Day 2

I'm at work today.  Meant to do work-related things.  I mostly manage, in between sneak peaks at my amazon page.

That damn stats counter is incomprehensible and plays with my nerves.  I went to bed on Day 1 around the 14,000 mark and twelve hours later I'm down in the depths of despair at 22,000.  Surely none of the books have been returned?  (I now suspect it has something to do with the time of day as by the evening, I'm back to 14,000 and change.)

Do the stats actually mean anything or are they simply intended to drive authors mad?  My self-worth is now encapsulated in that single number.  Like a junkie, I hit refresh repeatedly.  My mouse doth protest.

The afternoon brings me my second review.  Another friend who is far too kind.  I start thinking maybe someone should say they hate it just to make the whole thing a bit more realistic.

Then total happiness.  I've been linked on friends' facebook pages (Mr Zuckerberg, I love you) and two people (two!) I have never met say they will buy my novel.  One even proclaims an intention to introduce it to her bookclub.

I do a little dance in the office.  Then I panic when I consider the possibility that these new readers, these readers who owe me nothing, may hate it and trash it on amazon.

People, I have a perfect 5-star record to uphold.  Please.

It's the end of the day and I have sold 10 copies total.  That means 6 the first day and 4 the second day.  The downward spiral has begun.

Day 1

Last night, I whipped up a cover using my mac and an old holiday snap.  I debated whether or not I should give the manuscript a final proofread.  At 235 pages and given the hour, I went with not.  Then I clicked upload.

And that was - not quite it.  There was still the small matter of the price.  Which inevitably sparked a heated internal debate about value.  I lost.

There.  Now we wait.  Well, we go to bed first, and dream of hordes of adoring fans screaming our name like tweens at a Justin Bieber concert.

On Day 1, the book is on Amazon.  It has my name on it.  It has the title on it (hats off to the girl who came up with it during a random frenzy of creativity).  Absolutely nothing is happening.  The viral marketer in me screams "facebook" and I obey.  I receive several "likes".  I feel pretty giddy.  Then I realize I've sold two copies before lunch.  And it's not even my mother, since she doesn't have a Kindle or know what one is.

I am definitely on the fast track to success.

Next comes the clincher.  My first review.  No, it's not cheating since the person who wrote it helped with the proofreads all those months ago, so she has actually read it.  Whether she really thought it was worth the 5 stars is another matter.

By the end of the day I have sold six copies and checked twenty-five times.

What I haven't done is buy a copy of my own book.  Especially since I don't own a Kindle either.