Two Weeks Later: The Reality of Launching My First Book

It’s been two weeks since I released my first novel, The Templars of Alderath, into the wild.

Publishing your first indie book is a strange mix of excitement and uncertainty—especially when you don’t already have an audience waiting for it. You hit “publish,” and then… you wait. And refresh. And try not to refresh.

I went into this with intentionally modest expectations. Most indie books struggle to gain traction, and I knew that going in. My goal wasn’t a meteoric launch. It was proof of life. Proof that readers would find it, read it, and hopefully care enough to say something about it.

This post is a transparent two-week report—part progress update, part documentation of what the early indie author journey actually looks like. I’ll share the numbers so far, what they mean, and what I’m learning as this small ember of a book starts to catch.

Launch Metrics: Reviews, Sales, and Early Reader Response

As of today—two weeks in—here’s where things stand:

• 13 Amazon reviews

• All 5-star ratings

• 12 sales

• Around a 230,000 Best Sellers Rank overall

• Around #1,300 in Fantasy > Coming of Age

For a first-time indie author with no built-in audience, that’s honestly better than I expected.

The 12 sales might not sound like much in the grand scheme of publishing, but every one of those represents someone who took a chance on an unknown author. And more importantly, 13 people took the time to leave reviews (this includes ARC readers who decided to leave reviews). That matters more than almost anything else at this stage.

Reviews are one of the biggest barriers for new books. Most readers won’t buy a book with zero social proof. Crossing into double digits this early feels like a real milestone. It establishes credibility. It tells new readers, “Other people read this and didn’t regret it.” It also signals to Amazon’s recommendation system that readers are engaging with the book—which is critical for long-term visibility.

Verified Purchase reviews are especially meaningful in that ecosystem. They’re harder to get, but they carry more weight with both Amazon and cautious new readers. To me, every review is equally meaningful. But practically speaking, verified reviews help drive future sales more than ARC reviews, and at this stage, that matters.

Seeing the sales rank move—even modestly—as reviews and readership increase has been encouraging. It’s not explosive. It’s steady. And steady is something you can build on.

What’s probably meant the most to me, though, is the content of the reviews themselves. Several readers highlighted themes and character arcs I was aiming for—or quietly worried wouldn’t land. Seeing those things mentioned has been a genuine boost of confidence, and a relief in ways I didn’t fully expect.

What’s Driving Progress: Early Marketing Efforts and Lessons Learned

At this stage, nothing about the progress is accidental.

The early reviews came largely from ARC readers and a few from buyers. I reached out within some small gaming and fantasy circles I’m part of. My networking pool isn’t huge. I’m not some influencer with a built-in crowd. But even a few people sharing the book or deciding to give it a shot has driven a handful of sales.

And right now, every single one of those is gold—especially if it turns into a verified purchase review.

That early social proof is critical. Without it, a book just sits there looking untested. Reviews create trust. Trust creates clicks. Clicks that convert into sales feed the Amazon ecosystem, and that visibility feeds more impressions. Sales, reviews, and conversion all tie together. Once I started to understand that loop, the strategy became clearer.

I also found one typo and fixed it.

One letter. Out of roughly 140,000 words.

And I fixed it immediately. Because if that one letter costs me a star on a review, it’s worth the fifteen minutes it took to correct it. Reader experience matters. Presentation matters. The cover, the description, the keywords, the category placement—they all influence whether someone takes a chance.

The biggest lesson so far? Reviews are the hardest and most important part of the launch phase. Right now, they matter more than raw sales. Until I get closer to 50 reviews, that’s where my focus stays. After that, I’ll shift harder into promotions and ads.

Growth at this stage is slow and gradual, but it’s still growth. And every reader and every review adds a small piece of momentum.

What Happens Next: The Critical Growth Phase

The next milestone is clear: 25 to 50 reviews.

From everything I’ve studied and observed, that’s often the range where books begin to gain stronger organic visibility. While this doesn't really mean breakout success yet, it's the foundation for it.

My goal is to get the book to a point where organic growth builds reviews, which build more organic growth—a virtuous cycle. I think of it like starting a fire. Right now, it’s an ember. You have to kneel down and blow on it to get that first flame to catch. Then you feed it small sticks. Carefully. Patiently. Eventually, if you’ve done it right, the fire grows strong enough to catch larger pieces of wood. After that, keeping it going is just a matter of tossing on a log every now and then.

That’s the phase I’m working toward.

Practically, that means continuing to reach new readers and build awareness. It means watching sales rank, paying attention to reader feedback, and experimenting carefully with promotions and advertising once the review base is stronger.

At the same time, I’m plotting and planning books two and three. The world-building work is ongoing so I can move into drafting as soon as possible. In fantasy, a completed trilogy changes everything. Readers say they want series—but many hesitate to start one until it’s finished.

That “fear of an incomplete series” creates a strange paradox for new authors. Readers want series vs standalone alone novels, but shy away from series until they are done. There is a full post on this topic, I'm sure, but for me this means that even though I wrote The Templars of Alderath to be a full and complete novel, I likely wont see breakout success until I make it a full and complete Trilogy.

So the long-term plan is simple: keep the ember alive, build the fire, and finish the trilogy.

Gratitude and Closing

More than anything, I just want to say thank you.

To everyone who has bought the book, read it, reviewed it, or even shared it with a friend—you’ve done more than you probably realize. Early support means everything to an indie author. There’s no marketing machine behind this. No publishing house pushing it forward. It moves because readers decide it’s worth moving.

Every review helps the book reach someone new. Every recommendation builds a little more trust. Every sale adds another small piece of momentum.

This is still the beginning. Two weeks in is hardly a victory lap. But it’s a solid start, and I’m genuinely grateful for it.

If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review yet, I’d truly appreciate it. And I’ll continue sharing updates as this launch unfolds.

The ember’s lit. Now we build.