Category Archives: Ink Plan

An unofficial continuation of the old Ink Plan, just so I can boast about where I’m up to. Or something.

The Ink Plan

Some time ago, I said that if I sell 1,000 books, I would get a journeymouse tattooed on my arm. This didn’t happen, although I’m still open to getting a tattoo if I sell 1,000 books – and if the artist can cope with me swearing a blue streak while it’s being done. I’m not a silent sufferer. Anyway, I continue to aspire to selling a large quantity of books – possibly even a moderate quantity of books – so here we go.

I’ll be donating to the National Autism Society (NAS) [External Link], with the total sum being made up of 10ps for sole authorship and 5ps for a shared project, using numbers attached to my royalties statements from Fox Spirit Books [External Link]. They’re not the outlet I’ve been published by this year but they are basically the only outlet that money has exchanged hands for my work. With allowances for delays in getting figures from Amazon, these figures cover 01/01/2015 to 31/12/2015.

ASIDE: I know that previously published anthologies (still included below for reference) continue to be sold but the numbers basically aren’t there – these sort of figures aren’t often made available to the authors of short stories in certain types of anthologies. Where possible, I’ve included numbers I know about and if anyone wants to self-report, please do so.

The 2015 Total

I have (that I’m aware of) sold 457 books in my writing career and 86 were sold last year, which means I should have donated £6.90 to NAS – in practice, I rounded it up to £10. The breakdown of how I got this is below. If you would like to make your own donation, NAS have a really easy website donation set-up.

The Bibliography

Cover & Link	Details	Previous Total	2015 Sales	Total Number	Donation
	African Monsters Published December 2015 by Fox Spirit Books [External Link] ISBN 9781909348844	–	–	–	–
–	The Christmas Book of Ghosts Published November 2015 by Michael Collins [External Link] (In aid of Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland [External Link])	–	–	–	n/a
	A Pack of Lies Published June 2015 by Fox Spirit Books [External Link] ISBN 9781909348806	–	13	13	£1.30 (x 10p)
	Missing Monarchs Published December 2014 by Fox Spirit Books [External Link] ISBN 9781909348738	–	8	8	£0.40 (x 5p)
	European Monsters Published August 2014 by Fox Spirit Books [External Link] ISBN 9781909348724	–	24	24	£1.20 (x 5p)
	25 Ways To Kill A Werewolf Published August 2014 by Fox Spirit Books [External Link] ISBN 9781909348615	20	41	61	£4.10 (x 10p)
	Amok: An Anthology of Asia-Pacific Speculative Fiction Published April 2014 by Solarwyrm Press [External Link] ISBN: 9780980508444 Short story “Gone Fishing”	10	Unknown	10	n/a
	No Monsters Allowed Published October 2013 by Dog Horn Publishing [External Link] ISBN: 9781907133824 Short story “An Honest Woman’s Child”	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	n/a
	Outlaw Bodies Published November 2012 by Futurefire.net Publishing [External Link] ISBN: 9780957397507 Short story “Good Form”	200	Unknown	200	n/a
	Crossed Genres, Quarter 4 (no longer available) Published December 2011 by Crossed Genres Publications [External Link] ISBN 9780615578637 Short story “Beaumains”	103	n/a	103	n/a
	Crossed Genres, Issue 17 (no longer available) Published March 2010 by Crossed Genres Publications [External Link] ISBN 9781451540963 Short story “Three Little Pigs”	27	n/a	27	n/a
	Crossed Genres, Issue 2 (no longer available) Published January 2009 by Crossed Genres Publications [External Link] ISBN 9781441455376 Short story “Nesting Instinct”	11	n/a	11	n/a
	Totals	371	86	457	£6.90

Here’s the offical end of the Ink Plan – with final numbers and money owed!

The Ink Plan

I said that if I sell 1,000 books, I would get a journeymouse tattooed on my arm. Of course, this hasn’t happened. I haven’t managed to sell anywhere near that number of books, even including the anthologies I’ve been in over the last few years. Hoever, I will keep working on this (a little more privately) and eventually get my ink!

I can, however, make a donation to the National Autism Society (NAS) [External Link]. I’m donating 10p per each copy of 25 Ways To Kill A Werewolf and 5p per copy of an anthology sold before 31/12/2014. Anything with an ISBN counts. We’re being a bit fast and loose with ebooks, which don’t technically have ISBNs but have been counted (where reported) for the purposes of raising money and getting me closer to ink.

