Holy. Mother-forking. Shirtballs: Discussing My Debut Novel's Release
- Anna Sparrows
- Oct 4, 2022
- 2 min read
Wow. Just wow. These are the words currently on repeat in my head. My debut novel, Asher's Answer, released on October 1st, and I anticipated a few sales and a couple of reviews if I was lucky. See, this is my first novel under this pen-name, but it's not my first rodeo, and I did everything ass-backwards this time around. Not a lot of promo, no real website to speak of, a Facebook page with very few followers (read: zero) and no newsletter. I'm literally an unknown author here.
So, imagine my surprise when my release seems to have exploded beyond my wildest imaginings. The reader responses have been almost entirely positive, with complete strangers posting about my book and tagging me in Facebook groups. In Australia, I made the top 10 Amazon list in 3 categories, and in the US, I made it into the top 10 list for one as well. My sales ranking is equally astonishing. In my other pen-name, I've considered myself lucky to crack the top 100,000 overall in the Kindle store. With Asher's Answer, for a brief, shining moment, I cracked the top 1000.
Now, this isn't a humble brag (well, it's not intended to be). It's utter astonishment. I did everything wrong with this release. I didn't have Book 2 ready for pre-order. I have no release schedule prepared. I have no social media presence. I have no marketing strategy. My website was a placeholder.
What I did do, apparently, is write to market.
I'm now scrambling to correct my mistakes. I can't afford a real website yet, but hopefully this one will do once I pretty it up. I'm sitting down to schedule the release dates for the series, and I'm doing my best to connect with all the fabulous readers who are literally begging for more of my ridiculously fluffy kinky romance writing.
Only time will tell how this pans out, but even if this small, unexpected burst of attention is all I achieve? I'm happy with that. It's been unexpected and magical, and I love the kink reading community so very much for taking a chance on a complete random like me.
Darlin, it was well earned praise. Daddy kink has blown up the last few years and it's amazing to see things represented and represented well! I've read tons of fluffy kink with abdl etc. Some I enjoy, some I can barely tolerate. Yours is definitely up there with the enjoy. I don't rate and review much, though I'm trying to do better these days to help authors reach more people. I've enjoyed reviewing yours, and sending more people your way. Keep up the amazing writing and you will continue to do damn good! Can't wait to see more (hopefully in the near future)!