One month down!

It’s been about a month since I published the Island of Stone, and it’s been quite the journey (don’t forget to leave a Amazon review and comment below, on Facebook, or here!). I wanted to provide you a summary of what has gone on to be completely transparent.

After the long process of writing, editing, and formatting the text, I moved to cover design, page design, and finally publishing the book. There were a few bumps here and there, but all in all, it went smoothly.

Once it was up on Amazon and available to the world, I needed to promote it. My first sale was on April 3rd, so I don’t count these first few days. The first thing I did was create content for my Amazon Author’s page. This was exciting, because it was the first time I’ve ever really been referred to as a author. I then built an external website just to have something to build from. After that, I ran a free book promotion and let as many people that I could think of know that the Island of Stone was available for free. In hindsight, I should have waited a bit and do some research, but the next promotion will run better. There are a lot of sites out there that promote free eBooks, and I didn’t take advantage of these (kicking myself). As you can only run one promotion per month, I’ve had to wait for this option to open again to try out these possibilities. I could have used that readership to spread the book more before it went back to its full price. If anything, all my closest friends and family had access to the book for free and that was important to me.

At this point, I started posting blog posts of my journey and have done so every day since (this will be my 30th post, check the others out here!). I also created dedicated author’s pages on Facebook, Goodreads, Bookbub, AllAuthor, and eReaderIQ (among others, check them out as they all have different content). I created some simple advertisements, and then searched for any Facebook, Youtube, and Blogs I could find in my subject area, joined these pages, and started to post comments and plugs for my book. I read hundreds of articles on ebook publishing, tinkered with keywords, and signed up for as many free promotional services that I could find (you should see my spam folder now).

It took some time, but now when you type my name into Google, things from my author’s life will pop up (not just my MIT life), and if you type the Island of Stone into Amazon, my book pops up first. That might not sound like much, but it has been a struggle.

Now for the nitty-gritty. All told, 111 people acquired the ebook version, 3 people bought the paperback, and I have 3,490 Kindle unlimited page reads (which equates to about 11 people reading my book from start to finish). So a grand total of 125 copies of my book are out there. On Amazon, I have three reviews averaging out to 4.6 Stars, and on Goodreads, my rating is 4.2. I got one nasty low rating on Goodreads from a distant relative, can you believe that? I am all for criticism, but just leaving 2 stars with no feedback, that is just cowardice. Anyway, I digress. For April, I made a whopping total of $37.93. Not what you were expecting, huh?

I know it is not much, but it is something. A large majority of the copies out there were for free. What is important is that this means people are reading my work, and some might even like it. All told, I have probably dedicated several thousand hours of my life to writing the book, and many more promoting it, so it certainly isn’t an endeavor to make quick and easy cash. I do it because I am a storyteller and creator at heart and this is what I love! Seeing just a few page reads through Kindle Unlimited each day, gets me so very excited and energized to keep writing. I wonder where they are in the book and what they are thinking. Can they empathize with Trevor when he collapses in that rainy and cold forest, left a broken man believing that he had just chased his dead wife, or can they picture in their minds-eye the lonely cabin, the abandoned quarry, the crystalline lake, or that dark spirit that plagues my main character? Where they scared, where they sad, where they excited, and most importantly, were they entertained? When they reach the end, are they happy with the journey and feel it was a story worth telling? In any event, the Island of Stone is part of me. It is a world I created in my mind and is something I could share with others. Stop and think about that for a moment. It is the purest form of telepathy. I created those imagine in your head and I stimulated those feelings. There is something magical about that.

I realize that very few will see this. I average about two readers per post, and I have yet to receive a comment. These are likely family members (thanks guys!), but I’m enjoying it, and I am going to keep doing it until you all tell me to stop. Lastly, I’m excited to get the Slaying of the Bull (book 1 in the Tocharian Gospels series) out soon and look forward to seeing what adventures that yarn will bring!

Cheers!