ASIDE: I’ve decided that I shall donate similarly (10p for sole authorship, 5p for a shared project) next year and any books that have escaped this count-up will be included next year. The money will continue to be donated to NAS. Next year’s count will (otherwise) cover 01/01/2015 to 31/12/2015.

The 2014 Total

I have (that I’m aware of) sold 371 books, which means I should have donated £19.55 to NAS – in practice, I rounded it up to £20. The breakdown of how I got this is below. If you would like to make your own donation, NAS have a really easy website donation set-up.

Note 1: Numbers for No Monsters Allowed and Amok weren’t made available – and isn’t that surprising as these sort of figures aren’t often made available to the authors of short stories in anthologies. I’ve included some numbers / copies I know about and if anyone wants to self-report for next year, please do so.

Note 2: Although European Monsters and Fox Pockets – Monarchs both came out in December, numbers aren’t out and about, yet, so these will be included in next year’s numbers.

The Eligible Books

	25 Ways To Kill A Werewolf Published August 2014 by Fox Spirit Books [External Link] ISBN 9781909348615	20 (29/12/14)	£2.00 (x 10p)
	Amok: An Anthology of Asia-Pacific Speculative Fiction Published April 2014 by Solarwyrm Press [External Link] ISBN: 9780980508444 Short story “Gone Fishing”	10 (28/07/14)	£0.50 (x 5p)
	No Monsters Allowed Published October 2013 by Dog Horn Publishing [External Link] ISBN: 9781907133824 Short story “An Honest Woman’s Child”	?	? (x 5p)
	Outlaw Bodies Published November 2012 by Futurefire.net Publishing [External Link] ISBN: 9780957397507 Short story “Good Form”	200 (24/03/14)	£10.00 (x 5p)
	Crossed Genres, Quarter 4 (no longer available) Published December 2011 by Crossed Genres Publications [External Link] ISBN 9780615578637 Short story “Beaumains”	103	£5.15 (x 5p)
	Crossed Genres, Issue 17 (no longer available) Published March 2010 by Crossed Genres Publications [External Link] ISBN 9781451540963 Short story “Three Little Pigs”	27	£1.35 (x 5p)
	Crossed Genres, Issue 2 (no longer available) Published January 2009 by Crossed Genres Publications [External Link] ISBN 9781441455376 Short story “Nesting Instinct”	11	£0.55 (x 5p)
	Totals	371	£19.55

It’s been a couple of months since the last update, so here’s how we stand.

The changes in the intervening periods are:

• 25 Ways To Kill A Werewolf (my novel, worth 10p to NAS [External Link] for every sale) was released as a paperback in August and as an ebook in September.
• The Future Fire (links below) ran an Indigogo campaign to fund a new anthology, Accessing The Future, which brought their past anthologies – including Outlaw Bodies – to more customers’ attention.

The Ink Plan

(A Recap)

If I sell 1,000 books, I shall be getting a journeymouse tattooed on my arm. There is the possibility of a stretch goal for 2,000 and a mouseketeer – all sorted by Keety at Ink Addiction Tattoo [Facebook page – External Link], if it happens. Part of the tattoo cost will be donated to National Autism Society (NAS), as per Ink Addiction’s usual set up.

I will also be adding to the initial donation. I shall be donating 10p per each copy of 25 Ways To Kill A Werewolf and 5p per copy of an anthology. Theoretically, I could personally be donating £200 + tattoo costs – but it’s more likely to be about the £150 mark (see below). Obviously, you’ll already be donating money if you’re buying one of my books – but don’t let that stop you donating direct to NAS if you want to!

Anything with an ISBN counts – so some of my anthologies count! We’re being a bit fast and loose with ebooks, which don’t technically have ISBNs but will be counted for the purposes of getting me inked. The European Monsters anthology I’m editing with Margrét Helgadóttir for Fox Spirit Books [External Link] will also count towards the total. If it comes out before the deadline (see below), it will also be worth 10p per copy for the NAS.

There is a deadline for this: the tattoo will happen whenever I get to 1,000 books (maybe a different design, depending on how long it takes to get there) but the donation cut off is December 31st 2014. Whatever books have been sold in that time, I shall make the equivalent donation to NAS. So, for example, if I’ve sold 17 copies of 25 Ways to Kill A Werewolf by December 31st 2014, I’ll donate £1.70 to NAS.

(Please try to raise a bit more than that, folks!)

