Are we really almost halfway through 2026 already? Read on for an explanation of pre-orders, a snippet from the first DI Bolam novel, and more.
Any keen online book-buyer is likely to have seen that some titles are made available for pre-order weeks, or even months, before a book’s official publication date. What’s the point, though? Why not just wait until you can get the book the instant you click to complete your order (if it’s an ebook), or a day or two later (if it’s an actual physical book)?
The obvious answer is that you might become aware of a new book before it’s in the shops and then forget about it by the time it’s published. Place a pre-order and you don’t run that risk.
There’s more to it than that, though. For some publishers, the pre-order is a key part of the campaign to establish visibility for a new title. With a pre-order available, any publicity campaign before a book comes out can still lead to actual sales, and those sales help raise the book’s profile in the online marketplace. That way, when we reach the official publication day, a book can leap into the various charts, and it will — if the pre-launch marketing has worked — already have made friends with the algorithms that control who sees a book in the online shops. Pre-orders also have significant benefits for visibility in brick-and-mortar bookshops: good online pre-orders at somewhere like Waterstones can have a big influence on how many copies they order to stock in their traditional stores.
Pre-orders are also a way of testing the water without much risk. Make a book ‘available’ early in this way, and if it starts to pick up sales it might be easier to market and get into the shops when it’s published. And if those early pre-orders don’t come in? Well, you’ve still got the full marketing push around publishing day to come.
It can work the other way, too, though. A strong pre-order campaign can create a buzz — or even just a quiet hum — that booksellers consider a good early indicator of a book’s likely success; conversely, poor pre-orders risk stalling any further marketing campaigns.
It doesn’t always require big numbers for a pre-order to be helpful to an author. Let’s face it, unless the author is already a big name in one field or another, any marketing campaign is likely to fall somewhere between non-existent and a small but hopeful nudge in the right direction. A handful of pre-orders can alert the publisher to the possibility that a title might build up a bit of a buzz with a little more help — and that’s when the hum becomes a buzz, which we all hope will become that invaluable word-of-mouth that’s the magic wand of book marketing. For indie authors without the marketing departments to woo, a few pre-orders can pave the way for a book to make a positive start, which is vital when it comes to getting the algorithms on-board.
So why not take a punt? If you have a favourite author with a pre-order available, give them a boost. And if you spot an interesting new author with a book coming out, why not put your money on the table now, rather than waiting until the day you might still remember it in a few weeks’ time? It really does make a difference.
So, in the spirit of shameless promotion, I have some pre-orders available:
My publisher, No Exit Press, has gone big on pre-orders, with the first novel in my DI Bolam series, The Custodian, due out on 5th November, but already up for pre-order.
I also have short stories in a couple of anthologies that are available for pre-order. The first of these is Merry Murders on Bedford Square: Crime Stories for the Holiday Season from Bedford Square’s Best, which is available at 25% discount if you pre-order from Waterstones during their 21st to 24th July summer promotion — just use the code SUMMER26.
And I have a story in the Crime Writers’ Association’s Guilty Secrets, currently available for pre-order.
Supporting pre-orders really does make a big difference!
Now he reached for an evidence bag and carefully tipped the contents of the envelope into it.
There was only a single item. A finger, severed at the base. Slim, the nail short but carefully shaped and painted red, a dress ring set with a smooth, oval stone.
“An opal,” Sturridge helpfully informed him. “A gem considered unlucky by some.”
Including the owner, Bolam would hazard.
“A tightly woven plot line that really delivers that page-turning crucial punch. A great start to a new series.” — Michelle Kidd, author of the DI Jack MacIntosh and DI Nicki Hardcastle books.
Published in November 2026, The Custodian is already available for pre-order:
…and from the publisher, No Exit Press
The year so far has mainly been taken up with work on the second DI Bolam novel, working title The Player. I won’t say much about it at this stage, but I’m well into revisions and I’m really enjoying it.
I’ve also been brewing up ideas for a series of ultra-short stories, which I’ll be sharing in this newsletter and on other platforms later this year. Overall title for the set of stories is Nick’s Briefs. And I’m itching to get to work on some more conventional length short fiction when I reach a convenient pause in working on the second Bolam novel.
My next short story, “The Silent Partner”, will appear in the September/October issue of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine.
I’ve written lots of reviews over the years, including close to a hundred for the Guardian, and in my time I’ve given bad reviews as well as good. I’ve reached a place now where I think there’s too much negativity around, so if I write a review it’s because I’ve liked at least something about a book. They’re not always raves, but if I don’t enjoy something I’d rather move on than spend time slating it. So read these reviews as recommendations where I try to write about why I liked what I like.
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