Interview with Birgit Kluger (Indies in Germany)

Birgit Kluger has written an excellent resource for the indie author hoping to start selling in Germany. Going Global is extremely informative on the German market, highly practical on how to set up author pages and promote your books, and invaluable in its listings of bloggers and routes to alternative reading devices. Under the pen name JB Brooklin, she writes fantasy novels in both German and English, and under her own name, highly successful chicklit in German.

Birgit talked to me about the explosion in eBooks and why writers really need to consider this rapidly growing opportunity.

The German book market is changing fast. What do you see as the key shifts happening now?

For authors promoting their books key shifts are that free promotions on Amazon don’t have the impact they used to have. Due to this many authors now switch to promoting their books with a reduced price, such as 99 Cents.

Also – against all predictions - Indie authors have succeeded in gaining a foothold in the top 100 Amazon ebook charts. What many viewed as a short term trend has in fact established itself as normal. I just had a look at the top 10 and 7 out of these 10 books are published by Indie authors. This is a huge success!

Other ebook stores apart from Amazon are gaining market shares. With the launch of the Tolino in 2013, an ebook reader that has been created through the cooperation of the leading German booksellers together with German Telekom, there is another device besides the Kindle that is gaining in popularity, ensuring that readers not only look at Amazon when they want to buy an ebook. Due to this other ebook stores such as buch.de, bücher.de, thalia.de etc. are selling more ebooks than before. I believe that Indie authors are well advised to get their books into these shops.

Tell us your story. How did you get involved with the world of independent publishing?

After almost 20 years of trying to get a publishing contract I finally succeeded in 2011. I was ecstatic with joy. After the book was published as an ebook in the fall of 2011 I soon discovered that the publisher expected me to do all the marketing. So I did, I tweeted and posted about my book constantly with little success and a lot of frustration.

Fortunately for me my publisher wasn’t interested in my second book. It was another Genre and my first book wasn’t selling too well anyway. I decided to self publish it. That was the beginning of 2012 and self publishing had just taken off in Germany. Within six months I sold 10.000 copies, a number I still have to reach with my first book (should take only about 15 years at the rate it’s going).

Ever since then I have self published my books and am tremendously enjoying the process. I am in control of what I do, I am responsible for my successes and failures, plus the royalties are much higher than when using a publisher.

How do German readers react to self-published books? Which genres are popular?

Many readers are not even aware that there is a difference, that there are Indie authors out there who self publish their books.

And from what I hear they don’t make much of a difference if they are aware as long as the quality is right. Books with lots of spelling and grammar mistakes are bad for Indies, because some readers tend to assume that we all work like this. But, since self published books are usually priced lower, many readers take a chance. Popular genres are Crime, ChickLit and Fantasy.

You’re very generous in sharing advice via Going Global. Why did you choose to offer your expertise to English-speaking writers?

I noticed that English books sell quite well in Germany. At the same time there aren’t many Indie books in the English ebook charts at Amazon. My assumption was that probably many Indie authors didn’t know how and where to promote their books for the German market, which is why I wrote “Going Global”.

I read that 70,000 people have published their own books in Germany. Is there a supportive community of indie authors?

Yes, there is. There are many Facebook groups for Indie authors. Facebook tends to be the place where one finds a lot of support. There are also some internet forums but Facebook is more popular since many authors check in every day to communicate with their readers and other authors.

I am a member of several groups and I really enjoy the supportive attitude most Indie authors show toward their peers.

It's clear that eBook sales are exploding, but can you see a future for self-published print books?

Yes, with Createspace now offering expanded distribution for German books many Indies are starting to offer print versions of their ebooks. Together with the MatchBook program at Amazon, this is an opportunity to reach even more readers. Also German book on demand companies are trying to offer attractive solutions.

What do you personally enjoy reading?

I love the genres I write in: Fantasy and ChickLit.

You write in both German and English – does you style change according to which language you’re using?

I believe it does. I spent a year in the US when I was fifteen. And somehow, maybe because this is an age where emotions tend to go overboard, I express emotions better in my English texts than in my german writing. For example I write song lyrics as well, but only in English, in German somehow the words won’t come as easily.

Which authors who write in German would you recommend for our readers?

I love books from Kerstin Gier, B.C. Schiller and Matthias Zipfel.

What are you working on next?

Right now I am re-editing my German novel “Küss niemals deinen Ex” (Never Kiss Your Ex). It’s ChickLit mixed with a crime story. I hope to publish it by the end of February. After that I’ll start writing the sequel to my fantasy novel “Creatures of Fire”, both in English and in German. And then I am thinking about writing a new “Going Global” book, this time focusing on the US market.

Spilt Milk by Amanda Hodgkinson - Review & Interview

“Their eyes were the colour of the river. Grey as rain-swelled waters. It was how you knew the three of them were related. Nellie, Vivian and Rose Marsh.”

From the opening line of this novel, the scene is set. The importance of the river, the importance of the characters, and the importance of relationships. It also lays the first hint that not all may be as it seems within this family story.

