Why I Self-Published Blood & Soul

Consequences, Challenges & Future of the Creed of Kings Saga

I swore I would never self-publish. Typically, self-published books are awful. I didn’t wanna be guilty by association. Then Kindle/Amazon exploded. Then I started to understand there was no shelf space for me and places like Barnes & Noble. No one is going to move Martin, Jordan, or Sanderson's books off the shelf and put up Blood & Soul instead. To the traditional publishing world, I’m a risk. I changed my mind and decided to self-publish.

I was in a sweet spot in my work life at the time. I worked early in the morning and late in the afternoon at my regular job. In the middle of the day, I have a huge swath of time that I devoted to the study of the craft of storytelling, writing, and creating the world of my story.

I had completed 3/4 of an epic fantasy that was fully outlined. I pulled back and redoubled my study of how stories are structured and what makes readers wanna read them. I read piles of how to write a great book, books. I came up with a totally new book derived from a back story in the first epic book. I did this because I figured out I would need to write a lot of high-quality books as an independent author to gain any shred of notoriety and credentials.

I read piles of books on marketing. Started a website (not a blog). I started an email list, too – but I started too late. When I finished writing my book I hired a professional editor. Then I hired a proofreader.

Meanwhile, I produced a book trailer. Original epic music from an award-winning composer. It truly is an awesome piece of art on its own – graphics, teaser wording, mysterious intro to an epic crescendo, etc.

I had a professional book cover designed.

July 11, 2014, was the official launch day. The image of my book cover was alongside George R. R. Martin, Terry Goodkind, and Star Wars books from July 2014 through July 2015.

Everything paid off to a degree. Then I received many 5-star reviews on Amazon and I sold thousands of copies in six months, including hard copies. I went exclusively with Kindle Direct Publishing (And CreateSpace – which meant my book ended up on Barnes & Noble in print). My first book, Blood & Soul, was on the bestseller list for its genre for almost 6 months! That blew me away. It stayed in the range of about #18 – #58 most of the time. It was #1 twice. When the sales settled down it remained way up in the TOTAL ranking for months selling 2 to 4 books a day. I did 2 more major promos and by the time I was done, I probably sold around 15,000 books. I considered expanding the book to NOOK, Smashwords, etc.

But then I was promoted to a new position at my place of employment that demanded more of my time and intellectual juice. So, I left it exclusively on Kindle/Amazon.

I did not get rich or gain a lot of notoriety. But I made a dent in the universe and I consider that maiden voyage an investment and the cost of doing business at this point. I have a lot to write and a lot to learn.

All of that is fine. But…

My biggest problem is figuring out how to write and produce QUALITY books in a timely manner and consistently enough to make a name for myself while holding down a full-time job to support myself and enduring everything life throws at me when trying to write. I’ve not been able to figure that out yet and it has been almost ten years.

I have multiple books in various stages of development that are grounded in the world of Blood & Soul. I don’t know when I will have the time or focus to venture into the Midvast and dust off the stories of the heroes and heroines again. Sometimes I feel like they are here waiting in the lobby of my imagination.

None of the above would have ever happened had I not put my nose to the grindstone. And it won’t happen again unless I find the time and focus. I’ve been brainstorming about ways to rekindle the flame. One idea is depublishing Blood & Soul from Amazon and republishing it in episodes behind a paywall here on Substack.

I’m very happy about it all. I am hopeful about starting again. But I can’t guarantee it. As I have said before, if writing a good book is like catching a fly with chopsticks, writing a great book is like catching a gnat with pool cues.