The Day I Stopped Chasing Virality

The same day I published, marketing emails flooded my inbox. I was asked to join their featured authors list, give approval for a book trailer, and targeted ads to the '“right” people.

I have to admit, a few of the reps had tempting pitches, but most made untrue claims like, “I’ve had time to sit with Wes and Lou’s story and its something that really stayed with me. I’d love to help it reach more readers who would benefit from it.”

As flattering as their words were, I knew they weren’t true, and it left a bad taste in my mouth.

You see, one of the many reasons I decided to initially publish with books.by is they give you access to the names and emails of your supporters the moment a copy has been ordered. At the time, books.by held a monopoly on my novel, so access was limited and, in a non-invasive way, monitored.

After sitting with the offers, I decided to try responding to every email so that if my name began to circulate, the reputation that came with it was a good, or at least friendly, one. Most contained a thank your for reaching out, but I preferred to go about matters organically.

Which is true! Watching the way Breathing Freely has made its way into the world has been fascinating. Seeing support come in from people I’ve never met, those moments held me in a different way than even my first copy selling — no offense to my sister because that memory sits on a shelf of its own.

A recommendation to a friend during a conversation, sharing a link, adding to your shelf GoodReads, etc… they’re all quiet segues that lead more people into discovering Wes & Lou’s story. And that organic connection, people sharing something they enjoy with folks they either care about or happen across during their lives, is how good things used to get around.

And I believe people can and do still share things in such a way.

I handed the future chapters of Breathing Freely over to the masses, and I’m loving how they’ve written them thus far.

With gratitude,

Haleigh