June | 2021 | J. Paul Cooper, Writer

The first thing you need to know about self-publishing an eBook, is it’s an uphill battle. Announcing your new eBook on social media sites is no guarantee of impressive sales numbers. I’ve read countless posts by authors promoting their books and eBooks, and only remember a few. The problem is that our inboxes are saturated with announcements, with everyone vying for our attention.

The good news is that if you self-publish an eBook with Draft2Digital, the number of markets you can reach in a short period of time is impressive. Amazon, Kobo, Apple Books and Barnes & Noble, are some of the more familiar online stores, but your eBooks can also be found on online bookstores based in Italy, France, Germany, Japan and Australia. The point is your eBook can be found by potential readers in many countries, and you never know where you’ll develop a fan base.

Draft2Digital’s reach into the international library market continues to expand, as they recently added Borrow Box. eBooks published through Draft2Digital were already available to libraries through Overdrive, Cloud Library and Baker & Taylor. You can contact many libraries in Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the United Kingdom and tell them your eBook is available to add to their collections.

Although there are many online platforms for self-publishing eBooks, but I suggest you take a look at Draft2Digital first. I’ve had two eBooks published through Draft2Digital, Jack A Lady’s Cat and Hunting Teddy Bears, and I’m very pleased with the results. I heard about Draft2Digital at a writer’s conference three years ago, and I’m glad I did.

Whether you self-publish your writing or submit your work to traditional publishers, please don’t stop. Your stories make the world a more interesting place.

A Shock to the System (1990) starring Michael Caine is an adaptation of the novel by Simon Brett, published in 1984. What makes this adaptation particularly interesting, is how the main character has to change for the two different endings to work. At the end of the novel, Graham Marshall is about to be arrested for three murders; a homeless man, his wife, and his new boss. At the end of the movie, he gets away with those three murders and the murder of a company executive. Graham Marshall’s transition is from a completely despicable character, to a likeable scoundrel.

For the first murder, Graham is approached by a homeless man. Graham has just been passed over for a promotion and he’s now answering to a younger man he hates. In the novel he acts out of pure rage, so even though he doesn’t intend to kill the man, he has no justification for his actions. In the movie the homeless man threatens him, so when he pushes him onto the subway tracks, at least he’s acting in self-defence.

The second victim is his wife. In both the novel and the movie it’s a matter of using his wife’s death to pay off the mortgage. What distinguishes the two, is in the novel they have two children, and he’s happy to send them to live with his sister-in-law and be rid of them. The fact he doesn’t love his own children makes the reader despise him. In the movie they have two dogs. He doesn’t keep the dogs, but it doesn’t produce the same emotional reaction.

The third victim is a younger executive that gets promoted instead of Graham. In both the novel and the movie he pretends to be interested romantically with a younger woman in office, then drugs her. His plan is that she’ll think he’s been in her apartment all night, providing him with an alibi. While she’s unconscious, he leaves the apartment and rigs the propane tank in a yacht belonging to his new boss. In both cases you’re disgusted by his behaviour, using someone who admires him in order to commit murder. Graham’s new boss isn’t described positively in the novel, but he’s portrayed as extremely arrogant and condescending on screen. It doesn’t justify Graham’s actions, but it’s easier to understand why Graham hates him enough to want to kill him.

At the end of the novel, you’re glad that Graham Marshall is going to finally face justice. At the end of the movie, when it’s clear he’s just killed an executive because he wants his corner office, you laugh. From a writer’s point of view, it’s interesting to note how subtle changes influence how the audience reacts to a character. And when it comes to portraying a likeable scoundrel, no one is better suited for the role than Michael Caine.

If you’re curious about whether I can actually apply the advice I offer in this blog, my new eBook Hunting Teddy Bears is now available to purchase. Just visit the “Published Writing” section and click on the link.

J. Paul Cooper, Writer

Month: June 2021

Draft2Digital

Preparing For The End