The Amazon effect

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Doug Johnstone

Well that was a surreal weekend. On Sunday, my novel Hit & Run was made Amazon UK’s Kindle Daily Deal, with a price drop from £6.86 to 99p for 24 hours only. It was flagged up on the Kindle homepage. As a result, the book quickly rocketed up the charts from a placing around #38,000 up to the teens, then single figures, then number 2 for a while behind Fifty Shades of Grey.

Then number 1. The top selling Kindle book, and fiction book, and crime book etc. Where it stayed until about halfway through Monday. Which is the really weird thing. Dunno how Amazon’s algorithms work, but H&R was still number 1 twelve hours after returning to the higher price. Even now, 36 hours after the offer finished, it is:

Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#4 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#1 in Kindle Store > Books > Fiction > Crime, Thrillers & Mystery > Mystery
#1 in Books > Crime, Thrillers & Mystery > Mystery
#3 in Books > Fiction

Naturally, I am chuffed to fuck about the whole thing, but it’s also a little freaky, to say the least. This is the same book it was on Saturday, the same one I slaved over draft after draft, edit after edit, and now, suddenly, through no action of my own, it’s reached a massively wider readership.

And not just that. The paper version of the book has gone up in the rankings. As have both the Kindle and the paper versions of previous novel Smokeheads. In fact, Smokeheads was number 1 in the Movers & Shakers chart for a while.

Like I say, surreal. Freaky. Weird as all hell. Good, though. I’m actually kind of speechless about the whole thing. So I guess I’ll leave it there for now.

Except to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who bought, read, spread the word, reviewed or said nice things about the book.

Dx

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Friday tune – Errors

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Doug Johnstone

Since being at Fence’s Eye o’ the Dug last weekend in St Andrews, I have been unable to listen to anything all week but Errors. They headlined on the Saturday night and were AWESOME.

To be honest, their recorded output, though great, doesn’t really match their hardcore majesty as a live band, but here’s a tune anyway, it’s still cracking. Get yer dance on.

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Hit & Run is Amazon’s Kindle Deal of the Day THIS SUNDAY

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Doug Johnstone

My Kindle got stolen recently. For all you folks lucky enough to not have been robbed, Hit & Run is gonna be cheap as chips (99p, I think) for ONE DAY ONLY on Sunday 22nd April.

Here’s a link.

Get it while you can, folks. And spread the word.

If you already bought the Kindle version of Hit & Run at a higher price, I AM DEEPLY SORRY. I really am. But I don’t make these daft rules. I’ll buy you a pint if I see you, how about that?

While I’m here, I have a favour to ask. If you’ve already read Hit & Run and liked it, and if you have a spare couple of minutes, it would greatly help if you could write a wee customer review on Amazon. I have it on good authority that these things matter.

Much appreciated, so it is.

Dx

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Reading Matters vs Subtle Melodrama

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Doug Johnstone

I’m not really pitching these two FANTASTIC book blogs against each other in some terrible war of words, it’s just that they just both reviewed Hit & Run recently and I haven’t posted about it yet.

So, here is Kim Forrester’s amazing review over at Reading Matters. She claims to have read it in one sitting – wow! Thanks for the review, Kim!

And over at Subtle Melodrama, Bethany said loads of great things about the book, and only broke off from reading it to get fillings at the dentist. That’s dedication.

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Books I reviewed in March (and some I didn’t)

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Doug Johnstone

OK, so it’s well late for this, but I been busy, OK? Here are the books I reviewed in March, a mixed bag, to be sure.

Lisa O’Donnell, The Death of Bees (William Heinemann) – Reviewed for The Scotsman. A great coming-of-age story set in the poorest part of Glasgow, about two sisters whose parents die in the opening chapter. That sounds bleak, right? But it’s actually very funny in places.

George Dyson, Turing’s Cathedral (Allen Lane) – Reviewed for Scotland on Sunday. A kind of strangely lopsided book about the invention of the modern computer, which was big on boring detail but not so good at seeing the bigger picture.

Dan Rhodes, This is Life (Canongate) – Reviewed for the Big Issue. A new Dan Rhodes is always a welcome treat. This is a nice, offbeat love story set in Paris and full of delightfully weird scenarios and some truly fantastic deadpan comic writing.

