I did it the other day. I hit publish on Kindle and published my first book. It’s live on Amazon now.
I didn’t just do that, though. I have a few hundred people following me on Reddit, so I announced it there. I told my coworkers, posted it on Facebook, shared the link with my friends, etc. I even put aside some money for an Amazon ad campaign, which is running now.
I’ve sold one copy. One of my coworkers bought it the moment I showed it to him. He’s my favorite coworker too, but not because of that. Well, okay, not just because of that.
It’s not really much worse than I expected, truth be told. I knew it would take time for people to find and buy my book. But I’m still disappointed, because there was, nonetheless, that tiny little voice of irrational hope in my head that whispered that I might wake up the next morning to discover I’d sold three hundred copies.
I know, realistically, that I’m likely to be five or six books in, working on my second or third world before I manage to make any decent amount of sales. I’m reasonably confident in my ability to write decent prose, as well as my ability to write compelling scenes. I’m tentatively confident of my ability to craft entire plots, because I just love the story I’ve written, as well as the multiple stories I’m currently writing.
I’m just crossing my fingers now, and hoping something changes. Not because it means I’ve failed if it hasn’t, but mostly because I kinda need the encouragement. I’m getting plenty of encouragement on Reddit (though only a few people are actually commenting, but that’s fine. I know more people are enjoying the story there, and that’s what I’m aiming for), but I’m a sensitive old fucker.