause if he was actually a she?) has achieved the ultimate balance in life. Fame and success without the need to sell his soul for the sake of the audience.
Banksy can sit on a train and have a good scrummage with his finger if his nose is itching, without having to worry that some stranger will film that personal moment on their phone, and then post the clip to various websites so that by the time he reaches his station, millions of people will have commented on his nose picking incident.
Unfortunately I had to relent. After listening to others I used my true name on the cover of the book; although after turning down my publishers strong advice I managed to keep my picture off the book cover. The problem came with the media, the only way I could get any coverage in the U.K was to submit to their demands, and have my picture taken for the various articles that have appeared, and are still to appear in the local media.
Still many followers of always-hanging-around.blogspot.com from America, Germany, Russia, Canada etc have purchased a copy of FRENZY through sites like www.amazon.com and www.thebookdepository.co.uk, or on Kindle without ever seeing a picture of me. Through the new media spectrum like blogs, twitter, and email you can build up your own picture of who, or what someone looks like.
On Sunday as I carried out my verger duties for a wedding I had two of the guests, who were strangers to me, come over, stop, then look at me, stop again and then say; 'don't I know you from somewhere?' I politely replied, 'no but it's pleasure to meet you,' and left it at that. I could have said, 'yes you have properly seen me in the local papers, I'm the author Mark King.' As I said in a recent posting it's the brides big day and I shouldn't do anything which would take away from that.
I would still like to be able to achieve writing success without the need to be personally famous, but I have a feeling I will find it hard to achieve this while trying to stay the Banksy of the literature world.
Regards
Mark
Friday 10 May 2013
When the sun is out.
markkingtheauthor@gmail.com
www.bookguild.co.uk
www.danieljonesfrenzy.co.uk
twitter@author_king
FRENZY by Mark King
ISBN 9781846248771
When the sun is out so do my shorts and T-shirt. So do all the little nasties like weeds in the garden which require more time than I like to spend on them.
Talking about another little nasty that popped up this week was the news about the poor girls in Cleveland, America that had been kidnapped, and then enslaved for the last ten years. Unfortunately this has happened in the U.K, Germany, Russia, and many other countries. In some backward cultures events like this are almost legal with young girls forced into marrying older men, and then taken away never to see their families again.
Thousands of children disappear every year in the U.K and world wide there must be hundreds of thousands, if not millions. In places were males are preferred when it comes to children the imbalance in the ratio between the sexes has created a new trade in kidnapping young females to order!.
It's a terrifying prospect. It's something that terrifies myself as the father of a fantastic daughter. It must be a terrifying living death for the girls involved.
It was a theme I used in a scene in FRENZY in chapter 19 (Friends or Foes) when the young Gwendolyn faces the prospect of either being handed over to her own execution, or like so many other girls being kept in a hovel as a slave to a man's desires.
Of course it may not only be girls, young boys can be just as abused.
There is only one thing you can say for certain about this whole affair, and that is at this very moment as you are reading this short blog, out there somewhere is a young child being held against their will in a dark dingy cellar being abused to fill the sick, and perverted desires of another human being!
For every negative act you need a positive one to counter balance life so I hope where ever you are the sun is shining, and you have a enjoyable weekend.
Regards
Mark
www.bookguild.co.uk
www.danieljonesfrenzy.co.uk
twitter@author_king
FRENZY by Mark King
ISBN 9781846248771
When the sun is out so do my shorts and T-shirt. So do all the little nasties like weeds in the garden which require more time than I like to spend on them.
Talking about another little nasty that popped up this week was the news about the poor girls in Cleveland, America that had been kidnapped, and then enslaved for the last ten years. Unfortunately this has happened in the U.K, Germany, Russia, and many other countries. In some backward cultures events like this are almost legal with young girls forced into marrying older men, and then taken away never to see their families again.
Thousands of children disappear every year in the U.K and world wide there must be hundreds of thousands, if not millions. In places were males are preferred when it comes to children the imbalance in the ratio between the sexes has created a new trade in kidnapping young females to order!.
It's a terrifying prospect. It's something that terrifies myself as the father of a fantastic daughter. It must be a terrifying living death for the girls involved.
