I’m In The Newspaper

This week, I received a lot of buzz for my book, Game of Mass Destruction. A few weeks ago, I thought I would try my luck and reach out to a local newspaper about my book. To my surprise they got back in touch with me and asked for an interview via email. This gave me a real confidence boost, and inspired me to contact other newspapers. When the post went on social media, I had nothing but praise.

I know that the content in the book comes across as problematic with the violence, sex and the portrayed lack of development over the past forty years, but I think it matches my beliefs. There is a rape scene, but people forget the rapist is also gets punished for it. I think in a lot of areas, society has regressed even though technology has advanced. The cost of living is higher, but wages are lower. I started this book before the pandemic, and I feel the pandemic has really called out the poverty divide.

There was a lot of things on my mind when I wrote this book. I wanted a diverse cast. There‘s lots of nationalities in this book, and also several major characters that are LQBTQ+. I made lots of changes along the way too. Yuzuko wasn’t originally the main character, but now she is. Aron’s skin colour changed to black once the idea of Sia’s nephew’s presidential campaign kicks in.

They asked me for a picture of me with my book, so I sent it in. They didn’t actually publish it in the newspaper, but they did add it to their online post. A lot of people who remembered me from school, college or worked with my family were pleased for me. Some people in my local area have bought copies of the books. I did send some copies to the local library and charity shop back in the day so hope they’ve reached their way into readers who will enjoy them.

I’m not very photogenic, but it’s probably one of the best selfies I’ve ever taken. The feature in the newspaper has been a big boost to my book sales. They had stagmented because the self-publishing community is very competitive, so getting some local exposure was nice. I don’t think all 10 of my books are good, but at the time, they were books I felt the need to write. I would say my some of poetry books and Game of Mass Destruction are my best works. A lot of my books are short, but they were still a lot of fun to do.

One of the greatest achievements was getting good reviews for Game of Mass Destruction. It has 2 four star reviews and one three star review on goodreads. Another user rated it 5 stars and somebody rated it 4 stars. My Mum hopes that she can get the people she knows who bought it to post reviews.

Game of Mass Destruction’s paperback returned to the top 10 bestseller list in erotic science fiction. I never expected to be a bestseller, but seeing my book this close to the list is encouraging. I feel warm from all the love and support I got from everybody. Even people who I haven’t seen or spoken to in years.

If you‘ve published a book, I reccomend reaching out to your local newspaper. They love hearing about achievevents from local residents and maybe try some magazines too. It’s also a good way to practise your pitching skills. I still upload works online, because it helps build an audience and get feedback which can also help when you’re marketing. Eventually, maybe my work will pitch an interest in a traditional publisher.