The book is launched.
Section Roads is out there on its own, hoping that someone will read it.
As part of the marketing process for a new title, writers become involved in virtual book tours. Generous readers who have websites dedicated to books agree to feature an author’s newest work for a day on their site. Sometimes, they ask for brief interviews and one of the questions posed to me was “How many books have you written, and which is your favorite?”
This is my answer: I’m working on my sixth book right now. Section Roads is the first to be published. I know this is a cliché, but books are like children. You put so much of yourself into them, you care about each of them the same. Just because one might be more successful than the others doesn’t mean you withhold your affection. You write a book, you send it out into the world hoping it will find a way to earn its keep, but too often it just comes back home and lives in the basement.
Those of you on Facebook or Instagram will have seen no shortage of ads and posts concerning Section Roads, what its about and where to buy it. I apologize if these mentions are becoming tedious and warn you there will be more. I’ve read that something like two million new titles are published every year. Books no longer live and die according to the character of their content. Good books fall by the wayside because agents or publishers feel they can’t sell them. Bad books get warm receptions and big sendoffs because agents and publishers believe there’s a market for them.
Whichever category Section Roads falls into is largely up to the people that read it. Obviously, I believe it’s a good book or I wouldn’t have presented it to the public. But I’m hardly an unbiased source. I will do my best, though, to give it a chance to be seen.
Many people who have wished me well along this path have asked what they can do to help. Besides the obvious answer of buying the book and reading it, the best thing anyone can do for author is write a review. Reviews don’t have to be complicated or lengthy. They can range from, “This is really good,” to “This really sucks, but at least he tried.”
Most of the forums through which books are sold nowadays—Amazon, Barnes & Nobel, Apple Books, Kobo, which is WalMart’s ebook platform—base the visibility they provide a book on the number of reviews that book receives. Doesn’t particularly matter if the reviews are good, bad or indifferent. Sites like Goodreads or BookBub have huge followings of readers who base their decision of what to try next on reviews those sites post.
If you are so kind as to read Section Roads, I would be forever grateful if you would take a few minutes to post a review. You can post the same review to each of these sites. The following URL’s will take you to their review pages.
Happy reading, and I really hope you don’t think it sucks.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44131165-section-roads?ac=1&from_search=true
https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review/ref=acr_dpproductdetail_solicit?ie=UTF8&asin=1947392506
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/section-roads-mike-b-murphey/1131348663?ean=2940156484430