Extending The Ink Plan

If you have any advice on how to push a thousand books, know venues where the book should be reviewed, want to buy a copy, want to see the finished tattoos, want to tell me I’m an idiot, want to register interest in any of the books, have some ideas for events, other blog posts, or anything like that, then comment below.

The Total So Far

As before, I have (that we’re aware of) sold 366 books, and I owe NAS £19.05. The breakdown of how I got this is below, along with what books are currently available to boost my numbers.

I’m still awaiting numbers for No Monsters Allowed and Amok. It’s unlikely I will get any from my editor contacts as these sort of figures aren’t often made available to the authors of short stories. However, if you’d like to self-report copies bought below, I’ll add these up and include them in the totals.

The Eligible Books

The following books are available for sale and count towards the final numbers. I’ve used Goodreads linked images for the thumbnails and you can follow them to find out ways of ordering them. Alternatively, you can go to the (linked) publishers’ sites.

	25 Ways To Kill A Werewolf Published August 2014 by Fox Spirit Books [External Link] ISBN 9781909348615	15 (29/09/14)	£1.50 (x 10p)
	Amok: An Anthology of Asia-Pacific Speculative Fiction Published April 2014 by Solarwyrm Press [External Link] ISBN: 9780980508444 Short story “Gone Fishing”	10 (28/07/14)	£0.50 (x 5p)
	No Monsters Allowed Published October 2013 by Dog Horn Publishing [External Link] ISBN: 9781907133824 Short story “An Honest Woman’s Child”	?	? (x 5p)
	Outlaw Bodies Published November 2012 by Futurefire.net Publishing [External Link] ISBN: 9780957397507 Short story “Good Form”	200 (24/03/14)	£10.00 (x 5p)
	Totals	225	£12.00

Forthcoming Books

These are the books due out fairly soon that will also be in the Ink Plan. As with the books that are out, you can follow the links.

No Longer Available Books

The following books are no longer available to buy but count towards the final number. Again, thumbnails are actually Goodreads links so that you can find out more about the specifics of the book.

	Crossed Genres, Quarter 4 Published December 2011 by Crossed Genres Publications [External Link] ISBN 9780615578637 Short story “Beaumains”	103	£5.15 (x 5p)
	Crossed Genres, Issue 17 Published March 2010 by Crossed Genres Publications [External Link] ISBN 9781451540963 Short story “Three Little Pigs”	27	£1.35 (x 5p)
	Crossed Genres, Issue 2 Published January 2009 by Crossed Genres Publications [External Link] ISBN 9781441455376 Short story “Nesting Instinct”	11	£0.55 (x 5p)
	Totals	141	£7.05 (x 5p)

It’s been three months since the last update, which only goes to show how stretched out things can get in the small press world. No matter, 25 Ways To Kill A Werewolf is now on course for a mid-August delivery!

Extending The Ink Plan

If you have any advice on how to push a thousand books, know venues where the book should be reviewed, want to buy a copy, want to see the finished tattoos, want to tell me I’m an idiot, want to register interest in any of the books, have some ideas for events, other blog posts, or anything like that, then comment below.

The Total So Far

As before, I have (that we’re aware of) sold 225 books, and I owe NAS £11.25. The break down of how I got this is below, along with what books are currently available to boost my numbers.

I’m still awaiting numbers for No Monsters Allowed and Amok. It’s unlikely I will get any from my editor contacts as these sort of figures aren’t often made available to the authors. However, if you’d like to self-report copies bought below, I’ll add these up and include them in the totals.

(Which is why I’ve put 10 copies under Amok – I know I bought 10!)

The Eligible Books

The following books are available for sale and count towards the final numbers. I’ve used Goodreads linked images for the thumbnails and you can follow them to find out ways of ordering them. Alternatively, you can go to the (linked) publishers’ sites.

	Amok: An Anthology of Asia-Pacific Speculative Fiction Published April 2014 by Solarwyrm Press [External Link] ISBN: 9780980508444 Short story “Gone Fishing”	10 (28/07/14)	£0.50 (x 5p)
	No Monsters Allowed Published October 2013 by Dog Horn Publishing [External Link] ISBN: 9781907133824 Short story “An Honest Woman’s Child”	?	? (x 5p)
	Outlaw Bodies Published November 2012 by Futurefire.net Publishing [External Link] ISBN: 9780957397507 Short story “Good Form”	74 (24/03/2014)	£3.70 (x 5p)
	Totals	74	£4.20

Forthcoming Books

These are the books due out fairly soon that will also be in the Ink Plan. As with the books that are out, you can follow the links.

