My Indie Book is Out - Now What?

Dan Walsh is the award-winning and bestselling author of 12 novels, including The Unfinished Gift, The Discovery and When Night Comes. He has won 3 Carol Awards and 2 Selah Awards. Three of his novels were finalists for Inspirational Book of the Year. Dan is a member of ACFW and Word Weavers. He lives with his wife, Cindi, in the Daytona Beach area where they love to take long walks with their dogs. Click Here to connect with Dan or check out his books. 

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About this time last month, I announced that after publishing 11 novels the old-fashioned way (through a traditional publisher), I was "going indie" (pretty much publishing my next novel myself). And it wasn't just that I was going indie, the novel itself is in a different genre than all my other books. When Night Comes is a suspense novel. 

Here's a link to that post, if you missed it: 

 http://www.novelrocket.com/2014/10/im-going-indie-yikes.html

It's fair to say all my novels are suspenseful, at least in certain spots (that's not just my opinion, most reviewers have said so), but they're not mainly suspense novels. They're really love stories and family life dramas (like the books written by Nicholas Sparks). 

Well, last weekend When Night Comes released! It's out! It's for sale! You can buy it (please buy it). 

I was a little nervous as I awaited the first few reviews to come in. A month ago, I had invited a number of readers and bloggers who had reviewed my other books to read a preview copy of this one. What would they say? Would they hate it? Would they think it's too different? I love reading suspense novels and want to be able to write both kinds of books. Would they tell me, "Forget that, you better stick to the Sparks-type books."

Well, so far, that's not what they're saying. So far, my fears are unfounded. 17 reviews have come in the past 5 days. 13 of them are 5-Star (the others are 4-Stars). Here's a sample of what they're saying about When Night Comes:

“While this book does deviate from Dan Walsh’s typical style, it’s still an amazing read…It was a page turner and I could have easily finished it in a day if I didn’t have other things to tend to like….kids.” – Living, Laughing, Loving Blog – Melinda Joy

“Dan Walsh’s unique plot twists keep the surprises coming at breath-taking speed. When Night Comes had me in suspense with every turn of the page.  There’s much I’d like to add to this review, but I don’t want to post any spoilers. When Night Comes is a must-read for suspense lovers.” — Author, Ann Shorey

“In a change from his romance novels, award-winning author Dan Walsh turns his strong character-driven narrative writing to a page-turning nail-biting suspense thriller combined with accurate historical fiction. As well written as any novelist currently writing…Walsh shows himself to be a master storyteller regardless of genre.” – Writing Truth Blog -Jorja Davis

I gotta tell you...it didn't hurt reading things like this. If you'd like to check out the book yourself, maybe even buy it (only $4.99 for the ebook version), here are the links:

Kindle – Click Here

Nook – Click Here

Kobo – Click Here

If you just want to read a free sample, click on the Kindle/Amazon link. They'll let you read the first 5 chapters online. Also, if you prefer a print version, you can get that on Amazon. Just click the same link and click the "paperback" button.

Here's the big question...Now What? I've never gotten this far before. I'd love to hear any suggestions from those of who've blazed this trail already. I've heard about advertising on BookBub and ENT. Anyone have any other ideas or strategies that have worked? Anything I should definitely avoid?