It’s an almost contradictory thing to sate, but it’s also true.

The deed is done, the book long written is now out there in the wilds of KDP for a reasonable fee.

Now patience is the key.

Patience and perseverance (if not indeed the self-same thing).

It is true, only after the event do you notice the errors flaws and imperfections – all magnified a hundred-fold.

A punctuation error, the stating of a rank/position more than once…  errors indeed, but worthy of my angst? 

Book one was never meant to be the hook for a series, but now it is.

Just as the opening paragraph of “Payne” must set the scene, take you to Africa, explain who the protagonist is, create a little opening tension, so too now must it become the opening salvo whets your appetite for “Magic”.

The reader must salivate for ‘what happens next’. 

But first the MUST be a reader.

Ah, the glitch in the matrix, the flaw in my plan, the single point of failure… 

The plan (such as it was/is) was for book one to pull you in, and through sales pay for the release of book two and so on and so forth as each new adventure was released.

Book one is indeed carrying an enormous weight on its shoulders.

If Amy Grace: Payne fails so too does everything.

Unbearable.

Unfair.

Yet also unavoidable.

Readers MUST be found.

Happy readers are needed.

It took a long time to get from script to book, so I must reset my timeline expectations.

The passion I have for these tall tales won’t magically manifest into sales.

So, dear reader of my musings, with ZERO budget, how indeed to we stand out in the maddening crowd?

Strangers – how do we entice them?

Hug those you love, hug them close and accept and relish in the happiness of the simple things, and do your very best to remain sane.