An Explanation and an Apology

A lesson learned and a new direction

About two years ago, I self-published the Walter Ulric Files on Amazon. I considered this a big achievement, considering that I’d spent three years writing it, and I was rather proud of my first attempt at a paranormal thriller. I would point out that I had virtually no help with this anthology. I had a few people beta-read the stories, and their feedback was positive, but no one read all the stories from beginning to end. But I had made myself a deadline to have published by Halloween 2023, and I was determined to keep it, so my editor, Sarah, and I were on our own.

Now, I made the decision *not* to make it available for Kindle readers. Why I did this, I’m not exactly sure. But sales were sluggish as a result. No one seemed interested in the book, which was disappointing.

Then the first review came in: One star. Now, this was not my first one star review; my Emrys novellas got one stars, but that didn’t shake my confidence, since they had gotten all four and five star reviews across the board. But this was the first review. One star? How could this be? Surely this person was just a malefactor, looking to shake my self-confidence. But it worked.

I lost basically all motivation to promote or continue the series. It was disheartening, but I just couldn’t stand having that one star on Amazon like a scarlet letter hanging from my neck. When I lamented this one X, I received an outpouring of support from the indie-author community, including some who offered to read it if I published it on Kindle. So I did.

Then I got another review: three stars. Better than one by a lot. He gave me candid feedback, some of it good, some of it, bad, all of it helpful. After reading it, I determined that I should have spent more time revising the anthology and I should not have been in such a great hurry to publish it. I should have gotten more feedback before I hit that button. In the back of my mind, I knew the series wasn’t ready, but I didn’t want to disappoint anyone, especially myself.

I learned a valuable lesson about taking time and being patient. After further reflection, I will be un-publishing the physical copies of the book. You’'ll still be able to purchase it on Kindle, but I just don’t want physical copies floating around, giving people the impression that I’m some hack who barely knows how to write.

I will be re-publishing the revised stories here for paid subscribers. For $5/month, you’ll be able to read new and improved tales of mystery and suspense, certain to tingle your spine!

Thanks for reading this. I am grateful for all my supporters, both paid and free subscribers. You’re the reason I want to produce quality content.