Thirty Thousand

Thoughts on a manuscript + best wishes for the holidays

Wordhammer 30K

I just passed the 30,000-word mark on the fourth Dog Sitter Detective book.

That’s a big milestone, but with it come big problems.

Many authors find 30k is a real low point for us during the writing of a manuscript. It’s the point where we’re well into the book, and turning back now would mean throwing away a lot of work… but also where everything starts to feel shaky and uncertain. Nothing has yet really solidified, there’s still a long way to go, and it just isn’t coming out the way you imagined in your head.

Was my original concept for this book a mistake? Why did I ever think it was a good idea? How can I possibly make sense of the mess this has become?!

30,000 words seems an oddly specific point for this to happen, yet it’s a very common experience. It’s happened to me on every book I’ve written, and almost every author I’ve spoken to about this phenomenon has hit the same wall. Something happens when we reach 30k that makes us worry the book isn’t working, or trying to write it in the first place was a bad idea.

Now, obviously we all know our previous books turned out OK, despite going through this same process each time! So with experience we learn to tune out the despair, knuckle down, and just keep writing. (That’s a method I advocate in almost all situations anyway.)

I make things worse for myself by being a chaotic writer. I don’t write my books linearly, from start to finish, and with the Dog Sitter Detective books I’m also not working from a detailed outline. So the 30k I’m looking at right now isn’t even the first 30k. It’s all over the book; a chapter here, a scene there, and lots and lots of blank areas in between, where I know I need something… but either I don’t yet know what, or I do know but haven’t figured out how to write it.

(I remember hitting this point with The Dog Sitter Detective Plays Dead, the third book, which is out in January. I had the basic characters down, with the concept solidified in my mind, but the scenes were scattered all over the place and continuity between them was laughably bad. There were entire characters and suspects which I wound up cutting from the final book. Like I said: chaotic.)

This time, I’m trying something new.

Instead of despairing at the impossible task of turning the chaos into something readable, I’m using this milestone as a re-assessment opportunity; a chance to take stock of what I have so far, try to figure out what problems may lie ahead (we do love unwittingly setting traps for ourselves), and then come up with ways to either solve them or head them off altogether, to make the journey from here on a little easier on myself.

Does this element of Character X that I initially thought was a good idea still work… or will it only cause me problems as I continue? Are those subplot scenes still going to be effective… or should I drop them in favour of something else? Will that climax I had in mind make sense… or should I change things up to be more exciting?

(That’s an easy one. Always make things more exciting 😂)

Will this work? Will it stave off the gnawing despair at my own incompetence that normally accompanies this point in the writing?

The only way to find out is to try. Wish me luck.

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Yesterday I did an unboxing video… without the unboxing part. Whoops.

And last week, I was at the Allison & Busby offices in London signing a big stack of books:

I don’t think the signed copies are listed for sale yet, but I’m told they’ll be available from Goldsboro Books and direct from Allison & Busby, so keep an eye on both places if you’re after one.

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❄🎄☃

This will be my final newsletter of the year. 2024 has been a heck of a year, in more ways than one.

I started it by finishing The Dog Sitter Detective Plays Dead, during which time I also sold Can You Solve the Murder?, then I wrote Can You Solve the Murder? in double-quick time, then immediately went on to script a new graphic novel, while also writing my short story Outrider for the first Stars and Sabers anthology, before finally starting this fourth Dog Sitter Detective book.

I’ve also continued working on the Altered Alma videogame the whole time, not to mention writing articles for venues like The Bookseller, Culturefly, and Female First. Oh, and I’ve been all over the place making appearances at festivals and bookstores, too.

I’m quite tired, and looking forward to the holidays 😴😅

Wherever you are, whatever your circumstances, I wish you well over the holiday period. Let’s make sure 2025 knows we’re here.

