The smell of autumn is in the air - a lovely season. Curlews are stitching their way between the straw bales in the fields, the leaves are contemplating turning, and it's blowing a gale. Thanks to the wind I had to tack along the seafront on the bike today, but managed to avoid hitting the stoat that slid out of the grassy bank just in front of me and pottered across between busy commuter traffic to the other side of the road. The first peas have finally appeared on the allotment (we're eating our weight in broad beans and tatties), the first students have appeared around the university, and at last I can pull out some winter woollies. I am not a summer person!

I have changed the cover on Service of the Heir this week as my kindly graphic designer went to Edinburgh and took some photographs in Greyfriars Kirkyard, where Murray's father is buried in the course of the book. There were so many good photographs it was hard to know which to pick! I've never been that happy with the cover so this is a vast improvement. Of course, it's not quite the same as the cover of a book in a bookshop, where people might easily be drawn across the room by a good cover - Amazon and Smashwords don't exactly lay all the ebooks out for you to take your pick based on appearances! But I'm waiting to hear if Waterstone's is interested in stocking hard copies of Death in a Scarlet Gown, so appearances are becoming more relevant, perhaps.

Advertising is expensive! I've just been on a site called Bookriot and it claimed to have simple, easy to pay advertising. Well, yes, they do: and I thought $11 was quite reasonable for 1,000 views of your advert. Appparently, however, they don't sell advertising in such small batches: when I went to check out I discovered I would be paying $1,100! Needless to say I backed off fast - an innocent abroad, definitely! But I need to do something to improve North American sales - I wonder what?
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