That first time seeing your novel on a bookstore shelf!

Bane of All Things is away!

Launch day on Tuesday, Dec. 7 went well. While in town the following day for my next round of immunotherapy treatment, we had to of course stop in at the local Chapters-Indigo to see BoAT on an actual bookstore shelf. (For my American and overseas friends, Chapters is Canada’s big national bookstore chain.)

A member of the store staff saw me posing this photo with my wife. When this lady learned I was in fact the author, she had me sign the store’s copies. And a gentleman promptly bought one to add to his collection of signed first editions!

My first in-store experience as an author, and it came about by chance. Which was awesome, considering no local bookstores that I am aware of are currently doing any formal in-store author events because of the pandemic.

A family friend later visited that same store and took this shot of my signed copies – thank you, Gwen C.!

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What’s next? Bring on the reviews!

The release of a debut novel is a huge milestone. But it’s also just the first step from the starting line of a marathon. Now comes the grind of working to stand out from the crowd. It’s tough for any debut author to rise above with so many other titles competing for readers’ attention. 

A vital part of gaining the attention of the book-buying public is getting a critical mass of reviews on Amazon and any other review sites you may frequent such as Goodreads.com. The more reviews a book has, the more prominence it gets on these sites to draw the attention of readers. 

Stay safe, enjoy the holidays, and keep reading!