Greetings All!

I have just put a new post on my blog site about the Kindle experience -- a freebie promo for 5 days, followed by ten weeks back in selling mode. Was the freebie promo worthwhile? Yes, it was -- but I'm still waiting for that exponential sales growth that we all dream about! Info here:

http://brian-angelmountain.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/the-kindle-freebie-promo-aftermath.html

lol.. "Sup? MiLud!" would be kewl

Make that two ! We're getting a copy of 'How Rugby Began' as soon as we can find our beat up old Kindle 1.0. . Meanwhile I should point out that we will shortly be in a position to sell ebooks through our new Directory site. We should be able to offer a better deal than Amazon ( not difficult ) and of course a dedicated promotion package/service. Please watch this space for further details.

If you look at smashwords.com, it's a very user-friendly site and answers all the questions. I'm not making any money from the Kindle version as far as I can see! Sales have been by word of mouth.

Just saying that my chief objection to Downton is the anachronistic language. It got to the point where I wouldn't have been surprised to hear the valet say to Lord Thingy "Wassup?" (a bit like Armstrong & Miller's RAF sketches). If I'm honest, the whole thing started to get on my nerves. I don't mind the original Upstairs Downstairs but I'm not really interested in the new one. Besides, it's on at the same time as Homeland which has just started here on Channel 4.

Ah -- I'm lucky in that I already sell a lot of books through Amazon Advantage (which does not mean I make a profit -- I look on it as PR) so I can add as many Kindle titles as I like without any cost.

I put up these two titles just for fun, as a sort of experiment. I'll let you know if I sell any! (Actually I think I might have sold one copy so far!!) Oh happy day!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Rugby-Began-ebook/dp/B0071Y298E

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Witchcraft-and-Wizardry-ebook/dp/B006VSS8EU/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1329758967&sr=1-1

Eifion Jenkins, who edits The Carmarthen Underground for me, has published on Smashwords. Have a look at smashwords.com and compare. What annoys me is the business of signing up to Amazon Merchant and having to pay out money to them. Eifion's book is called Gwenna's Gift (for young people).

Thanks Ceri -- on Kindle, you set your own price. Anybody can do it -- some people even give their books away on Kindle, in the hope of great returns on future titles that are charged for......

Yes, it would be nice if the BBC spoke the truth..... not sure they are broke, but certainly costume dramas are expensive -- and I suspect the truth is that they were worried about committing a large sum to something that is not GUARANTEED to be an instant success -- in the way that a new Dickens or Austen serial would be. I think we should probably refer to the organization as risk-averse.....

I would also be interested to hear about your experiences with Smashwords. Gaabriel is formatting a novel for a client at the moment for kindle, but one cant help wondering if there are better formats/platforms and how much of a market leader kindle will prove to be long term. Also interested to discover what kind of royalties authors get from kindle publications.

As for the BBC's feeble excuse re: televising The Angel Mountain Saga....wouldn't it be refreshing if for once someone spoke the truth and just said..."look, we're broke!"

Dont forget to read our interview with Brian John:- http://americymru.blogspot.com/2011/10/interview-with-welsh-writer-brian-john.html

And our review of 'Guardian Angel':- http://americymru.blogspot.com/2011/10/interview-with-welsh-writer-brian-john.html

More reviews of other volumes in the series to come. We also actively encourage member contributed reviews.

Thanks Gaynor -- yes, I saw that your book was on there. But I suppose that Kindle sales will bring you a bit of income, at any rate? And that doesn't stop you from putting out as many other versions as you like...... it's not the uploading that is the problem, it's the generating of sales -- in a very crowded marketplace. How does Smashwords work with respect to selling and promotion? I'm keen to learn from others here...

Keep up, Swansea! Hope it's all crystal clear now. Just a note to Brian that I really regret putting my book on Kindle - it's worked out as being expensive for me. I'm doing my next one on Smashwords - the book will be readable on pretty much every type of e-reader.

Afternoon, Jack. can't have you being confused, can we? Here is the full sequence:

On Angel Mountain (Part One), Greencroft Books 2001. ISBN
9780905559803. A5 paperback, 328 pp, 6.99.
(also Corgi edition 2006)
House of Angels (Part Two), Greencroft Books 2002. ISBN 9780905559810.
A5 paperback, 432 pp, 7.99. (also Corgi edition 2006)
Dark Angel (Part Three), Greencroft Books 2003. ISBN 9780905559827.
A5 paperback, 432 pp, 8.50. (also Corgi edition 2007)
Rebecca and the Angels (Part Four), Greencroft Books 2004. ISBN
9780905559834. A5 paperback, 432 pp, 8.50.
Flying with Angels (Part Five), Greencroft Books, 2005, ISBN
9780905559841. A5 paperback, 400 pp, 7.99.
Guardian Angel (Part Six), Greencroft Books, 2008, ISBN 9780905559865.
A5 paperback, 256 pp, 6.99.
Sacrifice (Part Seven), Greencroft Books, 2009, ISBN 9780905559902. A5
paperback, 352 pp, 7.99.
Conspiracy of Angels (Part Eight), Greencroft Books, 2012, ISBN
9780905559933. A5 paperback, 352 pp, 7.99.

