How My Latest Book Ended Up Self-Published

Arkhangelsk has been doing pretty well.

Which is to say, it hasn’t catapulted me to stardom, nor has it bumped Project Hail Mary off any bestseller lists. But it’s been well-reviewed, and has in fact garnered more Amazon ratings than either my second or third books. My first book has received a little bump in attention, which from the timing seems clearly to be a knock-on effect from the publication of Arkhangelsk.

People have liked it. That’s the best part.

It’s not at all uncommon for...