No Longer Available Books

The following books are no longer available to buy but count towards the final number. Again, thumbnails are actually Goodreads links so that you can find out more about the specifics of the book.

	Crossed Genres, Quarter 4 Published December 2011 by Crossed Genres Publications [External Link] ISBN 9780615578637 Short story “Beaumains”	103	£5.15 (x 5p)
	Crossed Genres, Issue 17 Published March 2010 by Crossed Genres Publications [External Link] ISBN 9781451540963 Short story “Three Little Pigs”	27	£1.35 (x 5p)
	Crossed Genres, Issue 2 Published January 2009 by Crossed Genres Publications [External Link] ISBN 9781441455376 Short story “Nesting Instinct”	11	£0.55 (x 5p)
	Totals	141	£7.05 (x 5p)

The important thing this month is…

Amok: An Anthology of Asia-Pacific Speculative Fiction is now officially available. It’s linked to the right in the bookshelf and below in the list of eligible books. Here’s the blurb on the back:

In an anthology that spans from India in the west to Hawai‘i in the east, and as far south as Australia and New Zealand, 24 authors bring you an exciting range of tales set in the past, present, and future.

Discover characters like the Moon Rabbit from Chinese mythology, a kitsune from Japanese mythology, and the aswang from Filipino mythology.

Find out what arises when a struggling Malaysian student seeks help for her studies in Chinatown, and what happens when the garbage in the Pacific Ocean is seen as a valuable treasure.

Futures imagined stretch from amazing advances in technology to depressing dystopias.

Read these stories and so many more in Amok: An Anthology of Asia-Pacific Speculative Fiction.

My short story in this is called “Gone Fishing” and is a sequel to “Three Little Pigs”, which appeared in Crossed Genres Issue 17 (see below). Although Gone Fishing takes place after Three Little Pigs and uses the same characters, it’s not necessary to read the older story first. I have a story background post that covers both of them here.

Extending The Ink Plan

If you have any advice on how to push a thousand books, know venues where the book should be reviewed, want to buy a copy, want to see the finished tattoos, want to tell me I’m an idiot, want to register interest in any of the books, have some ideas for events, oer blog posts, or anything like that, then comment below.

The Total So Far

As before, I have (that we’re aware of) sold 215 books, and I owe NAS £10.75. The break down of how I got this is below, along with what books are currently available to boost my numbers.

I’m still awaiting numbers for No Monsters Allowed and Amok has only just officially gone on sale, so no numbers to give for that, yet!

The Eligible Books

The following books are available for sale and count towards the final numbers. I’ve used Goodreads linked images for the thumbnails and you can follow them to find out ways of ordering them. Alternatively, you can go to the (linked) publishers’ sites.

	Amok: An Anthology of Asia-Pacific Speculative Fiction Published April 2014 by Solarwyrm Press [External Link] ISBN: 9780980508444 Short story “Gone Fishing”	?	? (x 5p)
	No Monsters Allowed Published October 2013 by Dog Horn Publishing [External Link] ISBN: 9781907133824 Short story “An Honest Woman’s Child”	?	? (x 5p)
	Outlaw Bodies Published November 2012 by Futurefire.net Publishing [External Link] ISBN: 9780957397507 Short story “Good Form”	74 (24/03/2014)	£3.70 (x 5p)
	Totals	74	£3.70

Forthcoming Books

These are the books due out fairly soon that will also be in the Ink Plan. As with the books that are out, you can follow the links.

No Longer Available Books

The following books are no longer available to buy but count towards the final number. Again, thumbnails are actually Goodreads links so that you can find out more about the specifics of the book.

	Crossed Genres, Quarter 4 Published December 2011 by Crossed Genres Publications [External Link] ISBN 9780615578637 Short story “Beaumains”	103	£5.15 (x 5p)
	Crossed Genres, Issue 17 Published March 2010 by Crossed Genres Publications [External Link] ISBN 9781451540963 Short story “Three Little Pigs”	27	£1.35 (x 5p)
	Crossed Genres, Issue 2 Published January 2009 by Crossed Genres Publications [External Link] ISBN 9781441455376 Short story “Nesting Instinct”	11	£0.55 (x 5p)
	Totals	141	£7.05 (x 5p)

Since the initial mention back in July 2013, the Ink Plan has gone through a bit of a change. So the first official status is as follows.

