I've decided it's time to make some changes.

Firstly, my fingers are crossed that agents will respond well to my pitch for a new thriller, with a new character. Title is 'Or Else She Dies'. The lead character is Harry Chance, a safecracker, jewel thief and former cage fighter but with a heart of gold. He likes to rob rich people and help the downtrodden (after he's helped himself to a few trinkets) and he has a few emotional issues.

I won't be self-publishing this title at this point.

Because I was heavily involved in a property project this last year my marketing of self-published titles took a dive along with sales.

And publishers look at low or no sales when you pitch a new book and get all sniffy. If you have a poor track record (irrespective of the quality of your books) then they are inclined to dismiss your new pitch out of hand.

Short-sighted and unfair but in the dog eat dog world that is publishing today maybe it's understandable.

It's an uphill battle to find ways to become visible to buyers and readers with the overwhelming number of titles to choose from and the regular changes made by Amazon to its algorithms.

So, it is time to breathe new life into my self-published titles: new book titles, new covers, restructured website etc.

Then it will be time to pay much more attention to launching books properly, maybe even advertising.

So the longest journey begins with one small step.