Lessons from the Launch

I'm giving myself a week to obsess about the launch of Carousel of Questions. (Sorry if I'm getting annoying.) Come August 1st, I will calm down and move on to writing my second novel. (Will it be a sequel? Uh, oh. Cliffhanger.)

Continuing my obsession, I have learned a lot in the past twenty-four hours of publication.

First lesson: hitting the "Save & Publish" button on KDP was not the finish line. It's more like that point in a marathon where they have the cups of water. CofQ went live; I thought I could finally rest. Instead, I have spent the day trying to figure out how to set up my Author's Page on Amazon. (No luck. I always end up right back at the CofQ page.)

Temporarily giving up on that, I went ahead and set up my Author's Profile on GoodReads. No hiccups there, thankfully. It's set up and looks great!

Second lesson: it's not always easy to articulate who you are. When I went back to work on my Author's Page, I realized I had no idea what I would say. Do I write it like an online profile? Do say something witty? Do I write it like a resume? Do I write it like a biography? Do I keep it short, or flesh it out? I really don't know. Who am I as an author?

So, I temporarily gave it up again.

Third lesson: your book has a life of it's own. Now, I'm going door-to-door across the internet asking people to read it, review it, retweet it, etc. I just wanted to get my book "out there." Originally, I focused YA LGBT blogs since my intended audience is young adults dealing with their own question of identity. Now, after my first official review and several unofficial reviews, I'm finding out people of all different backgrounds are relating to Francis' journey of self. That shocked me because I thought this novel would appeal to a niche market.

There is still so much for me to learn, but I am loving every step of this journey. It's been great to invest in my own dreams, and I love that I can share this journey with you.

Thank you!
JG