We’re only 35 days away from the release of Book One in my Shiloh Hills Small Town Romance series. I’m borderline freaking out with excitement and nervousness. I doubt that’s any surprise, but releasing a debut novel is proving to be quite an undertaking. Not that I didn’t expect a bit of difficulty.
I thought I could dip my toes into the waters, test out the necessary aspects before making a decision. What happened felt more like peeking over the edge of a ravine and then tumbling down, except I’m hoping a positive outcome is waiting at the bottom.
Once I started digging into the self-publishing process, things kind of snowballed into each other. The next thing I knew, I had booked a manuscript evaluation, a line edit, and ordered my first book cover. Each part has run into the others, creating a surreal experience of going 100 mph all at one time.
Now that I’m down to the wire, there are a few things I’m preparing for book one to become available to the public!
Here are 5 things I’m doing as the release day for book one approaches.
5 Tasks Before Release Day
Assigning ISBNs
One cost to consider, so it doesn’t take you by surprise, is the purchase of ISBNs. International Standard Book Numbers must be purchased and assigned to every version of a book that is released. I purchased 100 ISBNs with the hope of continuing to write and publish on a fairly regular schedule moving forward. For each version of Book One, I’ve assigned an ISBN. I filled out the information to ensure we’re all ready to go on release day! Currently, Book One will be available in e-book and paperback. I have tentative plans for a hardback, but you’ll have to stay tuned for that!
Developing Graphics
This is another one of those items that I could technically pay someone to handle but, as a new indie author, funds are tight and so between Canva and BookBrush, I am doing my best to create graphics that convey the necessary information for book one including the title reveal, the cover reveal, and trope reveals as well! These graphics are typically created using a template to start and then built off of that with whatever free elements I can find. Is it a perfect system? No, but it’s a start, so I’ll take it.
Sending Out ARCs
This was more difficult than I anticipated, honestly. I anticipated several people wanting to be advanced readers for the book so only receiving a few kind of threw me for a loop. I’m hoping that these ARC readers are able to provide positive reviews for when the book is officially released. With their reviews, I should be able to use them to generate additional interest (in theory). Since I am not a social media expert or an established author, that does add to the difficulty level of spreading the word for the first book.
Updating Cover Info
I’ve been so surprised by the cover design process, and it continues to this day. The smallest levels of adjustments make a huge difference in the overall look of a cover, down to the slightest change in lighting, the differences between two very similar fonts, all of it matters. With finishing the back blurb and finalizing the page count and margins, I’ve been in contact with the cover design, KiWi Cover Designs, with The Author Buddy to put the finishing touches on the paperback version of the cover. And may I just say, I think it looks Amazing!
So Much Panic, Very Little Disco
Nah, just kidding, but this has been an eye-opening experience as we prepare for the official release of Book One. I just did the title release on social media earlier this week, and next week will be the cover reveal! I’m also preparing to start uploading official files to Amazon and IngramSpark, and I’m tossing around the idea of sending letters to my local bookstores to see if they might be interested in taking a chance on this local girl’s first book. Still so much to do, and we’re only 35 days away from the official release day of June 12, 2025!
Keep an eye out for preorder information because that will be coming out sometime in the not-too-distant future as well. Ok, here we go! Nobody panic!
Thank you for your continued support! If you’d like to keep up to date on new information for this release and other works in progress, please join me on social media!
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