Want to know the best part about finally (if however temporarily) doing well with a book? The sales. Ha ha ha! But the other best part is the sense of having written something other people liked. That’s been my dream for the better part of two decades now, and so it’s fairly surreal to get reviews for Breakers like the newest one at Sippin’ Southern Sass.

I won’t rehash the whole review, but like I said over there, there’s no better way to flatter an author than to compliment their prose.

Neat thing about this modern writing world: the author of the review, LM Gautreaux, found me because we both hang out on Kindleboards. Back in the day (2009!), Kindleboards was touted as a way to sell your book directly to readers, but if that was ever effective, I don’t think that’s its primary purpose anymore. Instead, it’s a place to network with other writers and learn how to sell books–which can be vastly more complicated than “write book, release book.” Everything I know about Amazon’s algorithms started from reading posts on Kindleboards. But posting there is also simply about being accessible.

Being accessible is important. I know that’s not for everyone; writing is often a solitary business, and it draws a certain set, self included, that are often averse to public interaction. But even if public message boards aren’t for you, if you’re an author, I highly recommend sticking your email address at the back of your book. Create a way for fans to get ahold of you easily. They can be a tremendous resource. A few of the people who wrote to me about Breakers or The White Tree wound up being beta and gamma readers for my most recent novel, and they made a huge difference in its quality.

Anyway, this is getting far afield. Point is, even when you hire professionals, it’s hard to do this on your own. Let other people give you a hand, whether it’s by reviewing your book or beta reading before you go live. But it’s much harder for people to find you–and thus help you–without having a public face somewhere.

On a different note, you may have noticed: there haven’t been any posts here in three weeks! Well, that’s because I’ve been absurdly busy. I am about to become less busy. Differently busy, at least. Busy in a way that means I still have access to my computer. With any luck, then, tomorrow I’ll wrap up the series on Amazon’s algorithms with Part 5: Eating Cliff.

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I am a Science Fiction and Fantasy author, based in LA. Read More.
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