Prepping for Release — My First Novel

Shadow’s Debt cover created by Iesha Bree of Covers My Way

This week, I’m prepping for the release of Shadow’s Debt.

I made the tough decision to become exclusive on Amazon Unlimited for the first ninety days. While I hate being beholden to one retailer, I don’t have any experience with launching a full-length novel. So I’m taking the advice that I heard on the Six Figures Author podcast and concentrate on learning how to publish on Amazon.

So far, I’ve edited the book, had a cover created and I’m waiting for the last file from the proofreader. Once I have that back, I’ll use Atticus to format it.

I wanted to have a few weeks for the pre-order, so I set it for May 18th, 2022. This gives me enough wriggle room in case something happens. Because Amazon is not kind to you if you miss your pre-order.

Like most authors with books on pre-order, I will send out announcements to my newsletter in the weeks prior to launch. In addition, I will take part in newsletter swaps to increase my numbers of subscribers.

Then during the actual launch week, I will do some paid marketing via newsletters. I’m not attempting ads yet, because I want to have more of a backlist so that readers who are interested can continue to read through.

I’m sure that I will do more to promote it, but I’m still working on that. I will update you next…