Mega Geoff
Hello my friend, I am looking forward to reading Wicked Game, Emma bought it and has said it was very good! Good luck Topher X

Dave P
Found your site very informative, thanks. I thought you might enjoy Chris Power's stuff at The Guardian as he is an authority on the short story, and there's always something good on his blog. Good luck with the competitions. Dave

Chris Fielden
Thanks Dave, I'll check it out 🙂

Julia BP
Dear Chris, loved "Devil's Crush" and have just peeked inside "Wicked Game" via Amazon's look inside.

Rollicking good start. I'm so intrigued I've ordered a copy from Lulu. I do have a Kindle, but much prefer the heft of a 'proper book'. Can't wait for it to arrive, so I can get stuck in.

Best regards, Julia

Chris Fielden
Thanks Julia, glad you liked the opening - I'll be interested to see what you think when you've read the whole thing! Hope you enjoy it 🙂

Fay S
Hi Chris, just a short note to tell you that I downloaded two books:

1. How to Write a Short Story
2. To Hull and Back 2016

I'm so greedy, I'm leaping between books to absorb as much as I can.

1. Most of what I've taken away so far is that your book is informative and giving me lots to think about....this is where the Demon of Doubt comes to play with my mind. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience with the rest of the world.
2. Quite simply... a joy! What a great collection of short stories.

Thank you.

Chris Fielden
Hi Fay. Thanks for letting me know 🙂 It’s really nice to hear that you’re enjoying the books and learning from them.

Ah, that pesky Demon of Doubt… lock her up. Burn the key. Or, just ignore her. That works too.

I’ll look forward to an email in the future, telling me all about the short stories you’ve had published 🙂

Michael D
Afternoon Christopher. May I begin by thanking you for all the writer's info you keep sending me, most especially the Devil's Crush book!

A brief explanation of myself. I have spent a lengthy lifetime in the international drinks business. In November 2015 I was double crossed by a large grape producer in South Africa, savaged him somewhat for his behaviour, but then as I was already in my eighties accepted a mutually agreed out of court financial settlement, figuring enough was enough, get out my pipe and slippers and retire. Guess like many people who have spent most of their lives in active business, figuring was one thing, actually doing it quite another.

In the nineties I created a wine brand called A Year In Provence. This resulted in the necessity of spending much time with writers, publishers, film producers and actors. A very enjoyable and profitable couple of years, so I decided to write a novel, embrace my life for colour, but occasionally fictionally elaborate for reader excitement.

Having finished the first book, I began searching for a publisher, quickly realizing that this was a far more difficult task than writing the book. This is where you might want to become involved. It seems you may already have an introduction into the publishing world. What would your reaction be if I were to suggest that you find a publisher for me, acting as a broker should we say.

Looking forward to your comments. Kind regards.

Chris Fielden
Hi Michael. Thanks for getting in touch. I'm glad you like my email newsletters. The project you've talked about sounds really interesting.

I'm afraid I don’t act as an agent for other writers. I self-publish the vast majority of my own books and the independent publishers I have worked with all specialise in short fiction. I don't have any contacts in the right niche for your books I'm afraid. Best to be honest – I probably wouldn't be much help to you.

There is another writer who, coincidentally, shares my name and would be a perfect fit for you. Unfortunately, I don’t know him, so can’t put you in touch with him, but a quick Google search revealed phone numbers and other contact information for him. Christopher Fielden the wine writer has years of wine industry expertise and has many books published on the subject. So he'd probably be able to help you, if willing.

Sorry I can't be of more help myself. I wish you the very best of luck with finding a publisher for your books.

Michael D
Afternoon Chris. Many thanks for this. Unfortunately Google seem to have their knickers in a twist and I am unable to contact 'the other' Christopher Fielden. I did find out, however, that there is a link with the Wine & Spirit Association, a once powerful trade organisation which is now struggling to elicit sufficient membership to again become viable.

Rather think I will know this guy however, lives somewhere in the south west, once sponsored a lawn mower race for his local village. Organised several Canard Duchene hospitality tents also for the weekend event, huge success selling bucketful's of Canard champagne.

Rather surprised that he is still alive and kicking – will keep you informed.

Kindest regards.

Chris Fielden
Hi Michael. Yes, I'd be surprised if you didn't know him, given your time in the industry.

Well, good luck trying to get hold of him. And if that fails, I hope you find someone else to represent your work.

