Ian Sutherland's Blog: Ian's Blog

I'm proud to announce that I've been invited to participate in a panel at this year's CrimeFest, the international crime fiction convention held in Bristol, England. CrimeFest is mainly focused on traditionally published authors, with this year's headliners including Ann Cleeves, Anthony Horrowitz and Peter Lovesy. However, the festival is increasingly recognising the talent of […]

The post Hobnobbing with Crime Fiction’s Finest at CrimeFest 2017! appeared first on Ian Sutherland.

An interview with Ian Sutherland on writing Taking Up Serpents, his second thriller novel and how he overcame 'second novel syndrome'.

The post On Writing the Dreaded Second Novel – An Interview appeared first on Ian Sutherland.

It's cover reveal time! My cover designer, Stuart Blache over at bookscovered.co.uk has come up trumps again. Taking the brief for Taking Up Serpents, he has come up with something pretty cool while continuing the style established by the existing books in the Brody Taylor Thriller Series.

The book is on track for publication in October, so not long to go!

So, without further ado, here's the cover reveal:

Click here, if you'd like to read the draft blurb.

Would you kill yourself to save your loved one?

When Brody Taylor receives a 'death letter’ from a fellow elite hacker, sent a week after his murder, its contents present Brody with an offer even he can't refuse. But the investigation is being led by Brody’s girlfriend, talented police detective Jenny Price. Unaware of the victim’s true profession, Jenny is stumped as to how and why a disabled Afghan war veteran could come to be poisoned in his own home by a black mamba, one of the world’s deadliest snakes.

Working side-by-side once more, but with very different objectives, Brody and Jenny uncover a cyberterrorist conspiracy targeting innocent people. For Brody and Jenny to prevent the cyberweapon from releasing its deadly payload, Brody realises he'll need lie to Jenny once again, knowing the truth will destroy their relationship. But with tens of thousands of lives scheduled to die within 24 hours, does he have any choice?

Forget nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. The modern-day weapon of mass destruction of choice is digital. And we’re all at risk.

What do you think of the cover? Is it intriguing enough to make you want to pick it up?

Leave a comment below and let me know.

The post Cover Reveal for Taking Up Serpents appeared first on Ian Sutherland.

Brody Taylor is back!

18 months after the double release of Social Engineer and Invasion of Privacy, I am delighted to announce that Brody Taylor will return in late 2016!

I am currently hard at work writing Brody's third thrilling adventure, a full-length novel. And to keep you're appetite whetted sufficiently, I've decided it's time to reveal the novel's title and a working draft of the blurb!

Here they are . . .

Click here to reveal the new book's title. . .

TAKING UP SERPENTS

Brody Taylor Thriller #3

Click here to reveal the working draft of the book's blurb . . .

Knowing it will kill him anyway, he slowly places his hand in the box. The serpent strikes and its lethal venom rapidly spreads up his arm. As his body convulses in agony, he finally prays to the God he didn’t know he believed in.

When Brody Taylor receives a 'death letter’ from a fellow elite hacker, sent a week after his assassination, it’s contents present Brody with an offer even he can't refuse. But the murder case is being led by Brody’s girlfriend, talented police detective Jenny Price, and he’ll need to deceive her and the whole investigation team in order to gain access to the hacker's computer. Unaware of the victim’s true profession, Jenny is stumped as to how and why a disabled Afghan war veteran could come to be poisoned in his own home by a black mamba, one of the world’s most deadly snakes.

Working side-by-side once more, but with very different objectives, Brody and Jenny uncover a cyberterrorist conspiracy targeting innocent people. For Brody and Jenny to prevent the cyberweapon from releasing its deadly payload, Brody realises he'll need to admit lying to Jenny once again, knowing the truth will destroy their relationship. But with tens of thousands of lives scheduled to die within 24 hours, does he have any choice?

Forget nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. The modern-day weapon of mass destruction of choice is digital. And we’re all at risk.

I haven't commissioned a cover for the book yet. But when I do, it will be posted here first!

What do you think of the title and/or description?

Do they intrigue you? Capture your interest? Leave you wanting more?

Leave a comment below and let me know.

The post Announcing the Third Brody Taylor Thriller appeared first on Ian Sutherland.

Brody Taylor is back!

18 months after the double release of Social Engineer and Invasion of Privacy, I am delighted to announce that Brody Taylor will return in late 2016!

I am currently hard at work writing Brody's third thrilling adventure, a full-length novel. And to keep you're appetite whetted sufficiently, I've decided it's time to reveal the novel's title and a working draft of the blurb!

Here they are . . .

Click here to reveal the working draft of the book's blurb . . .

TAKING UP SERPENTS

Brody Taylor Thriller #3

Click here to reveal the first draft of the book's blurb . . .

Knowing it will kill him anyway, he slowly places his hand in the box. The serpent strikes and its venom rapidly spreads up his arm. As his body convulses in agony, he finally prays to the God he didn’t know he believed in.

When Brody Taylor receives a 'death letter’ from a fellow elite hacker, sent a week after his assassination, it’s contents present Brody with an offer even he can't refuse. But the murder case is being led by Brody’s girlfriend, talented police detective Jenny Price, and he’ll need to deceive her and the whole investigation team in order to gain access to the hacker's computer. Unaware of the victim’s true profession, Jenny is stumped as to how and why a disabled Afghan war veteran could come to be poisoned in his own home by a black mamba, one of the world’s most deadly snakes.

