Mark Edwards – Two Bestsellers Hit Top of UK Amazon Kindle Chart
Together with his ‘writer in arms’ Louise Voss, Mark Edwards wrote a book entitled, Catch Your Death. As it sat at number one on the UK Amazon Kindle Bestseller Chart, another book written by the pair – Killing Cupid – sat at position four.
This is a pretty amazing feat for any writer. In this interview I spoke to Mark about how he became a writer and where he sees the future for authors.
Darrell - How did you become a writer?
Mark - I started writing about fifteen years ago after I left uni. My first novel was written longhand in a series of notepads. It was terrible, but once I'd got it out of my system I was able to write a slightly-less terrible novel which I typed up on a contraption called a Sharp Fontwriter (PCs were quite expensive back then) and, following the instructions in the Writers' Handbook, posted it off to several agents. I got some interest straight away and thought 'this is easy!' But then they changed their minds and I wrote another novel, called The Liberators. This time I landed an agent who told me I was going to be rich and famous. I told everyone I knew I was going to be rich and famous.
I didn't get rich or famous. After wiping the egg off my face, and learning an important lesson about hubris, I kept plugging away. I wrote another book, then another... Then a weird twist occurred. The BBC were making a documentary about wannabe writers and I was chosen to be on it. It didn't lead to anything except being recognised once by a bus driver and receiving a nice email from another writer called Louise Voss who was in the same boat as me. Louise and I struck up an email correspondence.
This is the point in the movie where the clock's hands would spin round... A few years later, when I was agentless, Louise and I wrote a book together called Killing Cupid, then another called Catch Your Death. We weren't able to sell them. Then I started having kids, got a good job and gave up on the writing dream. It was a great relief. No more stress. No more rejection. I'd tried my best but I hadn't succeeded.
Last year, after reading all the stories about the Kindle and self-published writers finding success, I persuaded Louise that we had nothing to lose by putting our books online ourselves. We rewrote them and updated them, and then put them live, starting with Killing Cupid. It took about three months to get into the top 100 on Amazon.co.uk at which point we released Catch Your Death. That one took 3 weeks to reach the top 100 - and another 3 days to shoot into the top 10. As I write Catch Your Death is No.1 and Killing Cupid is No.4.
It's been a long, tortuous journey... but hopefully this is just the beginning.
Darrell - It must be quite different working with a writing partner. Can you describe how this works in practical terms?
Mark - With Killing Cupid it was quite easy because it has a dual narrative and we wrote alternate chapters. I wrote the male character and Louise the female. We did the whole thing by email because I was in Japan at the time. Catch Your Death was trickier because it has a third person viewpoint, but we divided up the chapters and plotted ahead as much as we could. I don't think you can see the join; nobody has commented on it anyway. We work very well together - Louise is stronger on characterisation and I think I'm stronger on plot, which is a great combination. And we share all the 'business' side of things too. I highly recommend finding a collaborator!
Darrell - Between yourself and Louise you achieved a fantastic coup by using a particular naming convention in the title of your book "Catch Your Death". Can you tell us a little about that?
Mark - I don't want what we did - briefly - with the subtitle of Catch Your Death to overshadow our success because I personally don't think it had much to do with it. I think people are looking for a reason to explain something extraordinary - the first book by British indie authors to hit No.1 in the UK and the fastest climb through the top 100 to that spot. This has happened because of years and years of work and because thousands of people who had read and enjoyed Killing Cupid bought Catch Your Death in a burst, sending it into the spotlight - at which point people read the blurb, thought it sounded great and decided to give it a try. The title has been just 'Catch Your Death' for two days and we are still No.1.
Darrell - Killing Cupid has been optioned as a BBC TV series. How did this come about?
Mark - Killing Cupid was optioned by the BBC to make a 2-part drama but it's actually fallen through now - however, the producer wants to make it into a film instead! We are in talks at the moment.
Darrell - What do you think is the best way a writer can promote themselves i.e. Facebook, Twitter, book signings etc.?
Mark - It's all about finding readers - people who love books and are willing to give something new a go. Kindle owners are quite adventurous and willing to try books by writers who are not established. We got ourselves known by networking with other indie writers who were willing to be interviewed thus making a connection with their readers - and making some good friends in the process. There is a fantastic, supportive community of indie writers which I feel very proud to be part of. I don't know if Facebook or Twitter make much of a difference, although we have just set up a new Facebook group called the Summer Book Club (facebook.com/summerbookclub) to get readers and writers together to talk about a number of books.
Darrell - How do you see the future for authors, publishers and booksellers now that ebooks are on the scene?
Mark - It's so difficult to say. A year or two ago, what we've done would have been unthinkable. This is a golden era for writers because for the first time in many years - possibly ever - there is a playing field that might not be quite level but at least we are allowed on it. (I feel a bit like a non-league club who is beating Manchester United in the FA Cup final at the moment, with Karin Slaughter at No.2!)
But publishers, or legacy publishers as Konrath calls them, will eventually wrest back control, I'm sure, and of course publishers do great things. Every writer can benefit from a good editor, and it's exhausting having to do all your own PR and marketing. I imagine what will happen is that the big publishers - including Amazon themselves - will re-establish dominance and we will see regular breakout indie hits. Just like in music.
I think the future for booksellers is bleaker, which is a shame as I used to love bookshops and have spent many many happy hours of my life browsing and buying from them. But I went to Waterstones today and it felt a bit like being in a museum. It was almost empty, despite the thousands of shoppers teeming outside, except for the children's section. I think that fiction will go almost wholly digital first, although it will take a few years, while children's books will remain on paper for a long time. And some books - those that are more image-based like photography books - will remain in print. But what do I know? I'm just guessing like everyone else. All I know is that I love books, have thousands of them, probably more than anyone else I know, and was vehemently opposed to the Kindle - until I got one. Now I couldn't imagine life without it and I don't enjoy reading on paper any more.
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