*Reposted from 2017
My debut novel, Airwoman, was first published on 25 October 2016. As of writing, it’s exactly a year since the story was released and I celebrated by hosting a launch party on my Facebook page. It was such a buzz, getting Airwoman out into the world. To be honest, I can’t believe it’s a year since it happened–this year has flown by so fast!
In celebration of Airwoman’s first book birthday, I thought I’d reflect on some achievements and lessons learned in that first year.
Achievements
- The buzz I felt when I saw Airwoman on my e-reader for the first time.
- The extra buzz when I held the print version of Airwoman in my hands. I still find it amazing, when I look on the bookshelf and see it there.
- My enjoyment in getting emails from readers who have enjoyed Airwoman and want to tell me about it or ask when Spirit Woman (Airwoman #2) will be coming out…(answer = only a few months away!)
- The positive reviews that Airwoman has received on the various book-selling platforms and Goodreads. Reviews are so helpful for authors, as they help readers to choose books they might like. A big thank you to those readers who have left reviews–you don’t know how much I appreciate it!
- Success in getting Airwoman onto all of the major book-buying platforms. I always wanted my books to be ‘wide’ rather than focusing on just one platform. I took a stepped process but I got there.
- Steady sales of Airwoman. Though it hasn’t hit any bestseller charts, Airwoman has seen a steady trickle of sales over the last year, which is great.
- Setting up a section on this site for members to have access to extra Airwoman content. This is exclusive for members of my newsletter (sign up here if you’re not already) and contains maps, character interviews, newspaper articles. I enjoy this as a creative outlet for material that helps to build the world and its characters, but there’s not really room in the books to put it all down.
Lessons Learned
- It’s OK to experiment. I’m the first to admit that I didn’t do everything right as at launch date! I’ve had a few different experiments with price points, promotions and marketing. I’ve also experimented with Airwoman‘s blurb because I don’t think it really hit the mark the first time around. However, it’s getting closer to the balance between informing readers and drawing them in.
- It’s hard to find readers. The market for new books is very competitive and it’s very hard to find readers who are going to enjoy your book. This is one of the reasons that reviews are so important to authors. Having said that, I have enjoyed being able to collaborate with other authors, and trying out different marketing and promotional opportunities to get Airwoman in front of people who are going to enjoy the story.
- At least as much effort has to go into marketing and promotion, as writing a book. That was a big surprise for me, and it’s been a big learning curve–and no doubt will continue to be–in the years to come.
What’s next for Airwoman?
I’m planning to release the second book in the series, Spirit Woman, in early 2018 (January 2018 at this stage) and I’ve already outlined the third book in the series which I’m hoping to start drafting during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Months–for those who aren’t familiar with it–find out more about it here).
To celebrate Airwoman‘s first book birthday, and in advance of the release of Spirit Woman early in the new year, I’m doing a blog tour with Rockstar Book Tours from 30 Oct-3 Nov, then 6 -10 Nov. There will be interviews, reviews, excerpts and more, so stay tuned for more…
Want to ask me something about the first year of being published? Let me know in the comments.
*Photo by Nikhita Singhal from Unsplash.com
