Bridgefinders has been out for a little over a month now, so I wanted to do an update post on where everything is with the first book in the Echo Worlds series. It’s been an interesting road so far, learned a HUGE amount from the release of this book, stuff I’ll keep using and doing moving forward.
So far Bridgefinders has been an ‘OK’ (for me) seller. Not that I got into writing to make money, I actually enjoy just making up and telling the stories, but hey, some financial reward is nice, right? I say it’s been an ‘OK’ seller as it’s sold more than my other books, that that’s not saying much. *grin*
- Marketing is a pain. Everyone said it was.. and you know, they are right. Figuring out what works for YOU is hard. Period. The key word there is YOU. Some writers are better at You Tube and Periscope than others. Some are masters of the blog and Facebook, some have large budgets to blow on advertising and know how to craft a great hook. I’m learning in this area. I do have, thanks to the very talented @creativ_writer team some very nice marketing mock-ups, just don’t know where to use them! (One is at the top of this post.)
- Reviews are still hard to come by. I’ve gotten 6 reviews so far on Bridgefinders, I’m still hunting for more.
- Audio books are cool. For the first time I had a book made into an audio book via acx.com. While the process was long, I’m happy with it. I know the audio book is on Amazon and Audible, not sure if it’s on iTunes yet, anyone care to check and let me know? 😀
- I need to be more patient. (Badly.)
I’m working away on the sequel to Bridgefinders, tentatively titled ‘Bridgebreaker’ at the time I’m writing this. The story has taken an interesting twist, one I didn’t see coming. Remember I’m a ‘Gardener’ I don’t outline really. I plant the idea and just let it go where it takes me. Which I know sounds kind of weird, but that’s how I do it. As a result it’s taken me to a very interesting place.
As far as feedback on Bridgefinders goes.. some good, some bad.
It seems the biggest complaint is that the book is ‘too straightforward’ that there isn’t an emotional connection with the characters. Point taken, maybe I should have fleshed out the cast a bit more. For those who feel that way, I think you’ll be happy with the second book. I once told someone I was approaching this series with a ‘Star Wars’ mentality. Meaning, the first book was straightforward good guys win kinda thing. The second book is more complex, more conflict, you learn a great deal more about who these people are. We will see where it goes after this one is done. I don’t have a timeline for when it will be finished, I’m just writing it and moving forward day by day. I will say my goal is to put out 2-3 books a year. So Bridgebreaker will come out before the end of the year, but when exactly is unknown.
So that’s where things sit at the moment.
