Invisible Books


invisible books, Invisible books are one of the mysteries and heartaches of a writer’s life. These are the books that we release with high expectations, knowing our readers will love them, only to discover that no one buys the book!

Now, this is comparative. For a best-selling author, “no one” buying their invisible book might mean it’s sold a thousand copies. For me, if Kiss It Better, published last October, sold a thousand copies, I’d be sobbing with joy and running down the road to stop the bus and tell bewildered strangers the news. *sigh* Kiss It Better is my invisible book.

When I wrote Kiss It Better I truly thought it was the book of all my books that would resonate most with readers. Who hasn’t experienced a quarter life crisis, that time when you realise your first hopes and dreams of adult life have to be adjusted?

But almost no one has picked up the book. [To those who have, and especially to those who reviewed it so positively, thank you!]

So Kiss It Better is the book that haunts me. Invisible books do. They’re a tiny bit of author soul that has wandered off and gotten lost.

I don’t know how other authors deal with their emotions around invisible books. Some self-publishing authors are on record as saying they pull those books from publication and either bury them or re-vamp them (new title, blurb, cover, etc) and try again. I can’t do that with Kiss It Better as it’s not self-published — and its publisher, Escape Publishing, is awesome (especially my wonderful editor there, Lauren McKellar) so don’t think they’re the reason Kiss It Better is invisible.

Sometimes a book just doesn’t find its readers, and with the avalanche of new books releasing daily, the window for finding those readers is getting smaller and smaller. There are a lot of invisible books out there, and a lot of authors quietly mourning great stories that are sitting unread.

So the next time you’re wandering through the virtual shelves of Amazon or Goodreads or wherever you browse for your next book, please don’t be put off by a book that is sitting at a low rank or with few reviews. Download a sample, take a risk. Many an invisible book holds delightful surprises.

 

P.S. In a shameless plea, could you help me get my latest novel, Sky Garden, published by Kindle Scout (details here). It needs your nomination. Nominations close 21 November 2015.

kindle scout, sky garden, romantic suspense,


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