Reviewing the reviews

Hello everybody, having received a request to meet and have coffee with one of my readers who I have never met before, I was intrigued to meet her today face to face and to discover her thoughts on my debut novel. I was introduced to her by a friend who had recommended  my book Exactly 23 days to her. Upon arrival her greeting to me was, "I am so pleased to meet you, I am your number one fan, I just have three words, "'Amazing, I loved it!' Oh that's four words!."

Well she certainly appears to be my number one fan! She was so full of praise for my work. She continued to tell me that she could not put the book down, that she read it at every available spare moment she had, taking it to work with her to enjoy it in her breaks and often falling asleep at night reading it too, such was her determination to get to the end. She said that it was the fastest that she had ever read a book, stating also that she has hundreds of books and that it was the best book she had ever read! AND that she cannot wait for book two! She said that I had inspired her with my attitude and determination to survive, when I could so easily have sunk to the depths of despair and that she cried and laughed throughout the story and that she too, loved the 'creative' name given to the villain in the book! She finally said that she loved the fact it gave other women, in a similar situation hope that they too can survive betrayal! 

All that praise from one woman!. I am so thrilled that one of my readers took the time to request a coffee meeting with me and give me such wonderful face to face feedback. 

How does it make me feel? Well, incredible, excited, grateful, humbled and inspired to carry on for sure! It also made me want to reflect on ALL the praise that I have had for Exactly 23 days over the past few weeks for two reasons: 1) to allow myself to actually relish in the pleasure that my work is bringing to peoples lives and 2) to acknowledge that each one of those many many positive reviews (there has not been a single negative review to date) is equally as valid as the comments from 'my number one fan' in inspiring me to continue and adding to those feelings of excitement, gratitude and humility! Thank you all, everyone of you. 

Here are some more of those reviews:

Two words: Love it! (female 40's)

I can really see this as a movie! (male 50's)

I have not read a book since I was 16 and it was compulsory to do so at school, I couldn't put it down. I couldn't wait to get to the end which had some amazing twists! (male 40's)

Wow, this book is amazing, it is very relatable and had me tearing up at points. (female 20's)

Wow Jayne what a story!!! unbelievable. Couldn't put it down at one point...the book made me laugh and made me cry all the way through, well done you. Now get on with the next one haha. (Edited version in order to prevent plot spoiler alerts! Female 60's)

I'm so fed up 😟 have finished your amazing book, Exactly 23 days. I didn't want it to end, I can relate to so much in your book, have laughed & cried at Fi's journey and felt her heartache. Well done!!!! (female 50's)

I'm really enjoying your wonderfully written and funny book Jayne!! Clever lady! (female 40's)

And so on and so on. I am truly overwhelmed that my passion for writing is having such a response and to have the women who have read it, now buying bulk orders off me for their girlfriends Christmas presents is just wonderful. People could simply humour me with their praise but they are not, they are 'heaping' praise upon me and my work and that is THE most perfect of all reviews as a writer, to have your readers giving honest and heartfelt feedback and praise. To have multiple people tell me that they have cried and laughed at my book is truly phenomenal and I am so proud that my book had the capacity to evoke real tears in people, but to know that it is also making them laugh out loud too is incredible. Thank YOU. Oh, and that means YOU too! Thank you. 

Word of the day: Emotional: I have smashed it! I have managed to create a piece of work that has evoked emotions of sadness and gladness within my readers. And to my editor who said he could really see it as a movie on several occasions, that sentiment was also re-iterated today by my number one fan!

If this blog post has sparked an interest in my book then you can purchase it from: https://completelynovel.com/books/exactly-23-days
in paperback or from iBooks for all apple gadgets or from Amazon.co.uk 

Jayne Higgins on Realising Her Purpose in Life.

Jayne Higgins on Realising Her Purpose in Life.

Book Giveaway Exactly 23 Days by Jayne Higgins

Book Giveaway Exactly 23 Days by Jayne Higgins

Jayne Higgins: Advent Giveaway

Jayne Higgins: Advent Giveaway: Hello everybody, It's the countdown to Christmas for some of you and so I thought I would have a sharing giveaway event on the first adv...

Advent Giveaway

Hello everybody, It's the countdown to Christmas for some of you and so I thought I would have a sharing giveaway event on the first advent calendar day. I am giving away copies of my book 'Exactly 23 days', for exactly 24 hours today on apple gadgets. Just search for Exactly 23 days by Jayne Higgins on iBooks and help yourself to a free copy at check out. Happy reading as you absorb the emotions on the roller coaster ride with the main character Fi.

Word of the day: Sharing. I am sharing with you all by giving away my words in an effort to kick start the 'giving' ethos of Christmas AND I am being perfectly honest in admitting that I hope in return that this may lead to my words being shared by you!

