JOURNEY TO PUBLICATION – The Days After

The Reading Cafe has been following  M.A. Abraham on her road to publication. We asked her to follow this up with her thoughts the days after the release of her first novel in the Elven Chronicles-GABRIEL.  Once again, let’s meet up with Gabriel’s author, M.A. Abraham.

Discoveries

Everyone has an opinion… as if I didn’t know. Some think Gabriel is the man… others think Marious is tops… other believe the real star of the book was Eden with her independent attitude. Diversity is good. This should make for some interesting discussions.

Good to Go!

The books are out early! They said we were to upload the material a minimum of 24 hrs. before release date, so they could check over the formatting… that was supposed to take a full day… 3 hrs later it was up and there were sales within 15 min.

Cannot complain about sales, we are doing well, considering these are e books and I am an unknown… my website is being hit from half way around the world. Netherlands, UK, USA, Canada, Turkey, Netherlands, Switzerland, Greece… wasn’t expecting all that.

The reviews came in and they were favorable… wiping brow off with back of hand in relief… people are beginning to send bits of comments through the contact list, and they are favorable… another relief.

Well, we are 3 days out of launch… people are telling me they are putting aside books that I would consider almost a sacrilege to think about in favor of Gabriel… jaw dropping a half a foot… cannot believe this. They have to be pulling my leg…

As long as things seemed to take before Gabriel was published, they seem to take just as long to settle. The book has been on the market for 3 days now… and I finally got an ISBN number for the book, which means it will now be distributed to e book stores… they don’t tell us how long that will take, just that it will be done… the guess is from 2-14 days… no guarantees. We know we covered all the bases… now our job is to move on.

Telling people who are writing to me to put their comments in a review… each one is worth something in the end. I appreciate hearing that they enjoyed the book, but I need the credits it would give Gabriel on the sites. Especially, as everyone seems to also want to see it in print.

Reviews are beginning to be posted on the book selling sites… they are also favorable. Alright… I can live with that… there are names there I don’t recognize, that means it isn’t all friends… even better, no pats on the back for a job adequately done that someone felt obligated to write. (ya, I know… the insecurity lives on… so shoot me)

10 days after publication

Time to do interviews… this feels like a ping pong match… you would think this would be a no brainer… oh, that is right, my brains packed and left home for a while… both sides.

Two weeks after publication

There isn’t much to say… sales are slow but steady… reviews are favorable on the average. Nothing under a 4 (no complaints from this end) It has been 2 weeks since Gabriel was released. No one has asked for money back. I guess that is a good sign. In some ways it is more than I should expect, I am an unknown… my work is different.

Tomorrow is the day the interview is going to be released and I am beat… I have a life beyond this, I feel as if I am dragging my butt behind me. Edits, rewrites, new storylines, book keeping, sales, trying to hold it all together… going to get lost for a couple of weeks, maybe the distance will give me clarity… too much going on in my mind, can’t sleep.

April 4 – today TRC ran the interview, and many of my friends participated… thought that was cool… hits on my own site also increased a lot as well, probably due to the exposure. I left them with a tidbit from Marious’ Story, just as a thank you and to tweak their curiosity. Yes, I know teasing again. As a friend in the UK said to me once, “You are bad.” I replied: “Don’t you just love it though.” His answer: “Yes, don’t change. It is so natural on you.” That was a fun trip.

Getting hits on my site from really different places, and I am getting a blast seeing where they are coming from.

Sigh…I need a break

Have had a meeting with my editor, she wants me to publish a few of my stand alone books… and I am supposed to be writing book 4 as well? When?

Time to Recoup

Took some time off, headed for the Canadian Rockies to visit with a couple of the bros, took two weeks to figure what was wrong with what I am trying to write… now I think I should be able to move on.

Is it time to start all over again?

Editor is coming on Sunday to start the edits on Marious’ Story… she read it through, says it is better than Gabriel…:D I wonder if that means less editing as well.

New plans have been forming… People are giving me little projects to go with the larger ones… good thing I have a head start here. Again with the secrets…:)

Working on keeping my name out in the public… publicity is another job and it is a good thing I have Becca to keep me on track… I can get pretty involved in what I am doing, and the rest of the world just does not exist. She reminds me that there is more to life than the written word, and the characters I am writing about.

M.A. Abraham,

That’s it for now folks. M.A. Abraham is now hard at work with more for us, as her Elven Chronicles will continue. The Reading Café will be there for her, and we will keep you in the loop, as M.A. Abraham’s journal will continue . If you have any questions, feel free to ask away, and perhaps M.A. will drop by and answer.