Another library talk. Monday 26 November, 2018, 2.00 pm at Epsom Library.

Looking forward to another library talk at Epsom library at two o'clock on Monday 26 November.

As I find people always ask (amongst other things) 'Where do you get your ideas from?' I'm going to talk through the origin of each of my books.

 Epsom Library author talk

My Marian Year to feature in my library talk at Point Chevalier library, from two o'clock on Saturday 15 September, 2018

From the Auckland Libraries website...

How to order my books

I get lots of questions about how to buy my books. Being an independent self-published author means having to set up independent sales channels as book shops are not interested in anything that’s not from a publisher and most New Zealand publishers are interested only in books about sports, celebrities, cooking and gardening.

In New Zealand I sell my books through my website. The biggest issue is payment. I’ve tried everything and found the simplest thing is to provide a way for readers to place their order(s) by email and pay online from their New Zealand bank account to mine; I provide the bank account number in the email which is generated when a buyer clicks on the website ‘Order Here’ button. It’s so safe and simple.

Seven of my books are also available from Amazon which is the best way to sell books internationally as postage from New Zealand is prohibitive.

Book shops will happily order any book on request (although you’ll probably pay extra for the privilege). The key is to quote the book’s ISBN although a book title and author name will also suffice. All my book ISBNs can be found here.

Auckland and Wellington libraries stock multiple copies of most of my books and most libraries will happily buy in a book on request.

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to email me at robert@bolton.co.nz

'Underneath The Arclight' FREE promotion

Poor old Underneath The Arclight. It's a wonderful funny Kiwi story that doesn't get the attention it deserves because -- it's my own fault -- the cover is too low key and 'good taste'. So I've decided that for a while I'll give away a FREE copy with any other book sold. 

Here's the blurb from the back cover
Nothing much ever happens in Robinson Street, Blythewillow, and for Phyllis, Graham, Karen, Charlie Downs and Monkey Oldfield, and most of the other residents of the town, that’s just the way they like it.
With The Arclight cinema, The Record Reign, Wake’s butchers, the garden, and Monkey Oldfield’s brand new chicken coop, the residents of Robinson Street have everything they need. So when Clint appears in the garden one night and tells Phyllis that it’s all about to change she doesn’t know what to think.
Within days there are changes at The Arclight, and Clint’s isn’t the only ghost making its presence felt. Long forgotten events from the past bring visitors from the outside world; from the city, Australia and from Los Angeles, with news, offers and veiled threats.
Are these the changes promised by Clint? And can the residents of Blythewillow save their town’s bucolic charm? Only time will tell as Karen and Graham and Jehoiada Hartsfield – the charming young city lawyer – peel back the layers of Blythewillow’s forgotten history to discover Clint’s secret treasure.

Murder in the (Takapuna) Library

Last Wednesday night (the eleventh of April) I and three other authors took part in the Takapuna edition of the 'Murder in the Library' series of events as part of the 2018 Ngaio Marsh awards for New Zealand crime fiction. It was well attended by the book-lovers of Takapuna and excellently moderated by Sarah Ell. My novel Six Murders? is entered in the competition but it is not really very 'crimey' -- it's a bit on the light and humorous side really -- whereas the other three authors were each, in their own different way, serious series writers.

Pictured at Takapuna Library, from left, Sheryl Beaumont, me, Carne Maxwell, Sara Ell and Mike Boushier

(Note: I'm a bit late posting this because we have been without power since last Tuesday night. We got restored this morning only because Newstalk ZB pointed out what Vector didn't seem to know: that as of Sunday morning there were still thousands of city streets out and  that the problems were not just limited to the 'fringes of Auckland' as Vector claimed. Once ZB pointed out to Vector what Vector themselves didn't know we had power restored in five minutes -- literally five minutes -- after being fed misinformation and waiting helplessly for five days.)  

 

Coming soon: MURDER IN THE LIBRARY

MURDER IN THE LIBRARY is an entertaining series of events for book lovers featuring the books (and their authors) entered into the 2018 Ngaio Marsh New Zealand crime fiction awards.
I'm now booked for the event at Takapuna Library (with three other authors) on the evening of Wednesday 11 April from six o'clock to talk about my popular novel Six Murders?

Another FREE Kindle promotion

This time I've set up a free Kindle promotion for my new book The Fine Art of Kindness which will run until Sunday night (NZ time). I posted the promotion on Facebook and then boosted it to the UK and Australia so it will be interesting to see how it goes.

Free Kindle promotion of two titles

I've just set up Kindle FREE world-wide promotions for two of my books.

1. To The White Gate

Five days. Runs from New Zealand time 9.00 pm Wednesday 14 March (12.01 am Wednesday 14 March PST) to 9.00 pm Sunday 18 March (12.00 midnight Saturday 17 March PST).

2. The Fine Art of Kindness

For some reason I could not make this programme wouldn't let me run for five days. Don't know why. So, runs from New Zealand time 9.00 pm Thursday 22 March (12.01 am Thursday 22 March PST) to 9.00 pm Monday 25 March (12.00 midnight Sunday 25 March PST).

NOTE: It is almost impossible to follow the rules on these free Kindle promos. The website says that promotions run from midnight of the start day to midnight of the end day for a maximum of five days.

What I think they really mean is that a promo runs from say 00.01 am on the start date and runs until say 11.59 pm on the end date. It's all very confusing. The website says:

Choose when the promotion starts and ends. Start and end dates are midnight Pacific Time. For example, if you enter a start date of January 3 and an end date of January 7, your deal would run on January 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Kindle Free Book Deal promotions can run for up to 5 days.

A further complication is that the times are PST which means adjusting for both New Zealand and California daylight time.