T.I.E. (Entry 9) - Happy Book Birthday

It’s here!

By Thio Isobel Moss

Titan, my cat, is here beside me as I go through emails, check various platforms for impending disasters, and celebrate the launch of my book. Right at this moment, someone is reading it. They’re twenty-one pages in and I have made $0.05 through Kindle Unlimited as of 8 AM. I don’t know who it was that downloaded my book, but I am grateful to them. I didn’t watch and wait for hours, hoping someone would take a chance on my chunky tome.

I anticipated being anxious, grateful, and standing with my arms wide, bracing to catch whatever might tumble down from my card castle of a launch campaign. Nothing has fallen…as of yet. I’m beginning to think I did all right, building this structure. Occasionally, I look back and wonder how did I ever format that or how did I manage to set that up? This adventure has taken me places I didn’t know existed and forced me to do things I didn’t know how to do. It’s been wildly empowering.

From other authors, I knew that the process of actually setting up a book on most platforms was relatively easy. It is…especially if you have a background in computers, graphic design, or publishing. I do not.

And doing it over and over again, fiddling to meet specifications, going back and fiddling some more after failing a review for reasons that are inaccurate (my art didn’t need to extend further into the bleed, but my spine text did need to be slimmer), is not easy. It takes an emotional toll and sometimes a physical one. Especially after it gets approved and you know it isn’t perfect. Just two little tweaks…

You have to cut yourself off at some point.

I had planned on having one free promo month on Canva Pro and then ending the subscription. At this point in time, I have paid for two extra months. I use it three to four times a week. I doubt I’ll cancel the subscription. To make my template from IngramSpark (a last-minute addition) usable, I had to download Affinity to read the IDML file. It used to be about $70. Seventy bucks to convert a file! I got it for free through Canva.

I’m hooked.

I know that there are more sophisticated options (read expensive). I made a font, once upon a time, in Adobe Photoshop. As it happens, I am not sophisticated enough to learn what I needed to learn in the time available. Canva was intuitive enough that very little learning needed to occur and it fit my budget. Sometime down the road, I may wax poetic about some other software, but for now, I love Canva Pro.

For the next go-around, I’m hoping to purchase Atticus. Word and I had some wrestling matches over page numbers at the start of chapters, alternating headers and what pages they shouldn’t appear on, among other things. Word won. I would love to create a more polished format, but, by necessity, it was simpler this time.

Does anyone else want to pet the wolf and tell him he’s a “Good Boy,” or is that just me?

Speaking of the next go-around, I’ve put Bump up for pre-order. It will be released on June 26th, 2026. I wanted to put Objects in the Mirror up, as well, but I need to make sure Bump gets far enough along before fully committing. If all goes well, another pre-order will go up in February. I thought indie-publishing meant setting my own schedule. Well, it does; I failed to realize that I’m a workaholic in my preferred field.

There have been so many things I’ve learned about myself—good and bad. I tease about being a drama queen but when I don’t understand why my website is doing something it shouldn’t, I’m no longer teasing. It’s a full-on Shakespearian tragedy. But now I know, I can fix it. Eventually. I wouldn’t be here without my friends and family, technological innovations, and the entrepreneurial spirit of others, so this Thanksgiving was particularly special—and not just because I handed out signed proofs as party favors. I have experienced anxiety, profound gratitude, and I’m keeping my arms open in case disaster strikes, but I’m also immensely joyful. I’m an author. This is what I do. I have published a book!

In the words of Erin Napier, “What a time to be alive!”

Update:

Upon reflection, I realized I had more people to be grateful for - volunteer librarians on Goodreads who have been removing the faux 5-star ratings (I’m back to zero, lol), reviewers, the friends I’ve made in the GR and author communities, and, of course, readers! We have such a beautiful ecosystem, no wonder it attracts scammers.

Two other things, as well. First, something did go wrong and, although I wasn’t the one to catch it, it was caught. I am so grateful (theme) for Jeffrey over at The Fussy Librarian.

I had purchased a mention in his newsletter, letting folks know that the eBook would be free today. Well, it isn’t free today. As I’m part of Kindle Unlimited, I get five free promo days every 90 days that I’m in the program. I had planned to use three of them - today, tomorrow, and Sunday. What I didn’t know was that I couldn’t use one of those days the very first day of my launch.

So, tomorrow, Sunday, and Monday, the eBook will be free. My mention will have to be rescheduled, unfortunately, but I am so relieved it didn’t go out when I couldn’t deliver!

Additionally, I went back to check KDP - my team and I have agreed to check sales after meals and before bed - and discovered two important things. I had a pre-order sale I didn’t know about, and the reports are not perfectly up-to-date. I have been informed of two print sales that are not reflected in the reports yet.

For the first half-day of a new author, those are not bad numbers. I’ve read that 10-20 sales a day, theoretically, might be enough to get on one of the smaller top-100 lists, granted each format lands on a separate list. Still, my worst fear is done and dusted. Now, I need to be patient and see how we do.

I’m off to make butternut bisque. I’ll let you know if anything exciting crops up.

Update:

So, it’s Black Friday and the day after Thanksgiving. I’m going to assume Amazon is overloaded, because my sales reports have not updated all day. We have had a couple of independent reports of sales that are not reflected in the numbers.

Oddly enough, I’m alright with that. Yes, I’d like to know the real numbers, but this has been an incredible and incredibly exhausting experience. If I’m going to sleep tonight, it’s best if I don’t know the final numbers so I don’t obsess over them.

On a separate note, I’ve heard back from The Fussy Librarian, and my mention in their newsletter has been rescheduled. They were able to find a spot for me on Sunday - still the weekend, and right in the middle of my three promo days. It’s the word of the day, but I’m so grateful for their kindness and flexibility.

The launch party, bisque included, was a success if on modest terms. We ate, drank, and were merry. Despite the cinnamon cranberry tea, no one got drunk, but the night is young!

The number one issue that I knew to watch for was getting discouraged too easily. I’ve read repeatedly that the first book isn’t going to be your money maker, but everyone wants to be the exception to the rule. We’ve done our best to look further down the road, but it’s hard. Not having the final numbers helps.

I don’t know when we’ll know if this venture will be a financial success or not - not for some time, I imagine - but we’re ready to do this again. Tomorrow, I’m going to write and, for the first time, do so knowing someone has purchased my book and could be reading it at that very moment. It might not put much money in my pocket, but it is the single greatest thing I have accomplished.

I’ve rambled on a bit, I know, but if you’ve made it this far - thank you. Writing a book and then sharing that book invites reflection. A new level of connection has been achieved. That sounds like success, doesn’t it?