Yep, the traditional first 11 1/2 weeks have passed after which, in time-honoured tradition, a first-time author must blog about the progress of his or her novel now that it’s been introduced to the wild. Either that, or I’ve just realised how long it is since I’ve blogged.
The big news is The World Walker is now officially a bestseller on the Kindle! It’s been no.1 in a few of the sci-fi and fantasy categories for a few weeks now – unbelievable! It’s been a hell of a ride. Before hitting that “publish’ button, I had no idea I’d be waking up every morning and feeling the urge to check on book sales. It’s worse than that, though. It’s last thing at night and half a dozen times during the day. I’m trying to wean myself off it so I can devote more time to writing the sequel.
I’ve sold over 1300 copies of The World Walker so far and – through the Kindle Unlimited programme (a library service for paying members) – an additional group of avid readers have got through 358,000 pages during the same period. Can’t tell you how good it feels to know so many people have read it – or are currently reading it.
At the time of writing, I have 13 reviews on amazon.com and 52 on amazon.co.uk. The ratings in the uk average 4.8 out of 5 (4.9 in the US). Reviews have been the most amazing feeling of all – hearing what folk loved about the book. Very occasionally what they didn’t love :) But overwhelmingly positive reviews overall. Even one from Ingenious Cat, a fellow author/blogger who reviews Kindle Unlimited Fantasy and Science Fiction books – check it out here.
All of this has certainly inspired me to crack on with a sequel and, boy, there are some major developments in the next one! I actually woke up two mornings ago knowing a HUGE secret about one of the main characters which came as a complete shock to me. Genuinely! I spent the rest of the day with a big stupid grin on my face.
Right, time to crack on. If you want to check out the book, or recommend it to the sci-fi loving friend in your life (we’ve all got one), just visit USA readers or UK readers.
And if you’re one of the 1319 readers who’ve bought it already – THANK YOU! Don’t forget, you can sign up for my mailing list at the top of this page. I’ll let everyone on the list know when the new book is ready and I’ll send you the prologue from The World Walker too.