The Bank Holiday Murders by Tom Wescott (2014)

[Tom_Wescott]

And this you say NOW - when I´ve already PAYED for my copy...?

Fisherman
deceived

Hi Fish. Almost a thousand people have signed up to get one of 10 free copies. And only people from USA, UK, Canada, and Australia can participate.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Tom_Wescott]

Yankee Dollars pt. 1

Hi Tom,

I know you speak of a "big book," and I'm not exactly sure what you have in mind, but you could easily (with no additional research) sell-out and write a general Ripper book for a lay audience, spin Pearly Poll / landlords into a suspect theory, and perhaps land a book deal from a larger publishing house. You could use these sales to justify an advance. While I love the book, it assumes too much to be read by someone new to the case. Wouldn't it be great if the case material was presented to beginners along with this theory?!

Do you have an agent? I think you are sitting on a fantastic theory that has the added bonus of being realistic. This is a very marketable idea. Unfortunately, ideas are free and someone could scoop you and write a dumbed down suspect book for the masses using your theory. Sure, they'd cite you, but guess who would make the money? Best you do it!

Again, congratulations. May I ask how many months of research/writing this took? Just curious and envious.

Hi Barnaby, thanks for the awesome posts. It'll take me a few posts to answer your questions properly. First, what I think threw GUT off was your use of the term 'general Ripper book for the masses'. He's probably picturing Sugden or Begg's The Facts and he's not seeing how those are 'sell-outs'. But based on your description, you're suggesting I put out a 'suspect' Ripper book with some sort of 'Final Solution' type title and approach. That has never crossed my mind for a few reasons. 1) People are tired of those. Me included. I wouldn't write something I wouldn't buy. 2) They don't sell (see #1), 3). I don't have a final solution! I don't know the name of the man or men who actually killed Smith and Tabram yet. I got guesses though. Also, I do have intellectual copyright over the original ideas in my work. If someone were to base a book or movie around it without my approval, they'd be in a lot of trouble.

More later...

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Fisherman]

Hi Fish. Almost a thousand people have signed up to get one of 10 free copies. And only people from USA, UK, Canada, and Australia can participate.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

Wow! A THOUSAND people? Out of the 435 million people living in these countries?

That means that 0,0000022 per cent of them really want that book!

If it´s for free ...

I think you would have upped your numbers by adding us Swedes - we are real scroungers.

Nah, I´m just having you on, Tom. To me it seems you´ve attracted a fair number of people. As for me, I´m not even halfway through the book, so I can´t say how attracted I am. Yet.

All the best,
Fisherman

[Tom_Wescott]

Hi Fish, thanks. My book is ranked #3 in the Crime category on goodreads, which includes fiction as well as non-fiction (they don't have a 'true crime' category). Numbers 1 and 2 are best-selling authors. I'm making zero money from the giveaway, and in fact will be spending money on postage to mail the free copies. But it exposed my book to a ton of people, some of whom just went ahead and purchased the book. That's the idea.

Regarding my sales, I've had a bunch from amazon.com, a bunch from .co.uk, 4 from Canada, 4 from Australia, and I think two from Germany. The other countries apparently can't be arsed. But I'm not complaining. How's your book selling?

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Tom_Wescott]

Yankee Dollars pt. 2

Do you have an agent? I think you are sitting on a fantastic theory that has the added bonus of being realistic.

Am I sitting on it? I thought I published it. No, I don't have an agent. Originally, the idea was I'd use the momentum from this book and the Berner Street book (which is currently shelved) to gain agent interest. But I've researched the publishing industry for months and have learned a TON. Some of which shocked me quite a bit. I haven't completely ruled out the idea of getting an agent, but I'm leaning towards publishing independent. Right now, I'm selling more copies than most recent Ripper books that were distributed by a major publisher. And I'm making way more money per copy. If people are interested in hearing more about this stuff, I'm happy to post about it.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Fisherman]

Hi Fish, thanks. My book is ranked #3 in the Crime category on goodreads, which includes fiction as well as non-fiction (they don't have a 'true crime' category). Numbers 1 and 2 are best-selling authors. I'm making zero money from the giveaway, and in fact will be spending money on postage to mail the free copies. But it exposed my book to a ton of people, some of whom just went ahead and purchased the book. That's the idea.

Regarding my sales, I've had a bunch from amazon.com, a bunch from .co.uk, 4 from Canada, 4 from Australia, and I think two from Germany. The other countries apparently can't be arsed. But I'm not complaining. How's your book selling?

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

Touché, Tom!

Being aquainted to some degree to the publishing world, I think you´ve done very well in these marshlands. Clearly, you´ve done a lot of thinking about more than Smith and Tabram...
In the end, as long as there is quality to it, it´s always a good thing when somebody spreads the word and enlargens the number of people interested in the case. So congratulations on that!

All the best,
Fisherman

[drstrange169]

Congrats on the number 3 position, Tom, well deserved.

"... and Australia can participate"

I'd love a hard copy as I've only got the Krapdle version, might sign up to Goodreads!

[Barnaby]

I'm surprised that suspect books don't sell very well. Perhaps this is because that they are few good suspect books?

[Tom_Wescott]

I'm surprised that suspect books don't sell very well. Perhaps this is because that they are few good suspect books?

Of course, some have and do. The Lodger was a bestseller, as was Stephen Knight, Cornwell, and the Diary, and Rob House. I was referring more to the ones that have come out recently. House is obviously an exception to the rule.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Sunbury]

Hi Fish, thanks. My book is ranked #3 in the Crime category on goodreads, which includes fiction as well as non-fiction (they don't have a 'true crime' category). Numbers 1 and 2 are best-selling authors. I'm making zero money from the giveaway, and in fact will be spending money on postage to mail the free copies. But it exposed my book to a ton of people, some of whom just went ahead and purchased the book. That's the idea.

Regarding my sales, I've had a bunch from amazon.com, a bunch from .co.uk, 4 from Canada, 4 from Australia, and I think two from Germany. The other countries apparently can't be arsed. But I'm not complaining. How's your book selling?

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

I have one kindle (mine) and one book a gift for a friend.

I wish you well on sales Tom

[Tom_Wescott]

I have one kindle (mine) and one book a gift for a friend.

I wish you well on sales Tom

Thanks, Sunbury. If I can muster up some more good reviews, I'll be able to do sales on my Kindle edition. Unfortunately, I'm finding out that those sales sites like BookBub won't market your book unless you have so many 4 and 5 star reviews. And for some reason, my paperback and Kindle editions are not listed together on Amazon.

I'm looking forward to my podcast interviews this weekend.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Mrs. Fiddymont]

Hello, Tom Wescott, congratulations on the new book! You can add another purchaser for "The Bank Holiday Murders"--I just ordered a copy and I can't wait to read it!!

[Tom_Wescott]

Hello, Tom Wescott, congratulations on the new book! You can add another purchaser for "The Bank Holiday Murders"--I just ordered a copy and I can't wait to read it!!

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[scanbran]

Hi Tom, I've just finished your book and wanted to say how much I enjoyed it.

I'm relatively new to the whole subject of the murders, and have only read a few books, but I thought the information you provided on the background to the earlier murders and how certain other characters seem to have been involved was fascinating. I also thought the writing style was very easy to follow

[Mrs. Fiddymont]

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott