Another week, another IndieIQ interview with a top Kindle writer. Allan Guthrie has so far self-published two bestselling crime novels, Bye Bye Baby (which has sold over 20,000 copies) and Killing Mum, another big seller. I’ve read Bye Bye Baby and loved it; it’s an original, realistic crime thriller that heads off in unexpected directions. His third Kindle novel, Kill Clock, is due very soon and is sure to be another big hit. Oh, and there’s a compendium of the three books on the way too. You can read full details on Allan’s excellent crime-writing blog, Criminal-E, on which he interviews a new crime writer pretty much every day. (Including me!)

And Allan is not just a prolific indie writer and blogger. He is one of the few people who has truly experienced every side of the modern publishing world. He not only self-publishes digitally but his books are also available in print. On top of that he is an editor and a literary agent. Which is why I was so pleased to interview someone with a 360 degree view of the whole process.

Firstly, congratulations on hitting 20,000 sales for Bye Bye Baby. How long has it taken to hit that momentous figure and how did you do it (apart from writing a great book)?

Thanks! I uploaded Bye Bye Baby in August 2010 but didn’t tell anyone about it until October, when I sent out a newsletter. I did nothing else and unsurprisingly my sales were particularly unspectacular. Fewer than a hundred. In December I dropped the price and decided to market the pants off it (more on that in the promotion question later on). I sold 261 copies that month, and was delighted. It picked up momentum day by day and I hit 20,000 copies on 27th April.

There are many sub-genres of crime fiction – how would you describe your work to someone trying to decide whether to give your books a go?

I like to write about interesting people in interesting situations. I’m fascinated by abnormal psychology, less interested in police procedure (Bye Bye Baby’s my first attempt at writing a police thriller). The who-dunnit element isn’t so important to me as the why-they-dunnit aspect. The books tend to be dark, often violent, blackly comic, character-driven and pacey, with plenty of suspense and a good few surprises.

You self-publish your books on Amazon but also have a print publisher. Why did you separate out the two?

Initially, Bye Bye Baby was due to come out in print in July 2010. It was pushed back to July 2011. That was ok but then it was pushed back to 2013, which was quite a delay. I asked the publisher (Barrington Stoke) if they wouldn’t mind if I released a digital edition meanwhile, and they were only too happy for me to do so. My other ebook novella, Killing Mum, was published in print by Five Leaves Publications in 2009. They had no plans to release an ebook edition, so rather than let it gather digital dust, they were happy for me to release my own version. I have another novella, Kill Clock, coming out soon, also published in print by Barrington Stoke. My five novels are published in print by Polygon in the UK and I’m currently working something out with them with regard to me handling the digital publishing. Incidentally, the print version of Bye Bye Baby was moved forward after the ebook version did so well. You’ll be able to buy the print version in November of this year.

Apart from your blog, what do you do to promote your books?  Does promotion ever get in the way of writing?

To start with, I realised that the big problem was getting word out. In the most basic level, the difference between a bestseller and a book that doesn’t do so well, is that the former reaches more readers.  The book that doesn’t do so well might be the superior book — quality is subjective so who’s to say. The biggest problem most good writers face is how to avoid obscurity. I quickly realised that I needed to go where the readers of ebooks hung out. So I pounded the various ebook/Kindle boards for a while, and got some early traction from those. I also observed the promotional activities of authors who were doing well. I listened to what they said and tried to emulate them. The Writers Cafe at the Kindleboards is a goldmine of information and ideas.

You can’t do everything, of course, so I gave myself a two-hour-per-day restriction. But, yep, I did what I could and luckily got enough sales for Amazon to take over and make the books visible to thousands of potential readers every day via the bestseller lists and their recommendations and occasional mailshots. I stopped the two-hours-per-day marketing in January, and now just do the occasional interview like this, and focus on Criminal-E and try to get some writing done. When the next book comes out, that’ll all change once again. Striking the balance between writing and promoting can be tricky, but they’re equally important.

You are also a literary agent. Can you give some words of advice to any writers looking for representation – what is the best, most realistic way to find an agent?

Write a compelling book for which there’s a big market.

What do you think of Stephen Leather’s statement on this blog that the slush pile has gone online?

I think I know what he means. There’s no doubt that if you have sales in six figures you’ll have a decent chance of interesting an agent.

You have seen all sides of the publishing world – writer, editor, agent; print and digital. What do you think is going to happen to publishing in the next five years? Is it all going digital and are the traditional publishers doomed?

I don’t even know what’s going to happen tomorrow let alone five years from now. One thing I do know is that publishers en masse are far from doomed. Some will struggle, others will adapt, others will blossom. Just as it’s always been. The publishing industry survived the advent of the paperback original back in the ’50s. The ebook is just the new paperback original. It’s a new format that impacts on the current ones and nobody’s entirely sure how that’s going to play out. I don’t see digital taking over entirely, but it will get bigger, rapidly, and savvy publishers will realise that they have a far safer business model if they release digital editions of their books first, with print copies to follow if the digital editions sell well, which will make the digital rise exponential. We will also see the rise of digital-only publishers, bringing their own brand of expertise. I could be wrong of course.

Apart from one of your own books, what is the next crime novel that readers should download?

Whichever book is next up on Criminal-E.

Thanks Allan!  Both novellas are available now on Amazon for a super-cheap 86p:

Buy Bye Bye Baby

Buy Killing Mum

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