Exactly three years ago today, I became an author.
Today is a BIG DAY. Something exciting is about to happen, which hopefully bodes well for the future. So it seems odd that it is also the anniversary of another BIG DAY. Exactly three years ago today, I became an author. I pressed ‘publish’ on Amazon’s KDP site, and my first novel, Invisible, went on sale.
There was no fan fare. I hadn’t sent it to a single blogger because I wasn’t aware of bloggers. I didn’t have a website, and had only just joined Twitter and Facebook. I didn’t have a clue about publicity. To say it was the start of a steep learning curve is an understatement.
It also marked the first step on a plan I had. Well, less a plan, more a ridiculous dream I felt embarrassed saying out loud, because it could never possibly come true. I wanted to sell double figures of my book. I managed that – and then some! Invisible became a Kindle genre bestseller in the UK and US.
With my next book I set my sights a little higher. Being a genre bestseller was lovely, but I wanted to get into the Top 100 of all the Paid For Kindle Books on Amazon. Flowers for the Dead hit number 24. Hurray!
As I started writing my next novel, I heard about an independent digital publisher called Bookouture. They were quite small but seemed to have a knack for choosing great authors. Authors whose books I devoured. I dreamed of one day joining them, but once again I felt silly for setting my sights that high – especially as, over the course of the following months, Bookouture grew more and more successful. There was no way they’d be interested in signing me up.
Only, they did. Back in October, my dream came true when I signed a contract with them.
Today, there is an exciting announcement coming. I can’t wait to share it with you, but I can’t say more right now… Apart from that none of the amazing things that have happened to me in the last three years would have been possible without that very first step, when I self-published. As I look to the future, I celebrate the past. I was so horribly nervous. I remember counting off the sales I could definitely depend on: me (come on, I HAD to buy a copy), my mum, my brother, and both sisters. Five sales. If I sold more than five books, I’d be overjoyed, I decided – and double figures would be amazing.
So far, so good 😉
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT INVISIBLE, CLICK HERE