(I still can’t get over that date. 2025! The future! 🤯 …except it isn’t, any more)

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A Winters Light and a Distant Choir

Which social media platform will eventually win the ongoing battle for supremacy? Who knows? For the moment, you can find me on most of them – simply search for my username @antonyjohnston, or check the Contact & Follow page of my site for links to the most popular networks: https://antonyjohnston.com/contact/

Sending Dogs to Newcastle 🐶🔍

Work and appearance updates

Just a quick one, with some updates and a final live appearance for 2024…

Dogs Go Fo(u)rth

A few weeks ago I began work on the fourth Dog Sitter Detective book. I haven’t bothered to give it a working title – I’ve learnt my lesson too many times from the previous books 😂

I posted that 👆 image on Nov 2, following my first day’s work on the book. As I did, it also occurred to me that this will be my tenth novel. Not bad, considering that between 2001 and 2017 I wrote a grand total of two 😂

Anyway, it’s going well: twelve days later I passed 10,000 words.

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Dogs Go… Third?

Meanwhile The Dog Sitter Detective Plays Dead, the third in the series, will be published on Jan 23:

Gwinny Tuffel is on location in the misty Yorkshire Dales filming a small part in Draculania, a gender-swapped remake of Bram Stoker's classic tale, when life begins to imitate art a little too closely. One of the cast members is found dead inside a locked trailer, with a stake through their heart.

With a prima donna in the starring role, filming is already facing delays, while Gwinny is being run ragged by Lily, the Jack Russell terrier she's looking after for a friend in hospital. Against the backdrop of Hendale Hall with its own vampire legend, a flesh-and-blood killer has struck. Will Gwinny be able to find the murderer before the production or any further victims are cut?

As always, I encourage you to pre-order the book from your local bookstore wherever possible. Pre-ordering really helps show booksellers, and the publisher, how much interest there is in the book; and doing so at your local store helps support their business and your community.

If, however, that’s not possible, then you can of course order it online at all the usual places. More information and links:

• https://dogsitterdetective.com/

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Newcastle Noir

Next week I’m appearing at Newcastle Noir (this year celebrating its 10th anniversary) on the Classic Sleuths and Cosy Crimes panel, Thursday 5 December at 5pm with fellow authors Fiona Veitch Smith and Tom Mead.

Close readers of the Dog Sitter Detective books will know I’ve long been a fan of Fiona’s Poppy Denby Investigates series (which is having a facelift courtesy of new editions published by Embla Books, and they look great), and Tom’s Joseph Spector books are some of the most mind-bending locked-room mysteries I’ve read.

Add to that the special place Newcastle Noir has in my heart – it was the first ever festival I attended specifically as a crime writer – and I’m really looking forward to it.

More information and tickets:

• https://newcastlenoir.co.uk

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Near and Farsley

Finally, some pics from ‘Crime Day’ at the Farsley Literature Festival: my panel with Josie Lloyd and JM Hall, plus hanging out with Elly Griffiths, Lisa Holdsworth, and Saima Mir:

Check out that stage backdrop! How fancy 😂

It was a great day, lots of fun, and I hope to be back in Farsley again soon.

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Your Optimistic Eyes Seem Like Paradise

Which social media platform will eventually win the ongoing battle for supremacy? Who knows? For the moment, you can find me on most of them – simply search for my username @antonyjohnston, or check the Contact & Follow page of my site for links to the most popular networks: https://antonyjohnston.com/contact/

Maybe Crime Pays After All

We could be royal(tie)s 🐶🔍

The Dog Sitter Detective Earns Out

No, not the title of the next book 😅 I recently received my first royalty cheque (not literally a cheque, this isn’t the 1990s) for The Dog Sitter Detective, which means the book has earned out.

But what does that mean? “Earning out” is a phrase you’ll often hear from authors and others in the publishing world, but as a term of art it can be confusing. So allow me to explain:

When a publisher acquires a book, they normally pay the author an advance. You’ll have seen announcements like, “Debut thriller from Anne Author nets a six-figure advance” – though be assured that the vast majority of advances are not six figures! Most are actually in the range of “very low five figures”…

Advances are a non-refundable payment (that’s important) from the publisher to the author, often paid in instalments – part on signing the contract, part upon delivery of the manuscript, part when the book is published.

That contract will feature a royalty rate. This is a percentage of the revenue received by the publisher, from each book sale, which goes to the author. The publisher keeps the rest.

So when you buy a book, a portion of that money goes to the author… except, at first, it actually doesn’t. The publisher keeps the author’s portion from each sale – the royalty earned – until the total of those royalties matches the advance.

