RELEASE, MORE REVIEWS, AND VENTURES INTO THE REAL WORLD

Hello everyone! Have we all had a relaxing, event-free few weeks? Yeah, me too. Rik Mayall snort. The Worth of Scars has now been available to purchase for two weeks, and, to my surprise and a great deal of gratitude, some people out there have actually purchased it. If you, the reader, are one of those kind souls, I really appreciate it, and hope that the book has lived up to your expectations!

Hardback sales in particular have been far stronger than I expected, so particular thanks must go to those of you who have ordered one of these fat, rather heavy old tomes. The Worth of Scars currently sitting at number seven on IngramSpark's fantasy sales rankings. While it's difficult to know how impressive this actually is given it's an internal, unpublished metric only reported to authors and publishers and with no more detail than one's rank, IngramSpark is the number one self-publishing platform in the world outside of Amazon (and in terms of print books I believe they run them close), and making any top ten sales list is not something I'm going to sniff at, particularly this early on in the book's life. So, I'm going to count it as a win, no matter what the haters may say (the haters being myself - I'm not nearly well-known enough to have enemies outside of my own doubts).

Reviews have also been trickling in since I last checked in. The Worth of Scars still has a rating of 4.4 on Goodreads after what is now 12 reviews, though this time I'm rounding down - great success! It has been featured on well-respected blog and collection of awesome reviewers Fanfiaddict, as well as in Grimdark Magazine. I'm keen to get more reviews out there, so if you have bought and read the book, do please post your thoughts - positive or negative! If, on the off chance, you happen to be a reviewer reading this with some kind of platform, too, please do get in touch.

Overall, I would regard the launch of The Worth of Scars to have been a success. Not a rip-roaring triumph that surpassed even my wildest dreams, sure, but for a self-published, very dark, very much not for everyone debut by a completely unknown author that is over twice the recommended length for traditionally published novels, I'd say it's gone rather well. But the excitement/the ordeal doesn't stop here. No, the launch very much continues, and now enters its most most terrifying phase - at least for me - stepping out from behind my keyboard and screen and venturing out physically into the real world.

As some of you may have seen on social media, I will be attending fantasy and sci-fi convention Bristolcon in ten days time (Saturday the 24th & Sunday 25th October, and in Bristol, in case that weren't obvious). There, not only will I be selling signed, personalised copies of The Worth of Scars in the dealers room, but I will also be giving a reading from the book and, particularly terrifyingly, sitting on a panel. The programme has yet to be fully finalised and announced, but I would advise people to either attend or avoid Panel Room One on Sunday morning if they are attending Bristolcon and want to (or not) be subjected to my dulcet tones.

I'm also pleased to announce that I will be selling signed copies of The Worth of Scars at the Oxford Indie Book Fair on Sunday 22nd November. Taking place at the Oxford University Exam Schools on Oxford High Street, unlike the ticketed Bristolcon this will be completely open to the public, so if you are local please do pop by and say hi - even if you don't fancy buying a copy.

As I keep having to remind myself, the launch of The Worth of Scars marks a beginning, not an end, both for the book itself and for my writing as a whole. My work is out there now, and I need do my best over the next months and years to make sure it finds its audeince, whilst also understanding that these things take time, effort and a whole lot of fortune for any book to get into the right hands.

Something I'm looking forward to more than any marketing or terrifying in-person events is getting back to writing something new. Among the myriad downsides to self-publishing is that I have found little chance to write over the previous months leading up to and after the book's release. While I can't completely take my eye off marketing The Worth of Scars too much (as well as settling into a new house, which I've also just done - who knew self-publishing a novel and moving house at the same time might be stressful??), I'm hoping that as the year comes to an end I can get my head down and begin the next chapter (ugh) of my writing work.

Cheers all, particularly those that have read and reviewed the book, bought a copy, or even just shared and liked on social media or said something nice to me. It all helps.

Gabe