My 15 Steps of Publication... So Far

Winner, winner, chicken dinner! gold!! won my first award and loved it. but more about that later, lets get blogging...

I'm learning as I go here, and whether right or wrong, this has been my order, so far, during the life of my debut novel. my wisdom is passed on to you, my friend. no charge.
1 - write when inspiration hits, for me the song Castle on the Hill by Ed Sheeran, sparked the idea to write coming-of-age based on friends back in my hometown. then everything seemed to flow. write, write, write! strike while the iron is hot.
2 - edit, sent to family members and good friends to see what needed help
3 - rewrite, stuff gets better everytime. steps 2-3 are repeated for an eternity
4 - query, lit agents rejected me left and right, unsure why
5 - self-pub, via amazon, quicker than ingram spark, better binding too
6 - blast social media, hit up friends on fb and insta for that initial sales surge. love my friends, huge confidence boost
7 - canvas the internet, your book shows up on a ton of sites (ebay, barnes and nobel, walmart), if there's an option to write a review, do it. Social based sites like goodreads, library thing, reedsy, litpick may need to be nudged in order to add you to their site. open accounts and profiles when needed
8 - write press release, got media connections? use them. emailed area newspapers and tv stations (no response on latter)
9 - library distribution, email as many libraries as possible especially those related to your setting. should have done this one sooner since it takes a while for libraries to order, receive, and catalog
10 - editorial reviews, contacted review services (many of which cost money) looks better than an amazon review your friend wrote. hit up magazines, influential social media people that do reviews. some robots will hit you up too, watch out.
11 - sold at mom and pops stores, my novel is set in Freeport IL and some old friends carried books in their shops. love them.
12 - advertise, tried bookbub and instagram with decent results. newspapers are so expensive! even the little ones are owned by monster corporations now. they want thousands $$$!
13 - contests, i've gotten some good editorial reviews so now i'm entering fiction contests. these usually cost money too, and most are awarded annually, so it takes a long time to get results. I won one already, a monthly, from Literary Titan. Gold Award! (much better than their silver) you know, prized for its excellence and stuff. feels so good!
14 - write another book, people keep asking about a sequel, but i'm not feeling it so far. write for yourself!
15 - dunno, what's next? blog more, haha. I'm sure there's a lot of waiting involved at some point. word of mouth takes time to get around. i'm trying to make a push for christmas gifting but once January hits, who knows. back to step 14, i guess, looking forward to it. until then i'll enjoy with all my heart the occasional compliment or review.
oh, and i bought some cool promo stickers, not sure which step though, haha. it's been a fun ride. spread the word: To the Top of Greenfield Street is a joy to read.