My Self Publishing Diary (Launch Day)

It has been a couple days since the launch of my first self-published novel, THE SHADOW WATCH, a YA epic fantasy.

Some quick background: I enrolled in KDP Select, so my Ebook is only available through Amazon. I published my paperback through Createspace, and though I may branch out later, right now, it is only available through Amazon, or at a local bookstore. I ran one small Facebook ad, but otherwise I am waiting until a few more reviews land before I settle into a marketing scheme.

It has been a couple days since my book released. Overall, it was an amazing experience, though still filled with some anxiety and stress, inevitable feelings when you are putting a piece of writing out there for the world to see. And I learned a lot quickly from the process.

Here are some reflections and observations about my experience on Day One of my self publication process:

1. No amount of prep or editing ever feels like enough to be ready for Launch Day – I hired an editor, went through dozens of rounds of edits, worked with critique partners and betas, and quadruple checked my final formatted manuscript before hitting publish. But I was still nervous that something would go wrong. I’ve heard Chris Martin of Coldplay once said that no song was ever finished. It merely stopped being written. I feel that way about books as well. I am beyond thrilled with my end product, but I could have nitpicked it to death if I let myself. But having a hard publication date made me stop and move on to Book 2, which was a good thing for me because I can tend to over-edit. It was a nerve-racking feeling to officially be done with this book, but very much worth it to put it out there.
2. Something will probably go wrong on Launch Day, just roll with it – My fantasy world has a world map. A beautiful one commissioned by the amazing Sebastian Breit. I formatted it to print on two pages, and with a couple trials, got it right in my Printed Proof copy. But I ran into a last minute snafu with Createspace’s proofing system when I re-uploaded the final version of the text. It skewed my image, and I had to have their technical team fix it (which due to the fact they don’t work weekends, ran me all the way to the wire in getting the print copy ready on time). It was stressful, but the print version launched in sync with the Kindle version. Though sadly I couldn’t order copies for the local indie store. Those will arrive a little late. So it goes.
3. Forgetting something will not ruin the Launch, just breathe – There are so many things to prepare and anticipate before launching a book. Inevitably you will probably forget something. I forgot to set up my Author Central page on Amazon, something I’d intended to do weeks ago. Another writer kindly pointed it out, and I fixed it quickly.
4. Reviews probably won’t come as fast as you want (which is instantaneous) – Even with an ARC team of awesome readers, reviews did not shoot up out of the gate on Amazon. I had many ARC readers leave Goodreads reviews. Amazon reviews have proven trickier. Firstly, you have to be an Amazon customer who has purchased $50 previously. No problem for some. But some people don’t drink the Amazon kool-aid. Also, international reviews don’t show up on Amazon.com. My launch team is international. I had several reviewers who left lovely reviews in the UK, India, and Germany, which only readers shopping on those respective Amazon sites can see. So it goes. I stressed about it a bit, because I really wanted more reviews on Amazon.com right away, but I got over it.
5. Don’t check your rankings every FIVE MINUTES – I am sure this is the case for most people launching their first book, but I was addicted to seeing sales appear and rank change on Amazon. It made for a stressful day. And in the days since, I have quickly realized that it is not worth it to check so often.
6. Ebook and Paperback don’t sync right away on Amazon – I did not realize this until Launch Day, but apparently it can take up to 72 hours for this sync up. I was not crazy about this, but it is what it is.
7. Enjoy it, I wrote a freaking book – I learned to try to enjoy the moment, and let all the things go that I cannot control. I wrote a book I am proud of! And that is truly enough for now.

 

Overall, I was happy with the results of DAY ONE. Though, of course, many were family and friends. But hey, people want to read something I wrote.

Ebooks: 15

Paperback: 20

KU: 0 (this did not kick in until DAY TWO; not sure if it was delayed, but now on Day 3 I’ve had well over 1000 page reads, so I am not too worried about it)

THE SHADOW WATCH is available on Amazon.