Publishing my first book was a wild ride. I think the biggest high I got off it was actually just pushing the “publish now” button on Amazon. It was pretty clear I had no idea what I was doing.
First off I had not expected that I would be solely responsible for all marketing. I mean they say that everywhere but I guess I didn’t really fully understand what that means. I wasn’t just responsible for the outreach on social media or the advertisements I was also responsible for writing the blurb on the Amazon page that tells people what the book is about. I swear to God this was harder than writing the actual book. And I bombed at it. The first attempt made it sound chaotic and depressing, which it really isn’t. I had failed to write ” a good hook.” Worse still I had to boil that down even further and write a summary on the back cover. Strike two! Sadly I ordered a bunch of copies before I realized my first attempt at this was so off.
I also learned that the publisher does not create a copyright page for you. So all these first edition books I bought to sell or hand out have no copyright page – which I have found really puts people off. How do I know? Because I have been going to libraries and begging the staff to consider me for a book reading, a signing, or a free guest speaker event at any book reading group! I was meticulous. I Googled every library in the state I lived in, found their opening hours, and targeted the ones with book groups, showing up in person. My dedication, and perhaps my vibrantly orange hair, did inspire very positive feed back. The staff loved the fact I was donating a book. They seemed genuinely intrigued and honestly it made my day to talk to them. They all made me feel like a rock star because they were so gracious in meeting an actual author! It was really sweet buuuuut so far nothing has come of it. Why? Because the staff that work the library counters are pretty much never the ones that host the book groups and when I e-mail the people in charge of the book groups I have unanimously failed to impress. I either have received no response (most common) a really suspicious response (what are you trying to get out of this? We’re not paying you for anything…) or a polite “Sorry, our books have been chosen for the year.” I love donating to libraries and knowing my book will be available in them, especially people who may really benefit from reading this particular narrative. I had hoped word-of-mouth may eventually take over and this may eventually end up with sales but so far this remains just another lofty academic theory.
So far I have sold six books to family members and friends. One book sold to a random person on Twitter. And many books were handed out for free to libraries. This has not resulted in any reviews, signings, speaking engagements, or further sales. I am starting to lose faith. I knew pitching a memoir would be hard but I thought it’d be super fulfilling if it provided warning, comfort, or a different view to anyone for any reason.
It’s weird. The people who I thought would be most interested in my book are not. The people who did read it were surprising and what they said in response to it was also surprising. None of them had anything bad to say. In fact their comments were glowing. They seemed intrigued, intent, understanding. I was told I had excellent command of written language, that I was able to come off as poignant and insightful, “quirky and wise” and one person even said, “It’s refreshing you didn’t paint yourself to be perfect.” It gave me hope to keep going. If these things are indeed true I just need to gain footing in a larger audience. If I could do this then I can accomplish greatness. In the meanwhile I continue to write.