  

Traffic building on Marketing Highway

I've had a good week. Everything is heading in the right direction with the cyber and marketing journeys. My google+ account stands at 4,600 views, my blog at 1,068 and my Instagram and Twitter accounts growing daily! I've had my first royalties notification and given that it was in $ then that is purely Amazon sales and not my own or other sales on Completelynovel.com and I saw today that there are now 7 book retailers on Amazon selling my book.

https://completelynovel.com/books/exactly-23-days 

I continue to get ONLY positive feedback which is so encouraging and this weeks has included: 'I have never read a book so fast, couldn't put it down' to 'I haven't done any bleeding housework this week because of your book, I can't stop reading it' to 'A...MA...ZING'. I have also had a book reviewer message me to say that based upon the blurb on the back of the book they would not be able to review it as it would switch too many PTSD triggers for them in terms of relationship issues and I guess that that fits in with the very first review I had, several months ago which said the first chapter made her tear up as it was very relatable! I like that my words evoke emotions be they tears or laughter and to be repeatedly told that my book is making people both laugh and cry as they read it fills me with pride, pleasure and the continued desire to write! 

The marketing journey continues though and I have continued to email, Tweet and Instagram details of my book to media people, concentrating on women's media based in the UK this week. There are so many magazines out there both paper and digital. It is so easy to get distracted reading, and so 
my focus for the remainder of this week is to develop a firm strategic plan for the marketing in order to avoid the distractions of reading, even if that is 'strategically planning the plan'. I look forward to the research but need to put the breaks on the distractions. I've got a destination to reach!

Word of the day: Strategic. Planned, calculated, deliberate, tactical, prudent, clever, shrewd, well though out. I'm onto it. Promise.

A ripple in the pond before a wave in the ocean.

A ripple in the pond before a wave in the ocean. 
In other words you have to learn to walk before you can run! I have taken my first tentative steps at writing, publishing and now the marketing. The launch event for me was always going to be my first major step in the world of marketing and I smashed it, even if I do say so myself. The venue was stunning, creating a wow factor for my guests which was a must on my list. The venue was in a bar called On the 7th in MediaCityUK. The bar is the whole seventh floor of one of the media complex's that houses production companies, TV companies such as the BBC and ITV here in the North West area of the UK and it is part of the Eclectic group of hotels. It was a fantastic choice of venue and I chose an afternoon tea for the food aspect of the event. There was fine crockery, polished silver, white cotton and English roses decorating the enormous table in the centre of the annex room of the main lounge area. My guests were greeted firstly by me and then served with tea or coffee and home made biscuits. When I had done my final head count and knew all guests were present I was announced by the manager in readiness for my speech. I acknowledged three people who were not present who should have been, my mother (who died when I was a child), my son (who was away at uni) and my best friend Julie (who was too unwell to attend) and then I delivered my speech which I had written and edited 4 times in order to perfect it. I presented it with confidence to 60 people and witnessed tears and laughter as well as the round of applause at the end! I certainly didn't expect to move people to tears. I then announced a raffle to raise funds for one of my favourite charities (Gift of a Wedding) which gifts weddings to terminally ill people and the prizes were a frame containing artwork, signed research notes and part of an original email appertaining to the book. The first prize, I kept a secret, which added to the mystery as all my guests were told was that it was relevant to the book! The first prize ticket was drawn and it was announced that the winner would be going for coffee with the 'coffee o'clock' girls, who are characters in the book based upon three of my friends! and that we will be going to one of the venues mentioned in the book! I thought that was a great idea and it was certainly well received by the winner! The food was served on slate platters and ornate cake stands and the candles glistened as dusk fell and darkness finally changed the outside view to reflect electric lights of various forms, catching the ripples of the canal down below. The variety of cakes, intertwined with strawberries and kumquats made a pretty site and a created many a salivating mouth! I mingled with each guest individually and thanked them all as I handed them their gifts bags containing signed copies of my book, bookmarks with a feather image (representing my mother) and luxury chocolate and mini pastries to enjoy as they read their books. I presented certain people who had helped me on my journey with bouquets, individual bookmarks and a special bottle of Whiskey for Mr Ed my editor. The lounge area bustled with conversation, the photo booth created laughter and glasses chinked and bottles popped as bubbles were enjoyed. I had a cake designed by Little Moo cakes and she created a library shelf with my book atop of the creation and a white feather hidden amongst the fondant! There was also a plaque on the cake which said, 'If you cannot see the book you want on the shelf, write it' which of course I did. It was a fabulous fabulous day and I am humbled that so many people chose to pay to attend my event but to have people saying that they could not wait to read the book based upon my speech and people telling me that I had inspired them to write and to arrive home so many text messages and over 50 Facebook messages was overwhelming to say the least. My windowsill flows with congratulatory cards and flowers and I have received wines, champagnes and feather pens too! It has been an adrenaline filled twelve months and I am really looking forward to the marketing phase which although in it's very early stages, I am loving, despite my mistakes! It's all a part of the walking to throw a pebble in the pond before I can run into the ocean and show the waves what I am made of. Thank to everyone along the way and that undoubtedly includes my readers. Thank you for sharing my various forms of social media and please could you do me a favour. Chuck a pebble in the pond for me would you and share this link with another potential reader! https://completelynovel.com/books/exactly-23-days Thank you.  

Word of the day: Success. The accomplishment of an aim or purpose. Without a doubt!