The Lag
I'm at an interesting juncture in my independent author's journey—one that I've read about in articles & posts by "experts" & greenhorns alike. For want of a better term, I'm calling it the Lag.
As I've mentioned in previous posts, I've known all along that Pearl Fields and the Oregon Meltdown might not be the easiest of reads for some. For one thing, the first person narration does require a willingness to wait for some of the backstory to unfold that a third-person narrator might provide at the outset through description or other characters. And of course, there is her jumbled memory & manner of speech as she records her special testimony to avoid being sentenced to hang for gunrunning.
But strange as it might sound, I didn't exactly choose my narrator; she more or less chose me. When I finished my previous novel in which Pearl (aka Sunny) plays a pivotal but brief role, I knew I had to write at least a short story from her point of view. Of course, that short form morphed into a standalone that is now a companion to the original novel about to released in serial form on Kindle Vella.
Since last fall I've experienced some of the common self-publishing ups & downs, including generally positive reactions from reviewers & one apparent trolling on the Kindle Store that temporarily tanked the overall rating that has been scratching its way back toward the coveted 4.0 average ever since.
The first sign that the Lag might be taking hold was the change in traffic on this website over the past few months. After a pleasantly surprising February (603 visitors; 1011 views), the numbers steadily declined to a low level in June (7 visitors; 20 views), even though I continued posting a couple times a week. After taking some time off from social media to take stock & practice serializing a sample, I'm now considering my next move in that regard.
But interestingly enough, along with the downward trend comes the occasional uptick. Just yesterday, I noticed that in the last couple weeks, two more ratings on Goodreads have brought the rating average there to 4.07 with 15 ratings/7 reviews. I don't normally check those details, but another effect of the Lag seems to be in the category best described as hope springs eternal. A cursory looks shows that both reviewers rated it as 5 stars & that in the last few months the general trend has been quite positive.
So here's to appreciating the moment & ignoring the Lag—at least for a short while.
I'll keep you posted.
Drew Faraday
Pearl Fields and the Oregon Meltdown
As I've mentioned in previous posts, I've known all along that Pearl Fields and the Oregon Meltdown might not be the easiest of reads for some. For one thing, the first person narration does require a willingness to wait for some of the backstory to unfold that a third-person narrator might provide at the outset through description or other characters. And of course, there is her jumbled memory & manner of speech as she records her special testimony to avoid being sentenced to hang for gunrunning.
But strange as it might sound, I didn't exactly choose my narrator; she more or less chose me. When I finished my previous novel in which Pearl (aka Sunny) plays a pivotal but brief role, I knew I had to write at least a short story from her point of view. Of course, that short form morphed into a standalone that is now a companion to the original novel about to released in serial form on Kindle Vella.
Since last fall I've experienced some of the common self-publishing ups & downs, including generally positive reactions from reviewers & one apparent trolling on the Kindle Store that temporarily tanked the overall rating that has been scratching its way back toward the coveted 4.0 average ever since.
The first sign that the Lag might be taking hold was the change in traffic on this website over the past few months. After a pleasantly surprising February (603 visitors; 1011 views), the numbers steadily declined to a low level in June (7 visitors; 20 views), even though I continued posting a couple times a week. After taking some time off from social media to take stock & practice serializing a sample, I'm now considering my next move in that regard.
But interestingly enough, along with the downward trend comes the occasional uptick. Just yesterday, I noticed that in the last couple weeks, two more ratings on Goodreads have brought the rating average there to 4.07 with 15 ratings/7 reviews. I don't normally check those details, but another effect of the Lag seems to be in the category best described as hope springs eternal. A cursory looks shows that both reviewers rated it as 5 stars & that in the last few months the general trend has been quite positive.
So here's to appreciating the moment & ignoring the Lag—at least for a short while.
I'll keep you posted.
Drew Faraday
Pearl Fields and the Oregon Meltdown
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