Reaper Three-Month-Anniversary!
Hi Chill and Thrill Seekers,
Man have I been busy this week! So busy in fact that I almost missed the three-month-anniversary of my debut novella Reaper: A Horror Novella. I mean, how crazy is that?
Honestly, Camp Nano, reading, author interviews, and trying to exist have been taking over my spare time lately, but overall I’m realizing that I need to talk about my own work just a little bit more.
I’ve a big fan of the 90/10 or 80/20 rule when it comes to marketing your published content, but I feel like I’ve been distracted for a while now, so this post is going to be all about my debut novella and how I came about writing it.
For starters, here’s the cover and blurb. 🙂
Blurb:
Gregory and his little sister Imogen love spending Halloween with their parents. But this year is different. If he proves he can take care of Imogen all by himself, he’ll finally have the allowance he’s dreamed of.
That was before the basement door opened on its own. Before the strange door appeared in the basement and Imogen was taken from him by the monster.
Now everyone in town is blaming him for her disappearance, but no one is listening to his story. Where did the door come from? What was that creature? And most of all, can he find his sister before it’s too late, or will he bury his memories of her along with his parents?
All right, so in a nutshell the premise for my book is simple. It’s Halloween themed, has a scary monster, and a brother desperate to find his missing sister despite the odds.
My book is written in first person with Gregory as the main character. Being that he is 13, it is written in YA style.
As with most books, nothing is what it seems, and I really enjoyed creating this novella with plenty of chills and thrills along the way.
I originally came up with the idea for Reaper last September. I was tired of waiting for Halloween to come around (Halloween should be every day if you ask me.), so I started binge-watching a bunch of different classic horror movies.
An idea started forming in my head, and I kind of just went with it and wrote things down. Just two short months later, the rough draft of Reaper was completed, along with all the plot holes you could possibly imagine.
Fast track four months later, and I had my final manuscript ready (thanks largly in part to my Alpha and Beta readers, as well as the help of Emerald Dodge, who held my hand through the entire process of self-publication).
Overall, my experience has been really great. I’ve had tons of support along the way, and my book release was a huge success!
My sales haven’t been the best through my first three months, but I’ve learned a lot along the way and know that my future releases will probably do quite a bit better. It’s all about building that network, and honestly it isn’t really about the money.
My creation of this book was mainly to share a piece of myself with the world and see what people thought. Already I’ve received some pretty stellar reviews, some just this week! I’ll post some below in case you’re curious.
Overall, I’m really happy I chose to publish this book myself. It’s been a very rewarding experience, and I’ve learned a lot in just a short time.
The best part is, I’m not done with Reaper yet. I’m currently writing the sequel, and I’m really excited to explore Gregory’s world further.
While I continue to plot away on my sequel, take a moment to check out the first novella. Links are below, or if you’d like to sign up, there is currently a book tour planned for the last week of August with R&R Book Tours. You’ll get a free copy of my book in return for a review and blog post of your honest opinion.
Thanks for reading a little more about me and my story, I really appreciate it!
As always you can subscribe to my weekly newsletter from my home page or follow my journey if you are a WordPress member.
Have a great day everyone!