Book aftermath

     So the books out and I have been in a wild rush to figure out how to promote it.  I of course did a bonus podcast on the 2 Lazy 2 B Otaku feed. http://www.2lazy2botaku.com/archives/948 I did a guest appearance on The Otaku Momentum on episode 84 and shamelessly plugged my book. http://theotakumomentum.info/2012/02/20/20120220.aspx I will be appearing in episode 105 of the No Prisoners No Mercy podcast as well.  http://www.virginworlds.com/podcast.php?show=26&ep=103 I have been taking advice from all corners including reading articles I have seen linked on twitter from other authors who were really nice to follow me back and even pop in with a note from time to time.  One of the members of the Otaku Momentum (Midori) is even now putting together a pres release for me which I thought was awfully nice of her.  The wonderful ladies from the No Prisoners No Mercy podcast suggested that I talk to R.W. Harper from Lorewritter.com.  I did so and Mr. Harper gave me the wonderful idea to write a companion story to my novel to give people a satisfying taste of the world I have created and a nice highlight to the characters I have introduced into this world.  I am currently four thousand words into the story and about two thirds away from completing the first draft.  My only concern is trying to get my ever busy editor to get a look at it before I have the second novel for him to work on.  Let it be said that I came to Mr. Harper with a request to post sample chapters of my book and shamelessly exploit the traffic on his site to get them to buy my book.  I would have felt him well within his rights and wouldn't have thought any less of him if he had turned me down.  Instead he gave me some brilliant advice and was nothing but a nice guy and even managed to work in a little mentoring. 
        I have felt more than a little blessed by all the people who have touched my life as a result of this book.  It's threatening to make me reconsider my cynicism towards mankind.  Even before the book sold the first copy I have been riding a high that has left my brain in a fog.  I've had a hard time concentrating on working on writing and marketing the book so overwhelmed I have been by all the thoughtful and insightful help I have received.  Maybe it's not such a terrible old world after all.
        I got my first review on Amazon the other day from one of our podcast listeners (Aaron).  Aaron messaged me to let me know he purchased the book and was reading it and even gave me a few tweets along the way to let me know how he felt.  Afterwards he told me that he loved the book and I asked him if he wouldn't mind leaving me a review.  I was surprised and grateful to see that he gave me a five star review but didn't stop there.  He went on to give a very comprehensive review that was flattering and very kind.  To know that someone I don't personally know would go out there and give me such a wonderful review touched me in a way I don't think could ever be topped. 
         When I was in high school in my junior year I won the medal in Speech class saying that I was the finest student in school.  I also received a certificate nothing that I was in the top 10% of my class in the subject.  Even with those honors, the next morning my father got up before six AM and stumbled down the hall to my room and opened my door and called my name.  When I responded his words of eternal encouragment were "You know you won those awards because your good at shooting your mouth off."  His echoing laughter down the hallway was what I heard while I tumbled into a sleepy incredulous rage.
        I'm glad to say that he vindicated himself this year when I called to let him know my book was out.  Once you publish on the Kindle store it can take about twelve hours t apear in the store.  I had posted and gone to bed.  When I called the next day it had only been out for a couple hours.  When my mother answered her phone she immediately commented on the acknowledgment I had paid them at the begining of the book before I could even mention that the book was out.  My father had been checking to see if the book was out all this time and had been my first customer.  He has since finished the book and even gave me some favorable feedback.  It's always nice to do your parents proud.  The thing that I think I loved most was when he said that he had lost himself in the book.  My father has been reading novels since I was a child and the bathrooms in our house were always littered with paperbacks.  Besides being a nice toilet paper replacement in an emergency all those books lying around the house are a nice reinforcement when my father complimented my work.
          That's all for now.  I got a ton of work to do and I can't sit here reveling in my own self proclaimed glory.  If writing has taught me anything it's that it's hard and just because you tell a good story it doesn't mean it's gonna get read unless you have some marketing behind it so that people know it exists.

The book is out!

Well the book finally came out for purchase on Valentine's day!  I have had friends and family congradulate me all round.  Now the real struggle begins as I attempt to do some grass roots marketing on a low budget.  I'm not sure how I will be able to do it but I always have friends around that are more than willing to lend a helping hand.

     I was able to involve myself with the KDP Select program which allows Amazon Prime users to borrow the book for free.  Thus far I have sold books but no one has actually borrowed the book yet.  As I am not a Amazon Prime user myself I am unsure of how the Owner's Lending Library works.  At least I have a free option for new readers and I am glad for its availability.

        I have already done a bonus podcast for the 2lazy2botaku.com site and the title of the podcast will be 2lazy2bpublished.  In it I discuss with my illustrator and editor how the book got started and all the stages in between until the book was published and the background as to how the story took shape.  I also go into the detail of the painstaking work that goes into preparing a manuscript for Kindle publishing.  It wasn't anything too difficult but I did have some slogging through help forums to do.  I'm sure publishers require an even higher standard.  The conversion to the .mobi format took a bit and I got some real headscratching problems that didn't fall into FAQ territory, but I was able to muddle through just fine.

         The first draft of the second book is already finished and part of the book has already been edited.  I hope to get back to it and have it out sooner than the first book as far as time frame.  With my attention on trying to promote the first book and researching how to do it successfully I haven't really been able to concentrate on writing much.  I hope I am able to do a good job and get lots of feedback so I can further refine my style.

         That's al for now.  I have to descend into the dregs of social media hell and do a lot of shouting and hope somebody will hear me.  Maybe I can make some new writer friends along the way.  I think I would like that.