September Newsletter - Audio, First Drafts, and Tap Dancing
Sep 09, 2023 11:31 am
Hi
Hello from Sydney, where winter is turning to Spring, and all the azaleas and flowering cherries are in bloom. Welcome to any new subscribers wherever you are in the world. I hope this newsletter finds you all well.
It’s been a busy month. As well as all the book-related tasks, I’ve taken up a new hobby and started going to tap dancing classes. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and I’m absolutely loving it! It’s so great just to make so much noise! It’s only once a week, so I’m supplementing it with various classes from the wealth of content on YouTube, and Mr G. has offered to make me a plywood board so I can actually tap in my shoes at home.
If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know I’m soon launching my Fantasy Author alter-ego’s first book, so I’ve been caught up in all the many little tasks that go into a book release – last minute edits, covers, uploading to the various platforms, organising promotion, setting up the website, and then starting to do the same for the second book in the series. Touch of a Witch (Book One in the Darkness Rising Series) by S.G. Slade, goes on sale on October 31st. You can pre-order it for the discounted pre-order price of $3.99 here: https://books2read.com/Touch-of-a-Witch
On the subject of uploading, I have a quick question for you – I’m planning to start selling e-books directly from my website. How likely are you to buy directly from an author website, using a payment system like PayPal or Stripe? Very likely? Quite likely? Not very likely? Not likely at all? If you could drop me a line to let me know, I’d really appreciate it.
In between all that, I’m still chipping away at the new World War II novella – it’s going slowly but well, and I’m looking forward to spending a bit more time on it soon. In that regard, getting made redundant has been quite helpful – I certainly have more time to get things done. I’m doing a few clinical shifts where I used to work, which I love, but unfortunately the commute is brutal – 2 hours each way on public transport, so it can only be a stop gap until I find the right job closer to home.
And … drum roll … I’ve finally finished the audio version of The Last Goodbye and have sent it off to the sound engineer for mastering. I can’t believe that such a short book could take so long to record! But I’ve learned so much in the process, and now that I’ve set up a new studio in our little place in the mountains where it’s quieter, I’m hoping the next one will be a lot quicker!
What I’m reading: Lessons by Ian McEwan
A disturbing and compelling account of a young man’s life that was derailed in his schooldays by the actions of his piano teacher. Hard to put down.
What I’m watching: Past Lives
I saw this beautiful and thought-provoking Korean film at the cinema last week. Gentle and poignant, I highly recommend it.
Here are the links to my books. Have you read them all?
Till next time - happy reading!
Kind regards
Samantha
https://www.samgrosserbooks.com
