January 2020 - Desperate

When I last provided a proper update it was 2019 and my brief foray into radio interviews had seemingly petered out. Myself and my son were subsequently discussing our radio experience when my phone rang. It was BBC 3 Counties radio. An unexpected space had arisen on their ‘Health & Well-being’ show so they wondered whether they could interview me. Of course they could – no problem. I came off the phone delighted that they wanted me back for a third interview. My son heard the conversation and turned to me “Wow dad, they must be desperate”. This may have been true, but he could have at least made some attempt to massage my ego.

I'd been interviewed back in August on Talk Radio Europe and that coincided with a little jump in book sales. Therefore, having carried out three further radio interviews in the last couple of months the question on my lips was ‘what affect did these interviews have on my book sales?’ Unfortunately, the answer seemed to be ‘very little’, which is partly because the focus of the interviews has been meningitis awareness with a quick reference to my book. I was mentioning this to my friend Nader - probably in a whinging sort of tone judging by his following response. Nader asked whether I watched Breaking Bad and explained that the main character was a chemistry teacher with stage 3 lung cancer. However, he built a sideline in making crystal meth to try to secure the financial future of his family before he died. The meth sales then become far more important to him than his family and their security. Oh yes, Nader was right, my book is trying to raise money for the Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF) and they try to raise awareness of meningitis as well as fund research. The radio interviews are therefore really appreciated by MRF and it is probably more helpful than the money I raise through book sales. Well at least I think that was Nader's point - either that or he meant we should enter the crystal meth business.

Anyway, I sold 27 copies in December (which followed 15 in November and 31 in October) which takes total sales to 283. The December sales were an increase, but that was the Christmas boost rather than because of the interviews (I knew 22 of the people that bought books or they were friends of friends). I expect January to be quiet in terms of book sales so will be happy if I reach 300 total sales by the end of February. See you next month.