Spilt Milk is the story of sisterhood and motherhood through the generations of a single family. Starting in 1913 with three sisters living an idyllic life in a cottage near a river in rural Suffolk. As the two youngest, Nellie and Vivian, blossom, their innocent existence is blown apart when a stranger, Joe Feriers, arrives in town. Both Nellie and Vivian fall for Joe and the consequences are devastating, creating a secret the sisters will be forced to carry to their graves, overshadowing everything else life presents them.

We follow Vivian and Nellie’s life stories right through into the 1960s. From their unusual start in life, they do go on to marry and create lives of their own, apart from one another – a fact that would have shocked the women at the outset. The author manages to convey wonderfully that not only do the sins of the father (or mother) echo on through time, but that generations of the same family can often inexplicably face similar life events, and it is interesting to see how each generation deals differently with them as time rolls on.

Nellie and Vivian are interesting characters, strong in their own ways, yet equally vulnerable. At some points Nellie takes the lead, finding strength from her passion for the river, always recalling the sense of power it gave her. At others, Vivian is the rock Nellie relies on to keep her sane, more of a mother to her than her birth mother.

The birth of Nellie’s daughter, Bertha (known as Birdie) and her life path, adds yet another layer of secrecy to the sister’s relationship. Birdie blossoms into a superb character in her own right, and her story is equally as captivating, and at times heart breaking, as that of her mother and aunt. The final piece in the family jigsaw here is Framsden, Birdie’s son.

I thought Amanda’s first novel, 22 Britannia Road, was a beautifully written novel and have eagerly awaited her second. And it doesn’t disappoint. There’s even more of a lyrical quality to Amanda’s writing here, which works perfectly, some scenes are so intense they are almost cinematic. The setting is perfectly described and the sense of time, as we move through the war years and onwards, is breathtakingly detailed and accurate. You feel as if you have stepped right into the character’s shoes and are seeing the world just as they knew it – whether it be the grime and danger of war-ravaged London or the open spaces and simple beauty of rural Suffolk. At the same time, while time moves on, you have a sense the author really wants to bring home the message that age is just a number, a date is just a reference, and that nothing really changes. Not really. Nothing of importance, such as love and loss, grief and happiness.

Spilt Milk is a beautiful novel. I was captivated by the story, the characters and the shadows they carried – and I’m sure you will be too.

INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR

Welcome to the Book Club, Amanda, tell us about your new novel, Spilt Milk and the inspirations behind it ...

Spilt Milk is about two sisters who live an isolated life by a river in Suffolk in the early 1900s. In 1913 they meet a travelling man who changes their lives forever. The novel follows their lives and the lives of their families through the main part of the twentieth century up to the late 1960s. The sisters are incredibly different women (as sisters often are) and yet they share a bond which is finally unbreakable despite all they go through.

Spilt Milk is set in a beautiful part of England, why did you decide to set the novel there, and is getting the right location for the story vital to you?

Location is really important to me. And in Spilt Milk the landscape is central to the characters’ lives. I first began thinking about the novel when out walking along a riverbank. I realised the landscape I was looking at probably hadn’t changed much over the years. A woman standing there a hundred years ago would have seen the same river yet she would surely have been a very different person to me. That was the starting point for Spilt Milk. The river in the novel turns out to be central to the character’s lives. It connects them and separates them too. So yes, in this novel, I’d say the locations are really part of the story.

Any plans to move your settings to another area or country?

My next novel is set in Fance where I live and I am really enjoying writing about a place I love.

How did you handle the research of the period?

I tend to read a lot of oral histories. I also adore folk history which says so much about the lives of people and their beliefs. I read widely and study photographs and newspaper archives. I also try and get a sense of the way people spoke and their attitudes, hopes and expectations in life. I suppose I research until I feel I have an kind of instinct for the characters. Then I really concentrate on the story.

Why was the examination of family generations so important to you and were you drawing on any personal experience?

As a child I spent a lot of the school holidays with my great grandmother and my grandmother. Sometimes my mother, when she came to take me home, would point out that we were four generations in one room. I remember feeling amazed by this. I used to look at the four of us and though I knew we belonged together, I also felt their lives were mysterious to me. That they belonged to the past in some way. I am still curious about the closeness and the distance between generations. Then, while I was thinking about writing another novel, my eldest daughter went away to university and I realised she was about to grow up and find her own way in life. It got me thinking again about that movement between women and generations, the paths we take, the similarities and the differences. In that respect, yes, I think Spilt Milk came out of my own interests in family dynamics.

How do you feel about your debut novel, 22 Britannia Road when you look back at now?

I feel really proud of my first novel. It’s not an exaggeration to say it changed my life, allowing me to write full time.

How do you feel about the release of Spilt Milk, does it differ to how you felt when your first novel was released?

I am nervous but excited too! I feel like I am starting out on another journey. I am not a debut novelist any more. That feels different. I have more experience now although I expect I will be on another steep learning curve with the publication of Spilt Milk!

Do you still have the same goals and ambitions as when you started out?

When I started out my goal was to write a novel. Then it moved to wanting to be published. Now I have two published books under my belt and a novella in an anthology entitled Grand Central which will be published in July 2014. Now my ambitions are to get better as a writer – to develop and deepen my craft and to continue writing about aspects of life that fascinate me. 

