There are some moments that only come once in a lifetime. The first time you kiss a boy, the first time you have sex, the first time you lose someone you love. Yesterday, I had one of those first moments — I saw my words in print for the first time.
Stages | Episode One will soon be available from Amazon in paperback. They sent a proof copy through to me for approval. When it arrived in the mail I squealed with excitement.
There is nothing so thrilling as seeing the physical result of all your hard work.
At the same time, I managed to get Amazon to finally list the e-book version as free [in US, UK & AU]. As soon as this happened, my book starting climbing the charts.
At one point it got as high as #73. I spent most of the day refreshing pages to see how many downloads I had and my new ranking. I didn’t get much writing done.
As well as these wonderful self-publishing milestones, I am also going to be published in the UTS Writers’ Anthology.
Two of my stories — Backslidden and Garbage Bags will appear in the 2014 edition which launches at the Sydney Writers’ Festival in May. When I know the date, I’ll let you know so if you’re in town, you can come along.
So I am no longer a publishing virgin. I will always remember my first time.