Working side-by-side once more, but with very different objectives, Brody and Jenny uncover a cyberterrorist conspiracy targeting innocent people. For Brody and Jenny to prevent the cyberweapon from releasing its deadly payload, Brody realises hell need to admit lying to Jenny once again, knowing the truth will destroy their relationship. But with tens of thousands of lives scheduled to die within 24 hours, does he have any choice?

Forget nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. The modern-day weapon of mass destruction of choice is digital. And we’re all at risk.

I haven't commissioned a cover for the book yet. But when I do, it will be posted here first!

What do you think of the title and/or description?

Do they intrigue you? Capture your interest? Leave you wanting more?

Leave a comment below and let me know.

The post Announcing the Third Brody Taylor Thriller appeared first on Ian Sutherland.

How to Change Your Book Covers to Fish in a Bigger Pond

I’ve just gone through the heart-wrenching process of changing the book covers of my fiction thrillers.

Heart-wrenching because I absolutely loved the original book covers. They were designed to reflect the way I originally chose to market the books, which was to highlight the hi-tech and cybercrime elements of the stories. Peter O’Connor from bespokebookcovers.com did a fantastic job with the spec I gave him. My logic was that there were very few technically accurate thrillers published and so the book covers and blurb should focus on this element to achieve differentiation in a crowded book market. And Peter certainly delivered:

But as time has gone on, reviews and reader feedback has taught me tons about what people really enjoy when reading my books. And while most find the hi-tech and cybercrime an interesting and unusual backdrop, what they really love are the well-rounded, complex characters and the page-turning suspense. Readers have helped me understand that I write good quality crime thrillers that can be enjoyed by anyone, and just happen to feature technology.

Fishing in a Small Pond

But by highlighting the hi-tech elements so prominently in the original book covers and the blurbs, I was putting off many people from taking a chance. Not everyone is comfortable with technology and so many will pass on by to something that appears to be more up their street.

There are quite a few reader reviews like these:

"The information about how hackers work has obviously been researched thoroughly and is enthralling. But even if you're not into IT then the storyline has you turning the pages avidly. The characters really come to life too.” Mrs. Annes K. Mien

"The hi-tec element is a different spin on the criminal novel and I wouldn't normally read but despite not being a Techie I was easily able to understand the detail of the plot and am impressed with the author's ingenuity in devising it - very clever.” Heather O'Neill

These two readers took a chance and loved them despite the prominence of tech content in the book covers and blurbs. But many more won’t take a chance.

Fishing in a Bigger Pond

Right now, I’m writing the third book in the series, and have been conscious that I’ll soon need to commission a new cover. Rather than continue with the same series cover theme, I've chosen to listen to what my readers are really trying to tell me and I’ve commissioned new book covers and updated the blurbs. Stuart Bache of bookscovered.co.uk took up the challenge and has come up trumps:

Both new book covers present the impression of being contemporary crime thrillers, which is great because this is exactly what these books are. My hope now is that even more people will give the books a chance. And, on the way, they’ll just happen to encounter the hi-tech content which helps to gives the books their individuality. But, if the existing reviews are anything to go by, it’s the characters, plot twists and page-turning suspense that will be what they'll value and remember long afterwards.

Which is exactly what the new covers promise!

Do you agree that these two new covers are more appealing to a broader audience?Do you find yourself judging books by the cover alone?

The post Book Covers: Redesigning to Fish in a Bigger Pond appeared first on Ian Sutherland.

Last week, I attended London Book Fair for the second time. The first was two years ago before I’d finished writing my debut novel. The scale of the event was immense and truly opened up my eyes to how huge the whole publishing industry actually is in the UK. Undaunted and up for a challenge, I’ve since published two fiction books. I returned last Tuesday, on the day of the launch of my first non-fiction book, Advanced Twitter Strategies for Authors.

As before, the scale was incredible. However, the area with the biggest amount of buzz was Author HQ, hidden away on the first floor. It was overflowing with people interested in writing and publishing. Many of the sessions were interviews and panel discussions, with people spanning the whole publishing industry: agents, editors, publishers, cover designers, critics and, most importantly, authors – both trade and indie published. A whole range of views and opinions were shared, with lots of useful titbits for people new to indie publishing.

While there, I was briefly interviewed by Nick Rippington, a journalist and soon-to-publish indie author. The story he wrote as a result has just been published in the Sunday Express, a UK national newspaper. In it, he charts the rise of ebooks and indie publishing and their effect on the London Book Fair and the publishing industry in general. I was quoted in the piece, alongside fellow indie author, Clare Flynn, who writes historical novels. The quote from me that was used referred to the challenge that indie authors face in marketing their books, explaining how I’d successfully used social media to market my novels, resulting in me sharing my experiences in my new non-fiction book, Advanced Twitter Strategies for Authors. Also quoted in the story is Justine Solomons, who runs a publishing industry networking organisation called Byte the Book, which I’m a member of.

You can read the full article at the Sunday Express. It’s called All’s fair in sex, love, war – and books: How ebooks have changed publishing.

The post Sunday Express Newspaper Mentions Ian Sutherland appeared first on Ian Sutherland.

All's fair in sex, love, war - and books: How ebooks have changed publishing by Nick Rippington

Twitter techniques to help you sell your book - in under 15 minutes a day!