It's only been a few weeks since I published my book but what a wild ride it's been! I have to admit, the whole process of uploading the manuscript and cover was an eye-opener. Thank goodness for my pal, Liz, an author who's been through this process herself and she was the voice of reason when, shock, horror, we got an error message! Luckily Sofie, my cover artist, was straight on the job and amended the file so that it was exactly what was needed. Huge sigh of relief, job done, all accepted! Celebratory drink and whoop, whoop, I was a published author!
Now it's available in Paperback or electronically on Kindle (and is currently free on Kindle Unlimited) and the wonderful thing is that people are buying it! Yes, I know that sounds daft - why else would I publish? I guess I was hoping like-minded people, going through middle age and getting knocked by some of life's challenges, could do with a giggle, but I hadn't actually thought about people reading it!
So, you can imagine my surprise when a couple of mornings ago, my book was number 3 in the 'Amazon Hot New Releases' section. I had to take the screenshot above because, number 3? Wowsers! And I don't think I've ever been classed as 'hot' in my life 🤣 I'm taking that!
The next thing that happened was reviews started to appear. Within a few days the first review appeared - 5 stars! OMG! Then a second appeared. Also 5 stars! And now a third 5-starrer is there - my mind is blown! You can read them all here but I've popped some snippets below.
And talking of reviews, I'm going to start beating my drum now, as so many of us read a book, love it, and then move on to the next exciting novel, not thinking about the poor old (or perhaps young!) writer. But imagine what it's like for them. Your favourite author could be sitting in the dark, palms sweaty, not knowing whether their audience likes their book or not. But guess what? You have power to help.
Think of reviewing a book as your way of talking to the author and (probably more importantly) their audience. If you love a book, write a review. Long or short, let people know what you think! Sing their praises. Or if something didn't work for you, don't be mean, but give some constructive feedback.
I've written a whole article about this, on my other blog, Tweetables (where I chat to authors - link here), as it's so important for us all to consider doing this. The post is a short read, so please take a look here and have a go. Every author I know will thank you for taking the time. So go, and be wonderful! And I'd like to take the time to thank the three wonderful people who did exactly that for my book. I didn't expect it, but every review helps raise my profile. They took the time to review my book and I'm eternally grateful.
So that's all for me for today. I'm back to interviewing authors next, so look out for my next chat in a couple of weeks time - it's another good one!
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