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Joyce Elaine

AVAILABLE NOW: The Gift of Death

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Publishing

Nerve-racking

The Gift of Death is finally published and out there to be purchased! I’ll spare you the trials and tribulations that I had to go through to get the paperback published but I learned a lot and I will be better prepared for the next book I publish (which will be the 2nd book in the series of The Gift of Death).

I titled this blog Nerve-racking because publishing a book is just that…at least for me anyway. It was a surreal feeling when I got a proof of the paperback. To be able to see what I created in print was an awesome feeling…one I’ll never forget. Once my book finally went live on Amazon, I was excited, but I was also nervous. What if people hate it and I get bad reviews? That was all I kept thinking.

Now, it’s been out there for almost two weeks and my nerves…are still racking! I’m trying to figure out the whole marketing thing as I go along but I’m not seeing much success. When I ran a promotion for two days to get the kindle version for free, I got a total of 17 downloads from that. I have no idea if they were friends/family members or just complete strangers. Either way, it was cool to see since I didn’t really promote that other than to the people who have signed up for my newsletter…which is way less than 17 people I’m embarrassed to say.

I can see how many I’ve sold but what I can’t see is who bought them/downloaded them and so I have no idea if it were family/friends or strangers. I do know some family and friends who bought it. I’ve gotten 21 kindle downloads and only 4 paperbacks purchased. That’s 25 books total…and that’s okay because I’m just starting out. Also, I know of 9 more paperbacks that have sold that just isn’t showing up in my sales yet (I don’t see them until after the books have been shipped, which takes a few days). What’s nerve-racking is not having any reviews on my book yet. That’s driving me crazy! So if you’ve read my book, please leave a review on Amazon! Those good reviews could persuade someone to purchase the book who isn’t totally sure. I do have two family members who finished reading The Gift of Death this week and told me how great it was. That’s so nice to hear…but I’d love to be hearing that from strangers! Some day, hopefully!

Like I said….this shit is nerve-racking!

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Finishing Up The Final Steps

Well, folks, I’m just about there! I got the final edits from my editor and they have all been cleared out. I sent the final information that the book cover designers needed. Once I get some things back from them…I’LL BE READY TO PUBLISH!!! I’m looking at around mid-November to get The Gift of Death published on Amazon. That will be the only platform for now but it will be available as an E-book or print.

I’m going to be 100% honest…I’M NERVOUS! It’s really hard for me to take a chance on myself and put my book out there. Even though it’s been read and loved by a few people already, even though it’s had three rounds of edits, even though I’m excited, I’m still really nervous. All I keep thinking is, what if people hate it? What if I only get bad reviews? I can handle it, but it’s not what I want. I know there will be bad reviews, people who just hate my book, and that’s okay…as long as there are some good reviews too. I know I can’t please everyone! I guess what is really rolling around in my mind is that I’ll finally have the answer once my book is published. The question? Are you good enough to gain a little following for your books? If not, I’ll hang up my pen and paper and call it a day. If I am good enough, though, I’ll be encouraged to write more and keep publishing more. After all, there are two more books in The Gift of Death series so as long as I have people who want more, I will get them out.

Marketing is going to be the hardest part of this. I know I can’t just rely on social media to try to gain readers and I have some ideas brewing in my head. Lets just say, you never know where I might end up at to try to sell my book…I think I’m going to take it old school. Back in the day, I attended many concerts. After leaving the show, there’d be what was called a “street team” outside. These are people who work for bands in the same genre as the concert you were just leaving. They stood outside and handed fliers or promotional items to you as you left the concert venue. That was how they got word out about their band…when the internet was not such a big thing as it is now. It was really the only way to promote your band. That’s all I’ll say for now!

Stay tuned for a release day and maybe a pre-sale offer!

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