It's very nearly a month since Why Do Birds Suddenly Disappear? hit both physical and virtual bookshelves, so a brief update is in order.
- Some people have bought it. Exactly how many, I don't know, but some. This is pleasing.
- Some bookshops are stocking it. It's been seen in places as diverse as Waterstones, Hatchards, Stanfords and so on (I'm going to put three apostrophes here for those who are triggered by seeing those words without them: '''). This is also pleasing – many many books are published each month, and comparatively very few of them get into these places.
- People seem to be enjoying it. 16 5-star reviews on Amazon, 14 5- or 4-star ratings on Goodreads, lots of positive feedback. One reviewer called it 'the best book I have read this year'. So that's nice. Of course, the people who don't like it are probably too kind to tell me. And it's only a matter of time before the first 'havent read this but dont like the cover – one star' turns up.
- It got a review in the Times Literary Supplement. This is still a source of some incredulity to me. The TLS! Me! Honestly, this isn't humblebragging – I'm genuinely amazed. And it was a lovely review too. It called me 'an excellent swearer', and the book 'relentlessly agreeable' and 'good-hearted and well made, funny and clever'. I will emphatically take that.
- I had great fun talking about it to the good people of Derby (well, some of them, anyway) a couple of weeks ago, and am hoping to organise some more events in the coming weeks and months. Watch this space.
If you happen to have read it and happen to have enjoyed it, it would be enormously appreciated if you were to tell someone. There's no guaranteed way to make something a bestseller, but the elusive 'word of mouth' is often deemed to be one of the biggest drivers. And if you want to lend the Amazon listing an air of verisimilitude with a one-star rating, this is the place to do it: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Suddenly-Disappear-months-lapsed-birdwatcher/dp/1783524839
And meanwhile, the next book, the long and the short of it, has reached a tantalising 29%. Wouldn't it be wonderful if it could make it to one-third funded by the weekend? Yes. Yes it would. https://unbound.com/books/the-long-and-the-short-of-it/