Cardinal author rule number one is not to mess up your book launch because it basically ruins any chance your book has of succeeding. Sadly, I broke that rule. May 25th came and went and there was no push for the book so there’s only been a few sales, and Mirror of Wolves is already considered a flop. You can still find it with a title search on Amazon for now, but in a few weeks their “new release” algorithm will longer apply and no one will even be able to find the book. Which is sad. Especially considering how much time and effort went into creating it.
So, what happened?
The upside to the launch flop is that I (finally) was able to buy a house after years of looking for one. This got me and my kids out of a not-so-great rental situation with a roof that had started leaking. (Seriously, water would pour down from the light fixture in my son’s bedroom every time it rained. Not good.) I think I got the house this time because I agreed to a super-fast 2 week closing. Which was okay, because it gave me time to get a foundation crack dealt with and a 23 year old hot water tank replaced before we moved in, plus we could paint the kids’ bedrooms (something I’ve always wanted to do for them but which the landlords I’ve had have never allowed). And I could bring a bunch of stuff over on my own over the course of a few weeks, and then the movers would bring the furniture and heavy stuff on our official moving day.
That was plan, at least.
But then my landlord decided to be unreasonable and my move date had to be radically accelerated and split into two days of movers and the movers were working around both the foundation guys and then the hot water tank guys the next day. And I needed to recruit a friend to be at the old place to deal with the mover pick up while I was at the new place dealing with the repair and install crews.
Super-chaotic. Do not recommend.
Kaboom
And then, of course, my day job suddenly got super-busy at the same time. And then we got hit with medical issues with both of my kids which we’re still trying to figure out. Needless to say, the past few weeks have been incredibly stressful and I haven’t had time to deal with anything but work and move stuff and medical appointments.
Basically, my entire life exploded right around the scheduled Mirror of Wolves launch so I’ve had no time at all to devote to it. And so, predictably, the launch failed miserably. I haven’t quite figured out what to do about that. I may need to attempt a relaunch in the fall to try and save it. I guess we’ll see how the summer pans out with everything else that’s going on. And while we’ve been in the house for several weeks now, there are still boxes everywhere, and there will probably be boxes everywhere forever at the rate I’m going with the whole unpacking thing.
SIGH.
But, the kids and I have a house of our very own now, which is awesome. And it has a yard in which I have planted a garden. (I’m very excited about this garden.) And the roof does not leak. And hopefully things will start to settle down a bit so that I can breathe again. (Wildfire smoke notwithstanding.)
I guess what I’m trying to say is that life happens. Sometimes, despite all our plans, things are going to happen that are out of our control, and the only way to get through the storm is to learn how to surf the (sometimes enormous and seemingly insurmountable) waves. In the grand scheme of things, a failed book launch may be a disappointment, but it isn’t that big a deal when there are more important things that need attention.
Happy book birthday to me… ♫♪
So, happy belated book birthday to my second novel. There were definitely a lot of snags and delays along the way with this one, but I’m really happy with the final result. And even if this enormous flop means no one else will ever see this book, I’m still proud of it. In many ways, writing one’s second book is an even bigger hurdle than writing the first, so I consider the fact that this book exists at all an accomplishment in and of itself.
Mirror of Wolves picks up about three weeks after the end of book one, with Ty trying to deal with the fallout from everything that happened in River of Crows. There are a lot of doubts. And nightmares. And a desperate quest for answers in the hopes of banishing those nightmares. This quest takes Team Arcania on a wild, action-packed adventure as they try to track down a mystical artifact that can read people’s destinies. But will Ty’s desperate hunt for the truth about his future just cause even bigger problems for everyone?Pick up your copy today and find out! It’s available via most online book shops. 🙂
P.S. If you are one of the very few people who have already picked up a copy, you can help save the book by leaving a review anywhere. Amazon and Goodreads are always the biggest ones, of course, but reviews on any platform are incredibly helpful and always appreciated. And library sites are often overlooked as a place for reviews, but they help people in your own local area decide whether or not to borrow a book. (And did you know that if your library doesn’t have a copy, you can help just by requesting it?)
P.P.S. Just a heads-up that Smashwords is having a HUGE sale throughout the month of July, and you’ll be able to snag copies of both River of Crows and Mirror of Wolves at half-price with their coupon codes. (Yes, that means half off the intro pricing for MoW, so a really big bargain.) Alas, I do not know what those codes are, but I presume they’ll either be made available on the website or sent out to the Smashwords mailing list next month.
