Goodbye to my website and hello to the latest Sharpe novel

If you’ve looked at my website recently, you may have seen this message on the landing page.

It’s the end of an era. I’ve had it since 2018 and it’s a bit sad to be giving it up. But over those years it has cost me hundreds of pounds and all I really use it for is my blog and, now that’s here, the website doesn’t really seem worth keeping on.

When I started the website, it was part of an attempt to position myself as a serious writer. I had only recently moved away from being published by a small traditional publisher (now swallowed up by Hachette Headline) and I was setting out to establish myself as a self-published author. It was an exciting time and, back then, self-publishing seemed a realistic alternative to traditional publishing. It was certainly, in my case, significantly more profitable.

Back then, a social media presence and a web-site fairly easily translated into sales. Nowadays, social media are all busy monetising their position, which makes advertising costs a serious outlay, and the monetisation also puts people off reading platforms that are increasingly spam, so social media aren’t the straightforward path to sales they once were. And, of course, if you are putting real money into your marketing, you have to be much more professional in your approach, which means more time and energy going into selling rather than writing. Eventually the fun goes out of it.

There are people who still make a success of self-publication, but they have to be remorselessly focussed on what the market wants (which, as many marketing experts will point out, is not Napoleonic-era fiction). And they have to, y’know, work. And working — proper working — is hard. I did that for many, many years (much of it in marketing, as it happens) and I didn’t leave the rat race just so I could start a little rodent running track all of my own.

So I’m taking stock and losing the web-site is part of the stock taking. Am I giving up writing? Probably not, but I am giving myself a break and I think that when I next publish, I may well put stuff out there for fun, rather than profit.

As a first step on that road, I’m giving my Urban Fantasy novella, Dark Magic, away around Halloween. For arcane reasons of their own, Amazon won’t let me book a free promotion until the last week of this month, so I can’t confirm the dates yet, but they’ll definitely include Halloween itself, so just make a note to get your free copy as you collect all your other Halloween treats. And remember, unlike most Halloween goodies, Dark Magic is non-fattening and does not rot your teeth. More about what it does do next week.

Another book review

A couple of people mentioned that they quite like book reviews, so if you hate that I’m publishing another one, blame them.

Sharpe’s Storm published on Tuesday, so a review now is timely. (Could I possibly have had an advance copy? Well, yes I did, and many thanks to Harper Collins. And the fact that they gave it me definitely didn’t affect the review. I can be bought, but it takes a lot more than a paperback book.)

Sharpe’s Storm: Bernard Cornwell

It’s 1813 and, having finally driven the French out of Spain, Wellington’s army is moving on Bayonne, where Marshal Soult has his army dug in in a well-defended position.

Neutralising Soult is going to be a major undertaking, but first Wellington has to get there across countryside split by rivers, all running high during a particularly wet summer.

We’re in characteristic Sharpe territory, fighting our way across watercourses, holding off French counterattacks (the battle at St Pierre was particularly bloody and Cornwell describes it in vivid detail) and carrying out audacious reconnaissance raids behind enemy lines. Sharpe is, as ever, daring, bold, and, when he feels it necessary, insubordinate. Anyone who has followed the series will expect a run-in with an appalling officer who will likely turn out a fool, a bully or a coward. In this case, we have Lieutenant Colonel Sir Nathaniel Peacock, a genuine historical figure who is all three.

When not fighting the French or his own officers, Sharpe struggles with his marriage to Jane, which lurches from crisis to crisis, and finds time to bed a woman who seems more than likely to be Wellington’s mistress – not, perhaps, a great career move. Despite it all, Sharpe sails through unscathed, leaving broken Frenchmen, satisfied women and confounded senior officers in his wake.

It’s classic Sharpe. If you’ve enjoyed his previous adventures, you will enjoy this one.