When that target is reached, we say the book has earned out. From that point on, any future royalties from the book are paid to the author.

(I’m simplifying a little. For example, certain things like rights sales for audiobook or large print versions can also go towards paying off the advance. But you get the idea.)

Remember I said the advances being non-refundable was important? That’s because most books don’t earn out. They never earn enough royalties to pay off the advance. Fortunately, the author doesn’t have to pay back any of their advance to the publisher. Phew!

Does that mean the publisher lost money? Not necessarily. Remember, publishers keep a much larger proportion of revenue from sales than authors do. It’s possible for a book to be profitable long before it earns out for the author.

…All of which explains why earning out is a big deal! I honestly thought it would take several years for The Dog Sitter Detective to earn out, or even that it might not do so at all (because, again, most books don’t). To earn out so soon after publication is a great feeling. Thank you to everyone who’s bought a copy, whether for themselves or as a gift. It means a lot.

PS: Dog Sitter US release date

I’m told the paperback of book 2, The Dog Sitter Detective Takes the Lead, will be released in the US next month. It’s of course already available there in hardback, ebook, and audiobook.

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Death in the Dales

Last weekend I attended Death in the Dales, the inaugural crime fiction festival in Sedbergh, England’s official “book town”. It was a small affair, but really great fun, both well programmed and well organised. I moderated a panel on villains (which some attendees declared the best of the weekend, a fine compliment) and took part in another on heroines.

Local bookseller Westwood Books had an on-site store at the event, and by the end of the weekend they’d all but sold out of copies of both Dog Sitter Detective books.

Everyone who attended is hoping Death in the Dales becomes a regular annual event; if so, I wholeheartedly recommend it.

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Bark!Fest

Shortly before that I took part in Zazie Todd’s online event Bark!Fest, as seen above on a panel with Louisa Scarr and Dr Philipp Schott to talk about crime fiction featuring our four-legged friends. There were some great questions, and lots of fun chat.

In fact, the whole event was so popular that Zazie has been fielding questions about when next year’s Bark!Fest will take place… even though this was supposed to be a one-off 😅

Watch this space, I guess. In the meantime, Zazie tells me she intends to put the recording of our panel online soon. When that happens, I’ll link to it in a future newsletter.

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Still to Come…

November sees the second Farsley Literature Festival, just outside Leeds. As you can see from the above graphic, for a relatively small festival only in its second year, the festival punches well above its weight. Much of this is down to Amanda Truman, owner of the excellent Truman Books in Farsley.

November 10 is ‘crime day’, and at 3pm I’m appearing on the cosy crime panel with JM Hall and Josie Lloyd.

Later that same day there’s a panel featuring Saima Mir and Lesley McEvoy, and the evening sees Elly Griffiths in conversation. All well worth sticking around for if you’re a crime fan. Go here for more information and to book tickets:

• https://trumanbooks.co.uk/event/beware-its-crime-day

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In the Year 2025

I’ve already got some dates booked, or being discussed, for 2025 (which is much closer than it should be, how rude). In the new year I’ll be out and about around northern England for the following:

• Giving a talk at Barnoldswick library

• Giving a talk at Leigh library

• Hopefully doing an event with Criminally Good Books in York for the launch of The Dog Sitter Detective Plays Dead

• Almost certainly doing something with Serenity Booksellers in Romily, also for the launch of …Plays Dead

• Definitely attending Stockport Noir (also being organised by Serenity) where I’m moderating the “Crime With a Twist” panel featuring Sarah Moorhead, Jo Callaghan, and Adam Simcox

And there’ll likely be more set up between now and then. As always, subscribe to this newsletter and follow me on social media (see below) to be kept up-to-date.

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New music: “Voyagers”

Last week I suddenly realised I haven’t published any new music in almost 3 years (!) since RITUALIS OBSCURA, which was released for Samhain 2021. Not for want of trying, but since then I’ve been so busy with deadlines (see various newsletters passim) that I just haven’t had the time to properly sit down and compose an album.

So last week, when a melody came to me out of the blue, I decided to put it right and snatch what free time I could to work it up into a full song. The result is the space-themed single VOYAGERS – one track for now, but if I can find time in the near future I might do a full album along these lines.

VOYAGERS is free to stream, or pay-what-you-want to download from Bandcamp. Enjoy!