Would you ever consider writing in another genre? Is there a writer you admire so much you would like to try your hand in that genre?

At the moment, I am still interested in writing literary women’s fiction but I think I’d like to and write a detective/mystery novel one day. Kate Atkinson and her detective novels come to mind as an inspiration. 

In a Desert Island discs style, if you could only keep three books with you for life, which would they be?

That is a very hard question! I’m going to ask for poetry books. I’d like the collected works of Elizabeth Bishop, the collected works of Raymond Carver and the collected poems of Les Murray. 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

Facebook Author Pages - a guest blog by Linda Gillard

This week we are delighted to welcome Guest Blogger, Linda Gillard, to talk about using your Facebook Author page to connect effectively with readers.

Linda, you’re a successful indie author publishing non-genre fiction, which is notoriously hard to market. How have you used social networking?

Someone said 98% of all book marketing is a complete waste of time. The trouble is, no one knows which 2% actually works. It’s really hit and miss. I can’t claim I knew what I was doing, but looking back, I can see I’ve steered a steady course through the choppy seas of self-promotion and online marketing, just focusing on writing novels (seven since 2005) and interacting with readers.

I don’t have a personal blog and I don’t tweet. Facebook has been my main promotional tool. I rejected Twitter partly on time grounds, but mostly because I’m just not interested in reading tweets. I keep up with friends, family and readers in email and on Facebook. I thought a personal blog would take up too much time and might siphon off writing energy, so instead, I offered to guest blog whenever I had a book to promote. That was useful for reaching new readers, yet didn’t become a time-consuming chore. It also provided me with something new to share on my page.

I don’t have a huge FB following (887 currently) but many of them are very keen. They tweet for me, share my posts and talk about my books on forums. An author told me recently, “There's always chatter about you on Twitter” and that’s one of the reasons I don't tweet. A reader promoting me is far more convincing than self-promotion.


Why did you decide to set up a FB author page? 

In 2009 I’d been dropped by my publisher and I was waiting for my agent to find me a new one. Readers kept asking me about the next book and I continued to be short-listed for awards after I’d been dropped, so there was still book news to share. I got to grips with FB as a way of keeping myself in the public eye.

I kept my page lively, personal and positive. I was conscientious about responding to anyone who posted on my page. I also made sure I visited other pages and made my presence felt there, but in a genuine way.

I was just making it up as I went along really, dreaming of the day I’d hit 100 followers!


How did you create a FB page readers would want to follow?

I don’t know, but I can tell what I didn’t do. There were no puppies or kittens, no pictures of food, nor did I post pictures of half-naked men. (Though I realise hunky guys cuddling kittens would have got a lot of “likes”!) I posted mainly about book-related topics and topics related to my books: textiles, castles, island living, World War I, music, landscape, wildlife. There was plenty of variety.

I tried to make my page fun but intelligent, the sort of page I would want to visit. I kept the posts and links stimulating and informative, the sort of thing that invited engagement. I also kept it local. I live in the Highlands and most of my fiction is set there, so my page reflects that. People often find my page because of shared posts about Scotland.

I also shared my writing and marketing process. Readers were interested and keen to help. They gave me useful feedback about titles, covers, prices, blurbs. I think that gave them a sense of “ownership” of the books, which meant they were then happy to promote them.


Was there a tipping point when your page took off?

Yes, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012. I had to decide whether to go public on my page. I’d always been open about my mental health history (because I’d explored mental health issues in stigma-busting books like EMOTIONAL GEOLOGY and UNTYING THE KNOT). I could see no reason why I shouldn’t go public with my cancer journey.

It was the best marketing move I ever made. Health issues on my page found me a new audience. My sometimes lengthy cancer posts were shared and people posted to say they’d bought one of my novels on the basis of how I’d written about my experience, which was honestly, but with a lot of dark humour.

I discovered readers like to feel they know you personally. They love to hear about your ups and downs. My followers have watched me go from dumped mid-list author to indie bestseller. They’ve seen both my kids get married. They’ve followed the saga of my cancer, subsequent disability and slow recovery. It's been quite a soap.


Do you think the fact you had an existing fan-base when you went indie gave you an initial 'critical mass' of FB followers from which to grow?

More importantly, I’d already had three books traditionally published. There was a body of work to post about and ready to read. Pre-Facebook, I had a small, enthusiastic fan-base – in the hundreds, not thousands. After I went indie in 2011, HOUSE OF SILENCE found me tens of thousands of new readers, but the growth on the FB page has always been slow and steady.


What advice would you give to someone starting from scratch without an existing fan base?

Be patient. It could take years to build a following.

Look at author pages with a large, active following. Observe what they do (and don’t do).

Keep self-promo to a minimum. Even when you aren’t plugging them, you’re still promoting your books. Readers think – not unreasonably – that an interesting person might write interesting books. So don’t promote your books, promote yourself, your interests and especially the issues in your books.

Remember, you get out what you put in. If you make your posts informative, witty, passionate, quirky, personal, people will come back for more. Cats in fancy dress make people smile, but they don’t sell books.


