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| Image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net: Serge Bertasius Photography |
I am now an author. I am now earning money for my work. I can claim that title and that makes me happy.
I have had some readers contact me directly and praise the book, thanking me for writing it. That is gratifying beyond words!
I am also incredibly blessed to have a great network of writer friends who have celebrated all the little milestones with me and keep me motivated. I'm making new connections online as well which give me further support (and who I hope I can support), whether that's Facebook groups, bloggers, tweeps and other newbie authors who have discovered my book and my story.
Am I making as many sales and I hoped? No, of course not. This is a long road and as with anything in publishing, building your brand and revenues takes time and a truckload of patience and hard work. And although I've put a huge amount of effort into getting my name and this first book out there, all the wisdom on the interwebs tells me that I need at least a few more books for sale before I will gain real momentum.
Having said that, I have had some success at getting the word out (especially online). Apart from maintaining a social presence on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Goodreads, Pinterest, setting up an email newsletter, redesigning this website and adding the books page, I have been organising a sort of DIY blog tour. I'm about to post a separate article on my learnings from soliciting reviews from book bloggers. I've 'met' some lovely people through the course of this experience, many of whom are now champions for my book.
Now I'm attempting to focus on getting the print edition done, and then... full steam ahead on books 2 and 3!
Here are the websites I have arranged appearances on:
Calico Critic (excerpt and giveaway)
My Jane Austen Book Club (guest post and giveaway)
Word Menagerie (review)
Austenprose (excerpt)
Austenprose (review)
Tome Tender (review)
Tome Tender (spotlight and giveaway)
Wishful Endings (guest post, review and giveaway)
Flashlight Commentary (interview)
Midnight Attic Reader (review)
The Long and the Short Of It Reviews (review)
So Little Time (review)
eBook Review Gal (review)
Love Saves The World (review)
Babblings of a Bookworm (review)
I Love to Read and Review Books (guest post)
Blue Eye Books (review)
InD'tale Magazine (review)
Gotta Write Network (review)
Gotta Write Network (interview)
Historical Novel Society (review)
Toot's Book Reviews (spotlight, excerpt and guest post)
Library of Clean Reads (review)
Unusual Historicals (interview and giveaway)
Unusual Historicals (excerpt)
VVB32 Reads (review)
Examiner.com (interview)
Portable Pieces of Thoughts (review)
Bibliosmiles (guest post)
Broken Teepee (review)
To Read or Not to Read (feature)
Postcards from Asia (review)
The Book Stop (review)
The Content Reader (review)
Stephanie's Book Reviews (review)
Getting Your Read On (review)
Fiction Zeal (review)
Books and Beverages (review)
The Emerald City Book Review (interview)
Katie's Clean Book Collection (review)
Cynthia Woolf (excerpt and giveaway)
Book Junkiez (review)
