Now What?

As you know, The Discovery of Joy was released to the world on February 2, 2015. The fact that my release date was also Groundhog's Day in the US didn't phase me; in fact, I found it hilarious. Sort of figures, actually. February 2 was a placeholder for another reason - the midpoint of winter, the beginning of the look forward to spring, Imbolc, or whatever name you know it by. The idea of my book being released at that particular point in the ongoing seasons pleased me. Seemed to give it a new meaning somehow.

But to start, let's give credit where credit's due. This book would not have been birthed but for the efforts of people besides me. I have to say, I had a great editor, Rebecca T. Dickson, who pushed this work into something that could be published. My cover artist, Niki Bradley-Fowler brings quality work to everything she does. The girl rocks it out. My publisher, Paperback-Press and Sharon Kizziah-Holmes, could not have asked for better. My beta readers, which were Sharon and my fellow author friend, Ellen Harger, they rocked it out as well. Hmmm....maybe it does take a village to publish a book.

But, what's an author to do once the bouncing baby book is birthed? 

Well, quite honestly, I'm doing pretty much the same things I've been doing for months. I'm building associations, mostly on social media. I'm promoting, again, on social media. I'm joining author groups, women's fiction groups, independent author groups, anywhere I can find an avenue to promote TDOJ. I'm on twitter, but I'm not tweeting my book. I'm finding other independent groups who will tweet my book, IndieAuthorNews is one of them. Since my book came out, IndieAuthorNews has been fantastic for me. I'm on the front page, have been since February 3rd, and will be all next week. After that, I'll have a place on the sidebar for a week. IndieAuthorNews pushes my book out, seven times a day, I simply retweet their tweet. 

I joined a facebook reviewers group - I've gotten some nice reviews, one from South Africa, 

Of course all writers obsess. The girls at ORA laughed at me today as I tried to tone down my obsession with createspace. "You mean, you don't think WE do that?" Okay. I'm not so strange. I watch the graphs regarding sales rank and author rank - I have a small idea of what they mean, but it seems my numbers are pretty good right now. I've had some sales. I've had some good reviews, mostly from people who don't know me, who have no investment in me at all. And then, there's goodreads. It's odd to me that I have more reviews on goodreads than on amazon, but maybe that's okay. 

The other thing I'm doing, maybe the more important thing, is I'm working on the next book. Bing!

And this photo is a hint of what's to come. A family home. Sisters who've pursued different paths, sisters who don't communicate, a troubled niece trying to emerge from a terrible happening, a long-time family friend who sees things, and a man who may be the answer to someone's loneliness, and then, there's the food. Among other things. If I'm calendaring this right, the next book will be available March or April, 2016. 

Stick with me, folks. Let's go on this next journey together. 

I'd be so pleased to have you go along with me.