We Did it, Joe...

On Thursday, the long-awaited publication of Leeza McAuliffe Has Loads More To Say, finally happened. If you follow me on any version of social media, you'll have seen me bang on about this book, repeatedly, for weeks. Actually months. I started my 'marketing campaign' (lolz) on March 4th. Let me now take this time to apologise profusely for being completely irritating. 

The main problem is, I don't know much about marketing. The second main problem is, everything I do know is comprised of snippets that I've picked up from social media. This means they may or may not be true. For example, I once read that in order to get someone to buy something online, they have to casually scroll past the product at least seven times. Seven times! Although as someone who's just purchased some pale blue Adidas trainers that I do not need, I can attest to this being true. 

The other thing I've learnt is the importance of pre-orders. If you make pre-orders available for a decent period before the book's release date, you can build up lots of them. Then, when that first week of sales arrives, the preorders are included within it. This means your big chance at nudging the algorithm, is Week One. Subsequent weeks just won't compare. If a book is going to hit the bestseller charts, it's the week it's released, not a couple of months later when it's been out for a while. Pre-orders are the key to making an impact on release day.

As someone who's not famous, nor furnished with a marketing department, (nor has a clue what they're doing) I know bestseller lists are beyond me. But I did managed to nudge the algorithm. A little bit. Twenty-four hours after its release, I looked at my book on Amazon. It was rated - and please roll an imaginary drum prior to reading this... 54th in Coming of Age for Young Adults. Woohoo! It was rated 53rd in Fiction about Self-Esteem and Self-Reliance for Young Adults. Woohoooo! And it was rated 44th in Fiction about Emotions and Feelings for Young Adults. Wooooooohoooooo!

I know the Amazon sub-categories are niche and weirdly specific, but even so. Seeing that mine was the 44th book about ANYTHING was a real buzz. And as the days pass and the ratings fall, I will always have the rosy glow of that screen shot. If you pre-ordered my book, you made that happen. I'd love for you to share the joy with me.

Writing News

It's been so long since I did some actual writing. My working hours have been filled with self-promotion and admin for far too long. The next thing that's going to happen is a book tour (by Love Books Tours) for the new novel. That'll start today. I'll be posting reviews online and sharing them on my socials. Alternatively, you can see them on the book's Amazon page. Reviews are another part of the process that I've learnt is important. The more reviews a book gets, the more the algorithm pays attention. Then it'll be suggested to people looking at other books in the same genre. Reviews are the next thing I need to bang on about. At some point, I'll stop banging on about anything, and get cracking with the next book. But until then, I apologise for my nonsense.

Culture News

As foreshadowed last week, I went and rewatched Derry Girls. And sweet baby J, wasn't it brilliant. I mightn't have grown up in Northern Ireland but I was at a Catholic high school in the nineties so there are some small parallels. Binging it over two nights, instead of a weekly episode over three years, was fab. I'd forgotten how poignant it was, amidst the out and out humour. Then on Monday, I had an evening at the Liverpool Philharmonic where I watched Adam Buxton record an episode of his podcast. He interviewed Tash Demetriou and it was marvellous. Just warmly funny and hugely relatable. 

Prawn toast and a soy, garlic,
and chilli peanut dip.

Food and Drink

To celebrate publication day, I went to my favourite classy place for a celebration, Liverpool's Sky Bar. Some friends of mine had arranged for a bottle of fizz to be waiting, which was beyond lovely, and then there was the prawn ravioli. It was divine. I can't stop thinking about it. What's worse is, I've no idea how to make it. The prawny paste inside each pillowy parcel was an enigma. I keep trying to work out the ingredients but I'm not getting it. Anyway, in order to partially satiate myself, I made prawn toasts on Saturday night. They were gorge, even if they were nothing like the ravioli. The recipe's here, although I made them with circles of milk roll instead of standard sliced white. Each to their own.

Post-walk smugness
in Calderstones.

Out and About

I've properly got into walking. That means I'm trying to amass a bank of walking locations so it doesn't get too samey. Last week I told you about Crosby beach. Well this week I did Childwall Woods in Childwall, Calderstones Park in Woolton, and Victoria Park in Widnes. I'm basically ticking off all the parks until I find the best ones. My criteria are that they...

• need to be mostly flat
• need to be big enough to do a loop or a 'there and back' that lasts over 30 minutes
• need to feel safe - not enclosed from the road or totally deserted first thing
• need to be no more than a short drive away

I've got a few more lined up for next week. Brace yourself Stadt Moers Park in Prescot and Woolton Woods. (In Woolton, natch.)

Right then, let's call it day. Thank you once again, for pre-orders, kind messages, and general support. And if you really want to be helpful, I'll take any 5 star reviews you've got going spare. The Amazon page for Leeza McAuliffe* will provide a happy home for them all.

Have a lovely week, folks.

*My four year old niece calls the protagonist of my books, Lizzy Magenta. I can't help feeling I've missed a trick.