Saturday marked one year since Blood in the Storm hit shelves. After my first year published, I looked back to see how I had changed and what I had learned. We’ll get into that below.
Having my book in the wild for a year has been an interesting experience. I’ve talked to so many people and even, apparently, inspired others to read and write because of it. It is unbelievable that I would have any effect on others, but especially one so profound. That’s honestly what this is all for. I can’t wait to see what the next year will bring. Hopefully, Book II in the wild…
Drawing from the Well
This was a GREAT writing week. I got through almost 20,000 words of the Book II manuscript, bringing the Second Draft that much closer to completion. Granted, I still have ten chapters to write to properly flesh things out (could end up being even more than that when I go to balance things), but that’s why that final word count jumped up almost 20k as well. Either way, progress IS being made and this was a great week.
Page 291/303
148,521/172,828 Words
Filling the Well
I’m so far behind. I’m still 5 books back because I only made it through one book this week. I am reading more, but there’s just a lot going on. I still aim to meet my goal for the year, I’m just going to really have to put some focus on it with daytime audiobooks and evening reading. I finished Penric’s Mission this week, third in the Penric and Desdemona series. It’s good and this was the best of the bunch so far. We’ll see how Mira’s Last Dance goes.
Full List
86/105 for #ProjectBookworm2023
Well Chat
I learned a lot publishing my first book, but that isn’t the end of the story. Learning is a constant, never-ending thing. I mean this in a good way. It means you don’t have to know everything up front, you’ll never know everything, and there is always a new horizon to reach. This has come in drips and drops over the last year, so let’s collect it all:
Residuals are real, if small. I’ve gotten a disbursement from my aggregator every quarter since release. Now, as you already know that I’m not a New York Times Bestseller, so these aren’t life-changing amounts, but I get them nonetheless. That proves that the book is still selling and that’s encouraging.
More people care than you think, but fewer than you hope. I had three book signings during my launch period. One was amazing, one was a complete disappointment, and the other was less-than-great. Fewer people than I had hoped showed up to the second and third signings. I’m still being told that people are reading my book. Reviews trickle in from time to time. I was recently told that I inspired someone to write their own novel. Those are big wins that I never expected.
Plan for the future. Be prepared to eat your losses. Breaking even is okay. I ordered a lot of physical books for my launch. I had three book signings scheduled and I followed the advice of those around me. I didn’t sell them all. I planned for the future in having enough at the three signings that I wouldn’t run out. I didn’t. I had to eat that expense. I ended up breaking even on that purchase, and that’s okay. The leftovers, however, STILL set me up for the future. I’m going to release more books. At future signings, I want to have the first book to sell alongside the sequel. Now, I won’t have that added expense. It all works out.
This first year has been a quiet, if insightful ride. I’m a better author for these lessons. We’ll see how much I grow in the next year.
May the tide carry you to safer shores.
BSG