For those of you who have been waiting for the paperback. It’s out now on Amazon. You can link to it here. Although I read a lot more ebooks since I received a Kindle reader as a gift, I still have a soft spot in my heart for a physical book. Seeing the proof copy of the paperback made it all seem more real. Ebooks sell in greater volume, but seeing one’s work in print is very satisfying.
I learned something very interesting over the last week. By my estimate there are about 15,000+ readers of Jason’s Tale. I always assumed that the sequel would start from that platform; that those 15,000 readers would be notified that I had written a sequel and they could then find me and jump start sales. As progress on the sequel dragged on and on, I took comfort in that fact; when it came out, it would rocket forward on the momentum of all those readers.
That isn’t the case.
From what I’ve been told by Amazon and Kindle people, no links like that exist. (Would that get too complicated for them to manage?) And after 13 months, many readers had moved on.
So…I am starting out anew, sort of.
People will have to discover me again and I’ll have to rely on my personal connections to get momentum going. After a few more books that situation can change. An author can reach some “critical mass” point where the momentum becomes self-sustaining. A broad enough reader following develops and they will look for new works by that writer. It seems I’m not there yet and (foolishly) thought my previous 15,000+ readers would get pinged and create that momentum. Again, I find that real-world lessons are often the most expensive.
What helps? It seems that reviews are the single most important element in that effort. They help convince readers to try a book if they are not familiar with an author (my current situation).
So I hope you will get a copy of Catherine’s Tale and if you like it, write a review (hopefully a five star one), however short or long. If you have other comments/questions about what I’ve written, send me an email at david[at]davidnees.com. I answer them all.
Coming up in my writing endeavors:
June, 2017: Catherine’s Tale Part 2; this is action packed with very strong scenes as the growing conflict in Hillsboro explodes.
August, 2017: Retribution, the Beginning; this is the first book in my new thriller Assassin series. It has lots of action and is definitely not post apocalyptic. Think of Vince Flynn or Lee Childs (I can only hope to achieve their levels of storytelling someday).
Fall, 2017: Trying for an audio book of Catherine’s Tale Part 1
2018: If readers call for it, I’ll write another in the After the Fall series and the second novel in the Assassin series with publication of one in the first half of the year and the other in the second.
Lots to do, but I’m enjoying it all.
Good reading.
David
