My little experiment stumbles forward

So, as I've recently mentioned, I'm experimenting with self e-Publishing. So far, I can safely say my agent's job is more secure than it was ten days ago, because I have numbers to back up my impulse to remain with an agent, and keep publishing through trade publishers like Nightshade and Apex.

The novelette experiment, a story too odd in many ways (an odd length, a gay main character, grotesque and gruesome subject matter) has stumbled onto the Nook at Barnes and Noble, thanks to someone showing where to go to do it. (Thanks, Paul!)

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Death-Mask-and-Eulogy-a-Novelette/J-M-McDermott/e/2940012596628/?itm=1&USRI=death+mask+and+eulogy

This little novelette has also garnered exactly one review, from Paul Jessup, at the Amazon.com site:

Paul Jessup says, "McDermott is at the top of his game in this one, and it will haunt you for days afterwards. Really great stuff"

Here's a link directly there, if you want to know how many stars it got from Paul:




In a totally related note, my sales remain in the single digits. The low single digits.

So, there's a lot of hype in the world about the eBook revolution, and I can say that I honestly have done more promotion of this little novelette in its first week then I did for NEVER KNEW ANOTHER, and my sales in the first week for that book, published through Nightshade and available wherever books are sold, has a pretty significant difference in units sold. (Specifically, more than two units have sold.)

I'm going to leave my little experiment up and out in the world, because this is an interesting experiment, even if it is not a lucrative one. I have heard that you have to give people time to find your book and see if something happens. Naturally, I did not expect to stumble into riches through self-publishing. (In fact, I'm doing about what I expected to do with this, if not less, and am relieved to see my anti-self-publishing prejudices justified by SCIENCE!)

Okay, the experiment must continue. There's something funny about my eBook: the cover. If I want to take this experiment to the next level, I'm going to need a cover that's built and designed "better", with an image that might have something to do with the actual story.

Anyone want to volunteer to make a new cover sometime next month? I'll pay you with free books.