There’s a deafening, uncomfortable silence that follows the release of a book when you're an indie author. If you’re truly writing something honest, it’s risky. You tell yourself it doesn’t matter if anyone reads it, but tossing a note in a bottle into the ocean still carries a glimmer of hope. Hope that someone finds it. That your words are understood. That something connects.
When a few people buy your book and the world stays quiet, you push the project to the back of your mind. You tell yourself you did all you could. You finished something. That has to be enough.
And then, the first review comes in. There’s a moment of fear, that it’s a one-star review, that maybe you really are just a person with no business pecking out words on a keyboard. But will you stop? No. This is just what you do. You’ll heal, and you’ll move on to the next thing.
So it is with real relief—and joy—that my very first review turned out to be thoughtful, generous, and insightful. I’m honored that my book was chosen as the debut for a new project called First Past the Post, where the reviewer seeks out books with no reviews and becomes the first to share their thoughts.
“The thing I enjoyed most overall, however, was just the sheer joy and passion radiating from every word in this book.”
“It is so clear that Kirpluk writes from a place of pure creative pleasure and truly loves the characters she has created.”
“What a weird, wacky, silly, lovely gem to stumble upon for the first review of this new series.”