Linda Gillard lives on the Black Isle in Scotland. She’s the author of seven novels, including STAR GAZING, short-listed in 2009 for Romantic Novel of the Year and HOUSE OF SILENCE, selected by Amazon UK as one of their Top Ten "Best of 2011" in the Indie Author category.

Her latest book is CAULDSTANE, a gothic novel in the romantic suspense tradition of Daphne du Maurier and Mary Stewart.



Website: www.lindagillard.co.uk
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LindaGillardAuthor

CAULDSTANE - http://goo.gl/L3KtQY
HOUSE OF SILENCE - http://goo.gl/7mUZjS

Make Friends With Your Independent Bookshop

by Catriona Troth

The 4^th January this year was a landmark day for me.  It was the day I was able to tweet that my two books were IN STOCK at my local independent bookshop.

It wasn’t something that happened overnight.  My connection with the bookshop began almost exactly two years ago, long before I published either of my books. At the time, the news was full of reports of independent bookshops closing down all over the country.  Chorleywood Bookshop, run by Sheryl Shurville and Morag Watson, had not long since won the southeast regional award for Independent Bookseller of the Year, and I wanted to find out how they managed to make their shop a success.

Sheryl Shurville and Morag Watson

The answer, I found, was an incredible amount of hard work and dedication, coupled with a whole range of imaginative ways of connecting with readers.  I wrote about it for the February 2012 edition of Words with Jam, and Sheryl and Morag were delighted with the coverage.

One thing stuck in my mind, though. When I asked them about stocking self-published books, they exchanged a look. “We do take books from self-published authors, on sale and return,” I was told.  “And some are very good.  But some are awful, just dreadful.  You could never promote them.  The look of some of the books… We try to be encouraging, but it’s hard.”

So when the first three Triskele books were published a few months later, I was relieved to find them take one look at J D Smith’s beautiful covers and immaculately formatted interiors and agree to take a few copies.  We had done no local promotion though, and a few weeks later, the books were returned, with only one sold. An early lesson learnt.

Come November, and I again used my connection with Words with Jam to get a press pass for the annual Chorleywood Literary Festival and write about the events. And that planted the seeds of an idea in my mind.

My first novel came out in June 2012 and was launch at Foyles, along with three other Triskele titles.  By then we knew that our set of books would be published in November and the question that kept buzzing in my mind was – could we launch them at the Chorleywood Lit Fest?

By then, I knew the format of the festival – spread out over a couple of weeks, with events on evenings and weekends.  And I knew that as well as attracted big names, they had held free events promoting new, upcoming writers.

So armed with that knowledge, I went to them with a pitch we had worked out between us – something that would combine a launch of our new titles with an interactive event aimed at those interested in self-publishing and author collectives. As it was to be a free event, and hence no ticket revenue, we offered to make a small contribution to the cost of running the events. And we would also manage the sale of our own books, so the bookshop wouldn’t have to order them or worry about any overstocks.

To my delight, Sheryl and Morag jumped at the idea and supported us every inch of the way. They went out of their way to be helpful, included us in their online and print publicity and managed the bookings for us.  In return, we followed them on Twitter, connected where we could with other authors attending, and made sure we promoted the other Lit Fest events.

Triskele titles selling well

As you can read elsewhere, our launch day was a resounding success.  We sold lots of books, made lots of friends, and generally had a brilliant time.  Importantly, the books had now been promoted locally.  So when people started asking me where they could buy the book, I made a point of directing them to the bookshop. It meant I made a little less per copy than I would selling them directly, but I knew that having Sheryl and Morag behind me promoting the book was by far the best way of reaching people I didn’t know personally.

The book sold well between the launch and Christmas. I had done what I needed, in terms of providing information to the ISBN agency, Nielsen, to ensure that the book was available through Gardners, which is the major supplier of books to independent bookshops in the UK.  But it wasn’t kept in stock by them. So by the time the shop had ordered it from Gardners and Gardners had ordered it from from my POD suppliers, Lightning Source, delivery could take a week or ten days – much slower than they were used to.

So after Christmas, they decided they were happy to hold a stock of both of my books, ordered directly from me. Hence my happy little tweet on the 4^th January.

So what is the lesson from all this? If you are an independent author, you need to build relationship with your local bookshop and library.  Don’t expect to be able to walk in as a complete stranger and ask them to stock your book.  Be a customer first.  If they organise events, attend them.  Follow them on Twitter and like them on Facebook. You may not write for a magazine like Words with Jam, but you probably have a blog, or you can pitch something to your local paper.

Get to know them and let them get to know you.  And when you do approach them, be professional and business-like.

Believe me, it will pay off.

The Bookclub Niche

 By Liza Perrat

It’s no secret. Like many authors, I dislike the marketing side of writing. However, we all know that in today’s competitive marketplace, there’s no shying away from this aspect of the book business.

“Find your niche,” the marketing gurus say. “You can’t pursue them all, so choose what suits you.”

“Like Twitter?” I say.

Despite regularly dipping my toes in the vast Twitter Sea, I’m not convinced of its efficacy. “Buy my book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”, “Read my 5-star reviews novel!” certainly turns me off quicker than mouldy fish. I am not about to do the same.

