My First Book, Bloodline, voted Top 50 Indie Book of 2014!

I first published Bloodline back in April of 2013, and shared it In this ATS post

(I even got permission from the big guy to give ATS a nod )

I have since shared a couple of updates, such as when I self-published the next two books in the trilogy. (Forgotten Origins)

I have participated in several writing contests here on ATS, and garnered LOTS of thoughts for content amid its many conspiracy pages. So I am sharing this accomplishment with you, too. It is from an Indie promoting website, called Readfreely.com and they apparently had over 20,000 votes (for all 90 nominated books). I don't know if it will amount to anything, and I still don't really have that many sales in a month, but it is very encouraging.

I guess I want to say to the other aspiring writers here (I know there are MANY authors here much more accomplished than myself) to NEVER give up on your dream and keep pursuing it!

Amazon link

Link to top 50 list

Link to audiobook (You can listen to the 5 minute sample, that's me narrating! )

Congratulations. I am a painter and a musician, but I've always looked up to writing as the highest art form.
I'll try to get around to reading your work tomorrow. Peace.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

That's awesome!! You should be very proud of yourself for doing (and succeeding) in something that you clearly love. Thanks for sharing this with the rest of us and I hope your other books will do even better!!

Drinks are on me!

Wow! Thanks for the support and applause. I didn't expect that!

I just want to encourage everyone to never give up on your dreams!!!

a reply to: westcoast

Congratulations on your success, has to feel great! You are an inspiration to all those budding authors out there, good on you!

That is quite an accomplishment!

What do you think the secret to your success is?

a reply to: CraftBuilder

Thank you!

First, I think that 'success' depends on how you measure it. If we are talking profit, than most would NOT consider me successful. For now, I am measuring it by reviews and followers. I think one of the best moves I made (aside from a complete edit for someone other than myself and having professional covers done) was to join Goodreads. It is a huge website totally built around readers and connecting them with books/authors. By giving away almost as many books as I have sold, I have been able to build up a small following and have finally gotten over 30 reviews on Amazon (and maintained a 4.5 star rating). I have over 60 reviews though on Goodreads for the trilogy.

Apparently, there were over 500,000 self-published books put out just last year. If you think about THAT, then it's easy to understand how hard it is to get your books seen, let alone chosen for purchase.

SO...a good cover and edit is crucial (as well as a good story, of course) then...social media. It is also REALLY important to keep putting out titles consistently. I have five books out now, and I'm working on the 6th right now. (the second book in my middle grade trilogy)

I think having a blog and other sites that are connected to the right search engines (like chrome) is big, too. Lastly....REVIEWS. Reviews will make or break you and it's absolutely a must to pull readers in on Amazon. I got very fortunate and somehow, a reviewer from a HUGE website (rabidreads) got a hold of a copy of Bloodline and gave me a 4.5 star, glowing review. They don't even normally review books that are self-published. Things like that are HUGE, but you have to capitalize on it.

a reply to: westcoast
That makes a lot of sense.
What in your writing style do you think sets you apart from the bulk of self published books that don't gain traction?

a reply to: westcoast

wow congrats!!!! Very impressive accomplishment there!
I looked at the amazon page for your book, but sadly no aliens in it

a reply to: westcoast

Congratulations, it's always great to see a writers efforts be rewarded.

Your success could provide me with a much needed kick in the butt that I need to can finish my own work-I'm beyond the stage of making a living from writing but I would like to have at least one story published online. I wrote and illustrated a children's book as a class project when I was 14, and the local primary school students loved it so much it was made available in the school library. This time I'm hoping to cater for a different crowd.

But forget about me-you have critically acclaimed novels and surely there will be people eagerly awaiting your next novel, and that must be rewarding.

Once again, congratulations.

My buddy and I are working on a novel ourselves right now, We are about 13 chapters in so far
we try to do a chapter a day or so

My heartiest congratulations. It's always a great feeling to be accepted for publication, and an even better feeling when the book arrives and you hold it in your hands. But the best feeling of all is when someone actually reads it, and then talks about it to you. That's the one that really makes your day.

a reply to: westcoast You're an inspiration! I remember reading your short story in a writing contest on ATS a while back and thought it was awesome. I appreciate how the internet has freed up artists/writers, etc. to have a venue that is widely accessible to all. I appreciate the information you've shared about self publishing. Happy New Year, Westcoast!

First off congratulations! I know there are a lot of aspiring writers on this site, myself included, so it's wonderful to see success from other members.

I'm curious on your approach to writing. Did you outline the plot first and fill in the gaps? Or did you just start writing in sort of an improvised manner?

a reply to: westcoast

Huge congrats to you. As a writer myself i know how difficult it is to see these projects to the end. I'm still trying to finish my novel that I started 4 years ago.

I guess my question is this - how did you fit writing your novel in to the daily trappings of life ie kids, study, work, laundry etc etc!

I'm worried I'll never get mine finished or someone else will come up with a similar idea before I get mine out.

I had a peek at the amazon link. Your book sounds like something I would definitely pick up off the shelf hopefully in a few years time I'll be posting about the publication of my novel!

Peace and well done

a reply to: westcoast

Good work westcoast!
Thats the second ATSer in a week who's broken into the top 100 on Amazon.
I've put it on my wishlist,and will get a copy next time I order of Amazon.

Glad to see you have it in real book form as well-I still prefer reading off paper,being an old fashioned git.

Well done!

a reply to: westcoast
Way to go, Westcoast. I have always found your posts interesting, so I expect your books will definitely be that way also. I'm looking forward to reading your new book.

a reply to: CraftBuilder

First, thank you to EVERYONE for your kinds words. I need to come around ATS more often.

HomerinNC...that's a really good question!

First, for this trilogy, I wrote the story first person POV, present tense. This was the first time I had done this, and it was a huge challenge...but I loved it. While it restricts the information the author can share with readers to only the main characters Point of view, it also (if done right) gives you (the author) a chance to really suck the reader in. To bring them into the mind of the main character and make them feel as if they are experiencing it, rather than just reading about it.

Now...what makes the story unique? I have had a lot of reviewers comment on how the story line is like nothing they've ever read before. I will say that I spent literally months just thinking/dreaming/researching/jotting down and finally outlining the three different stories. It's an extremely intricate story that takes real history, conspiracy, ancient stories and legends and ties them all into a new and surprising theory for our actual genetic origins. I don't think you could call it predictable.

I will say, too, that this story line is right up any true ATS'rs alley. It's like heroin for the conspiracy theory junkie.

originally posted by: HomerinNC
a reply to: westcoast

wow congrats!!!! Very impressive accomplishment there!
I looked at the amazon page for your book, but sadly no aliens in it

Mwahaha....no, not on any covers. But they ARE in the story. I can't say too much more than that without giving too much away, but they are not your 'traditional' aliens.

This isn't a space opera, but it certainly involves it. Let me put it this way: Nibiru and Nephilim are involved.

a reply to: Thecakeisalie

That sounds like a lot of fun!!! If you are still wanting to do something similar to that, then you should check into CreateSpace. You can publish your own paperback through them (up to 8x10) at zero cost if you do it all yourself. I published a photography book Link to photography book , and I was incredibly impressed with how the pictures look.

Good luck!!