Self-publishing is sometimes challenging but more often it’s awesome. Here’s some cool stuff that’s happened so far:
August 2023
- First pre-order
- Physical copies arrived
- First order
- First physical copy received by someone who placed an order
- First awesome offer – from my friend Beatrice to translate it into Italian
- Sent a copy to Alastair Humphreys
- First order from someone I didn’t tell directly
- Second awesome offer – to sell in The Reader bookshop
- First order from someone I don’t know in real life
- First order from someone we met on the ride
- Book on Goodreads
- Amazon Author profile granted
- Goodreads Author profile granted
- Sent a copy to Ted Simon
- Kindle edition created
- Kindle edition published
- Sent a copy to Frank Turner
- First offer to sell in a shop in Canada
- 100 copies sold
- First offer from a North American distributor
- First Kindle edition sold
- First Amazon review
- Gave a copy to the postman who’s collected a load of books for delivery!
September 2023
Note: Quiet month on the book front because our daughter was born!
- First physical copy sold in a bookshop (The Reader)
- First offer to sell in a shop where I live (The Shop)
- Book on a shelf in the local library
October 2023
- First request to re-order from a bookshop (The Reader)
- First re-order from someone who’s read it, to gift to someone else
- Book taken out of the local library
- A quarter of the print run sold (122 copies)
- First request from a stranger to dedicate the book
- First FB ad live
- First FB ad click
- First podcast interview about the book (Roadman Cycling Podcast)
- Shoutout from the Unburied Books podcast
- First Kindle purchase from a FB ad
- First physical purchase from a FB ad
- Enrolled in KDP
- First pages read via Kindle Unlimited
- First comment on an FB ad post
November 2023
- First day where ads generated more profit than I spent
- First time introduced to someone as an author and didn’t feel the need to qualify it
- This lovely message from a friend, about her son –
- 7th November: 4 bookshops said they’d stock the book, and I learned a whole bunch of useful stuff from the people I spoke to. Also put in touch with someone regarding my first event. And got my first photo of a book in a bookshop window display.
- Arranged my first book exchange with another author on Facebook: swapping a copy of Eastwards and Far for a copy of Hiking the Dream.
- Roadman Cycling Podcast episode went live
- First email from a podcast listener asking if they could buy a copy (in Australia!)
- Gardners of Eastbourne listed Eastwards and Far in their database, meaning (I think) that any bookshop they’re partenered with can order it.
- Sent a copy to Ann Morgan (!)
- First request from a travel club to see sample footage of a talk about the book, so they can decide whether or not to book me.
- Gave a book to the new postwoman who’s replaced the old postman
- First competition / giveaway
- 11th November: put in touch with a travel blogger for a review, OKed to do my first signing event, and became #1 best seller on Amazon.ca 👇
- 1000 pages read on KDP
- One third of the initial print run sold!
- First invite to come on a podcast! (Trailmark)
- Another best seller 👇
- First email from someone asking how they can buy direct from me rather than through Amazon ✊
- First review copy sent to a travel blogger
- 200 copies sold!
- First review copy sent to a book reviewer
- First Kindle exchange with another author: a copy of E&F for a copy of Relish the Tread
- Date of my first signing event confirmed
- Confirmed as a speaker in the 2024 programme of a travel club – details forthcoming!
- First non-five star rating 👇
- Book for sale in Daunt Books, Summertown (one of my fave bookshops!)
- Kindle edition nominated for an Amazon deal 👇
- First email from a concerned parent asking if the book is suitable for a 16 y/o!
- HALF the limited print run sold!
- 5000 pages read KDP
December 2023
- First email from someone unable to read the text version about when an audiobook will be available – great motivation to get started on that!
- 300 copies sold – this blows my mind
- Interview with Ray at Trailmark Podcast – first time speaking with someone who seems to get bike touring in the exact same way I do, an excellent conversation. Also the first podcast interview where the host read some sections of my book aloud, which was very cool.
- First payment via my fancy new card reader
- First signing event!
- First failed payment via my fancy new card reader, which I didn’t notice until 10 minutes after the person had left… Lesson learned!
- 2/3 of the print run sold!
- First used copy of my book available for sale on Amazon, so tempted to buy it and see which one it is –
January 2024
- First pro bono offer from a reader for legal advice around housing or structures for voluntary organisations! Not one I was expecting 😂
- First repeat order from a customer on Amazon ❤
- First time Eastwards and Far was grouped with a book by an author I admire in an email from a customer
- First request to re-order books from a bookshop my friend doesn’t work at
- First sale of a pre-owned copy of my book on Amazon, would love to know which number it was
- Got an email from the Agency for the Legal Deposit Libraries requesting copies of my book to go in all of the archive libraries, namely the National Library of Scotland, the Bodleian Library Oxford Universit, the National Library of Wales, Cambridge University Library, the Library of Trinity College Dublin, and the British Library – the most exciting and nerdy part of author life so far
- Reconnected with a long lost relative through the book!
February 2024
- 400 copies sold. My mind is blown and I’m very grateful 🙏
- 420 rating achieved, nice
- First (to my knowledge) instance of a husband and wife competing for access to my book
- 200 total sales of the Kindle version!
- 200 followers on my Facebook page!
- Found out that Eastwards and Far has made it all the way to Tasmania!
- First independent conversation between fellow cycle tourists on one of my Facebook posts