“Facebook then?”

“So, bang on and on about my novels, alienating my FB friends and family?”
And the thought of having a FB author page seems like just one more thing to keep up with, to take away my writing time.

Don't even mention any other of the myriad of marketing and networking platforms available today. I simply don’t have the inclination.

So, what other marketing and networking choices are there?

Well, there is the Bookclub. Just over a year ago, rather than discovering this myself, the ‘Bookclub Niche’ found me.

When I published my first novel in May 2012, I’d wanted to explore the possibility of speaking at bookclubs, but as I live in a rural French village, there were, for obvious reasons, no English-language bookclubs close by. Then, right before my annual pilgrimage home to Australia last Christmas, a friend who had read Spirit of Lost Angels (first in the L’Auberge des Anges trilogy) contacted me.

“All the girls in my reading group have read your book. Would you like to come to our Bookclub Christmas party and talk about it?”

“Oh yes, that would be nice,” I said, thinking, You bet I would!

Knowing only one member of this group, I was a bit nervous when I showed up and saw them all clutching copies of Spirit of Lost Angels. My fingers shook a little as I passed out copies of my carefully-prepared Question/Answer sheet, and I realised this was a serious group of demanding and unforgiving readers. But after several bottles of bubbly and some tasty food, the mood certainly lightened up and everyone, including me, was soon chattering away.



They asked questions about the writing and research process and gave me some excellent feedback on points they did and did not like about the book. I filed it all away for my next novel, when I was considering the story from the reader’s point of view.

And you know what, it was Great Fun!

An old school-friend from a different bookclub (Bulli bookclub) had also contacted me around the same time. Still serious readers, this group was entirely different, and, after a short time speaking about Spirit of Lost Angels, we spent the evening drinking Margaritas and eating pizza.

So, different groups of people, different dynamics, but again … Great Fun.

Word travels fast in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales, and this year the Keiraville bookclub asked me to come and speak about Spirit of Lost Angels.

 

 

 

An excellent lunch of fine food and wine provided the backdrop for an in-depth discussion about where story ideas come from, how I organise my writing and research schedule (what schedule?), and how long it takes to write a book. I answered their questions eagerly and we spent hours talking about novels in general – our likes and dislikes – which, as an avid reader, I found most inspiring. I signed their copies of Spirit of Lost Angels, and passed around our Triskele Books bookmarks. I also spoke about the other Triskele books, and handed out my colleagues’ bookmarks in a sly bit of team-promotion.


The other evening, the Bulli girls again invited me to join them for more Margaritas and pizza at Ryan’s Pub, to talk about my second novel in L’Auberge des Anges trilogy, Wolfsangel.

Of particular interest was the true World War 2 crime that inspired Wolfsangel.

“What’s next?” they asked.

I told them a little about Midwife Héloïse – Blood Rose Angel, the final book in L’Auberge des Anges historical trilogy.

So, if this type of marketing/networking appeals to you, you might be wondering how one finds willing bookclubs.

The most obvious place to start is with friends. An internet search will probably show up local bookclubs. Or just ask around your local area. So many people enjoy reading groups these days, and will jump at the chance to have an author speak at one of their meetings. Perhaps offer a free copy of your book to a group member, and a speaking event, if they would consider it for their club. No obligation of course!

Take along your promo material: bookmarks, postcards, whatever you have. I’m trying to convince my Triskele colleagues to get pens or mugs or something made up, to hand out at events like this. People love goodie bags.

Prepare copies of a Q/A sheet or a study guide to hand around. This post by my Triskele colleague, JJ Marsh will help you to make a study guide. Some groups will welcome this, others won’t be bothered. As I said … different groups, different dynamics.

If the event is successful, send a collective email thanking the people for inviting you, and offer to attend a future session for your next book. If possible, and appropriate, keep contact with the group afterwards.

“So, do you still hate marketing and networking?”

I enjoy meeting new people and eager readers. I get to rave on about my books without my audience yawning or playing on their mobile phone. I spread the word about my novels, and those of my colleagues, to willing listeners. I’m gaining a readership, person by person, and isn’t that what they say about marketing: it’s no sprint, but a marathon?

So, nope, I love it!

Google + (Part Two) - The How & the When

Part Two – How & When.

Since I have been on this G+ journey of discovery, the biggest query most people have is a lack of understanding. Numerous writers have admitted signing up to the service, only to stand on the sidelines peering in, unsure what to do next. I think this is something Google may need to address, and I’ll go into details later about the online help you can access to guide you through the initial process. It’s all there, and is more than adequate, I just don’t feel it’s particularly user-friendly.

 

So, here I shall try and simplify and condense the main rules you need to make a start on G+.

HOW TO NAVIGATE  YOUR WAY AROUND G+

So, you’ve got your password, accessed the G+ logo on your Google dashboard, and you’re all set. If you have a Gmail account you may find many of your profile details, including your user name, will auto-populate. When you log in you will be taken to your Home Page. Once you have added friends (see below) you will be greeted here by a display of your friends' latest blogs (collated via Blogger of course), their latest posts and updates and a general news feed – plus a chance for you to post your own quick updates. It may look a bit empty for now, but it will fill up nicely as you use G+ and interact with other users, and it will usually offer you a steady stream of people you may know due to your existing contacts or shared interests.