It was a theme I used in a scene in FRENZY in chapter 19 (Friends or Foes) when the young Gwendolyn faces the prospect of either being handed over to her own execution, or like so many other girls being kept in a hovel as a slave to a man's desires.
Of course it may not only be girls, young boys can be just as abused.
There is only one thing you can say for certain about this whole affair, and that is at this very moment as you are reading this short blog, out there somewhere is a young child being held against their will in a dark dingy cellar being abused to fill the sick, and perverted desires of another human being!
For every negative act you need a positive one to counter balance life so I hope where ever you are the sun is shining, and you have a enjoyable weekend.
Regards
Mark
Wednesday 8 May 2013
It's a taxing time
markkingtheauthor@gmail.com
www.bookguild.co.uk
twitter@author_king
FRENZY by Mark King
ISBN 9781846248771
It's a taxing time of the year when you are self-employed and have to complete your yearly returns. It happens to everyone around the world who is in the same situation and people generally fall into two camps when it comes to taxes, and the issue of who should pay, and how much too. Just like Marmite you either like it or you hate it.
Tax really is nothing more than legalised theft. If a stranger held a knife to your throat and demanded half your money because they said 'I need that money more than you do' you would go straight to the authorities for justice! 50% might seem higher than most people pay, but that's the clever way our noble leaders hide these things. By the time you add in Income Tax, National Insurance, Council Tax, V.A.T, Capital Gains Tax and all the other little hidden gems, from fuel duty, beer/cigarette duty to paying to park at your local hospital right through to paying the T.V licence. It soon adds up, and you are nearer to 50% than you are to 20%.
The thing is tax is needed! Some people can't or won't provide for there own needs. The point was perfectly shown in a recent political broadcast for the Liberal Party. There leader Nick Clegg was claiming credit for raising the tax threshold, and had members of the public on screen explaining what they would do with the extra money. They all said they would spend the few extra pounds on little luxuries like holidays, cars, treats for the children etc; not one said they would put the extra money into their pension, or help to pay off any debts, or even save it for a rainy day.
So tax is needed, but too much can be as destructive as it can be helpful and our masters can get just as excited by our money as the people in the broadcast, and the many ways they can spend it.
If only the tax payer had a say in how it's spent? Well the politicians claim we do every four years or so when we can decide if we want a party of the right or a party of the left. Well I would like a say every time I send in my yearly returns, and it could be simple to do!
Amalgamate them all into one tax (with no tax breaks) and the revenue raised should be shared 50/50 between the national and local government. Spending should then be split into five categories, health, eduction, military/security, welfare, and government administration. Then every year you can tick four of the five choices and your tax paid will then be split four ways to go towards paying for your four choices. Anyone who can't be bothered or who just doesn't care don't have to vote, and then the government can spend their money how they see fit.
Radical but Simple.
What better way in a free democratic capitalist country is there for keeping departmental spending under control other than open competition between departments for our money. They would have to persuade us why we need their product, and then provide the best service at the most efficient price possible. It works for Google, Apple, Microsoft or for Ford, Toyota, BMW etc,etc,etc. Let our rulers live by what they preach.
As your life changes over the years so will your needs, and wants, and thus so will your choices.
The other thing I would do is make it illegal for the government to borrow money unless it's under a state of emergency, and then only after the amount requested to cover this emergency has been passed by a public vote. Because debt is just tax in another name, but one that not only all of us will have to pay, but also our children, and our grand children, and most likely our great grand children too.
Of course there is another debt we all have to pay and that's our personal debt to humanity. Now this is one thing we all have a choice in what we do.
Regards
Mark.
www.bookguild.co.uk
twitter@author_king
FRENZY by Mark King
ISBN 9781846248771
It's a taxing time of the year when you are self-employed and have to complete your yearly returns. It happens to everyone around the world who is in the same situation and people generally fall into two camps when it comes to taxes, and the issue of who should pay, and how much too. Just like Marmite you either like it or you hate it.
Tax really is nothing more than legalised theft. If a stranger held a knife to your throat and demanded half your money because they said 'I need that money more than you do' you would go straight to the authorities for justice! 50% might seem higher than most people pay, but that's the clever way our noble leaders hide these things. By the time you add in Income Tax, National Insurance, Council Tax, V.A.T, Capital Gains Tax and all the other little hidden gems, from fuel duty, beer/cigarette duty to paying to park at your local hospital right through to paying the T.V licence. It soon adds up, and you are nearer to 50% than you are to 20%.
