🌍 A Surreal Moment: My Book Is Available Worldwide
From My Desk to the World
The Most Surprising Moment of My Publishing Journey
I was not prepared for what happened today.
I was sitting at my computer, taking a break, and on a whim I typed my book’s ISBN into Google… mostly out of curiosity, and honestly not expecting anything unusual. Maybe just Amazon, Goodreads, and a stray listing or two.
Instead…
Walmart.
My book — Interview with Intelligence — was right there on Walmart.com, sitting politely on a product page like it had every right in the world to exist there. I think my brain short-circuited for a second. I actually said “WHAT?” out loud.
And then things got even weirder.
I kept scrolling and found it on Google Books. Then on Booktopia, which I quickly learned is the biggest online bookstore in Australia. And then on Saxo, the largest online bookseller in Denmark — complete with a fancy shadowed display like they’d dressed it up for the occasion.
At that point I wasn’t even sitting anymore. I was pacing. Laughing. Shocked. And honestly a little emotional.
Because none of this was supposed to happen today.
Not like this.
Not so fast.
Especially after the absolutely insane battle I went through with my distributor’s user interface (if you know, you know). At one point I genuinely thought, There is no way I’m doing this again. This is too much. I wondered if the hassle was worth it or if my little indie press was destined to stay local and small.
Turns out, pushing through that frustration might have been one of the smartest decision I’ve made in a while.
Because today, Soft Return Press quietly became a worldwide publisher.
No big announcement.
No marketing campaign.
Just one book going out into the world and somehow finding its way to readers across different countries — on platforms unknown to me that were quietly pulling from my distribution feed.
This is surreal.
It’s humbling.
And I’m honestly still absorbing it.
My book — something I wrote in my living room and during lunch breaks, something I designed myself, something I poured my heart into — is being picked up by bookstores in places I’ve never been. It’s quietly traveling farther than I am.
And that’s… indescribable.
If you want to see what I stumbled across today, here are a few of the places it’s now available:
Apple Books (ebook)
Booktopia (Australia)
Saxo (Denmark)
I don’t think I’ll ever forget this feeling.
Thank you for being part of this journey with me. I’m still in shock, and incredibly grateful.
— Michelle
Soft Return Press