Navigating your way around G+ is quite easy. Everything revolves around the drop down menu on the left- hand side of your screen. When you click (on Home) you should be presented with a number of options:

PROFILE -  This is the area where you complete as much information as you want available. It’s also rather like a blog page where you can post daily updates (think of your Facebook home page) So, if you want to tell everyone what you had for breakfast or boast about your daily word count, this is the place.

PEOPLE – This is one of the most important areas. Advice seems to be that increasing your G+ ‘readers’ is crucial to getting the best out of the medium. And before we proceed, here I must introduce you to Circles. Probably the biggest (and arguably most beneficial) of the differences G+ offers over other social media platforms.

Circles or Circling is a way of organising your followers or friends. How you do it will very much depend on what you want from G+. So, in the People section, you are presented with a number of options. Find People (searching for those with similar likes or shared friends) Have You in Circles (people who have included you in their circles) Your Circles (People you have chosen) Discover (Popular sites, categorised into interests)

I’d suggest you look at Your Circles first. Here you can search (via your address book or Gmail account) for people to add. You then either add them to your Circles, or if not on G+, send invites to ask them to join your network and when they accept you can organise them into relevant Circles. For example, for writers these may include – friends, family, readers, bloggers, colleagues. The beauty of taking the time to separate your followers is that you can update and share posts with specific groups. So, for example, let’s say you’re a member of a Book Club, you could include other members in a Book Club 'Circle', and only update them on the date of your next event, rather than informing the rest of your followers who aren’t remotely interested. You can also choose to make only certain Circles visible in your stream on your Home Page. So, if you only want to see your friends' posts when you log on, this can be amended in settings.

PHOTO – This is basically an online photograph album that if you have a Blogger site will already be populated with photos you’ve saved there. Otherwise you can organise uploaded photos to use.

The above are the main categories to navigate around the site. Below that there is a second list – What’s Hot (Display of the day’s hottest sites, blogs, links, videos) / Communities (Display of G+ groups you may be interested in based on your settings, likes and friends)  / Events (Ability to make an Online Invitation to share among friends) / Hang Outs (Ability to run Video Chats, either private, or join public chats) / Pages (Ability to create a Page – eg like an Author Page on FB for your business or interests)  / Local (More for business use, links you to local contacts and links your businesses to others in area)  / Settings (Managing account).

HOW TO UNDERSTAND G+

Also in this drop down under Home, you can access the online G+ Help. This is in very tiny print at the bottom of the menu. Despite difficulty in finding it, it actually offers a lot of information, although I imagine many users do not even know it is there. It shows you in simple steps how to send posts, create pages, interact with other users and a lot more. And there is even a tour that uses a kind of Wizard to guide you around G+, explaining benefits and features. I’d suggest any newbie spends an hour or so familiarising themselves with these interactive tools as they are really beneficial. There is also an option to join a G+ Circle where members explain changes or features and there's also a G+ Help hash tag so you can yell at any time if you're in a fix and someone will assist.

The other main point to get right are your Posts. In a similar fashion to Facebook's latest security updates, you have the ability to share your posts with Specific Circles, Extended Circles or Public (ie anyone who has included you in one of their Circles.) Unlike Twitter, here you have a 100,000 character limit, so although your scope is wider, it still pays to quickly learn to be brief and interesting. It very much depends what you want from G+ but as we are viewing this as a potential marketing tool for authors, the same rules apply as Facebook and Twitter. Repeat posts, but never make a nuisance, check timings so you hit readers at the right time, add hashtags if necessary, and provide a link to your source if you're re-posting others' posts.

With G+ a symbol called +Mentioning works in much the same way as the @ symbol on Twitter. If you add + in front of a name at start of a post, it works as sending them a direct message. Or if you post in the body of a public text, it shares the post with them. A handy tip is that if you add a + or @ in front of a regular email address, G+ will send the post. This is a clever way of attracting new followers onto G+.

Two other points about Posts. There are services that offer auto posts, much as auto retweets in Twitter. 'Do Share' for example, enables you to draft and schedule posts for set times. Also, like RT on Twitter, G+ have 'Ripples' which show you how many people have shared your public posts. To access, click on the arrow at top right of your posts, and View Ripples. Through Ripples you can also access cross promotion, where your posts can be organised to post on your other social media sites consecutively which removes the burden of multi-posting.

So, choose your readers, click on the box, write your text, add your links and photos and ... Get Posting!

HOW TO INCREASE YOUR G+ AUDIENCE

So, once you’ve dedicated your time, created your profile, added your photographs, mastered sending Posts, connected with other users and organised your Circles … then what?

I asked the same question and have spent the past couple of weeks trying to ‘use’ the resource to its full potential and I’ll be honest I don’t think I’ve got anywhere near scratching the surface. I'm currently looking at how to increase my followers outside of my normal circle of friends and associates.

