Living the Tortoise: When Sales Slow – My Self-Publishing Journey
It felt like jack rabbit time at the beginning. I was moving as fast as I could, my feet kicking up dust behind me. Type, type, read, reply, package, type. 
But now, I see this is much more the tortoise, that slow and steady and the race won many months or years from now. . . or never, because really what is there to win anyway.
So I’m settling into my shell, resting back on my heels a bit. Trying out new press releases and talking to new folks. Looking at ways to have The Slaves Have Names included in festivals or stores – still waiting for some responses from bookstores. Just taking things as I can even as I do my best to keep the book in the forefront of my mind so that it will stay in the forefront of other people’s.
It’s an odd thing to write a book and put it into the world. I imagine a parenting analogy would work here – the way my mom called me every day when I first left home and then those call tapered – but I am not a parent, so romance seems more fitting. In November and December, it was the first blush – always on my mind, my brain racing with ideas, my heart aflutter at every sale. But now, a few months in, we’re steady and good. I’m still absolutely enthralled and dedicated, but things are more even now, simpler. I miss that tingle, but I relish this deep and steady.
In the end, I know the tortoise has it right, even as I kind of feel bad for the rabbit – he put so much effort in. But really, I’ve always been more of a tortoise anyway, so I’m picking up my shell and moving a few steps forward, a sale or two at a time. .
If you’ve published a book, what did those first few days of the release feel like to you? If you’re hoping to publish, what is your plan for keeping the steady plan of marketing going?