The Labor of Delivery

I’m about to send Dragon Ink into final proofreading for self-publication this spring.

Yikes.

It’s ready. I’ve been working on it off and on since 2012 when I got the idea during a quick holiday lunch with my family.

Ten Years? Yep.

It’s been finished many times. Each version was my best, at the time. Then I’d take a writing course or read something that would push me a little further and the revisions restarted. While any story could always be improved, I’m happy with where my dragon story is today. I’m excited to share it with others.

Excited, and nervous.

You can’t publish a book without the ratings and reviews buttons.

They’re scary.

Someone might think my baby is ugly.

But these buttons are a necessary evil. It’s only through ratings and reviews that anyone beyond my family and friends will meet my dragons.

There are millions of possible books to choose from. Amazon uses algorithms based on these ratings and reviews to determine which order potential readers will see each option. I don’t have the exact math behind their algorithm, but I’ve heard it considers the number of reviews in each time period (about 50 in the first month or so would be good). Reviews are weighted heavier than ratings, which makes sense. It takes longer to write out a sentence or two than to click on a star. And readers get more information.

So, I’ll be shaking off my introverted writer’s sweat suit for a sharp, tailored marketing outfit (since it’s only mental, I’ll add stilettos) and reaching out to my circles of friends, teammates, and club members with a request to review my dragons.

To recap, Dragon Ink is about to be born and I’m going to ask people “isn’t my baby cute? Tell others.”