Many of the normal social media etiquette applies - Have a good profile; Share good content; Share your posts in public not private; Add your G+ badge to your website and blog; Help others; Invite others to join; Seek out Circles who like the same topics as you do and build new networks of like-minded people. With these ideas in mind, just make a start, write posts and begin circulating and seeking out people and topics that interest you. Before long, you see your Circled number and follower number increase, and your network begins to grow.

I think G+ like most things in life only gives back as much as you put in. And there's no denying there are lots of slight differences you need to master before you are completely competent, but in general most things are similar to other social networking - and the site itself, once you can navigate yourself around successfully, is easy to use, not to mention bright and entertaining. So, play around, have a browse, click links and see where they take you. Some will appeal, others will not - I've not taken the plunge yet with Hang Outs for example. But I like seeing News and Weather updates when I log in. I like seeing new suggested contacts and a resume of my followers' posts. I feel comfortable with the whole set up, and while I'm sure G+ attracts its fair share of trolls and idiots, I also believe at the moment it's adding a new, refreshing and altogether more interesting face to online communication and marketing. And that with a little time investment, it will offer a new face for networking and marketing for authors.

In the last of my posts on G+ I shall report on my first full month on the site and compile a list of Top Tips that will add to your overall experience.

For those who are going to give G+ a go and would like more detailed information, I can recommend What the Plus! by Guy Kawasaki which is packed full of advice on every aspect of G+.

The 7th Day, by Nika Lubitsch

The 7th Day – Nika Lubitsch

Review by JJ Marsh

Nika Lubitsch’s Germany-set crime novel is a page-turning adventure that sticks in your mind.

Sybille is on trial for her husband’s murder. While on trial, as witnesses queue up to defame the once-glamorous darling of the society pages, flashbacks tell the story up till now. The structure is reminiscent of Memento, as our central character, and the reader, try to make sense of what has happened. The question also arises, can we trust our narrator?

As her lawyer, Ulli, battles to prove her innocence over six days of legal proceedings, Sybille recalls how she met Michael, their life together and how it all fell apart in such spectacular fashion. The young heady days of falling in love, the resilience of their romance in overcoming obstacles, their joys and triumphs are believable and enjoyable.

So well are Lubitsch’s characters drawn, that you feel you know them as good friends. So when Sybille’s world collapsed, I found myself saying, ‘But how could he? That’s just not like him.’

The clues are expertly woven and the tension increases over this taut, lean thriller till we discover the truth of the tale on the seventh day. The ending is atmospheric and exciting, not to mention brilliantly executed.

Unsurprisingly, a Kindle bestseller.

One of my favourite elements of this books was the use of setting. Berlin society comes vividly to life and after I put the book down, I started planning my next mini-break. This is the perfect book for a long train journey, as it’s short enough to devour in one sitting. But woe betide anyone who tries to talk to you before you get to the end.

Interview with Nika Lubitsch

Nika Lubitsch lives in Berlin, while her soul lives in Florida. Having been rejected by all German publishers, The 7th Day was at the top of the bestselling list only one week after its publication at Kindle, surpassing even 50 Shades of Grey. The novel stayed number one in Germany for 100 days, making Nika Lubitsch the most successful KDP author of the year in 2012. 'The Queen of E-Books', as a major German magazine dubbed her, again landed a number one hit in the Kindle charts with her second mystery Das 5. Gebot (The Fifth Commandment). A major production company has already bought the film rights. The 7th Day is currently translated by publishers throughout the world. 

The first thing that appealed to me about The 7th Day was the unusual structure. A woman on trial for the murder of her husband, the tension happens both in the present and via a series of flashbacks. Why did you choose this format?

I like stories that aren´t told in a chronological order. In a mystery a person´s life is supposed to take a course that makes murder inevitable. If you start out by describing the wonderful life a protagonist has, the story usually ends up being so utterly boring. Therefore, I need the murder to happen at the very start to pique the readers´ curiosity, because they then will ask themselves how the protagonist might have ended up in trouble to begin with. For me, suspense is created by opposition and the clash of the ways the different characters assess a situation.

One of the features of Triskele Books and our Bookclub is the role of place in the story. The 7th Day is rooted powerfully in Berlin. Which elements, for you, really bring a location to life?

I try to write books whose plots are based partly on their locations. My stories can´t just be transplanted to different cities or countries. Berlin offers a lot of options: the city´s not always so squeaky-clean history, its legacy issues after two world wars and Sovjet occupation, its isolated location in the middle of another state with a different jurisdiction, its vicinity to the Polish border – all these factors give a spark to unique plots. Besides its history and politics, it´s also its typical streets and squares that mark the city´s character. Berlin is very large and its neighborhoods sometimes differ from each other as if they were located on continents apart. On the one hand you have Zehlendorf, a neighborhood of stately mansions, copper beeches, imposing art nouveau town houses, and enchanted lakes. But there also is Neukölln, home of the largest Turkish community outside of Istanbul. By the way, I had a letter from a reader who knew exactly where my “secret location” is. He was able to name the country as well as the site of the pink house and confirmed that it is possible to simply disappear in this area, just as I have described it. Thus, I must have done something right. All my books take place not only in Berlin but also in other, sometimes exotic, countries, the condition, however, being that I must have either lived or at least have visited there (like, for example, Guyana in my book The 5^th Commandment).

