When was the last time you felt as giddy as a kid opening a present you were hoping for?

Well, that’s me at this very moment, standing at my desk late at night (for me) when I should be in bed since I get up early to work.

But hell, a few minutes ago, I saw this:

No big deal, I know. Other independent authors have hundreds, thousands of ratings & reviews.

But not this one.

I’m elated that six weeks after its launch, Core Haven reached the first magical milestone in the Amazon algorithm (A10) scheme of things—ten reviews. You may not believe this, but the word on the digital street is that with each point along the arduous path (20, 50, 100 reviews) comes a secret handshake, a high sign, another piece of the puzzle, a decoder ring, a magic jewel, or some such thing.

When A10 blesses your work, my friend, good shit happens. Placement, ranking, sales, exposure, attention, more reviews, alignment, whatever…

Or so I’ve gathered.

Anyway, before I allowed myself to be distracted by reaching my 10-review goal, the original intent of this post was to address some questions I brought up last week in “Reassessing the Long Game“.

So here’s the first one:

1. What the hell is my end game, anyway?

I put this one at the top of the list because it’s an overarching goal that drives the bus on its elusive, circuitous route. Rest assured, more than one person has asked me a version of this question. After all, I’ve been writing most of my adult life without going down the publishing rabbit hole, so why now?

The best answer I can think of is why not? It might sound flippant, but I believe my perspective has merit. After all, if I enjoy the process of crafting a plotline, adding characters, coming up backstory aplenty, writing, revising, proofreading, polishing, why not go for it?

Why not publish one novel a couple years ago as an exploration of how it all works & how well my writing gets received? Why not serialize a companion novel then recombine it to develop that fictional world a bit more? Why not take some of what I learned from launching Pearl Fields and the Oregon Meltdown out into the harsh literary world & streamline the process to see if things go smoother the second time around?

Why not give my newest release as much exposure as I’m comfortable with?

But above all else, why not have fun doing it?

Keep you posted.

Drew

P.S. If by chance you’re interested in reading and thoughtfully reviewing either of my companion novels, see the Amazon links below. If you’re adventurous enough, you could go a step further & get a free copy of Core Haven through Booksprout, a legit online review service. Here’s the link:

https://booksprout.co/reviewer/review-copy/view/234918/core-haven

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Latest 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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