At Least I Know That My Book Doesn’t Suck!

Months ago when I self-published my only novel The Sunset Rises: A 1990s Romantic Comedy, I wasn’t confident that it was any good. I was even hesitant to talk to people that I know about my novel because I wasn’t feeling secure about the book and I didn’t want friends or acquaintances to feel like they were being cornered into reading a book they weren’t interested in.

My writing goal over the last 15 years has been to write just one book that didn’t suck.  I don’t even care about sales that much.  I don’t care about book review ratings that much. I just wanted to write a book that would be entertaining to some people (if not entertaining for everybody).  

Here was my issue: if book sales and review ratings didn’t matter much to me, then how would I know whether or not The Sunset Rises: A 1990s Romantic Comedy was any good?

I kept it simple. I decided ahead of time that I would judge the quality of my book on whether or not anybody finished reading it without me putting pressure on them. If people actually finish reading The Sunset Rises: A 1990s Romantic Comedy on their own, then I know it can’t be that bad.

Unfortunately, I can’t go around and ask people who have my book if they finished it.  I don’t have that kind of personality.  But over the last couple months, several friends, co-workers, and a few people whom I don’t even know have contacted or talked to me about my book without me asking.  

I’ve received enough positive feedback (and a little criticism) from people who didn’t have to give me feedback at all, and I can tell from these conversations that they’ve actually finished the book. They’ve asked me questions (How much of the book is based on truth? How did I come up with some of the twists?). They’ve made comments about certain scenes throughout the book, especially the ending.

The only real negative feedback that I’ve received is from people who have read only the sample chapter (which makes sense… and I’m not faulting the people who’ve given me somewhat negative feedback).

If The Sunset Rises: A 1990 Romantic Comedy sucked, more of the feedback would be negative… or there wouldn’t have been any feedback at all.

I’ll admit, the numbers of sales and conversations/responses are small, but that’s okay because I have the rest of my life to work on that if I choose to do so. I’ve made more sales from ‘the trunk of my car’ than I have on Amazon.   Also, men seem to like the book much more than women do, and I have a pretty good understanding why now (but that’s for another blog post). I’ve received enough feedback now for me to feel more confident in my one novel.

I know my book has flaws, but every book has flaws, even those written by James Patterson.

I know my book has outright mistakes (Aaaaarrrrgh!).

I know that some readers will not (or don’t) like my book.

But I’m pretty confident now that my book doesn’t suck.

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For more about The Sunset Rises: A 1990s Romantic Comedy:

Why Did I Write A Romantic Comedy When I Don’t Read or Watch Romantic Comedies?

Aaarrrgh! I Found Mistakes in My Recently Published Book!

The Sunset Rises: A 1990s Romantic Comedy is on sale now!

The Sunset Rises: A 1990s Romantic Comedy (sample chapter)

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A grammar-obsessed English teacher falls in ‘luuuvvv’ but discovers how chaotic and dangerous ‘luuuvvv’ can be.

Or you can buy a copy here on Amazon!