It’s been an amazing 3 months, since my debut novel ‘Her
Last Lie’ was first published on January 9th 2018.
There have been some exciting ups
as I watched my novel become a best seller in its category, and saw it climb its way into the top 100 Kindle chart in the US and Australia. I was amazed too
to see it reach #116 in the UK Kindle chart. I never thought I would have a
book published, let alone reach such amazing chart positions. At one point I
was nestled between Jo Nesbo and Tess Gerritsen - how cool is that?
I was thrilled and truly grateful to Karen Byrom for mentioning 'Her Last Lie' in My Weekly. I was chuffed too to appear in the local paper, and to chat on BBC
Three Counties Radio.
And I’ve also met some lovely people on Twitter. If I’m honest (and this is between you and me) I've never been very good at the whole social media malarkey - it's completely out of my comfort zone of hot water bottles and fluffy slippers, so I never expected to enjoy my time on there as much as I do. In fact, I've even set up a Facebook page, an Instagram page and a website. GO ME! Details below if you want to have a wee look.
Facebook: HERE
Twitter: @amandajbrittany
Instagram: amanda_brittany_author
Website: HERE
Another upside of being published was receiving my very first month’s royalties for my ebooks. I’ve whizzed the money straight over to my Just Giving Page
HERE which I set up when my sister became ill, and I will continue to put my royalties there each month. It will be such a thrill to see
the amount grow. Thanks SO much to everyone who has downloaded a copy - you are all brilliant. And if you enjoyed it, and would like to pop
on a review that would be absolutely FANTASTIC! You can do so HERE. In fact, you can have my last Rolo if you do. 😃If you didn’t enjoy it, let's pretend I never
said anything.
Actually, that brings me onto the hardest thing I’ve found
with being published – it’s the negative reviews. I hadn’t realised how much
they would hurt! I tend to keep reading the wonderful 4s and 5s to remind
myself I must keep writing, as it’s so easy to let the 1s and 2s get under my skin. But I am getting better at just accepting them
as the months go on - and try to avoid reading them if I can. Sadly, they go with the territory – not many writers get
away with none at all – and everyone has a right to an opinion – and sometimes
(although not always!) they can say something that might help my writing in the future.
Anyway, I'm clearly not letting them get me down too much, as I’ve just typed The End on an
early draft of novel 2 – so it won’t be long before I whiz it off to my editor
with everything crossed that she likes it.
And that's about it for the first 3 months! Thank you everyone for all your support. 😘