Walter Mosley, All I Did Was Shoot My Man (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) – Reviewed for the Big Issue. Just look at that title. That’s a motherfucking book title, huh? The book very nearly lived up to it. I love Mosley’s stuff.

Jo Nesbo, Phantom (Harvill Secker) – Reviewed for The Independent on Sunday. I read lots of reader reviews saying this was fast-paced. Really? Felt slow to me in places. Good plot later on, but it’s basically Jason Bourne in Oslo. Some of the prose is dire.

Ron Rash, The Cove (Canongate) – Reviewed for The Independent on Sunday. Wonderful book, set in the rural badlands of America, about a seemingly cursed family and their woes, in the wake of paranoia about wartime German spies. Lyrical and moving. Seek it out.

Karl Ove Knausgaard, A Death in the Family (Harvill Secker) – Reviewed for the Big Issue. A novel-as-memoir sensation from Norway, it’s full of beautiful, brave, honest writing about a truly fucked up family.

Tim Weiner, Enemies (Allen Lane) – Reviewed for the Big Issue. The history of the FBI. Author is a veteran reporter on this stuff for a lifetime, and it shows, a really comprehensive guide to accompany his history of the CIA which came a couple of years before.

Aaaaaand, as per usual, the list of books-to-be-read gets longer and longer. This month, these little beauties were added to the top of the teetering pile:

John Lanchester, Capital (Faber)
Joe R. Lansdale, Edge of Dark Water (Mulholland)
Chris Pavone, The Expats (Faber)
Mark Leyner, The Sugar Frosted Nutsack (Little Brown)

If you’ve read any of these titles, gimme a shout, whydontcha?

Aye so, only two weeks till April’s books round up.

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Eye o’ the Dug

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Doug Johnstone

Friday tune time. I’m off to the Eye o’the Dug Festival this weekend in St Andrews, so here’s a cheeky wee bit of The Pictish Trail to get in the mood. If you’re reading this, Johnny, stay calm, dude, it’ll all work out!

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A couple more Hit & Run press nibbles

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Doug Johnstone

A couple more Hit & Run press nibbles to slap up here, folks.

Firstly, here I am comparing myself to Hollywood stars and rock gods over at Malcolm Holt’s A Bit on the Side blog, rather arrogantly. Also answering a few questions in less of a dickish manner.

And Our Book Reviews gave H&R a fantastic review, courtesy of Maryom, who described it as ‘unputdownable’, which is as clumsy and heart-warming a compliment as I’ve had all day.

More reviews coming soon, so I’m told.

Dx

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ATTENTION Good People of Dundee!

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Doug Johnstone

Like it says, ATTENTION good people of Dundee. I am coming to do an event in your fair city THIS THURSDAY with the fantastic authors Tony Black and Caro Ramsay. It’s at 7pm at the Steps Theatre and it’s free but ticketed. You can reserve a ticket by calling the Central Library on 01382 431500. If you don’t believe me, look here.

The evening is being hosted by fellow writer Russel D Maclean. I dunno exactly what form this event will take, but I can assure you there will be honest-to-goodness plain speaking and some playful japery to boot.

COME!

Dx

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‘They’re just humans with wives and children.’

Posted on April 6, 2012 by Doug Johnstone

Friday tune time. Flaming Lips’ ‘Race for the Prize’. I fancy having this played at my funeral. Do You Realize? probably makes more sense lyrically, about life and death and love and all, but there’s something about this tune, the crazy synth riff, Steve Drozd’s drumming (I know, he’s not drumming in this version below), Wayne’s feeble voice – ach it all makes my heart sing.

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What’s your dick like, homie, what are you into?

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Doug Johnstone

Friday tune time. Someone posted this a few days ago on Facebook with that annoying apologetic thing of ‘I know I’m miles behind everyone, and you’ve all moved on to something else, but I like this etc’ schtick. It was the first time I’d seen it.

So anyway, who gives a fuck if all the twats have moved onto something else, this is mesmerising and awesome rap. Easily the freshest sound I’ve heard in ages. Check it:

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