There is an immense confidence about your writing – the way you switch from present to past tense, your use of the second person for part of the narrative – can you tell us a little about your background in writing?

I´ve been writing since I´ve been old enough to hold a pen. Professionally, I worked as a journalist as well as a PR officer and copywriter and also wrote a number of non-fiction books. Of course, I have also looked into the theorie of creative writing over the years and am a fervent believer in Sol Stein. However, I love to break rules and have noticed, for example, that I happen to like narrative passages in books. For me it depends on the narrator´s keynote. But in order to ignore rules, you have to know them first.

Your research into German police and judicial procedures seems extensive. How did you go about learning the way the system worked?

Researching police matters was a rather frustrating affair. That´s because German police keep their cards close to their chests. “Just write your book the way you think it´s right. When your manuscript is ready, you can mail it to us and we´ll look for mistakes.” Therefore, I left the police where they belong: at the precinct. The department of corrections was much more cooperative in this respect. The warden of the correctional facility in Pankow showed me around the place for a number of hours. I was allowed to talk to the inmates, be present when their children came to see them, watch them at work bagging perfume samples, and participate in their music lesson. What really knocked me over was the fact that the warden seemed to be somehow sympathetic with her inmates, who were there on remand. She told me about some women, whose cases really made her angry at our judicial system. The press office at the criminal court also was very helpful. I was able to witness some murder trials. However, I have a little legal background myself, because I have a couple of terms at law school under my belt, with criminal law having been about the only thing that fascinated me. Among my friends there are one of the most famous German defense lawyers and also a notary, which meant that these matters were the least of my problems. The translation into English worried me much more, as our legal procedures are very different from those in the US. With Karin Dufner I had the support of a very competent woman. Karin even used to translate legal documents for a living and was able to furnish some explanations, as she knows her way around both systems.

You chose to publish independently and rapidly became a German Kindle Bestseller. What made you decide to do it yourself?

The decision wasn´t really my choice. Even though I never had a problem to convince renowned publishing houses to publish my works of non-fiction, not a soul was interested in my novels. It simply costs less money to publish a translation than to invest effort into developing a new author. Ten years ago The 7^th Day was rejected by all major publishers of mystery fiction which led to the manuscript gathering cobwebs on my hard drive. As curiosity is one of my traits, I just tried out KDP last summer with my short stories, which I had been writing for years to stay in practice. And, lo and behold, the book sold quite well. Therefore, I unearthed The 7^th Day, dusted it off, moved the plot ten years ahead into the future, and uploaded it. Five days later I was on the top of the best selling list, where my book remained for three months. I think nobody was more surprised than I was.

Some reviews I’ve read surprised me by finding the sexual content rather strong. I found the sex scenes entirely appropriate for the age and enthusiasm of Sybille. To me, it also says a lot about her partners. Have such reviews changed the way you write?

Some days ago the a feuilleton writer with the “Zeit”, THE German intellectual weekly paper, wanted to know why I resorted to proletarian language so much. After all, my protagonists are professionals with academic credentials. As an example, he quoted the term “poppen” (which isn´t quite as harsh as “screw” but on roughly the same stylistic level). My answer was that I only moved in academic circles and still never met anyone who´d use the word “intercourse” when talking about sexual relations.

Would you ever write anything other than mystery and crime?

Yes, of course. Under my real name I write funny, ironic books of non-fiction in the tradition of Nora Ephron, who, by the way, was my great idol. I also wrote a wonderful book together with my husband which I´ll soon publish under yet another pseudonym. It´s a book of social fiction that is set in the near future. Today, we even have a genre term for it: dystopy. The kinds of books I definitely  won´t ever write are romance novels, erotic novels, and - never, ever - historic novels.

What factors propelled you to the top of the Kindle charts in Germany?

The cover just screams at you, the title is catching, and story has an interesting beginning. More than 1,100 positive reviews help, of course.

You say you live in Berlin but your soul lives in Florida – why?

In 1997 I first went to Cape Coral. And while I was there, my soul just settled next to a pelican on top of the bridge over the Caloosahatchi. When it was time to leave four weeks later, I asked my soul whether it wanted to come along. It just shook its head. Since that day I, of course, have to return in regular intervals to check on it. This winter I´ll spend six months in Cape Coral for the first time. That´s been my dream for years, and since I´m now able to work anywhere thanks to writing, it finally has become true. There were times I just couldn´t get away from Berlin. We were homesick for Cape Coral so much that we made Florida the location of our social fiction thriller, which has the preliminary title “Alligator Valley”. This way we have been able to spend every evening with our protagonists in the independent Senior Citizens´ Republic of Southwest Florida.

I’ve discovered lots of German-speaking authors in translation since moving to Switzerland, such as Wolf Haas and Dürrenmatt. Which writers would you recommend?

I love Sebastian Fitzek, a very nice Berlin mystery colleague, who writes devious thrillers.