Colin J. Galtrey is a prolific author who has worked hard to build his brand. Find out some of the innovative marketing ideas he has used.

1. Tell me briefly about your latest book – what is it about and what motivated you to write it?

This book is from my John Gammon series of books. Currently, there are twenty-one published, and this is series five, book one: Hangman.

The John Gammon books are all based in the beautiful villages of the Peak District in Derbyshire. Although most detective books depict a down at heel, divorced detective running around in an old car, I decided to turn the genre on its head and make John Gammon quite the opposite.

2. How have your sales been?

Whilst it would be nice to be in the top five author rankings on Amazon, that takes time. I have made the top fifty a couple of times and my sales generally are good. I currently have thirty-one books published in e-format and paperback, and I am currently working on including all the books on audio with the very first book now complete.

3. You’ve chosen self-publishing. How have you liked it so far? Talk about some of the positives and negatives you’ve encountered.

I very much like the self-publishing for my books and can’t say anything negative about it so far.

4. What sort of networking have you done as an author, and what have been the results?

I use a dedicated Facebook page, Instagram, and my own website, http://www.colingaltrey.co.uk.

5. Talk a little about the sort of marketing techniques you’ve used to sell your books. Which ones have been most successful?

Living in the beautiful Peak District of Derbyshire, which attracts ten million visitors a year, I thought potential sales should be good. I decided to target guest houses and pubs with framed posters that depict the books. This strategy has worked very well over the last five years that I have been writing. I have also done talks at some local bookshops.

6. Are there any marketing or networking techniques you’ve intentionally avoided or discontinued, and if so, why?

No there have been no avenues I haven’t considered as yet.

7. What are the most important things you’ve learned about publishing that you didn’t know when you started out?

That marketing and publishing go hand in hand and you must put the effort in to get the rewards long term.

8. If you could do one thing differently in publishing your books, what would it be?

Nothing really, like everybody on this journey I made mistakes but that is all part of the learning curve.

9. New authors face the challenge of getting their books into the hands of readers. What advice do you have for an author just starting out?

Patience. You will not be an Ian Rankin overnight. Also, build your audience on one genre before branching out into other genres.

10. What other projects are you currently working on?

I currently have twelve books at various stages of being written and they are across the other five genres I write in.

11. If you could market your brand – not just one particular book, but your overall brand of writing – in one sentence, what would it be?

Explosive with a degree of sadness and success.

12. How can readers learn more about your books?

The usual social media. My Facebook page; Instagram: thepeakdistrictauthor; or my website.