Swimming Upstream

  It feels like only yesterday that it was January and I made the big decision to finally publish my book. I found a publishing company that felt like the right match, but looking back, I didn't have a clue how the process actually worked! Was I naive? Probably. Would I have done things differently? Definitely. ​But that is the path I walked. At the end of the day, my book is out in the world and it has been read—not just by family and friends, but by complete strangers who decided to give it a shot. ​​​​​👶 A New Addition On a personal note, the highlight of the year was welcoming a new addition to the family. My daughter brought our second grandson, Luca , into the world! He is four months old today and has been a wonderful bright spot in our lives. ​​📈 The Business of Books However, Bookfunnel has been a revelation. Being 2nd in views out of 105 books—some by Amazon bestsellers—proves one thing: my new cover and blurb work. They are converting interest into readers. ​⭐ The R...

  Merry Christmas! I wasn’t sure if I should post a blog during the holidays, but I cannot help but write when ideas are floating around in my head. It has been a whirlwind week. We have topped 150 new readers this month, with 133 books downloaded via FREE promos and paid sales. Another 24 paperbacks were shared with my local book club, bringing the total of new readers this year to over 200. ​​​​📈 What's Next for An Irish Mystery? I’m watching the data closely. While I’ve smashed my original target of 100 downloads for the month, sales on Amazon have stalled since the 12th of December. Ads are running and people are clicking, but the "buy" button isn't being hit quite as often right now. ​📚 The Power of a Good Cover However, Bookfunnel has been a revelation. Being 2nd in views out of 105 books—some by Amazon bestsellers—proves one thing: my new cover and blurb work. They are converting interest into readers. ​⭐ The Review Waiting Game ​I am currently in that ...

  My first book, An Irish Mystery , centers on the legendary Irish Crown Jewels . ​As soon as I mention them, the reaction is always the same: a puzzled look and the inevitable question, “How’s that? Ireland doesn’t have a monarchy.” ​That question is the exact reason I knew this story needed to be told. The Irish Crown Jewels were not crowns or orbs in the traditional sense; they were ceremonial insignia—a spectacular treasure that vanished, leaving behind a century of unsolved questions. ​But to truly understand the Irish mystery, we first need to appreciate the true scale of what "Crown Jewels" usually means. ​​​👑 The Royal Jewels You Think You Know When we think of crown jewels, we picture the magnificent British collection, which is far more vast than most people realize. It’s not just a crown and a scepter—it’s a collection centuries old, with more stories than most things in the world. ​Did you know the English collection contains: ​ Two Primary Crowns: St. Ed...

  It feels like weeks ago I wrote my last blog just because so much has happened over the last week. I have a lot of promotions going on right now, all for the purpose of getting some good quality reviews. Fingers crossed! ​​​🍮 Local Author Wins: The Book Club Delivery So, the delivery was done! I delivered 24 paperback books to the Book and Pudding Club at a lovely dessert restaurant called Amore Dolci here in Peterborough . It was just a quick pop-in to show my face and leave the books. ​It was great to see how excited the group was about receiving a free book, especially from an author they had never heard of before. To my surprise, one of the ladies who was part of the group was a teacher who works at the same school I do! ​That night, I started getting tagged in some great stories from people at the book club with pictures of them and my book. The teacher from my school said it was wonderful of me to drop them off, and people were genuinely happy that someone would think...

  The last week has been a bit wild! For those just finding my Swimming Upstream blog, my name is Daniel . I write historical adventure thrillers, but by day, I work as a site manager at a school. ​This past Monday (November 24th, 2025), we had a visit from two ministers. We were only told on Friday that it would be a "good thing for the school." Now, our school is generally well-kept, but we have a persistent roof leak that has been an ongoing battle. Cue the frantic, last-minute preparations! ​Over the weekend, I worked to replace ceiling tiles and make everything neat and tidy. My assistant helped clean the corridors and hall floors, and fellow site team members helped paint. Early Monday morning, the reason for the chaos was revealed: our visitors were the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, and the Education Secretary, Brenda Phillipson. ​​🎥 Behind the Scenes of a Political Visit The day was manic. Media teams arrived as early as 6:45 AM, followed by BBC, ITV, independ...

  I've decided to aggressively reduce the price of my ebook and give away free copies because, right now, I am after reviews more than profit . You learn quickly that people reading your book is more important than making money, especially on your first book. If these readers review, and they are good reviews, that alone will help drive sales. ​I know I've set the price on most sites to £1.99/$1.99 , which I hope people will take a chance on, but I will continue to give the ebook for free to people who want to read it. ​💸 Discounts and Deals You Can't Miss I've decided to aggressively reduce the price and offer free copies because, in reality, you often only get a handful of reviews, and I need to boost the volume of readers. ​ Global Discount: Amazon will let me reduce the book on the UK website to £1.99 . The aggregator site I use, D2D, has let me reduce it to $1.99 globally. If you are in America or Canada, you can now get An Irish Mystery for this price at Bar...

  This has been a week where I truly contemplate where I go from here. Nothing seems to get any traction, and I've spent more time looking at metrics than writing. ​Since my last blog, I've had a week of serious doubt. This blog, if lucky, gets 5 reads over time (spiking to 11 max), and I just don't know how to drive more traffic. Maybe switching to my own website was the wrong thing to do? Who knows is the answer to that. I am looking every day to improve my visibility, but I might as well staple the money I spend on the wall because I don't appear to be getting any traction. ​This tells me I am obviously doing something wrong, but I don't know what. Algorithms don't seem to like my content, and nobody—even with the cover change—wants to read my book! At least, that's how it feels. ​💸 The Cost of Marketing Experiments ​I seem to be making continuous mistakes when trying to advertise, which costs me time and money. ​ The Book Adrenaline Blunder ​I paid...

  At last, the time has come—my new book cover is out! I had decided the old cover didn't represent my book, the story, or the future of the series. But the new design has taken the brand, I think, to another level. I might be biased, but I think a bestselling author would be proud of this design! ​I cannot thank Peter at BespokeBookCovers.com  enough. If you want a book cover like mine—or just something that stands out and gives your book the professional look you're searching for—then give them a call. You won't be disappointed. They even have another website, BespokeAuthor.com , with everything you need to get your book designed and published. ​So, if you haven't seen the cover yet, here it is: ​🤝 What I Learned About Hiring Designers ​I previously approached GetCovers.com , who are by all means a budget-friendly option. While they didn't produce the exact vision I wanted (perhaps they deal more with romance and sci-fi than Adventure/Thrillers ), I have to co...