Take a deep breath . . . one . . . two . . . three . . .
Gotta say, I’m relishing this extra slow morning even if I did intentionally schedule it instead of just letting it happen as if I were truly living in the moment. Considering the pace I’ve been subjecting myself to these past few months, I think it’s one of my better moves. Some people crave getting away to clear their minds & nervous systems, but just let me sip my morning coffee on the back porch for a while, & I can reset & reframe in no time. Fresh air & steam rising from a hot cup of medium roast are respite for my soul.
Anyway, my latest ad campaign for Pearl Fields and the Oregon Meltdown came to a close earlier this morning. Usually whenever I go through any kind of debriefing process after a significant push even approaching the magnitude of my foray into promo stacking, I generate various lists of what to do & what not to do next time, which detours & sandpits to avoid, that kind of thing.
This time, however, I’m pausing to acknowledge my favorite part in this whole phase of my self-publishing adventure start to finish—the concept of an indie author community. It might seem like a cliché, but time & again I’ve seen the notion borne out on various platforms & threads. Granted, separating genuine comradery from posing can be challenging, but when the former does shine through it’s pure joy.
Take Lee Hall, for example. Last October he opted to review what was then my new release from the current pool of hopefuls on Reedsy Discovery, then posted his response on Goodreads & Amazon as well. I was not only grateful for that gesture but also for his articulate & insightful perspective that I’m sure would’ve served me well during an early stage of content editing.
As I mentioned in previous posts, I fully realize my novel is not the easiest of reads for some. Maybe it’s because of the narrator’s mishmash of regional slang or the lack of backstory presented in a more traditional fashion.
But for me, the focus of Pearl’s feisty first person narrative voice never strayed from her central goal of persuading the judge, aka the reader, not to sentence her to be hanged for the gunrunning part of her river merchant business, as well as confronting her own personal share of responsibility in the chaos along the way.
Meanwhile, just the other day I was doing an advanced search on Twitter for my novel title when I ran across two separate tweets by Lee—one from last October & the other from earlier this month—recommending Pearl Fields and the Oregon Meltdown as part of his series of tweets about some of the indie novels he’s reviewed over the years.
And therein lies my favorite part of this unwieldy promotion process I’ve been immersed in—the inclusive attitude he & others consistently demonstrate toward the independent author community at large. Seeing everything from tweets & retweets of recommended books, shared titles, podcast suggestions, hashtag examples, and much more warms my heart, especially at a time when I’m decompressing from this particular leg of my long, somewhat grueling journey.
And of course, that warmth is only enhanced by the openness & humor so many show in the crazy world of self-publishing some of us willingly choose to inhabit.
To all of you, I lift a glass in celebration of comradery.
Till next time,
Drew
