Journey of THE DARKENER: Post-Announcement Week 1

It has been almost a week now since I announced a November 2014 release for my novel THE DARKENER and I'm very pleased with how things have progressed so far. Obviously, I can't say enough about how important all your support and outreach has been. I'm only as good as the people around me, and my book will only be as successful as you all help it to become. So once again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for every single Like, Comment, Share, Follow, or whatever other ridiculous social media thing I've asked of you. We still have a long road ahead, and we're not nearly at a point where we can relax just yet, but I don't want you to think for a moment that I'm not eternally grateful for all you've already done.

The contest came about as a way to try and repay that good faith, as well as a way to maintain engagement going into the next few months. The idea is to have this snowball, to have a strong start by all of you grow into something larger week by week. And you, my loyal Army of Champions (points to those who understand The Office reference, lol) will remain a vital part of that. Even a single Like over the next 13 weeks will get you into the contest raffle, and even just remaining a fan or follower will get you into the weekly drawing. Any amount you are able/willing to do to spread the word over the next few months is greatly appreciate, and hopefully mutually beneficial. Let's keep this thing rolling to and through the November launch, and try to have some fun along the way!

As for my impressions of the first week? Besides, again, being blown away by all your support, my most sincere comment would probably be that this is definitely harder than I expected. By nature, I'm not much of a social media person, or maybe even really a social person, which is why I guess writers typically hire agents or third parties to handle this type of thing. At the same time there is something rewarding about doing the promotional stuff myself, about being in control of my own destiny so to speak. I have to work hard if I want to succeed, at something I'm not particularly good at, and I think things like that help to build character (or at least I hope they do!). At times, it may mean I need to push all of you a little harder, throw out content a little more frequently, or search out even more avenues of potential interest. But if together we can make this something that touches even a fraction of the lives it possibly could, it would be completely worth it to me.

So once again, thank you all, and let's keep up the good work! One more day and we're on to Week 2!