Bestsellers and Creation.

Cupcakes and the Centre of the Universe is a bestseller b!tche$!

So in less than 48 hours I’ve found myself the author of a bestseller. How did I do it? Well, despite what my brain would have you believe it wasn’t checking my sales every day–at least twice a day. It was by using the KDP select free days. When you enroll in KDP select you can schedule up to five free days. I’ve heard this was a very good way to up your ranking on the Amazon bestseller lists.

IT IS! In less than 12 hours I was ranking in the top 50 in two Science-Fiction categories and Parody. By the end of the first day I was ranking in the top 800 overall and the top 10 in two humor categories and top 30 in two Science-Fiction categories.

But that’s beside the point (amazingly).

More to the point is that I’m bloody nervous about what happens next. During the 48 hours I was obsessing over whether it was ranking where I wanted it to and tweeting over and over about it I wasn’t able to write. I find it increasingly hard to create and promote which makes me nervous about the future. It’s probably going to be fine but until then I am nervous.

Besides visiting the page all day I was also taking screen shots. Lots of screen shots.

It was very successful and I learned a lot about my book, promotion and my followers. Now it’s on to the next step…

Write another!

I could go on about all the next steps but that would take more room than the internet has on it so I will just say that the most important thing is for me to focus on what I want out there and do it. It’s what I did with this one and if all goes as planned what I will continue to do on an increasingly bigger scale. The thing about promotion is that I don’t think it has to be the opposite of artistic to work but that gets lost in the shuffle when you start doing it and if you’re anything like me you panic a little and start just pitching the art out of it. But if you think about it the promotional bit is art too. There’s cover art and press shots and written paragraphs whether in press releases or synopses and it could go on. I’ve got huge long term plans for this book and all my next ones so even this day after low when I have woken up to see the downloads grind to a halt that would take the skin off the arse of a beaver in a wind tunnel (look, surrealism is hard at 9am) I think this is not the end this is only the beginning…

The highest I ranked in Sci-Fi Adventure #8