7 Things I’ve Learned in My First 2 Weeks as a Published Author

On the OCMD Boardwalk!Bethany Beach BooksWith Marc Emond, the cover artist in his shop: Raggamuffin Boutique (24th Street OCMD)Dropping off signed copies to Caprichos Books in Ocean Pines!Hoop Tea Partea on the Boardwalk… couldn’t miss it!Meeting up with Lizzie from Ocean City Vibes – the #1 place for OCMD happenings!Welcome to Seagull Street finally hits the beach!Welcome to Seagull Street finally hits the beach!

Publishing a novel is deeply personal, but as someone who has worked in marketing for years, I approached the launch of Welcome to Seagull Street: That Summer in Ocean City, Maryland, like any of my new product launches. The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of fulfillment, feedback, and spreadsheets. Here’s what I’ve learned so far from the business side of bringing this story to life.

1. Pricing Is Strategic and Tricky

Setting the price of a 366-page paperback sounds straightforward, but it turns out it’s one of the hardest calls to make. I started at $14.99, thinking it was reader-friendly for my debut author status and direct-to-customer audience, which is primarily buying on the Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites.

I set the price early in 2025. The economy changed dramatically over the first half of the year and there’s been a lot of momentum to shop local and support small businesses. After seeing how low my initial royalties were and talking with indie bookstore owners over the past couple of weeks, I learned it would be hard for them to stock it at that price due to low margins. I’m now adjusting the MSRP to $19.99 to support bookstore partnerships, while still offering a discounted $17.99 price on Amazon (as of June 10, 2025). (Get it now for $14.99 on Amazon through June 9, 2025!)

2. Publicity Starts Local

The weekend after the book release date, I drove to Ocean City to hand-deliver signed copies to beachside shops (Bethany Beach Books, Caprichos Books, Raggamuffin Boutique), donate copies to the Ocean City Library, and meet with local influencers (Hi to Ocean City Vibes!). I set up a book sale table on the Boardwalk (expressive artists can do this for free!) and talked with tourists and locals about the story behind the book. I even handed out seagull stickers and custom OCMD coloring pages to kids passing by.

These small, grassroots actions created genuine connections. I have always doubled down on “owning your backyard” as the most important element of a successful marketing strategy! This book is set in Ocean City and my primary target audience is people who live or vacation there. This is a niche audience, but that’s the point. Delighting someone who knows OCMD is much easier than someone who doesn’t!

3. Social Ads Are Doing the Heavy Lifting

My paid ads on Meta and TikTok are bringing steady traffic to my website and directly to the independent shops carrying signed copies of the book in OCMD. Depending on the day, I spend $3–10 on paid social ads. My website stats tell me that the majority of my visitors are coming from Facebook and are clicking on the link to purchase via Amazon. What’s even more interesting is that I’m seeing way less obvious engagement on Facebook. More people are seeing my posts and clicking on the links and literally going to the shops to buy the book, but they aren’t visibly engaging with the posts (likes/comments/shares).

Users on Instagram are more likely to engage with my posts than elsewhere. I have the most followers on TikTok and my #BookTok efforts are visibly successful, but hardly any of those followers are clicking on my website link. LinkedIn has the highest engagement on my few book-related posts, but hardly any clicks to my website compared to other social channels. I’m getting a lot of organic traffic to my website from Google searches. What helps? My name is unique and my book title is also unique, so I’m benefiting from great SEO and regular blog posts, like this.

4. Word-of-Mouth Is Still the Most Powerful Channel

Reader posts and casual social media shares have led to real sales. People still buy based on personal recommendations. Friends telling other friends about the book—the local buzz in Ocean City about it. I’ve been getting a lot of questions, like: Is JJ’s Cafe real? (No.) Is Seagull Street a real road? (No, but locals will be able to figure out what real road it’s based on!) A few of my friends are recommending it to their book clubs and purchasing additional books as gifts. Neighbors are texting me to come and pick up signed copies.

It’s only been two weeks, but I’ve already gone through almost 150 books from my personal stash at home! Fifty more books are arriving today for my book signing this weekend (June 7 @ 11–2) at Second Edition Books in Columbia, Maryland. I’ll have to order more books next week to replenish the stock at the indie bookstores in Ocean City later this month.

5. Amazon Rankings Are a Motivator, Not a Reliable Metric

Unfortunately, there is no real master dashboard to see how your book is doing across all channels. Amazon has a dashboard for sales (which I refresh a few dozen times a day!), but the only way to see the book rankings is to manually check each listing a few times a day, since it’s changing almost in real time. You need to click into each book category (for Kindle and paperback) and specifically look at the “New Releases” tab to see where you match up with the other new books in your category.

Welcome to Seagull Street is currently sitting at #37 in its top category (and in the top 100 in two other categories for new releases). Will it go up and down? Yes. Will I know? Not unless I happen to be perusing the rankings at just the right time. I also check IngramSpark regularly for orders via their distribution centers. My book is sitting at #7 in its main category there.

6. Reviews Are Hard to Get

Even when people love a book, writing a review takes effort. Each review helps boost credibility, improve algorithm placement, and guide future readers. Books (like any form of expressive art) are so subjective. I’m always reading a book, and on average I only really like about two out of every 10 books I read. I rarely ever leave a formal review, probably because I’d feel bad leaving something mediocre. I get that it’s not easy to leave a review, and it’s also hard to be in a business where reviews matter so much because many reviews are not even completely authentic. They say that the average reader only starts reading 20% of the books they acquire and DNF many of those. I’m also picking up new book lingo: DNF (did not finish) and TBR (to be read).

So my goal isn’t to chase reviews, it’s to drive real book sales and connect with readers who see it through to the final page. Most people won’t read the book. Those who do, many won’t like it. And only a small percentage will leave a review. Is it cynical to say, “Buy my book and I don’t care if you read it” ? Maybe. But if you do read it (and like it), I hope you’ll tell a friend.

7. You Can Launch a Book on a Shoestring Budget

The month before my book launch, I lost my full-time job. The timing was both the worst and the best. I hadn’t been devoting as much time to the book launch as I’d have liked, given my maxed-out work schedule. The book was a side passion project, so I felt like I couldn’t dedicate the time to make it a priority. Straight away, I had to cancel a lot of my more costly book launch plans. A fancy book launch party turned into a casual gathering at my house. I had already sunk a lot of money into a PR book box campaign, so that had to go on as planned and I’m so glad I did it, because I got the best response on social media from it!

The upside to my jobless situation was that I had more time than ever before to devote to launching the book. It was a blessing and a curse. I’d been waiting my entire life for this moment and I didn’t want to cut too many corners and have it be a total bust. So I ended up spending more money than I should have… but I have no regrets. The past two weeks have been some of the best learning experiences of my life, equal parts humbling and thrilling. Shall we say: a “if you write it, they will come” surreal moment.

Final Takeaway

Even the most heartfelt, creative product needs a clear go-to-market strategy. I’ve led launches for all types of products and services, but marketing myself as an author is a new kind of challenge.

If you need marketing assistance and could use a strategic partner, let’s talk. My consulting firm, Red Hill Creek Enterprises, is currently taking on new clients for marketing strategy, digital campaigns, content planning, and book launch consulting. If you need a fractional CMO, I’m here for you: alissa@alissaarford.com.