As an author working in the small presses, I always had to do my own marketing, my own promotion, making contacts, sending books for review, setting up signings and providing books, then letting the bookstore take a cut of the sales. As a result, it was important to monitor the reviews of my books. Also, because small press publishers are busy and sometimes not great record-keepers, I keep track of my sales as best I can through various avenues.

With the release of After Obsession from Bloomsbury this past week, I’m in a whole new world. Is it selling well? It’s hard to say. Compared to my small-press books, it’s going gang-busters! But I’m sure Bloomsbury has slightly different expectations than Scrybe Press. haha The lowest sales rank on Amazon.com so far is 13,543. I would have partied in the street if Shara or Ulrik had hit such a mark.

The reviews have been fascinating. Bloomsbury put the book “on tour” with over 90 stops on various reader blogs. Naturally I have “after obsession” saved as a Google search. The reviews have been coming in pretty steadily, but over the past week they’ve really picked up. They’ve ranged from gushing endorsements to some pretty harsh criticisms that claim the book reads like a first draft, that events and emotions aren’t believable, etc. This must be why so many authors don’t ever read their reviews.

I haven’t made it down to Barnes & Noble in Norman to see the book in a store. I’ve checked the local Wal-Mart and Target, but they don’t have it. A couple of former students dropped in for a visit yesterday and they’d picked up a copy somewhere. Maybe I’ll go tomorrow.