Day 72 of the 7-40 Challenge
One of the interesting things about publishing a book is you get a dashboard.
It tells you how you’re doing. The number goes up, that’s good. The number sits still — well, that’s data too. Either way, you’re watching it.
This past week, since I let people know about my novel Phase Defiant, I’ve sold seventeen copies.
I know what you might be thinking. Seventeen? That’s not very many.
Here’s what I thought when I saw seventeen: I feel honored and blessed that seventeen times, someone was interested enough to pay actual money to read something I wrote. Seventeen times, somebody looked at what I put into the world and said, “Yeah, I’ll try that.”
That number is small. And it means everything.
What Seventeen Tells Me
It tells me that if I can get this book in front of people, they’re going to like it. The feedback I’ve gotten so far confirms what I hoped — this is a good story. Getting to watch that number climb is a scorecard, not just for the book, but for the effort I’m putting into promoting it, letting people know it exists, and learning how to talk about it.
I don’t even know who all seventeen buyers are. I might know ten or twelve of them from Facebook comments and personal conversations. I’ve reached out to the ones I could identify and said thank you. But somewhere in that number are people I’ve never met who found this book and decided it was worth their time.
The idea that someone I don’t know would pick up this book and think, Hey, that was cool — I have to admit, that’s a nice feeling.
The Part Nobody Warns You About
Here’s something I’ve been aware of for a while but am only now experiencing firsthand: getting the book written, edited, formatted, and up on Amazon is maybe ten percent of the actual battle.
The other ninety percent is what comes after you hit publish.
It’s not losing your enthusiasm. It’s learning how to talk to people about what you’ve done. It’s being your own cheerleader and spokesperson. And I’ll be honest — this is the part I’m having to work on. As a creative, I love creating. I can get stuck in the promotion stage and feel a little restless, wanting to move on to the next thing.
But this is where I have to be more grown up in my approach.
I’ve created things in the past that I made quickly, shipped quickly, and moved on from so fast that it didn’t matter whether anyone noticed. This was different. I spent months writing. Months editing. I designed the cover, built the images, handled every piece of this thing myself. I am more invested in Phase Defiant than any creative project I’ve ever done.
And because of that, I’m more invested in telling people about it.
The Sweet Spot
There’s a space I’m trying to find — and I think every creative person who puts something into the world has to find it. It’s the place where you’re excited about what you’ve made, you’re sharing it genuinely, you’re leading people into the intrigue of the story — but you’re not desperate. You’re not begging. You’re not performing.
You’re just a person who made something, and you’d like other people to experience it.
Learning to live in that space — enthusiastic but not frantic, proud but not pushy — is a skill. And it’s one I’m building in real time, seventeen copies at a time.
Why This Book
Every writer wants their work to be loved by a lot of people. I’m no different. But what I really want is for the people who find Phase Defiant to be able to relax for a little while inside a story set thirty years ago, where they don’t have to think too hard. Just flow with the narrative. Get lost in a thriller. And walk away satisfied when it’s over.
The characters grow in ways that I think are deeply relevant to teens today — ways that could inspire you to see things differently than what you’re facing and how you’re handling them.
I wrote this book because I enjoy it. And while I’m a little weird at times, I know there’s a whole lot of people out there who are weird too.
So if you haven’t picked it up yet — Phase Defiant is available on Amazon. And if you have, thank you. You’re one of my seventeen. That means something to me.
The dashboard moved. And I’m just getting started.
See you tomorrow for Day 73.
David Willis 