Saengard's Speakeasy

  Hello everyone, For you, and for me, I am going 'open kimono' here. What that means is, I'm pulling back the curtain and being completely open and honest with you. On November 29th, filled with anxiety, I pushed the button to publish my 49K word novel/novella onto Amazon. As I explained in my first writing on this topic (here), I had done some research and figured that for me, having a soft entrance into the self-publishing world made the most sense for where I was at and what I wanted to accomplish. I know the market is crowded, the attention span is short, and I'm a nobody from nowhere. The only thing that would make me willing to try someone out was if it was free. Kindle Select is free to those who pay a monthly fee to Amazon. That makes the 'buy now' for $0 an easy and appealing purchase for those in the Amazon ecosystem. That was good enough for me. I launched the book on Amazon Kindle Select program at .99c for the ebook (the lowest Amazon will let you...

  It's difficult out there!     As soon as you put something of any modest value out into the world, there will be those sharks out there who smell blood in the water. Somehow, they think you have money that they can siphon off by offering fake services, fake clout, and fake advertising for.      Now, I'm certainly not writing with any real thought about "getting paid". Of course, it would be nice, but if there's one thing I've learned in life is - Never be Desperate. As soon as you put emotion into any trade or deal, you have lost perspective. And that is probably the most dangerous thing to lose.      So, I've released a book onto Amazon. I'd like for as many people as possible to see it and hopefully to read it. If my work resonates with people, then maybe money will come, but that isn't what I'm after. I have a story that's been burning in my mind for decades. I have to get it out into the world. And I want to make it the best, most enj...

I'm putting this out there for the new author and for the reader who's curious on what it takes for an author to 'get seen'. I'm also writing this for myself, so I can remember what I did, what I think worked, and what didn't. If no one else reads this, I know it will at least be helpful for me. (I may be updating this particular post regularly!) I didn't know much when I completed my first book in November last year (by completed, I mean  written, edited and had an advanced reader or two, created a cover, etc). To be honest, I still don't know much, but this is what I'm doing and I'm happy with the results so far. (results at the end) In November 2025, I created an Amazon account... googling the heck out of everything about the process. I think it took me most of November to feel confident about everything so that I could launch on November 29th. The only reason I chose that day was because Thanksgiving was over, the house was clean and I felt l...