Launch Day

After 35 years, the day has arrived. Today, my first novel launched on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, Apple Books, Smashwords, and a host of other sites. You can obtain the eBook from all of them, and the Paperback from both Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

The past nine days have been excruciating. After setting a very aggressive deadline to complete the novel, edit it, and submit it to the distributors, I waited nine long days for the release. Fighting the urge to tweak this scene, or that scene. I didn’t even read the manuscript during that time because I didn’t want to be tempted to make changes to it. Even without looking at it, though, I was panicked by a minor plot hole I remembered late on the weekend. However, my wife, who had read the book at least four times during the process, said it was inconsequential and that I should just let it go.

Today, I was greeted by seven pre-sales that converted to sales on my first day, and now I am heavily involved in marketing the book and exploring opportunities to get people to read it.

My advanced reader group was stellar, and I have reviews from 5 of them on day one, with a few more coming soon. I was late in sending it to them, but they still delivered. Their reviews moved me and made me feel like a real writer.

Now I am hard at work on the next book, while I stumble around trying to figure out how to market the first one. Hopefully, a few readers will discover it and help out with reviews and word of mouth.

No matter what, though, I did realize my dream of publishing a novel.

J E Sutton Jr
11.04.2025