Whew! It’s been quite a year! But now the Christmas tree is down and ready to recycle, the ornaments and stockings safely packed away until next December, and 2023 is nearly over.
A year ago I learned that War Sonnets had received a bronze award from the Historical Fiction Company, the same organization that had given War Sonnets a five-star review and award of excellence. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning. In some ways it feels like yesterday, in other ways it feels like forever but–to us old folks–that seems to happen with a lot of things.
Much of 2022 was filled with frustration and uncertainty. I’d been querying agents since May, but no agent had expressed the slightest interest. I had given myself a deadline of January 1, 2023 to decide what to do; the positive reviews from HFC encouraged me.
After some research I decided I would go the self-publishing route. Sure, I still hoped to see my name on some top-ten (or twenty or one hundred) list, but deep in my heart I knew that would be an uphill slog. I reminded myself that my goal was to get the story “out there,” took a deep breath and kept going.
By April I’d had my editor extraodinaire, Jeni Chappelle, do the final editing and I started making my (hopefully last) edits. I prepared front and back matter–those pages that come before and after a novel like a Table of Contents, a dedication page, an author bio… all that “stuff.” I was working with design genius, KJ Harrowick, aka Kat, who created a breathtaking cover and took care of all the inside formatting (and, by the way, created this website). She also walked me through the process of uploading everything to online booksellers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Apple. It was a task far more daunting than I’d ever imagined; I might have given up had it not been for Kat. Although it was not cheap, both the edits and the design were critical pieces of the process.
I chose a publication date: July 5th, the day in 1945 when MacArthur formally announced the liberation of the Philippines. Four months seemed like plenty of time to get everything ready and uploaded. I kept studying the art of self-publishing, joined ALLi (The Alliance of Independent Authors), planned marketing campaigns…spent more money and crossed my fingers that I’d at least break even.
Now, any realistic author knows that being profitable is a crap shoot. Especially online. Anyone can publish a book and no matter how good your novel is, it can get lost in the crowd. From mediocre sales in July, marketing campaigns that went nowhere, to absolutely no sales since October, I’ve had to adjust my goals and accept that, for me, writing is simply a very expensive hobby.
I’ve thought a lot about it and decided that what I’d most like to see are my readers thoughts–good and bad. Did they enjoy Leo’s story? Would they buy another novel from me? If you’ve read War Sonnets, please take a moment to post your thoughts (or stars) on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Noble or wherever you buy your books. Or e-mail me.
Really. I want to know.
Susannah Willey Writes 