24 Mar 2026 4 min read Author Blog

Retrospective on A Lion's Pride

A good habit I adopted from years in the tech industry was carrying out a retrospective after something has been finished. Not only should this be done in real time (on a weekly basis) but also over long term milestone completion.

I wrote a short retro of A Lion's Head soon after it came out, which helped me pivot hard when I released A Lion's Pride. I released it on all formats on the same day. The advice given by AI bots had failed dramatically with A Lion's Head when on releasing it as an ePub, I was met with friends and family who wished to receive it as a paperback, hardback, or audiobook. Granted, I hadn't even discovered a route to audiobooks back then—but, I missed out on the hype I had built up on social media channels as a result of having a hard launch of an ePub and subsequent soft launches. The horse was already out of the gate. I underestimated the desire people would have for a paperback.

Publishing two fantasy novels was a steep learning curve. I made mistakes with my local publisher and messed up the cover for A Lion's Pride. In admitting my humility, I discovered a niche market for 'damaged' fantasy books. People willing to take a risk on my becoming famous wanted a copy of the sequel as it was in its damaged state. This was a surprise. I would never damage a book on purpose, but it made me think twice about 'limited edition' books.

Let's talk book sales. In person book sales are king. Discoverability continues to be the biggest challenge for me. I've expanded my social media coverage across all the platforms. Occasionally, I'll see an uptick in the number of copies of my free reader magnet A Water Horse being downloaded (125 in a day). It's hard for me to determine a reason or rational—or social media channel from which this resulted. Subsequently, I've seen a few organic purchases of A Lion's Head and A Lion's Pride. IF 300 people have downloaded A Water Horse, what's the conversion and how long do I wait before measuring it?

At the same time, I would rather push people to request my books at their local libraries. Give them a try but leave them available for others to discover. Buy yourself a copy if you really truly love the book and want it to live rent free in your head. (See what I did there? Not only will your library buy a copy—but so will you, eventually!)

By the way, I'm not making money on these books. I've lowered prices in Canada and India (on Amazon) on purpose. My goal this year is discoverability. I write because I feel the story must come out. I'm not in it for the money. I'm in it to become a better author and for my worlds to live in your heads. Is that a form of world domination? Perhaps.

Back to the retrospective... I have delayed putting out the hardcover on non-amazon retailers on account of wanting to make sure it aligns with the hardcover of A Lion's Head. I had a terrible hiccup when on printing samples of the books I realized the covers don't sit perfectly aligned. Also, Ingramspark charges a lot for their hardcovers. The difference almost makes it not worth my effort to put the hardcover out. Why pay $40 for a book when even the author is only getting about $1.00 for the sale? I'd rather put out the audiobook and reach a wider audience. For people wanting the hardcover, it is available on Amazon.

Not that I've sold any hardcovers. A friend mentioned that she had ordered the hardcover of my book but I never saw the sale of it. I have the disquiet paranoia that Amazon has been selling my books and not reporting on the sales. Is that possible? Is it a glitch in the matrix?

Putting all those thoughts aside.

I am very happy with the turnout of A Lion's Pride. The cover looks fantastic. The audiobook was fun to record. I have yet to see reviews on these books. I've yet to learn the reliability of ARC readers. The few friends who have received copies, while giving me rave reviews over the phone, have been slow to leave a written review. It's not in their habit but they don't realize how much it weighs into the legitimacy and discoverability of my books.