OK, so this week’s photo header isn’t a copy of Escher’s actual work “Relativity” as the title might indicate, but it is an excellent photo all the same. I thought it might elicit a mental image of that incredible work of his. My personal favorite, however, has been “Hand with Reflecting Sphere” since I first noticed the optical prank he played on most of us.

Anyway, I digress. (Surprise, surprise!)

My intent is to write a post about the current choice points I have on my writer’s journey. Along the lines of, Do I take this staircase, so to speak? or that one over there? or what about…?

For the sake of background information, here’s a brief update on my current situation in regards to publishing:

• my companion novel Core Haven launched on the Kindle Store at the end of July
• its initial reception exceeded my expectations
  • more pre-orders than I’d predicted
  • a #1 rating in one ebook new release category; top #5 in the other two
  • a decent rating among all the current releases in that same #1 category (Teen & Young Adult Survival Stories eBooks)
  • great ratings & thoughtful reviews on both Amazon & Goodreads, 4.5 & 4.9 respectively
• I was somewhat prepared for those first few heady days since to a lesser degree my previous novel Pearl Fields and the Oregon Meltdown had shown some initial success, but I was pleasantly surprised by the predominance of positive reviews
• what I really wasn’t ready for, however, was the tidal wave of cold emails with all sorts of offers (see my post from two weeks ago, Now What?), as in:
  • (your companion novels) bring to life a turbulent period with depth, tension, and humanity. The way you’ve built continuity between the books, while capturing both personal and societal struggles, makes your work compelling and deserving of a wider audience.
  • Well, gee, thanks. Wish I could be sure those thoughtful words were 1) from a human; 2) not the preface to a sketchy arrangement
• and then the trade winds began to change.

It’s not as if Core Haven has dropped below the radar, mind you, but the momentum has dissipated enough to begin to wonder what my next strategy should be.

In early August, I ran ads on a couple smaller platforms & BookBub, but most of my outreach has been through social media. I’ve kept it pretty low-key here on my website, but I’ve sprinkled some of my other accounts with a healthy dose of responses to numerous “drop your links here for such-and-such a day” (for example, Writers’ Lift Wednesday).

Currently though, both the sales & reviews are trending down, which of course means the Amazon algorithm adjusts by dropping the ranking & placement opportunities.

So what now? Should I:

• focus on the long game by spreading out the last of my meager budget?
• set up a promo stack or two?
• beg potential readers to buy, rate, & review it on Amazon?
• bide my time to see how it develops?
• set up a stand on a downtown street corner to hawk my wares by reading aloud from the reviews?
• take a vacation from it all?

Decisions, decisions. Maybe I’ll go find some stairs to climb to think it over.

Keep you posted.

Drew

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BookFunnel Promo LINK

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I invite you to check out Lee Hall’s excellent video review, especially the first book he includes on his short list of memorable indie reads—uh-huh, that would be Pearl Fields and the Oregon Meltdown.

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