After many long years, numerous revisions, several sleepless nights, lots of pacing and way too much coffee, I'm proud to announce that THOUGH I FALL—the sequel to my debut novel titled LEGACY DRIVE—is now live on Amazon!
The story went live on April 26, 2024 and immediately became the #1 New Release in the motorsport category on Amazon. THOUGH I FALL had over 10x the number of preorders that LEGACY DRIVE had upon its release back in May 2019 and I'm happy to see it become a permanent part of what is now the Legacy Driver series.
There's a certain relief that coincides with releasing a novel that's taken this long to create. From one side, I feel like I can finally rest as the work I've poured myself into is finally done. But is it?
As a fellow author so eloquently put it, finishing the book is "the easy part."
My was she right.
The most difficult part is what lies ahead and that's marketing, promoting, getting people to write reviews and overall, not making this just a friends and family story which is what the first book was for several years (i.e. those were the only people who bought a copy).
I'm leaning in Facebook marketing and it's starting to pay off but there's definitely a long way to go. It takes a lot of money and I'd be lying if I said this has been an inexpensive endeavor already. Between creating the trailer, hiring two editors and eventually an audiobook narrator, THOUGH I FALL has been a five-figure money pit already and that's not even including the cost of marketing which is four-figures a month.
As a self-published author, all of that comes out of my pockets.
In saying all of that, I set out on this path knowing that I wouldn't relent on making sure I put my best possible foot forward. I wouldn't skimp on professionalism and I was determined to release a polished story which, upon launch, I feel that I did.
In a nutshell, none of these costs have caught me by surprise, but that doesn't lessen the fact that it's bloody expensive to write and release a book!
Now, however, it's time to look to the future of the series. Before doing so, I'll be giving the ol' noggin a much needed break...even as I pour over ad results on Meta as well as sales charts on KPD and IngramSpark. If you haven't picked up on it already, it's very difficult for me to simply rest as there always seems to be something to do.
After my attempt at a break, I'm planning to hop back into the saddle and begin work on what will be the third book in the series. Although I have no plans to give up on the Legacy Drive series once the third book is complete, the eventual trilogy of books will serve as the foundation for any future works afterwards.
In closing, thank you all for reading these blog posts and—if you've already purchased a copy of one or both stories—thank you for giving this series a chance. Motorsport fiction isn't exactly a booming genre but it's something I'm very passionate about. I hope this passion is conveyed to you in my stories and if so, I'd love to read about your experience in the comments. Thank you all and I'll see you in the next post!
-Paul Slavonik
Important Links!
If you haven't picked up a copy of THOUGH I FALL (or even LEGACY DRIVE), here's the link to the series page on Amazon where you can do so!
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