follow-up interview with Ali Bacon

Ali Bacon is the author of Kettle of Fish, and one of the contributors to the recently published Unchained, an anthology of poetry and fiction published to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Bristol’s original chained library.  I interviewed her in summer 2012,  shortly before her first book was published, and was interested to learn if and how her writing life has changed since then.

It’s just over a year since your debut novel, Kettle of Fish, was epublished by ThornBerry.  How has your writing life/life in general changed? Is this how you predicted it might be after being published?

Well it does seem to have changed now, although it has been gradual.  I think because Kettle  came out first as an e-book, there was a slight feeling of anticlimax. I did  a lot of promotion online – a blog tour and lots of blog swaps for instance, but in everyday situations not a lot changed.  A few months after that when I published the paperback (which I did myself with support from Thornberry) I could at last wave the finished product around and also felt more motivated to go out and sell it. This is when I got involved in a few  ‘author events’ and lo, I started to feel like an author, which I suppose was the point of it all.  By the way I never expected to get rich on the proceeds - which is just as well!

I’m assuming that most of these changes have been positive.  Have there been negative ones?

Although I’m beginning to get used to it, I find promotional activities sap my energy on all levels. Online promotion is less energy-consuming but of course now that we are all permanently hooked up to the internet the distraction is always with us. How much tweeting and facebooking is ‘promotional work’ and how much is just faffing around? (You can guess the answer that’s in my head!) 

Something else I didn’t anticipate is that since Kettle had been finished for some time before it came out, it felt odd to be talking about a story that for me had come to an end. I still sometimes find it difficult to put myself in the mindset of the author of that particular book when people ask me about it!

Is your perception of yourself as a writer different to how it was in your pre-published days?

I think this is the biggest change, and one that has taken a little while to sink in. In the spring I did an author event in a local library which led to my being asked to deliver a workshop in the autumn as part of a local arts/creativity season. Suddenly I was the ‘expert’. That was scary but also brought the realisation that I really am in a different place now. Promoting Unchained has also been part of this process as I am billed as one of our group’s published authors rather than just someone who writes – which is how I have seen myself up to now.

Which promotional activities do you reckon have been most effective in stimulating book sales?

Very hard to say, especially in terms of online promotion where it’s hard to know if/when sales are affected. In this respect there may be advantages to being self-published as sales figures are, I think, easier to access for publishers.

For ‘hand sales’ my most successful event was a visit to the Wickhambrook WI literary lunch, but then it was organised by my sister!

Having had a highly successful book launch for Unchained, I feel I missed a trick in not having one for Kettle. Of course Unchained had a team of ten writers contributing, but I do have a clearer idea of what’s needed for a ‘good do’.

Are you managing to find a balance between writing and promoting?

Now that the ‘excitement’ of social media is wearing off, it’s becoming easier to set aside time for writing – winter weather also has its compensations! However I do feel that in some ways there is no going back from the task of promoting what I have written. Having announced myself as a writer, I feel a responsibility not just to myself but also to my fellow writers to maintain some kind of profile, and as well to encourage one or two beginning writers I’ve met recently who’ve asked for advice.  I’d like to think I can also be more productive in my writing time, but that’s not yet proven.

Any tips/advice to newly-published authors in how to promote their work?

I heard  recently that for someone to buy a book they probably have to have seen it or heard it mentioned five or six times. If you are an ‘indie’ author who’s unlikely to get a mainstream press review or be in the front of a bookshop chain,  that’s going to be hard work and I think the message is simply to keep going. It also means that a lot of work needs to happen close to home and I am slowly building up  local contacts. The launch of Unchained has helped with this and I am now writing a column for a community magazine -  not great literature and only a token payment, but useful for getting my name out there.

Thanks for the chance to reflect on a busy year, Jane, and good luck with your own new publishing venture. 

Ali’s website and blog: http://alibacon.com
Twitter @AliBacon
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/AKettleOfFish

A Kettle of Fish is a rollercoaster family drama set in Scotland

Buy A Kettle of Fish from Amazon UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/A-Kettle-of-Fish-ebook/dp/B009M7FWKK/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1350203508&sr=1-1
Print edition: ISBN 9781781768624

Unchained: A Collection of Fiction & Poetry by Bristol Women Writers
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Unchained-Collection-Fiction-Bristol-Writers/dp/1906477779/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1384773937&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=unchained+anthology