(And of course you can see the full SILENCAEON catalogue at https://silencaeon.bandcamp.com)

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Wait Until Darkness

Which social media platform will eventually win the ongoing battle for supremacy? Who knows? For the moment, you can find me on most of them – simply search for my username @antonyjohnston, or check the Contact & Follow page of my site for links to the most popular networks: https://antonyjohnston.com/contact/

It's Literary up North

Justified and ancient

I’m drowning under deadlines – not exactly a new phenomenon for me, admittedly – so this is just a short newsletter to let you know about a few upcoming appearances, in date order:

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Sep 19: Bark! Fest

Online

Bark! Fest is an event organised by author Zazie Todd to promote her own book Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog (which sounds very interesting, and is available for pre-order now) with a series of panels featuring… other authors who write about dogs!

Next week I’m taking part in the Canine Crime and Mystery panel at 6pm UK time, alongside fellow authors Louisa Scarr and Philipp Schott – both of whom also write, well, canine crime and mystery 😅

All of the Bark! Fest events are FREE to watch online, but registration is required. Go here for more information and a registration link:

• https://www.companionanimalpsychology.com/2024/08/bark-fest-canine-crime-and-mystery.html

You can also read an interview with me, talking about The Dog Sitter Detective Takes the Lead, my process, and what surprised me most while writing the book, at Zazie’s website:

• https://www.companionanimalpsychology.com/2024/08/the-dog-sitter-detective-takes-lead.html

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Oct 11-13: Death in the Dales

Sedbergh

In October I’ll be at Death in the Dales, a crime fiction festival in Sedbergh, which is England’s national “book town” (similar to Hay in Wales, and Wigtown in Scotland).

There’s a full programme of events over the weekend, including a film noir viewing and plenty of panels. Both of my panels are on Saturday Oct 12:

• 11.30am: I’m moderating “Black Sheep – the Villains”, with Matthew Booth, Frances Brody, and Jason Monaghan

• 3.15pm: I’m a panelist on “The Good Shepherdesses”, with Harry Navinski and Fiona Veitch Smith, moderated by Frances Brody

There will also be dedicated signing times on both Saturday and Sunday.

Tickets can be booked for part or all of the weekend. Go here for more information and booking links (via the “Booking info” tab at the top of the page):

• https://www.sedbergh.org.uk/bookfestival

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Nov 10: Farsley Literature Festival

November sees the second Farsley Literature Festival, just outside Leeds. As you can see from the above graphic, for a relatively small festival only in its second year, the festival punches well above its weight. Much of this is down to Amanda Truman, owner of the excellent Truman Books, which I visited earlier this year:

(Not my dog; the adorable senior greyhound Joe, owned by a local, just happened to be in store at the same time!)

November 10 is crime day, and at 3pm I’m appearing on the cosy crime panel with JM Hall and Josie Lloyd.

Later that same day there’s a panel featuring Saima Mir and Lesley McEvoy, and it’s topped off with Elly Griffiths in conversation. All well worth sticking around for if you’re a crime fan. Go here for more information and to book tickets:

• https://trumanbooks.co.uk/event/beware-its-crime-day

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PS: Silent Hill Ascension won an Emmy!

Seriously. What the hell?! 🤯

Congratulations to everyone at Genvid and Bad Robot with whom I worked on Silent Hill Ascension. My role was narrative consultant, collaborating with the project leads to initiate and develop the story and characters, then helping to guide the writing staff as they devised and wrote the enormous amount of scenes required for the series.

We knew we were making something never before done at this scale, and like any project which innovates technology and storytelling – of which I’ve worked on many over the years – Silent Hill Ascension was far from easy! But it was an unforgettable experience, and for it to win an Emmy is enormously rewarding.

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…And scene

I think that’s all my remaining appearances for the rest of 2024, at least in person. Further online events may crop up, of course. Either way, I should be back in a month or two with an update on future book releases.

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While the Letters Still Remain

Which social media platform will eventually win the ongoing battle for supremacy? Who knows? For the moment, you can find me on most of them – simply search for my username @antonyjohnston, or check the Contact & Follow page of my site for links to the most popular networks: https://antonyjohnston.com/contact/

Play Dead and Ride Out

The Dog Sitter Detective cover reveal, work updates, and upcoming appearances

The Dog Sitter Detective Plays Dead cover reveal 🐶🔍

The third book in the series, The Dog Sitter Detective Plays Dead, has a cover!

