bookishblog – John McCool

New Year, New Writing

“Echoes From A Distant Star” was officially released a few weeks ago, and it’s been a long, crazy ride! It’s been one of my biggest projects to date, and the most expensive for that matter. A lot of people don’t really know this, but being an independent author comes with a lot of financial cost. In contrast to a signed authors to a publishing company, I have to fork over the entire cost out of my pocket to bring my work to life. This is mainly why I consider myself a hobbyist instead of a “professional” author.

Now, that may be a tad bit misleading. I do consider myself to have professional quality, but I’m not aiming to be a full time writer and make a living off of it. I write fiction because I absolutely LOVE it. I have thousands of stories swirling in my head every single day, fighting for the gift to be placed on paper to become a portal to the real world. However, that’s of course not a realistic thing. I have tons of obligations in my life, so I have to be very selective of the time I allow myself to write, and what I write with that limited time.

For those of you amazing readers who still don’t know me, I’m a busy dude. I manage one of the BEST coffee companies in central Illinois and I’m a Dad of two kids with one on the way. Nothing is more important to me than spending time with my kids, which is why I have such limited time to write, and honestly, I’m cool with that. I’m very proud of the books I’ve written to date, and I’m so excited to share what I have coming up next! It’s still cooking, so you’re gonna have to just wait…

This is a bit of a weird blog post, but things are going great for these little fiction worlds I’ve created, and so many more are coming soon.

Thank you to all you amazing readers that have come along on the ride so far! There’s so many more stories and worlds to share with you in time!

Check out my new novel “Echoes From a Distant Star” on Amazon or Kindle now! Also, don’t forget to leave me a review whether you loved it or hated it. Reviews are the driving forces behind ALL independent authors.

– John McCool

There Came A Knocking Post Launch Update

Man, what a thrilling adventure it is being an indie author. When I conceived the idea to make the jump from being a short story anthology author to a full fledged novelist, I was a little intimidated not going to lie. The support I’ve received post launch has been more than I seriously thought I was going to get. I always try to shoot for the moon with everything I do, but keeping a low expectation on reader feedback is a self defense mechanism that I believe most authors have to develop in their journey. That wasn’t the case with my debut novel There Came A Knocking.

I’m not going to sit here and claim it’s a bestseller, cause it certainly isn’t. As of this post it has 16 reviews on Amazon and 52 on Goodreads which I love and appreciate more than anything! Review, either good or bad, are seriously gold for independent authors such as myself. Anyone of my readers that have received a book directly from me will recognize that line. In every book I personally send out, I ALWAYS write a personal letter with that line somewhere in there. I can not stress the importance of reviews for books. Even if you hate it, please review and let me know that! It helps me evolve into the best author I can be.

Reviews go such a long way, but what I enjoy more than anything is when you wonderful readers send me a DM on any of my social media. I love having deep conversations with y’all about the story devices used in my work, and why characters developed the way they did. Of course, those are things that can’t be made public because of spoilers, but after you read it, please send me a message and let’s discuss it and how it made you feel. I’m really interested in that sort of thing.

Anyway, There Came A Knocking is in a great place four months post launch. I’m very happy with its progress, and I’m more than pleased with the reviews all you incredible readers have given it. If you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, please go give it a read! If you want to hold off, I occasionally do free giveaways to my followers on Instagram, so if you aren’t keeping an eye on that, be sure to give a quick little follow!

What does the future hold?

A writer gonna write. I’m not in a position to announce anything quite yet, but my next novel is deep in the process and it’s…out of this world. Thanks everyone for your continued support!

Remember to read indie and stay creepy! 🤡🔪🩸

–John McCool