What happens after you get your first novel published?
I haven't published a novel, but I did recently publish a history book. So, for what it's worth:
Do you wait around for the reviews to hear what people think of it?
If you're anything like me, you'll be scouring the internet every day looking for reviews, while keeping an eye on your book's sales rank on amazon, trying to get a sense of how well it's selling.
In my case, I've received a handful of reviews in the press--mostly good--but I'm still waiting to read reviews from academic journals.
I think the number of reviews you receive will depend on how heavily your publisher promotes your work, how well it sells, and how widely it is read. If your book "falls dead-born from the press," as David Hume put it, you may receive no reviews at all. If it's a bestseller, you should receive several.
If it's a work of category fiction, though, my sense is that it will probably not be reviewed widely.
Do you get through a series of interviews about the book? What stuff do you go through?
Once again, this seems to depend on how well it sells, or is expected to sell, and your publisher's willingness to promote your work.
In my case, my publisher seemed confident that my book would sell pretty well (for an academic monograph) and promoted it extensively. As a result, I've done three short radio interviews, and turned down a fourth. In each case, the station contacted the publisher, who forwarded their interview request to me.
And all this publicity seems to have paid off: my book has already been reprinted twice, which is unusual. The press has even submitted my book for a few awards, but I seriously doubt that it will win anything.
But as above--my sense is that, if you're writing a work of category fiction, you won't receive much attention, unless your novel catches the reading public's fancy.
So, write good.
