Whew.
A week from release. Well, six days, but still. It's been a bit crazy, but in a good way.
First off, if you haven't grabbed a copy yet, check it out!
With that out of the way, what's up? How are things? How have you all been? Hopefully well. I've been...frantic in a way. Let's recap the week. I took vacation from work to focus on book things, so at least I haven't had that to ruffle my feathers. The weekend before vacation, I went to see an old friend and we checked out Left Bank Books in St. Louis. They're one of the locations I contacted about a signing and are on the plan for selling in store via consignment at some point. I wanted to get a feel for the place, and I definitely liked it. I ended up picking up two books for my vacation: One By One by Frieda McFadden, and Back Spin by Harlan Coben. I've since finished them both.
One By One was decent. It, weirdly, reminded me of Twilight. Something about the writing and how easily I flew through it, I think. I finished it in a single day, and I rarely do that with books. It was nice, and the story all came around at the end, but for me something sat funny with it. I can't put my finger on it, but it makes me feel like I'm not entirely sure I enjoyed it. If I were to pinpoint something, I think it would be the perceived helplessness of the female characters in the book. For one, the group is a gang of married-with-children adults, but they read like high school kids. At one point, they have to start hiking through the woods, and the main character is basically like "The woods! I don't know anything about hiking or the forest!" and it didn't sit well with me. Then again, I tend to write really strong female characters by default, so maybe that's where that came from? I don't know. Reading is subjective as we're all aware. Overall, I'd probably give it a 3.5 star.
Back Spin was somewhat similar. I felt that it was better written (again, subjective, but Harlan gave me more detailed and condensed language) but it was a pretty by the numbers mystery/whodunit which is something I don't normally read. It was still thrilling, and reading it as an author who writes similar things, I definitely picked up some ideas for pacing and conflict and all that. I would gladly pick up another story by Harlan. I'd say 4 stars for this one. I contemplated taking his BBC Maestro class online, but it was money that I didn't feel like spending at the moment.
Money. That's the stress currently. I've been hitting marketing HARD in terms of running ads. Release day saw five different promotions going on various social medias, and as the week comes to an end, I've started another 2 in hopes to keep the traction going as I head back to work. Has it worked? Is it worth it?
Yes and no.
In good news, I've had sales! And Kindle Unlimited reads! So that's always nice to see. I'm so appreciative of everyone who gives the book a chance, and especially with this one, I'm so proud of the story and think that it will be loved. Did I hope to have one of the ads go crazy viral and sell 500,000 copies in the first week? Also yes, but alas that did not happen. However, I'm telling myself that selling books is a slow burn, and if the interest in this one continues, it's only a matter of time. I've got 8 "to-reads" on Goodreads, and that's easily the most I've had there, so all around I think long term this will outshine the rest.
Again, I love each and every one of you that has taken the time to read the book! If anything can help drown out the crippling imposter syndrome of being an author, it's knowing that people are actually reading the story.
I also will note that reviews have been coming in wonderfully! I use an ARC service that helps me get the book into readers hands and build reviews, and they've been overwhelmingly positive! A few of them seem built solely on the blurb of the book, which I guess is a risk that's inherent in the process, but the vast majority are thoughtful, succinct, and gushing with compliments. Especially regarding the depth of character and atmosphere, which were two of the main focuses when writing the book. It's always good to know that it came across as intended.
A special shoutout to Christine (@read_rates on Instagram) for giving the book a big up on release day! I've known Christine since we were kids, and she's grown quite a following on Bookstagram. I've had a plan to send her copies of the books for a while now, and with Bound To Parish I finally did. She was kind enough to share it on release day and we've gotten over 600 likes on it! So that was very much a help in the spreading of the story. I can't wait to hear what she thinks of it.
In other book-world news, the itch to start on the next story is already creeping in the back of my mind. I swear that with each book I write, the addiction to do it again grows stronger. The struggle currently is what to write. I have an idea for a haunted house-esque story/collection of short stories that I've wanted to do for a while, but I also have an urge to work on another atmospheric crime story because of the pleasant experience of writing Bound To Parish. So, right now I'm teetering between ideas, and I think I'll just need to start on something and see where it takes me. Like I said with Bound, if I finish it fast enough, maybe I'll actually attempt to query and see if I get any bites. We'll see what the future has in store in those regards.
I think that's all the updates I have for now. I'm back at work, and hopefully that will calm the urge to constantly check my Amazon dashboard. If nothing else, getting out of the house might help knock some other ideas loose.
-Dave
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