Now that the book launch period is over for Story Studios Presents Changing of the Guard, it’s probably a good time to look at what worked, what didn’t, and what I could have done better.

What Didn’t Work

Bookfunnel: No effect that I can tell

KDP Rocket: Again, no effect

Asking Fellow Authors for Reviews: Of the 20 authors who agreed, four actually did reviews. Asking and following up was an awkward process, and I hated asking people for favors. It’s not in my nature to ask for help. I suck at it.

What Worked

Not much. This was my first time at seriously trying to self-publish a book, and my efforts seem to have had a limited effect.

What Could I Have Done Better?

Lots. But, let’s get a little more precise.

I could have been much active in self-promotion on social media.

Since I spent all my money on Bookfunnel, having the novel formatted by a pro, Vellum for future books, and KDP Rocket, and a broken copy of Kindle Samurai (for which I never got much help from the publisher OR a refund), I didn’t buy any promotion.

When I say I didn’t purchase promotion, I mean like the giveaway sites like Bookbub.

I didn’t join in any group promotions with other authors. Frankly, I didn’t understand the process, and I still am pretty fuzzy on it.

I didn’t solicit any interviews, podcasts, etc. These have never helped in the past with other projects, and I don’t like doing them, so I skipped that part.

For reasons that need not be elaborated on, I quit a writer’s group that has pretty reasonable promotion capabilities. I stand by my decision on that.

There may be more reasons, but one of my main shortcomings is I have not begun a newsletter. My reasons include fear of commitment, and not wanting to add one more thing to my plate.

What’s Next?

I plan to do much better this time. This last time, after all the hassles to wrangle reviews and failed attempts at formatting it, I was burned out bad. That was not the mental state to go forward in. I cannot do that to another book.