The Writers' & Artists' Yearbook is worth a look. That offers up to date information on agents and publishers, so you might be able to find someone in the right niche for you. All the best.

Chris E
Greetings, Chris. I reached your website because I was looking for a short story competition. I feel that I have something in common with you and decided to ask your advice.

I wrote a work-related book about thirty years ago which was well received and went through several editions. But nobody read it for fun.

After retirement (I am now 84) I decided to try writing books that people might actually enjoy. I now have three books, self-published and available as paperbacks or on Kindle, but I can't sell them.

I own them wholly and personally. Just today, I re-read one of them and thought it was pretty good and there must be somebody somewhere who would like it.

Have you any advice? I have long abandoned any hope of making money, but I do want readers. You can see them described on chriselgoodbooks.co.uk.

Chris Fielden
Hi Chris. Well, congratulations on publishing 3 books. That’s great. Selling them is difficult, but it can be done.

There are a few things you can try. Amazon allow you to run promotions via Kindle, making the books available for free or for a discounted price. I find discounted price works better. It’s worth running those every 3 months or so. You can learn about that by clicking on ‘promote and advertise’ from your bookshelf in Kindle. You just have to enrol your books into KDP Select.

You can also run Amazon adverts. This costs a bit of money, but I find it generates sales. Again, you can find out about that in same place described above. There is a free video course you can do on Amazon ads on the Kindlepreneur website. I’ve done the course and have since started making a profit (small, but still a profit) from my advertising since doing it. And it means more people are reading my books – as that’s what you want, that would be worth investigating.

It’s also worth doing Mark Dawson’s Facebook ads course. You can do the taster one for free. While the focus is on advertising on Facebook (which can work well for series of books, so might be good for you) he also covers the importance of taking the time to do a good page for your book on Amazon and creating Amazon author profiles etc. You can learn more about that on the self-publishing formula website.

The only other thing you could do is make them available for free to download on a website I guess. I could offer them on my special offers page if you like? I’d just need a PDF version of each book that I could send users, should they want them. Or, I could offer the first one for free on my site and then send readers to your site if they want to read the others. That might generate you some sales. Let me know if that’s of interest.

I hope that’s helpful and wish you the best of luck with selling your books.

Chris E
Hi, Chris. Thanks very much for your informative reply. I shall certainly follow up some of those suggestions.

It will not be immediate because I am just getting the covers re-designed. They were very amateur and I am paying money now for a professional job. When I have them, I will take the next step.

Thanks again. It is not very often that one gets a personal reply, these days. Great.

Best wishes, Chris.

Chris Fielden
Hi Chris. No problem. I hope the new book covers turn out well. And good luck with your next steps.

Joshua P
Hello, I am writing in the hope of finding more information on your book A Dynasty of Drink: The Suntory Story. I am researching the history of Japanese whisky and currently reading Japanese Whisky, Scotch Blend by Olive Checkland and your book is referenced several times. I would like to read more on Suntory whisky without it being straight from the Suntory marketing story.

Do you have a copy I may purchase? Would you consider a digital release? With the ever popular boom of Japanese whisky and more books on the subject becoming available it might be a good time to consider a reprint. Thank you for you time.

Cheers!

Chris Fielden
Hi Joshua. I'm afraid you have the wrong Christopher Fielden!

I'm a short story writer, not the wine writer. Sorry I can't be of more help. Good luck with finding a copy of the book 🙂

Denis P
Dear Christopher, sorry to be cheeky contacting you out of the blue. Let me explain myself.

Over the lockdown period, I have taken to writing short stories (some horror genre). I don't know how to approach trying to get any published. As regards wordage, nearly all the 100 or more that I have written are in the range 1000 - 2500 words - quite 'compact'. Would you consider me presumptuous in sending you one or two specimens for you advice or comment? I appreciate you must be busy and that you could get fed up being pestered by folk like me, but I would be grateful for your views.

By the way, I am a retired academic, not a vigorous young turk seeking to take the world by storm!

Sincerely, Denis

Chris Fielden
Hi Denis, thank you for your message. It’s great to hear you’ve written so many stories 🙂

I receive many requests like this. I’m afraid I don’t critique, proofread and/or edit stories for free. I have a paid critique and proofreading service (see the Services section of the site). You can also try this page on my site – it lists some platforms where you can get free feedback on your work.

I hope that’s helpful and wish you the best of luck with your writing.