The thing is tax is needed! Some people can't or won't provide for there own needs. The point was perfectly shown in a recent political broadcast for the Liberal Party. There leader Nick Clegg was claiming credit for raising the tax threshold, and had members of the public on screen explaining what they would do with the extra money. They all said they would spend the few extra pounds on little luxuries like holidays, cars, treats for the children etc; not one said they would put the extra money into their pension, or help to pay off any debts, or even save it for a rainy day.
So tax is needed, but too much can be as destructive as it can be helpful and our masters can get just as excited by our money as the people in the broadcast, and the many ways they can spend it.
If only the tax payer had a say in how it's spent? Well the politicians claim we do every four years or so when we can decide if we want a party of the right or a party of the left. Well I would like a say every time I send in my yearly returns, and it could be simple to do!
Amalgamate them all into one tax (with no tax breaks) and the revenue raised should be shared 50/50 between the national and local government. Spending should then be split into five categories, health, eduction, military/security, welfare, and government administration. Then every year you can tick four of the five choices and your tax paid will then be split four ways to go towards paying for your four choices. Anyone who can't be bothered or who just doesn't care don't have to vote, and then the government can spend their money how they see fit.
Radical but Simple.
What better way in a free democratic capitalist country is there for keeping departmental spending under control other than open competition between departments for our money. They would have to persuade us why we need their product, and then provide the best service at the most efficient price possible. It works for Google, Apple, Microsoft or for Ford, Toyota, BMW etc,etc,etc. Let our rulers live by what they preach.
As your life changes over the years so will your needs, and wants, and thus so will your choices.
The other thing I would do is make it illegal for the government to borrow money unless it's under a state of emergency, and then only after the amount requested to cover this emergency has been passed by a public vote. Because debt is just tax in another name, but one that not only all of us will have to pay, but also our children, and our grand children, and most likely our great grand children too.
Of course there is another debt we all have to pay and that's our personal debt to humanity. Now this is one thing we all have a choice in what we do.
Regards
Mark.
Monday 6 May 2013
Bank Holiday
markkingtheauthor@gmail.com
www.bookguild.co.uk
twitter@author_king
FRENZY by Mark King
ISBN 9781846248771
Workers of the world unite, except of course if you are young, and live somewhere in the Mediterranean like Greece where the majority of the youth are unemployed!
It's May bank holiday and it's the holiday given over to the world's workers. I don't know what constitutes a worker in today's modern times. In my large copy of The Penguin Concise English Dictionary it states a worker as, one who or that which works; wage-earner; neuter bee, ant etc.
For the last two years since I resigned from my job to write FRENZY I have struggled to answer the question when asked by strangers why talking idle chit chat; so what do you do? What could I say? I wasn't out of work, but at the same time I wasn't a published author. I was in a no-man's land.
Now it's different, I'm published, but I still find that when asked the same question again I still hesitate for a minute before I answer. Do I reply by saying I'm a writer or I'm an author?
It's a simple problem to have and I'm slowly getting use to replying; I'm an author. When I was in paid employment I used to notice how important a job title was to most individuals. They no longer say where they work, but what there job title is. It's quite a modern phenomenon, but one I used in FRENZY when Daniel is asked what's his trade is, and he replies 'I am a woodman under the the apprenticeship of my father.
A simply and basic answer to a question, but one that a lot of people struggle with now as they jazz up their job titles with long impressive sounding words. No longer a Dustbin man, but a Private Contractor Refuge Recycling Officer instead.
Who cares? Well we all do, because we are all guilty of wanting to, big up, jazz up, or what ever up, our importance in life, and that includes me. I just wish I could add the word 'Best selling' to my job title of 'Author', but at the end of the day only the readers of the world will be able to do that for me.
Regards
Mark.
www.bookguild.co.uk
twitter@author_king
FRENZY by Mark King
ISBN 9781846248771
Workers of the world unite, except of course if you are young, and live somewhere in the Mediterranean like Greece where the majority of the youth are unemployed!
It's May bank holiday and it's the holiday given over to the world's workers. I don't know what constitutes a worker in today's modern times. In my large copy of The Penguin Concise English Dictionary it states a worker as, one who or that which works; wage-earner; neuter bee, ant etc.
