I don't even know where to start. After five long years of writing and research, followed by several months of final refinements to the cover art, creating various versions, and the ever-delightful format proofing process...'Degrees of Intelligence' is online at last.
Amazon has been smooth...Barnes and Noble online, not so much. A reflection of resources, fixes, experience in the indie market...anyhoo...
First, let me say I have been pleasantly surprised at Amazon's print quality, after years of hearing horror stories about case laminate hardcovers in particular. At least my proof copy was flawless from a print standpoint--my only negative being that somehow the binding, or perhaps the way the case laminate cover is applied, made one slight gap in the middle of the interior.
I put it under something heavy overnight, which fixed the issue about 80%. It doesn't affect the reading experience at all. The paperback is just plain flawless--no issues whatsoever. I had heard stories about fingerprints on matte covers--nothing whatsoever on mine.
January 28 was the official launch day. I had previously had it set for much later in February, but once I saw my two proofs, I decided to just let 'er rip.
By January 29...and mind you, this is with no social media presence in about 16 months, no ads whatsoever, and no reader reviews (I do have three amazing editorial reviews on the back cover, from extremely credible and respected members of the writing community)...anyway, by January 29, everything started to go crazy.
Suddenly I was in the top 100 on Amazon's Jewish Historical Fiction list...a category that I have to assume is not small. At one point, I was at #57. As of this writing, I am #96. But what is crazier is that pretty steadily for the past 24 hours, I have been at #5 to #7 for New Releases in Jewish HistFic.
Obviously this is a level of exposure that no amount of money can buy. And while my numbers haven't been as stunning in my many other categories, right now, the paperback version is at #484 in Historical WWII Fiction and #854 in Military Thrillers, both of which must be quite large categories.
I would tell you how many books I have sold if I had any clue. Amazon is apparently so overwhelmed by the tsunami they literally haven't shown a single sale for either paperback or hardcover, and only six pre-orders for the Kindle edition, which officially hits Feb. 1.
Since there's nothing I can do to speed them up, and since I hear this is commonplace, I am just going to impatiently wait for the big, big money to show up. Seriously, I imagine it has to be a couple hundred to hit these categories, but we shall see and all y'all will be the first to know.
Meanwhile, I have been most amused at my new massive AI biography on Google. It's largely stolen from my self-written bio and story overview, which is why you should make sure--now more than ever--that yours is brilliant.
I have also been mildly amused that AI cannot appreciate a good triple entendre, and thus has completely missed the "college" degree aspect, as represented by the story opening at Harvard in 1943. Personally, I am ever delighted at AI's lack of brilliance, but I will say the sales pitch they've done isn't bad.
Hilariously, they have noted there is no public information on any degrees in espionage I may hold hahah. The irony of that on five levels is truly very, very funny.
Ok, I need to go check my Amazon stats for the 419th time in 24 hours. Please buy a copy and keep me defying reality as an indie author/publisher.
And I thank you.