So Many Ways to Fail

As I write this, the release of my first novel, Wardroids fast approaches. For those of you who have been following my A to Z posts for April, you know that I’ve been talking about this book all month. If you want to check back I suggest reading B is for Black, E is for Emily, and T is for Thirty-two Eighty.  Those three characters are the soul of this story.

When is comes to my work, my friends will tell you that I’m pretty self-deprecating. A gremlin sits on my shoulder, declaring my writing bad as I type the words. It’s even sitting there as I write this post.

So it should mean something when I say that I think my book is pretty good. If I were not the author, and I happened to read the book I would enjoy it. The gremlin would like it too. I mean, I don’t like to brag.  No, really, I hate to brag and that’s a problem. How can I sell my work if I don’t feel comfortable screaming “look at me!” at the top of my lungs?

Like the title of this post says, there are so many ways to fail. First, you can write a bad book. I don’t think I did, but only my readers can judge. Second, you can fail to find an agent or publisher. I didn’t find an agent this go around but I found a publisher fairly quickly.  I basically researched publishers until I found one (Double Dragon Publishing) that seemed a good fit, and luckily the publisher agreed with me.

Now as my publisher prepares my novel for its debut, I have the feeling that this process has only just begun.  There is yet another way that failure is possible. My writing has been praised by parents and primary school teachers alike, but no one has ever told me that I’m good at marketing. I’ve recently read several articles on selling ebooks and they all warn not to expect your book to do too well. I’m not sure if this means that I won’t become an instant millionaire (obvious) or if it means that no one who is not already my Facebook friend will pick it up. My goals are modest.  I want a few people to read and enjoy the book.

Have a marketing idea that is working for you?  Let me know in the comments below.