For the last two years since I resigned from my job to write FRENZY I have struggled to answer the question when asked by strangers why talking idle chit chat; so what do you do? What could I say? I wasn't out of work, but at the same time I wasn't a published author. I was in a no-man's land.
Now it's different, I'm published, but I still find that when asked the same question again I still hesitate for a minute before I answer. Do I reply by saying I'm a writer or I'm an author?
It's a simple problem to have and I'm slowly getting use to replying; I'm an author. When I was in paid employment I used to notice how important a job title was to most individuals. They no longer say where they work, but what there job title is. It's quite a modern phenomenon, but one I used in FRENZY when Daniel is asked what's his trade is, and he replies 'I am a woodman under the the apprenticeship of my father.
A simply and basic answer to a question, but one that a lot of people struggle with now as they jazz up their job titles with long impressive sounding words. No longer a Dustbin man, but a Private Contractor Refuge Recycling Officer instead.
Who cares? Well we all do, because we are all guilty of wanting to, big up, jazz up, or what ever up, our importance in life, and that includes me. I just wish I could add the word 'Best selling' to my job title of 'Author', but at the end of the day only the readers of the world will be able to do that for me.
Regards
Mark.
Friday 3 May 2013
Voting
markkingtheauthor@gmail.com
www.bookguild.co.uk
twitter@author_king
FRENZY by Mark King
ISBN 9781846248771
Thursday in England was voting day for County Council elections. I will always try to vote no matter how pointless it might seem. As I look at it, if you don't vote then you can't moan. When the British government brought in elected police commissioners for the first time I like many people didn't believe in it. The main point of debate were the merits of giving any politician control in how the police service is run. But I still went and voted even though I was against the idea. Not only that I also helped out with the counting of votes.
It can be shocking how many people just can't be bothered to use their vote. In some situations only 10% of people who can will do!
I can understand why up to 90% of the population can't be bothered or just don't want to endorse the politicians, because it's almost impossible to find one who is not a two faced, lying, cheating or as is the case in the U.K, a privileged twit. It doesn't matter what country you live in they all seem to be the same, and it some country's it seems to be almost an art form in skulduggery and thuggery.
For my many readers around the world you will all have these type of people in power in some way.
So what can you do? Well you need to get off your backside for a start and vote. So which way do I swing when what's on offer isn't very palatable? Well I go into the booth with my slip of paper and pencil, I look at the parties on offer and if non of them take my fancy I draw a square box, put a tick in it, and then next to it write; Non of the above.
If all non voters ( and voters alike) did the same it would send a very strong message of dissatisfaction to our leaders. So I vote and thus I have the right to moan which makes me a very privileged person, because in too many parts of the world a lot of people are able to do neither.
Regards
Mark
www.bookguild.co.uk
twitter@author_king
FRENZY by Mark King
ISBN 9781846248771
Thursday in England was voting day for County Council elections. I will always try to vote no matter how pointless it might seem. As I look at it, if you don't vote then you can't moan. When the British government brought in elected police commissioners for the first time I like many people didn't believe in it. The main point of debate were the merits of giving any politician control in how the police service is run. But I still went and voted even though I was against the idea. Not only that I also helped out with the counting of votes.
It can be shocking how many people just can't be bothered to use their vote. In some situations only 10% of people who can will do!
I can understand why up to 90% of the population can't be bothered or just don't want to endorse the politicians, because it's almost impossible to find one who is not a two faced, lying, cheating or as is the case in the U.K, a privileged twit. It doesn't matter what country you live in they all seem to be the same, and it some country's it seems to be almost an art form in skulduggery and thuggery.
For my many readers around the world you will all have these type of people in power in some way.
So what can you do? Well you need to get off your backside for a start and vote. So which way do I swing when what's on offer isn't very palatable? Well I go into the booth with my slip of paper and pencil, I look at the parties on offer and if non of them take my fancy I draw a square box, put a tick in it, and then next to it write; Non of the above.
If all non voters ( and voters alike) did the same it would send a very strong message of dissatisfaction to our leaders. So I vote and thus I have the right to moan which makes me a very privileged person, because in too many parts of the world a lot of people are able to do neither.
Regards
Mark
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