Gordon Ferris – Over 250,000 Kindle Ebooks Sold
Gordon Ferris grew up in the west of Scotland, enjoying both rugby and writing from an early age. He eventually worked as a programmer for the RAF before becoming an integral part of the Price Waterhouse company.
Long haul flights and a laptop led him to returning to his first love – writing – and the results of this were clearly evident in his success with his book, The Hanging Shed. Since this interview was conducted, he has sold over 250,000 ebooks.
Both The Hanging Shed and Truth Dare Kill reached number one in the Amazon Kindle list for several weeks. Bitter Water - the sequel to The Hanging Shed – will be released shortly.
Darrell - What made you decide to become a writer after working in many other various jobs over the years?
Gordon - It's a bit pompous to say that it was in the blood, but playing with words was the only 'work' that ever excited me. None of the corporate stuff satisfied my creative urge. Twelve years ago, I decided life was too short and I couldn't / shouldn't wait any longer.
Darrell - Can you describe a typical day of writing?
Gordon - There's nothing typical. It depends where I am in the writing cycle. Some days are more filled with research than others. But I do try to get in front of my screen first thing in the morning and just write. I'm learning to trust myself; creating characters and letting them loose on the 'page'. My job is to describe the scene and the dialogue that ensues. Like watching a video in my head.
Darrell - What sort of marketing do you think works for a writer?
Gordon - I wish I knew! But on the basis of the last three months in which three of my books are sitting in the top 20 Amazon UK Kindle list, the best publicity is 5 star reviews from readers! The emergence of the 'social network' has transformed publishing and no-one has really worked out the best way of 'going viral', the internet version of 'word of mouth'. Ebooks and readers' forums are a start.
Darrell - On your website you mention your book "The Hanging Shed" has notched up some 50,000 sales, at £1 a time, in the Kindle eBooks charts, where it has consistently been in the top five." This is a fantastic achievement. How did you do it?
Gordon - It's now well over 100,000. My clever publisher [Nic Cheetham at Corvus] came up with the brainwave of pitching '12 days at Christmas' to Amazon. He offered 12 new titles from 25 December for 12 days at £1 a pop. Other publishers piled in. As readers bought books and reviews came through, the people's choice propelled their favourites to the top. I've been in the top 5 for three months now, including several weeks at No 1. It seems to be almost self-perpetuating: just being visible in the charts leads readers to buy it, they submit glowing reviews, and the cycle continues. Indeed, the success of The Hanging Shed has given a new lease of publishing life to my earlier two books. Truth Dare Kill is now at No 2 on kindle, two above The Hanging Shed!
Darrell - The Hanging Shed's protagonist is Douglas Brodie. Have you begun working on a sequel?
Gordon - I'm well advanced on Brodie 2. Working title is BITTER WATER. It's again set in Glasgow and stars Brodie. It's summer and as the city sizzles [it does get hot sometimes in Scotland] a gang of vigilantes starts taking the law into their own hands. Brodie is invited to join them . . .
Darrell - What single piece of advice would you give to someone trying to make it as a successful author?
Gordon - Don't even start. Not unless you're utterly determined to write, year in year out, walls papered with rejection slips, without being published. Writing is a craft, not for dilettantes. It can only come by unwavering self-belief and hard graft.
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