I’m so new at this; releasing and promoting my novel “Beauty Rising” has been quite an experience. I sometimes feel like I’m playing darts blindfolded, having no idea where the target is. Because really, as a new, unknown Indie Author I don’t know what the target should be. Should I be happy selling my first fifty books or should I not let up until I sell my first 10,000? Or am I asking the wrong questions all together? There are so many decisions to make:

• Should I advertise?  If yes, where? When? How much?
• Should I write more blog posts?
• Should I continue to contact readers for reviews?
• Should I lower the price of my book?
• When should I release my next book?
• Should I continue to do giveaways? How many?
• How do I know if my promotion techniques are successful?

ETC…. the questions go on and on.

I know; I know. Releasing a book is a marathon, and not a sprint. I suppose it’s wise not to put too much stock in an increase in sales or to become discouraged when sales dry up. I believe the key is in consistency.

So I’m going to plug along, working on all of those items above – and then some. Re-evaluate constantly, make adjustments as necessary, and move on.

With all of this in mind, when I look back at my first two months as an Indie author, I had a lot of exciting firsts:

• My first 100 books sold.
• My first 100 readers on GoodReads.
• My first person who asked me to sign a copy of my book.
• My first time at #1 on an Amazon list: (Feb 4-5, Ranked #1, Contemporary Fiction free download.)
• My first author’s interview.
• My first bad rating.
• My first guest post.
• My first book reading. (coming up later in February)
• My first 5-star, independent review from a book reviewer.

What happens after this? I have no idea. But my first two months as an Indie Author has been a blast!