Robert Reid's Blog

Q – You have written 5 books – Which is your personal favourite?

A – I think The Empress because it has a broader sweep than the others, as it should have at over 800 pages. More importantly it allowed me to explore wider lands and create new characters – in fact new peoples. I particularly enjoyed writing the last few chapters of The Empress when I found that telling the story from looking back from the present day gave me many different options in how to close the narrative.

If you have read my books I would love to hear which was your favourite.

I am increasingly coming to the conclusion that the “To Read” shelves on the Goodreads platform are only there to enable PR companies to deliver the shelf numbers they promise for the fees they take from authors. A sophisticated con? How have I come to this conclusion? Well I apparently have my novels on 38,000 “to read” shelves. I have probably sold less than 400 copies. Of course the same is in someway true of ratings. Author pays PR company for promised number of ratings. PR company issues free PDFs to its reader lists. Ratings and reviews delivered – sales impact zero. And it is all perfectly legal. I am clearly growing cynical in my old age.

A business contact, who I only know from business calls, phoned me today. I had given her a gift of the three books in the series The Emperor, The Son and The Thief. She called me to say how much she enjoyed the stories and how they filled her train trip to and from work. The surprise came at the end when she said “I would never have chosen to read this type of genre but maybe I will now try more.” A copy of The Empress will make its way to her next. Thanks Margaret

Q – You have published 5 books – are they a single series?

A – Yes and No is the answer. The journey starts in White Light Red Fire in the 1300s. The action is situated mostly on the island of Andore. The action in the trilogy – The Emperor, The Son and The Thief moves on 200 years to the 1500s and is mostly situated in the southern lands of Kermin and Amina although I was surprised when the thief’s story ended up back in the north of Andore. The Empress continues the story in Kermin and Amina but ranges out into the previously unexplored lands of the Sofanomin. In fact The Empress brings the story up to current times – 2014. I hope the stories stand-alone but they all have common elements – the red fire of othium, the same lands over 700 years, some of the same characters – in particular the old alchemist, Oien.

Q – Where are you going on holiday this year?

A – Some ideas – The Hidden Lands (White Light Red Fire) or The City of Mora ( The Emperor) - Maybe Iskala in Doran (The Son) or The Town of Aldene (The Thief). A must try is Aralmer and the forest trails (The Empress).
Make it a book holiday. You could walk with heroes, discover a magical red stone, fight Aramin warriors and visit the lands of the Sofanomin. Wherever your imagination takes you.

Q – Do you consider yourself to be a successful author?

A – The answer to that question requires successful to be defined. I have succeeded in writing 5 novels. - over 2000 pages – and those who have read the stories seem to enjoy them – 6500 4* and 5* ratings on Goodreads and 45 reviews. Sadly all this positivity has been generated through free copies. I have to admit to being a complete failure when it comes to marketing and selling my books. Maybe if I was a famous name I would sell more books. I get the feeling that readers won’t risk their money on an independent self-published author. So successful or not? My stories on my bookshelves. No best sellers – Yet.

Those of you who have read my books - particularly the trilogy The Emperor, The Son And The Thief will know that Audun abdicated from the Kermin throne and set off on The Eagle to find Morveria. You may be wondering what happened to him. Well he and some of his crew arrived in Morveria a few months ago but he is being very reluctant in telling me what happened to him in Morveria

So the next story is slowly developing

Only two days left to get your free copy - link on my Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/robertreidau...#

Do you fancy a random sweet treat? How about a Jaffa Orange.
Maybe you prefer random art – A painter
As long as you don’t encounter a random spider.
Pink Gin perhaps - randomly
A random speedy sleigh ride
Artificial Intelligence shouldn’t be random.
Dare you enter The Random
The Random Collection – 18 Short Stories by Robert Reid.
Pick up a copy for free for 2 weeks. Link on my author Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/robertreidau... Don’t miss out.

Wonder if anyone can advise me. How do you get your books from "to read" to "read" it seems to me an impossible journey.