So, I\u2019m making the plunge.\u00a0 I\u2019ve joined BookFunnel and I\u2019ll be running a giveaway for e-copies of the \u201cThe Sniper\u201d starting pretty soon.\u00a0 The trick now will be to get as much visibility for the giveaway as I can.\u00a0 So, I\u2019ll publicize it here (of course) and I\u2019ll put up a post on X and I\u2019ll tell everybody I can think of that likes this kind of story.\u00a0 My plan, such as it is, is to use the giveaway to garner as many reviews as I can and try to get the book more attention.\u00a0 And after that I\u2019ll put it up on Kindle Unlimited to tempt the general public that tests out its fiction one page at a time.<\/p>\n
Will it work?\u00a0 Well, I certainly hope it will but I\u2019ll find out for sure whether I can interest the world at large.\u00a0 I was listening to the Critical Drinker interview Andy Weir about the success of two of his books being turned into movies.\u00a0 But I was just as interested in his story about self-publishing.\u00a0 His \u201cThe Martian\u201d was self-published on Amazon and struggled to find an audience in the beginning.\u00a0 So, it\u2019s kind of that one in a million-success story that inspires the other 999,999 writers out there toiling away in obscurity.\u00a0 So just to clear the air ahead of time, for the movie version of \u201cThe Sniper,\u201d I want Adam Baldwin to play Bogey and Gary Oldman to play Cutter.\u00a0 Nick Searcy would make a good Chastain.\u00a0 As for Connors, I haven\u2019t made up my mind.\u00a0 And the other parts are also up for grabs but definitely no Hollywood weirdos; that\u2019s for sure.\u00a0 I think Christopher Walken would make a good President Miller.\u00a0 He\u2019s always able to provide a memorably psychopathic character when required.\u00a0 Of course I\u2019m hoping to get myself a bit part.\u00a0 Sort of like how Stan Lee always got a cameo in the Marvel superhero movies.\u00a0 Maybe I can be one of the clerks at the airport in Baghdad.\u00a0 I think I could really handle the part with style and finesse.\u00a0 Sort of a latter-day Olivier.<\/p>\n
But I will say it is a little discouraging to see just how much grunt work there is in navigating the world of self-publishing.\u00a0 The experts don\u2019t really seem to know that much more than the people wandering around in the dark like me.\u00a0 Sure, they have a sense of things like keywords and how to attach to other books that are already popular but it doesn\u2019t seem like they can tap into any magic formula for shining a spotlight on a new book.\u00a0 It reminds me of that Glenn Campbell song \u201cRhinestone Cowboy,\u201d \u201cWhere hustle\u2019s the name of the game and nice guys get washed away by the snow and the rain.\u201d\u00a0 Of course, that\u2019s a little dramatic because I\u2019m doing this from the comfort of my dining room where it\u2019s relatively warm and dry.\u00a0 But metaphorically I\u2019m pounding that digital pavement so I can sing the blues along with Mr. Campbell.<\/p>\n