The first three volumes were also published by Corgi, and they may still be available in the US through Amazon and other sources. Watch this space -- Kindle and other Ebook versions will follow shortly.

I agree with you about Downton Abbey and Upstairs Downstairs (the new series started last night) -- I am a great fan of both! Cleverly written and beautifully produced -- perfect Sunday evening viewing. But they just aren't WELSH!! In a perfect world it would be nice to see BBC Wales doing series such as those AND some decent drama set in Wales, and coming from Wales.

Yes, I agree that BBC Wales seems to have a successful drama dept. I've never watched Merlin as I'm convinced it will be a load of rubbish! Why no one has dramatised Mary Stewart's wonderful Merlin trilogy, I'll never know - it's even set in the correct historical context. None of that helps you. We must remain hopeful, whatever happens.

BBC Wales has an excellent drama department -- no doubt about that. But I suspect they are flat out with BBC blockbuster series like Dr Who, Torchwood, Upstairs Downstairs, Merlin etc -- with all the key producers and directors flat out on their own pet projects. I know nothing about the internal politics of BBC Wales, but it is probably the case that everybody in there is protecting his / her own corner, and fighting for pet projects. So there is probably no room for projects coming in from outside -- since there is no internal advocate. It's all to do with advocacy! Sadly, I see no sign of any Welsh dimension to BBC Wales drama policy -- the team has evolved into a team making network BBC drama series for sale across the network and in the international marketplace.

What a let-down. Aside from money issues, there's no one with the guts or imagination to make the sort of programmes we took for granted 30 or more years ago. I agree with John Hurt on that. When you look atdramas like I Claudius and the plays that were broadcast each week back in the 70s and 80s, it's really sad that we won't see that sort of thing again. I've got the DVDs of I Claudius and I think even then the budget was about 5 bob (they only had about 3 sets) but it was brilliant.

Thanks Gaynor -- sadly, BBC Wales has just replied and given me (ever so politely) a brush-off -- they said "it would be difficult to transform the books into a major drama piece." What on earth is that supposed to mean?! They didn't even invite me up to Cardiff for a discussion. I'm not impressed......

Oh, good news. Any hope of dramatisation of the books yet? Much better than blydi Downton and Upstairs Downstairs!

Just a quick update -- "Conspiracy of Angels" (Vol 8 in the series) will now be out on 9th April (Easter Monday). The text is ready for the printers, and I'll post up the cover on the site soon. Thanks for your interest!

Ooh, I still have some to catch up on, Brian. Martha is absolutely convincing so you have no worries there. Writing from the point of view of the opposite sex (even if not in the first person) can be very successful; I think of Arthur Golden (Memoirs of a Geisha), Donna Leon (the Guido Brunetti series which I love), Barbara Nadel's Inspector Ikmen stories and Susanna Gregory's addictive Matthew Bartholomew tales. I'm sure you won't get a red card from the referees anyway!

Thanks Gaynor -- glad you are enjoying the books. Not easy for a man to get into the head and the heart of a feisty and sexy female heroine, and to describe everything through her words! So that was a great challenge -- but now that I've written 8 books about Martha, I'm pretty familiar with her! (And my wife Inger reads everything as I write, and puts me right where she feels that I have got things wrong....)

The new novel, called "Conspiracy of Angels" will be out on 1st March, all being well. Just now it's being read by my 5 referees -- if they like it, then it will be published. If not, I have a problem!

I am absorbed in the second novel about Angel Mountain at the moment and have just looked up Brian John on Wikipedia. He is in fact a serious scientist and is a leading light in GMFree Cymru. I believe the Angel Mountain saga was his first foray into fiction.

The stories begin at the end of the 18th century and we hear much about the French (and their failed invasion of Fishguard and the surrounding area) and Bonaparte so it's by no means insular and there are some violent and shocking scenes. The setting is Carn Ingli in Pembrokeshire and, having loved Newport (Parrog especially) and Nevern from childhood, it's very enjoyable to read these tales and have at least an idea of what the area looks like.

The first novel, On Angel Mountain, starts with the finding of diaries written in Dimetian Welsh, an archaic dialect. The diaries are the record of the life of Martha Morgan (nee Howell), mistress of Plas Ingli. We learn about the poverty of tenant farmers, the cruelty and machinations of landowners and how life was conducted generally in that time. There are arguments about education for the poor and this is a time when non-Conformists are rising in number.

There are two lawyers mentioned regularly, Lewis Legal and Will Final Testament; these are just two of the delightful names given to people whose surnames are ubiquitous, so you have Davy Death (who makes coffins) and Havard Medical, the Newport doctor.

I recommend the books as a very good read as well as shedding light on that part of Wales (Little England beyond Wales) in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. I'm impressed too that Brian John is so successful in writing from a young woman's point of view.