IWSG - I'm BAAA-AAAACK!

It’s the first Wednesday of the month, time for
Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group!

Wow, it’s been so long, and I’ve missed you all SO much during my rather lengthy hiatus, but it was unavoidable and proved to be very valuable time spent.  The biggest news to come out of my prolonged absence?  

I published my second novel!

Now, this was no easy feat. Once I signed with a small press for my first title, The Mistaken, I was excited to get started on the sequel. Unfortunately, the stars don’t often align and I was disappointed when my publisher closed to all submissions due to the tough economy. That sidetracked me on many levels. I had to take up ALL the slack on promoting my first book while trying to focus on finishing the second, another dark romantic thriller called Leverage. And since it’s a sequel, trying to sell it to another publisher seemed unlikely, so I jumped into the indie pool and self-published Leverage. 

Of course, that’s no easy task when you’re a novice with no extra money. At least, as an editor myself, I knew that aspect was pretty much under control, though I did have an editor friend of mine give it a once over. But I had to do all the formatting myself. Now, for the paperback, it was no problem, but the ebook was something else altogether. I didn’t want to just put my baby through a grinder. I wanted it properly indexed and validated across all venues, so doing all that code stuff was a tad daunting.

Next, the cover! I had commissioned original artwork, but the timing didn’t work out, so I went the stock photo route and prayed Carrie Butler at Forward Authority Design Services could help me out, and boy did she ever! Just look at this puppy! Obviously, this is the paperback cover. The ebook consists of the front portion only.

Isn't it Purty?!!

I seriously couldn’t be happier. Carrie Butler produced exactly what I asked for and in record time, which was important because, while I had said I would launch May 20^th so it would coincide with my first blog tour, I needed to release on Amazon Kindle by May 1^st if I wanted to enter Kindle Book Review’s 2014 Best Kindle Book Awards. And WHEW, I made it!

While I do have to spend some time this week listing it on Kobo and Barnes & Noble, I feel pretty good. The early reviews are outstanding and, so far, I have a perfect 5-star rating on Amazon.  Even The Mistaken still rates 4.6 stars on 115 reviews. I’m doing okay and look forward to my first tour in a few weeks. And hey, if you’re interested in joining the tour, Book Plug Promotions has prepared this Google Doc for sign-ups. I hope it’s still open, but I’m not entirely sure. I do have another coming up August, so if you’re interested in that one, contact Nazarea Andrews at Inkslinger PR. 

Okay, you might be wondering what my point is here. Well, as I’ve lamented here before, I find all this publishing stuff, especially the marketing, immensely intimidating, but, with the help of my, many of whom I’ve met here, I’ve more than just muddled through. I still have a long way to go, but, geez, if I can do it, anyone can!