Yesterday marks a huge day for me as I finally published my first novel on Amazon and I’m pretty much…terrified. I spent a week going over the book one last time, addressing Heather’s recommendations (from Red Adept Reviews) and then sat staring at my computer screen for a tortuously long time on the night of the 6th, before taking the plunge. I decided to enroll in Amazon’s KDP program, which means the digital selling of my book is exclusive to Kindle for at least 6 months. If you are an Amazon Prime member and own a Kindle, you can read my book for FREE using the ‘Lending Library’! After that, I can start selling on Nook and other platforms. Paperback copies will be available at a later date all depending on how this eBook process unfolds.
Right now, I need reviews and ‘likes’ on Amazon and abroad!
On my book’s Amazon page, just to the right of the cover you’ll see a graphic like the one above. Be generous and ‘like’ it – I will be in your debt. If you happen to purchase ‘The Mayfair Moon’, I would love a good review! :-) I’m also looking for book reviewers out there who might be interested in delving into my story and telling their readers what they think of it. So, if you know any personally, please send then my way!
As with any new author, I’m both excited and scared out of my mind, but this step in my lifelong journey to become a published author is (it feels like) long overdue, and despite being afraid, I’m also happy. :-)
I really hope you all like it!
I got my official Red Adept ‘Alpha Read’ results back today on my novel, ‘The Mayfair Moon’ and I couldn’t be more pleased and excited. My Alpha Reader was ‘Heather’ and she did exactly what I hoped she would do: She pointed out and described in detail everything that she DID NOT like. Honestly, I was worried that whoever read my novel might feel in some way obligated to sugarcoat the truth, but that was not the case. Heather was blunt and to the point, which is now helping me to make this book the best it can be. She has opened my mind to a few things I was unaware of and even confirmed a couple of things I myself thought was a bit ‘off’. I cannot stress enough to every writer out there how important it is to get someone who doesn’t know you and who would be less inclined to bias, to read your book before you consider publishing (self-published, indie and even traditional). I am now on to the next step in my publishing process: another brief edit to address all of Heather’s recommendations and then on to the step that both terrifies and excites me: publishing.
Despite the mentioned negative, I’m very happy to say that her positive opinions greatly outweighed the negative and that she “really enjoyed it!” and hopes to “…get to read the sequel some day!”.
What a way to start a new year! I’ve been sick with nervousness since I sent Red Adept my manuscript, unable to write or do much of anything for fear of my Alpha Reader absolutely hating it. And now, I’m looking at my road to publication in a whole new way. I’m still scared to death, but I’m going into it with a lot more confidence! :-)
I know this might sound like some kind of prompted publicity, but it’s purely my UNprompted opinion and a big Thank You to Red Adept, but I would recommend Red Adept services to any aspiring published author and I personally will be using them for my future projects.
As for ‘The Mayfair Moon’, I am hoping to publish this month! So, I guess I better get back to work.
Alright, folks! I’m getting a Kindle around February and I want to help give indie/self-pubbed authors some deserving praise and exposure, so here’s what I’m going to do. I’m setting aside $50 to put toward the purchase of eBooks to read on my new Kindle. If you’re a self-published author and you write fiction, all you have to do is:
- Be following me on Twitter.
- Be an indie or self-published author.
- Comment on this blog post with the title of your book, genre and a link to your book on Amazon. (This is important, so read carefully: to help my paranoia, DO NOT shorten your URL so that it removes the ‘Amazon’ from your link, or I will not click on it.)
- Also post your Twitter username.
That’s it. I will take the first however many eBooks posted (and that qualify: see below) that equal to $50 and will buy them when I get my Kindle. In addition to purchasing your book, after I have read it and if I like it, I will rate your book on Amazon and on Goodreads and write a short-and-to-the-point review. If I can’t honestly give you at least 4 stars, I will not rate or review at all because I don’t want to give anyone public negative feedback. Keep in mind, it might take me a while to actually get to your rating and review because I’ll have several books to read ahead of yours, but I will purchase your eBook around the same time I purchase the others.
In addition to purchasing, rating and short-reviewing your eBook, I’ll tweet when I’m reading yours along with a link to your eBook on Amazon and a link to your web site/blog. The only things to keep in mind before submitting are the following:
- It MUST be fiction
- It MUST be either, paranormal, fantasy, young adult, paranormal romance, horror, middle-grade fantasy, dystopian, science fiction, post-apocalyptic, or anything else that you think fits these genres. I also love a good southern story with rich southern characters, or historical novels about society’s struggles and triumphs (e.g. The Color Purple), or a tragic love story (e.g. The Notebook). I’ve never been too interested in strictly romance novels, or crime and mystery, things like that. However, if you think your book has the potential to change my tastes a little, go ahead and post it and I might give it a try. I can’t guarantee it’ll be counted among one of the first chosen, so please take that into account.
I have been trolling Amazon’s eBook phenomenon for months and am really excited about finally jumping on the eBook reader bandwagon myself. Also, I want to help out any way I can with giving great indie and self-pubbed books/authors some publicity. Every little bit helps, right?
Lastly, even if you don’t post the link to your book in time for it to be among the first $50, I still encourage you to post your link for me anyway! I’m always on the lookout for great indie/self-pubbed books and I might end up checking it out later, regardless.
