So I published a book

[XMan]

Shameless back-patting follows.

I figured I would do "okay", it's a popular genre, but I'm a nobody, so I wasn't expecting instant success out of the gate.

I think I need to raise my goalposts a bit. Here are the new release rankings for my genre. William R. Forstchen is one of my favorite writers. It's not like outselling Dean Koontz or anything . . . but still pretty awesome. Achievement Unlocked.

Capture by Dan Humphreys, on Flickr

 

[edro]

Wow, congratulations!
I don't know anything about writing or publishing.
How hard was it to publish through Amazon?
If it is as simple as just submitting, how do you get views since competition is so high?

 

[Exterous]

Awesome! Now - where's that thumbs up emoji....

 

[highland145]

 

[SketchMaster]

well done!

 

[nakedfrog]

Well done!

 

[XMan]

Wow, congratulations!
I don't know anything about writing or publishing.
How hard was it to publish through Amazon?
If it is as simple as just submitting, how do you get views since competition is so high?

Very easy so long as you submit everything in the proper format. I used a combination of Scrivener and MS Word to format the output documents for eBook and paperback. The cover I sourced through an artist who has done a lot of professional work.

As far as the reviews go, I was actually hoping for more, I got a couple of dozen "beta testers" on a writing forum that helped point out plot issues, things that weren't clear, etc. While they were reading through that I did my rewrites and ran all of my prose through Grammerly and HemingwayApp to look for issues above and beyond built-in spell check. So once the book dropped I had a built-in audience that I could hit up via e-mail to let them know.

Actually, if anyone enjoys the genre I will gladly trade an ebook in the format of your choice for a review.

 

[allisolm]

Congrats! That is indeed an occasion worthy of shameless back-patting.

 

[msi1337]

awesome job!

 

[Fritzo]

Congrats!!!!

Hopefully it sells better than my last book:

 

[XMan]

Yeah, but you got a got a buttload of reviews.

 

[IronWing]

Congratulations! But man, there are a lot of words in there.

 

[SearchMaster]

Congratulations! But man, there are a lot of words in there.

Better than Fritzo's book.

words words words words POOP PIC words words words words words words words....POOP PIC...words words words...

 

[Drako]

Congrats and good luck on the sequels!

 

[XMan]

Congratulations! But man, there are a lot of words in there.

Almost 180,000 of them!

It drives me crazy when ebook writers split their work into little chunks and sell a novel in 10 parts at full price for each.

 

[clamum]

Almost 180,000 of them!

It drives me crazy when ebook writers split their work into little chunks and sell a novel in 10 parts at full price for each.

Yeah that is kind of annoying. A lot of the prepper fiction I read tends to be like that, although a lot aren't written very well. I've found the "Borrowed World" series by Horton and the "Survivalist" series by Bradley to be much better than the normal crap, along with a couple others. The one I'm reading now, "Under a Tell-Tale Sky" by McDermott is quite good, too. So many have grammar issues I could've spotted and fixed in grade school, and I'm certainly no English expert.

Anyway, I'm usually more into the prepper type fiction, not zombies, but I'll probably pick yours up too after I get done reading the stuff I'm reading now. Thanks for the announcement, and much luck and congrats to you!

 

[XMan]

Yeah that is kind of annoying. A lot of the prepper fiction I read tends to be like that, although a lot aren't written very well. I've found the "Borrowed World" series by Horton and the "Survivalist" series by Bradley to be much better than the normal crap, along with a couple others. The one I'm reading now, "Under a Tell-Tale Sky" by McDermott is quite good, too. So many have grammar issues I could've spotted and fixed in grade school, and I'm certainly no English expert.

Anyway, I'm usually more into the prepper type fiction, not zombies, but I'll probably pick yours up too after I get done reading the stuff I'm reading now. Thanks for the announcement, and much luck and congrats to you!

Thanks, I appreciate it!

There is some prepper stuff in this to the extent that one of the reasons the survivors have endured was that one of the main characters owns a farm and ran an Army Surplus store. So they had a built-in advantage other folks did not.

 

[XMan]

12-for-12 on reviews thus far. Very happy with how it's going!

 

[Mayne]

Soon as I get my eyes fixed i'll go buy your book. I love that genre. Good job man.

 

[XMan]

Oh, wow. Lasik? I've worn contacts for a long time . . . keep putting off getting something more permanent.

 

[gorcorps]

Post apocalyptic is my go-to genre. I'll definitely have to check it out soon. If I was a faster reader I'd offer to review one for you, but I barely get any reading time anymore so it wouldn't even be fair. You'd possibly get a review 6 months down the road, if that =P I have my Kindle by my bedside and maybe read for 10ish minutes a night as I'm falling asleep, and not even every night. Takes a long time to get through anything that way.

 

[Cr0nJ0b]

I call dibs on the movie rights. !!! That's how it works doesn't it? First one to call dibs gets it?

 

[XMan]

I call dibs on the movie rights. !!! That's how it works doesn't it? First one to call dibs gets it?

I think so! Who we casting?

 

[XMan]

There's nothing better in the morning than waking up and reading a cool review.

I found that I really enjoyed this novel for the things it didn't have. It didn't have any characters I yelled at for being stupid, it showed people who learned from experience and were able to adapt to changing conditions, sometimes not quite fast enough, and it didn't have any Glocks with safeties.

LOL!

 

[sdifox]

Congrats!!!!

Hopefully it sells better than my last book:

I knew it! I knew you were part of 2 Girls 1 Cup.