Once again it’s by the amazing David Wardle and features Lily, the Jack Russell terrier who accompanies Gwinny in this book.

Gwinny is at a stately home in the Yorkshire Dales, filming a small part in a gender-swapped remake of Dracula while looking after the dog of an elderly friend who lives nearby.

But during filming, an actor is found dead inside a locked trailer – with a stake through their heart! The film’s star, an obnoxious big-shot Hollywood actress who once played a detective on the silver screen, decides she will solve the crime. But Gwinny isn’t impressed, and the women clash as they mount rival investigations…

This week I’ve also been proofreading the galleys of the book, doing a final check for errors and making last-minute minor amends to the text before it goes to print:

The Dog Sitter Detective Plays Dead will be published in January, and you can pre-order it now from all good booksellers. As always I encourage you to get it from your local bookstore if you’re able to, but there are also links to online stores at the DSD website:

• https://dogsitterdetective.com/index.html#book3

Meanwhile The Dog Sitter Detective Takes the Lead, the second book, will be available in paperback later this month with a slightly modified cover (incorporating the new ‘series flash’, which I love 😊)

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Can Anyone Solve the Murder?

Last month I finished the rough draft of Can You Solve the Murder, my interactive crime novel, and sent it to my beta readers to get their notes and feedback. Following that I amended and polished the manuscript, and have turned it in to my agent and editor at Transworld.

So now I have a nail-biting wait while everyone reads it, which for me is without doubt the worst part of publishing – whether it’s book, graphic novels, games, whatever, that agonising period where all I can do is wait to find out what my editor thinks always makes me anxious.

You might imagine that after 25+ years of being an author this feeling would eventually go away, but it really doesn’t 😅

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Riding the Shadows

Last newsletter I mentioned I was writing a story for a new cross-genre anthology edited by Jendia Gammon and Gareth L Powell, which will be the launch title for their new publishing imprint.

Short stories don’t come naturally to me; I’ve had some success with the form, but I find them much more difficult to write than a full-length novel! Nevertheless, I’m very happy with this one. I’m calling it a “weirdpunk” story, because it’s not really traditional cyberpunk, but not really traditional SF either. It’s a (weird) story of loss, hope, and livestreaming, titled Outrider:

And the anthology, as well as Jendia & Gareth’s imprint, has now been announced. It’s called Of Shadows, Stars, and Sabers, which is appropriate given the imprint itself is called Stars and Sabers.

You can read more about both the anthology and the imprint at their website:

• https://www.starsandsabers.com/of-shadows-stars-and-sabers/

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Bark! Fest (Sep 19)

Bark! Fest is an online mini-festival organised by Zazie Todd, PhD to celebrate the launch of her book Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, with 23 authors taking part in online events on 19 September. I’m appearing on the Canine Crime and Mystery panel, alongside Louisa Scarr and Philipp Schott – we write quite different styles of crime fiction, but they all involve dogs 😁🐶

The panel is free to attend, but you will have to register (and if you do, a recording of the panel will also be made available in case you can’t make it on the day). Visit Zazie’s site for more information and the registration link:

• https://www.companionanimalpsychology.com/2024/08/bark-fest-canine-crime-and-mystery.html

(As the former owner of a reactive dog, I’m also looking forward to reading Bark! myself)

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Death in the Dales (Oct 11-13)

I’m appearing at Death in the Dales, a crime festival in Sedbergh (which is England’s “book town”, similar to Hay-on-Wye in Wales and Wigtown in Scotland) in October. This is a save-the-date announcement; more details, including how to purchase tickets, will be available soon. For the time being you can bookmark the page on visit Sedbergh:

• https://www.sedbergh.org.uk/festivals/death-in-the-dales/

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Seek Hallowed Land

Which social media platform will eventually win the ongoing battle for supremacy? Who knows? For the moment, you can find me on most of them – simply search for my username @antonyjohnston, or check the Contact & Follow page of my site for links to the most popular networks: https://antonyjohnston.com/contact/