Where Are We Now?

So today I thought I'd write up a little position piece, going back over everything I've done so far and analysing my progress as well as looking a little towards the future and what that may have in store.

Admittedly, I haven't always been the very best at keeping myself up to task on everything an indie author should be doing. Making posts on every social media platform possible, organising an email list to send personalised updates to possible readers, exploring events and cons to do a bit of networking and such. I've basically sucked at all of that, and only for two main reasons. Anxiety, and laziness. Most of the time, it seems I can only really bring myself to do one or two things before I get bored or distracted. I can imagine even now, I'll finish this blog post and then instead of doing something else useful to promote my book, I'll just go and annoy my girlfriend for five minutes, or take a long shower and think about Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged.

And that's only really for the things I feel confident doing. Blog posts, tiktok video edits, creating fun canva graphics with book quotes, and just generally arsing around on social media so that everyone finds me relatable and funny. But there are some things I should be doing that I can't because of the other aspect. The anxious feeling of making myself look a complete fool on the world stage by posting my face on tiktok and doing a poorly produced video, emailing people privately and having very little clue what to say, only to sell myself about as well as selling rump steak to a vegan.

Yet somehow throughout all of this, I still have managed to make progress. Rise of the Old Gods is now truly in the rear view mirror. No more editing, no more revising, no more thinking "well that sucks, better go again". It's finally done and dusted. And the response to the new version has been great. Granted, 90% of the response was bot artists copypasting their generic comment on to my book so that they can make me pay them for (most likely) crap art. Still, all the same the small 10% seem to enjoy it.

So what does the future look like now then? Well, I already began the second in the series, Eyes Upon Eternity, ages ago. That horse has its saddle back after being stabled for god knows how long. Accompanying that is my side project for when the main project drains me, the Ancient Tales books. Perfect for when I just want to write a one shot stand alone adventure that'll allow me to explore other genres within fantasy. Perhaps even a romance or slice of life book may come along.

As for my marketing duties as an indie author... well, I'm writing this, aren't I? Now that I have a job, I can at least attend some events and post those here so the one or two people that see my website can come and stalk me. Apart from that, I guess my main thing is working on my courage and forcing myself to show my face on TikTok more often. And keep posting on BlueSky again. And if I don't win the Wattys this year, I'm ready to go for publishing Book 1 on paperback!