Mar 27, 2017

Hi everyone,

Now that the dust has settled on the first couple of weeks since pre-orders opened, I’ve been turning my attention to trying to drive more traffic to the story page for Rule Britannia. I know I’m treading a well-worn path that a lot of you have taken before me, so I’ve been poking around your updates, social media, forum posts etc to see what has been tried, tested, failed and succeeded at.

I’ve spent my time over the last week or so working on my online presence.  In addition to launching the Facebook fan page for Rule Britannia, I’ve registered a domain name with the intent of setting up an author page (stay tuned). I’ve been trying to get to grips with Twitter, and through Fiverr.com found a consultant who set-up a social media schedule for me to get my head around what to post when, and to where.

All this, and like most of the rest of you, working full-time.  Roll on Easter.

Here’s my pick of the week(ish).

Everything is Normal: The Life and Times of a Soviet Kid By Sergey Grechishkin
"One eventful middle-class childhood behind the Iron Curtain in Soviet Leningrad.  A mix of a fun memoir and social history of the years preceding the collapse of the USSR."

I said in my review of this book that history is written by social historians like Sergey, the sample chapters (which I enjoyed so much I stopped reading because I didn’t want spoilers for the full book), are engaging and full of the little details that pull you into a story and keep you reading.  Sergey’s book has nabbed three syndicate picks, including the coveted Staff Syndicate, and as of today, is tantalisingly close to 750 - just 52 more pre-orders needed. 

’till next time,
Helen.