Swimming Upstream – The Indie Author Journey

It feels like weeks ago I wrote my last blog just because so much has happened over the last week. I have a lot of promotions going on right now, all for the purpose of getting some good quality reviews. Fingers crossed!

The last week has been a bit wild! For those just finding my Swimming Upstream blog, my name is Daniel. I write historical adventure thrillers, but by day, I work as a site manager at a school.

I've decided to aggressively reduce the price of my ebook and give away free copies because, right now, I am after reviews more than profit. You learn quickly that people reading your book is more important than making money, especially on your first book. If these readers review, and they are good reviews, that alone will help drive sales.

This has been a week where I truly contemplate where I go from here. Nothing seems to get any traction, and I've spent more time looking at metrics than writing.

At last, the time has come—my new book cover is out! I had decided the old cover didn't represent my book, the story, or the future of the series. But the new design has taken the brand, I think, to another level. I might be biased, but I think a bestselling author would be proud of this design!

​I haven't been publishing for very long—my book came out in May—and I still don't really class myself as an Author. Storyteller, yes. Self-published writer, check. But Author? I look at people who do it full-time as Authors. In the sports world, you have professionals, semi-pros, and amateurs. Where am I? I'm making money on every sale, but I’ve definitely spent more than I’ve made. You decide!

Last week, I wrote about why I write short chapters (if you missed it, you can find it here: [link] and announced that you can sign up for my newsletter to get an exclusive excerpt of Book 2, An American Treasure.

I've been asked on more than one occasion: "Why are your chapters so short?"

This is the view as I finally start typing this late blog post—a view I’ve earned after a rough week. For those who follow me, you know I’m heavily involved with my local roller hockey club. Today was our first EC1 (Eastern Counties Division 1) seniors game day, but the season has delivered some tough hits.

This is my second blog this week! I normally post every Wednesday, but I thought an end of the week update was necessary. Since transferring to my website, Swimming Upstream feels like it's becoming more of a personal diary that now and again, a few curious people open and read.

In a past blog post, I admitted that I am a Pantser—someone who does not outline anything and simply writes, taking the story chapter by chapter to see where it leads. Yes, that's me! I have a vision in my head, and I go with it. It's my way of "painting by numbers."

​I look at a lot of other blogs, and they all have titles like How I Increased My Viewers in 3 Weeks or How to Make $10,000 a Month with a Small Blog. I’ve never wanted my blogs to sound like that. If it were that easy to write a blog, make lots of money, and give up your day job, everybody would be doing it! I'm not saying it's impossible, but it takes an incredible amount of work, know-how, and even a little dash of luck.