The Ink Plan

If I sell 1,000 books, I shall be getting a journeymouse tattooed on my arm. There is the possibility of a stretch goal for 2,000 and a mouseketeer – this depends on the designs from Keety at Ink Addiction Tattoo [Facebook page – External Link], which I shall share as soon as I have anything.

I have to interject here with the first major change in the plan: I’d intended to just mark the number of sales of 25 Ways to Kill a Werewolf. However, I’ve now opened it to anything with an ISBN – so some of my anthologies count! And I’ve been in a few since I started writing “seriously” in 2007. The European Monsters anthology I’m editing with Margrét Helgadóttir for Fox Spirit Books [External Link] will also count towards the total.

I chose Ink Addiction because they donate part of the costs to charity and I intend to donate to the National Autism Society (NAS) [External Link]. I had intended to split the donation with Cancer Research if the 2,000 book sales was reached but have decided that the donation will work harder if it all goes to one place. This just means I’ll have to come up for something else in another year or so for Cancer Research!

I will also be adding to the initial donation. Originally, I was going to double the donation. However, I think NAS get a bit more out of me if I commit to a price per book. So, I shall be donating 10p per each copy of 25 Ways To Kill A Werewolf and 5p per copy of an anthology. Theoretically, I could personally be donating £200 + tattoo costs – but it’s more likely to be about the £150 mark (see below). Obviously, you’ll already be donating money if you’re buying one of my books – but don’t let that stop you donating direct to NAS if you want to!

There is a deadline for this: the tattoo will happen whenever I get to 1,000 books but the donation cut off is December 31st 2014. Whatever books have been sold in that time, I shall make the equivalent donation to NAS. So, for example, if I’ve sold 799 copies of 25 Ways to Kill A Werewolf by December 31st 2014, I’ll donate £79.90 to NAS.

I intend to do monthly updates, using the “Ink Plan” tag and category, dependent on being able to get numbers that regularly. Posts may turn up less often.

So, the important bit: what you can do! If you have any advice on how to push a thousand books, know venues where the book should be reviewed, want to buy a copy, want to see the finished tattoos, want to tell me I’m an idiot, want to register interest in the book, have some ideas for events, etc, then comment below.

The Total So Far

So far, I have (that we’re aware of) sold 215 books, and I owe NAS £10.75. The break down of how I got this is below, along with what books are currently available to boost my numbers.

The Eligible Books

The following books are available for sale and count towards the final numbers. I’ve used Goodreads linked images for the thumbnails and you can follow them to find out ways of ordering them. Alternatively, you can go to the (linked) publishers’ sites.

	No Monsters Allowed Published October 2013 by Dog Horn Publishing [External Link] ISBN: 9781907133824 Short story “An Honest Woman’s Child”	?	? (x 5p)
	Outlaw Bodies Published November 2012 by Futurefire.net Publishing [External Link] ISBN: 9780957397507 Short story “Good Form”	74 (24/03/2014)	£3.70 (x 5p)
	Totals	74	£3.70

Forthcoming Books

These are the books due out fairly soon that will also be in the Ink Plan. As with the books that are out, you can follow the links.

	Amok: An Anthology of Asia-Pacific Speculative Fiction Expected publication: April 30th 2014 by Solarwyrm Press [External Link] ISBN: 9780980508444 Short story “Gone Fishing”
	25 Ways To Kill A Werewolf Expected publication: July 2014 by Fox Spirit Books [External Link]
	Fox Pockets – Monarchs Expected publication: 2014 by Fox Spirit Books [External Link] Short story “The Lost Kingdom”
	Strange Fortune Expected publication: 2014 by Knightwatch Press / Fringeworks [External Link] Short story “The Bull of Essylt”

No Longer Available Books

The following books are no longer available to buy but count towards the final number. Again, thumbnails are actually Goodreads links so that you can find out more about the specifics of the book.

	Crossed Genres, Quarter 4 Published December 2011 by Crossed Genres Publications [External Link] ISBN 9780615578637 Short story “Beaumains”	103	£5.15 (x 5p)
	Crossed Genres, Issue 17 Published March 2010 by Crossed Genres Publications [External Link] ISBN 9781451540963 Short story “Three Little Pigs”	27	£1.35 (x 5p)
	Crossed Genres, Issue 2 Published January 2009 by Crossed Genres Publications [External Link] ISBN 9781441455376 Short story “Nesting Instinct”	11	£0.55 (x 5p)
	Totals	141	£7.05 (x 5p)