We Are Getting Close To Book Release
3/28/20253 min read
Howdy!
“Man, there is so much going on right now I feel like a one legged man in an ass kicking contest.” Sgt. Mac circa 1995. One of my old sergeants in the Army way back in the day used to use that statement all the time. I feel it right now.
So what is going on?
Well, a lot!
Let’s see… Where do I start?
First, I have completed my beta reading phase. This was interesting, and I learned a lot about my work and myself. It’s a bit of a vulnerable process to put something like this out into the world and actively ask for feedback. You have to be willing to hear hard news at times. I got some fantastic feedback from my beta readers and was able to schedule a session with each of them to talk through the book and get their feedback. What I heard was pretty encouraging. Every one of them told me that this did not feel like someone who was writing his first novel. That felt good, for sure. We talked through some constructive things in the book as well. I have spent the last month in cleanup mode and doing a few rewrites of areas of the book. All that being accomplished I have started moving forward toward release.
Second, after readjusting some of my Facebook ads, with the idea of doing some testing on imaging and sales copy, I have decided to go a different direction on the cover. One of my testing images just really outperformed everything else I had put together. I am not above learning from this process; as a matter of fact, that has been the whole point of this process. If you follow my social media, you have seen the new cover posted. If you don’t, you can do so at the links below:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShamonWrites/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shamonwrites/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/shamonwrites.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/47452096.Shamon_Harper
Third, I am looking to build a “Street Team.” What does that mean? Well it means I am looking for a group of people who are interested in an Advanced Readers Copy of the book in return for a review on Amazon and possibly Goodreads when the book releases. This is a free way to read the book. Reviews are important when it comes to selling your work, and having some reviews early on is vital. If you are interested, just respond to this email saying, “Hey, add me to the Street Team.” I will assemble the team and then send out an advanced copy of the book for your review. You have to be able to leave Amazon reviews on products, this typically means you have spent more than $50 on Amazon.com.
Fourth, I have everything set up in Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, ready to go. The book is ready to publish at this time. I have ordered a proof copy of the paperback book so I can look it over before I release it. The picture above is the proof copy. It’s almost surreal to hold a tangible copy of something like this you have created. It was so cool
Fifth, getting the proof copy, of course, put me into a tail spin of finding things I want to fix with the book. Ugh… I have to make some fixes to last-minute typoes that have been found (Thankfully, my wife is awesome at grammar!). I have to make some adjustments to the margins of the physical copy of the book. It will take me a bit to make these corrections and line everything back up for release, but I can see the finish line on this thing.
Shamon