When I’m not writing, my husband Paul and I job-share: he does all the work and I take half the salary. But please don’t tell the taxman! (Only joking). As a bonus, I also get to enjoy the perks. Things like attending conferences with other music publishers, some of whom travel from Europe to London in a far shorter time than we can from the South West of England; but more importantly, almost all of whom are readers. An association of music publishers constitutes a gift horse, and I’m not inclined to look one in the mouth. Armed with a couple of dozen copies of my newly published novel, A Painful Post Mortem, we set off on the five-hour journey.

With a full agenda for the three days, I knew my opportunities would be limited, so I wasted no time. I knew, too, that courtesy was of the essence. On arrival at the centre, I asked the chairwoman if, during the three-day conference, I might have a three-minute slot to pitch my book. She said yes! Three minutes. With careful planning and rehearsal (what better use of time spent sitting in a tin box on the motorway?), that’s all it took.

Result, twelve books sold to a dozen delegates, some of whom would be taking their copies back to Germany, Holland and Portugal. And to cap it all, in a Service Station a hundred miles from home on our return journey, I bumped into a friend who asked me if I’d written anything lately, and promptly bought a book from the back of the car.

Thirteen books sold in the space of six hours. Not a bad use of an all-expenses-paid few days away, to my way of thinking. Memo to self: keep stash of books in car.

The author of eight published books, Mel Menzies is aware that life is more comfortable for her husband when she is writing. She describes herself as like a pressure cooker when she is not! An experienced speaker, she has appeared on TV, and radio chat shows. You can read more about A Painful Post Mortem HERE. Visit Mel here: https://www.melmenzies.co.uk