Lots going on today, so my apologies in advance for the long post and email. Here’s the news in a nutshell:

1st year anniversary of Mapmaker! Yay!Winner of the Mapmaker Review Raffle is… (drumroll, please) …Love2Read! (You know who you are. More details below.)“Official” launch of my second series, The Legend of Damndrake starts today. It’s on sale for $2.99. Get your copy while the price is low! (Don’t worry, ya got plenty of time.)That’s about it.

Still here? Nice! Thank you. You are in for a long ramble, so settle in.

Not by design (because I hate added stress), but two major things are happening today (reversing the order, because why not?):

The “book launch” for The Legend of Damndrake through Written Word Media‘s New In Books promotion, andOne year ago, I self-published Mapmaker–Book 1.

More on the book launch later, but first let’s review how my Mapmaker Trilogy has done for itself during the first year.

It seems a little surreal and anti-climatic to review how the book, and the entire trilogy, has done for the past three hundred and sixty five days. I mean, the numbers I offer to measure its “success” (whatever that is) will feel insignificant to anything other than best seller.

So, why post this? Why embarrass myself? Will showing my numbers offer any wisdom?

No.

But still… here I am. If only to mark the occasion, let’s get this over with! (Allow me to gird my loins…)

In the past year, give or take a few copies, I’ve sold over 750 copies of Mapmaker.

That includes all book formats (eBook, paperback, large-print paperback) and the entire trilogy across all selling venues (i.e., Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, etc.). Not an outstanding number, but it’s better than the handful I thought I’d get from friends and family. To tell the truth, I’m surprised it has sold that many. I’m not particularly good at social media, I have no idea where my target audience hangs out, and the books aren’t that great. (They’re okay but nothing earth-shattering.)

So, really, all-in-all, not too shabby for a self-published hack!

Any lessons learned?

Yes.

Before self-publishing, learn how to sell a book.

Based on this past year’s effort, I have no idea how to do that, so I can’t offer any advice. If I did know how to convince folks to buy my books, my Mapmaker Trilogy might’ve found a readership in its first year. As it is, folks will have to blindly stumble upon it in an ocean of very similar books.

Some other milestones:

All three books featured on Reedsy Discovery (here, here, and here).Look ma! I’m on YouTube! (My interview with AuthorAlly earlier this year. I haven’t watched it, too cringe. But you can!)Broke into the Top 100 in the surprising category of Greek & Roman Myth & Legend on Amazon.com (proof to the right & below).

Each milestone isn’t particularly noteworthy, but they’re special to me!

So, what does that mean to me as a writer?

Not much. I never seriously entertained earning a living from my stories. I’ve always considered being a professional author the purview of more talented folk. But my not-too-terrible record of sales illuminates the following:

Based on some initial feedback, the verdict is in: I can almost write a good story. My writing skills are on the cusp of… not greatness, but betterness. I like to think my storytelling is improving.I enjoy doing that–storytelling. I’m not gonna stop.I will continue to improve my craft and self-publish as long as I can afford it.

Ah, there’s the clincher–if I can afford it.

I did incur some costs–significant amounts, in fact. Think, thousands of dollars. Editors, graphic artists, and adverts don’t come cheap! Okay, it has cost me over six thousand and five hundred dollars (that’s not a typo) to produce and promote the Mapmaker Trilogy.

(That doesn’t include the years it took to write the beast.)

And 750 books? With a profit of about $1 or less for each sale?

You can do the math. That doesn’t begin to cover the costs. So, that’s the only thing that would stop me from pursuing my self-publishing hobby–the lack of funds. But as long as I can support it, I’ll continue to produce stories. Because even through the (few) ups and (many) downs of self-publishing fiction, I’ve found joy and a sense of accomplishment from creating and presenting my stories to the world.

Until next time, if you haven’t already, check out my book! And if you’ve read and liked it, please consider leaving a rating or review on Amazon or Goodreads.

Now! It’s time to announcing the winner winner, chicken dinner!

For those of you who have entered my First Year Book Anniversary Review Raffle (FYBARR), I listed all my precious (forever grateful to you all) reviewers in a spreadsheet, gave ya random numbers, then used a random number generator to pick a name.

And the winner is…

Love2Read

Yay! Thank you so much for reviewing Mapmaker. It’s reviews like yours that help readers find the books they love. Please get in touch with me via email (nilaewhite (at symbol) gmail (dot) com) and provide your physical or mailing address (via email, not in the comments section). I’ll send the signed, special edition hardback, some bookmarks, and stickers to you as soon as possible.

Now… for the exciting part! Or the expensive part. As stated above, I’m apparently quite happy to spend all my savings on my writing habit…

Anyway, I purchased a “book launch” package from Written Words Media and their campaign to get The Legend of Damndrake into the hands and Kindle devices of readers is underway. Essentially, that means you might see an ad like the one below for my book out in the wild. If you do, let me know on BlueSky, Facebook, or Instagram.

As always, if you read The Legend of Damndrake, please consider leaving a rating or review. It helps other readers find books they may like.

I think that’s it for announcements.

Little writing update: The first draft of The Rescue of Damndrake, the second book in the Draghi Chronicles (because I can’t write a stand alone book), is about half done. I plan to release that no later than June 2026. If I can manage it, the last in the series, The Failure of Damndrake, will be published late in 2026 or early 2027. Then after that, I’ll either concentrate on my Ghost Stories series (urban fantasy) or World Breaker (another epic fantasy with globe-shattering magic).

Phew! Again, my apologies for the long post/email, but thanks for taking this journey with me. I couldn’t have done this without all your support.

Humbly,

Nila