Here I sit on a Saturday morning, with a cup of coffee, staring at some lovely reviews for A Flight of Saints, and wondering, Do I keep them to myself and file them lovingly away, or share them? Many of my literary peers (and more adept social media users) would have had them up on Instagram and made a TikTok video to boot, the moment they crossed their desktop. Oh to have such cleverness and confidence! Any self-generated promotion of mine involves lots of hand-wringing, second-guessing, and mental discomfort, but the early morning quiet and this coffee are making me bold. Besides, given that A Flight of Saints is almost a year old, I figured an update is due.
Firstly, a huge thank you to those who have stumbled across the book and purchased a copy. I’m also grateful for all the lovely reviews that readers have posted on Amazon. Each is a gesture of generosity. For all the negatives concerning the Amazon behemoth, it does allow the possibility to produce a nice book and launch it into the world. For self-published authors, there’s nothing currently more affordable or easy to navigate. I’m a die-hard lover of traditional publishing, but when you can’t find someone to take a chance on your novel, this is the next best thing.
Secondly, in case you’re wondering, book sales have not been huge. That’s down to me. I haven’t promoted it. And at this stage I haven’t the resources to hire a publicist. Maybe that will come. For now, A Flight of Saints has sold about 130 copies, and the number inches up each month. And no, I don’t buy boxes of my books to boost sales, and store them in my office (though some authors do.) In fact, regardless of whether it’s self-published or traditionally published, I never keep more than two copies on hand.
The novel was entered into a few competitions. I was chuffed when, two months after publication, A Flight of Saints won an IPPY Award in the best religious fiction category. I was even sent a bronze medal on a blue-ribboned lanyard, a citation, and some stickers to add to the book. Nice touch.
What I really hoped for, however, was a published review. Authors value printed critiques of their work. It’s validation that a third party has read the book, had a deep think about it, and considered the work worthy of public attention. They haven’t simply regurgitated the back cover synopsis, but have laid out why the book has or hasn’t worked. It’s helpful to those who want to read the book, but it’s also helpful to the author by showing what works and doesn’t work, and how the work is being interpreted. Given the lack of promotion, I figured those sorts of reviews would be elusive.
But hark! Two reviews in the last month! The first was in the December 2025 edition of the Rivista di Studi Italiani (Journal for Italian Studies). I did not expect an academic journal to be keen on it. (Disclosure: The reviewer is a friend’s husband, and a former university professor. I never expected them to purchase a copy of the novel, let alone consider it deserving of space in an academic journal.) But I was obviously delighted when I was told that one was forthcoming. Yes! I practically punched the air. You can read it here: https://www.journalofitalianstudies.com/?s=Elizabeth+Braithwaite
The second review as a result of a Substack competition, in which the writer of the post, having bemoaned the lack of attention to quality self-published books, announced her rash decision to set up the Samuel Richardson Award to honour them. No prize for the winner, just bragging rights. Well, I thought, what’s the harm?
The result: A Flight of Saints leapfrogged over seventy other submissions and landed in the top five. And no, I don’t know nor have ever met Adam Fleming Petty, who championed my book, but I did send him a thank you note afterwards. An overall winner has yet to be announced, but to be a finalist makes an author very happy indeed. Petty’s review and his reasons for choosing A Flight of Saints can be found here.
Hope you enjoy reading them.
January 24, 2026