CloverReef

I use a publisher, because I am exceedingly untalented as an artist, and because I know I need an editor, and a proofreader, and all that jazz. But my first publisher was all about self-marketing.
I like Twitter, because you can schedule a tweet and have it released weekly, or daily if you’re at release time. Facebook is great for launch parties, and I did a Rafflecopter giveaway thing, and all sorts of fun stuff. If you have a blog, blog about it and link the blog to other places, like an Amazon author page (free) or a Goodreads page (now owned by Amazon, but they pretend to be separate).
As far as where to sell it, even if for free, I would strongly advise not to have anything to do with Kindle Unlimited. Keep your options open, so you can distribute your work on other sites, like Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, or via your blog itself, if you’re so inclined. KU will restrict you to only their service, and when you decide to offer something for money, they have a very odd algorithm to determine how much you earn, one which is not fair to the authors in my opinion. Kindle itself is fine, but Kindle Unlimited is not.

“Stop scrolling! Are you ready to read the best story you’ve ever read? Great! You can read this piece of shit until you find it. Rape, snuff, MAGA”.

Yeah, summaries are tricky things. Ideally, you’d know the audience well where you’re posting or publishing. Or at least have an idea of the general demographic you want reading your story so you can play to them. Like, posting on an erotica site, you probably want to stress the erotica side of your story. 
But in general, as @Tcr (and @BronxWench?) said, make sure the summary describes something you want to read. Don’t focus on telling the passersby everything you think is important about the plot or the characters. They don’t need to know everything. They just need to know whether they wanna bother clicking on it. Pick out the most interesting points to draw them in. Touch on the romance (If there is any) and the main character’s conflict. I say the main character’s conflict rather than the main conflict of the plot because I tend to be attracted to summaries that are more personal. More character focused. What the elven warrior is struggling with will draw me in quicker than a world in peril, if that makes any sense. 
That’s how I try to think about it, but it’s by no means a one-size-fits-all thing. 

Yeah, summaries are tricky things. Ideally, you’d know the audience well where you’re posting or publishing. Or at least have an idea of the general demographic you want reading your story so you can play to them. Like, posting on an erotica site, you probably want to stress the erotica side of your story. 
But in general, as @Tcr (and @BronxWench?) said, make sure the summary describes something you want to read. Don’t focus on telling the passersby everything you think is important about the plot or the characters. They don’t need to know everything. They just need to know whether they wanna bother clicking on it. Pick out the most interesting points to draw them in. Touch on the romance (If there is any) and the main character’s conflict. I say the main character’s conflict rather than the main conflict of the plot because I tend to be attracted to summaries that are more personal. More character focused. What the elven warrior is struggling with will draw me in quicker than a world in peril, if that makes any sense. 
That’s how I try to think about it, but it’s by no means a one-size-fits-all thing. 

Honestly, I’d rather deal with editing than write a summary...or that dreaded two-three sentence marketing blurb. But I try to read it from the perspective of a reader: will it make me want to pick up the book, or did I yawn? I’m with @CloverReef in that keeping it personal works much better than trying to slip in a micro-infodump about the plot or the setting.

Yeah, summaries are tricky things. Ideally, you’d know the audience well where you’re posting or publishing. Or at least have an idea of the general demographic you want reading your story so you can play to them. Like, posting on an erotica site, you probably want to stress the erotica side of your story. 
But in general, as @Tcr (and @BronxWench?) said, make sure the summary describes something you want to read. Don’t focus on telling the passersby everything you think is important about the plot or the characters. They don’t need to know everything. They just need to know whether they wanna bother clicking on it. Pick out the most interesting points to draw them in. Touch on the romance (If there is any) and the main character’s conflict. I say the main character’s conflict rather than the main conflict of the plot because I tend to be attracted to summaries that are more personal. More character focused. What the elven warrior is struggling with will draw me in quicker than a world in peril, if that makes any sense. 
That’s how I try to think about it, but it’s by no means a one-size-fits-all thing. 

when in the series does it take place? I wanna read it, but haven’t watched the newest season yet so I’ve been avoiding spoilers like the plague. 

How I would describe it would depend largely on the type of character it is. Like George said, I’d probably start with disbelief or denial. Like something like that would take a while to sink in, if it ever sinks in at all. (which it might not if they have no memory of it) I would play with a lot of confusion, disbelief, numbness, not wanting to hear what they’re being told. Maybe anger at people telling them they would do such a thing. Maybe anger at themselves for not remembering or if they do remember, obviously for that. Over the next few hours or days or weeks, lashing out at small things, pulling away from people they love, acting cold, or uninterested, or even actively hostile. Or you could go another way and make them totally weepy and needy or even catatonic with guilt. 

I think with that level of guilt, a person could easily and quickly become pretty self destructive. On a bit of a longer term, drug use and/or promiscuity, shift in personality towards things more reckless and spontaneous, even death defying. That kinda thing. Sounds like you’re gonna have fun with it!

Sad to see this story up for adoption. It's a wonderful read. I often go back to it even though I've read it way back. Just love the angst and the universe you created. Wish you could continue it.

Why oh why did I first read the topic as "Original Writer Sacrifice"?

I’ve been active on this thread because I do have a tough time overcoming negativity, especially silence.  Last week, it got to me, and so I didn’t post my chapter because I just didn’t feel like it.  Instead, I decided to wait a week to do so, and was over it just enough yesterday to do the post. 
Now, my stories are nearly a full set of warning tags, so intellectually, I know that many potential readers will move on, however, when that dragon print counter barely budges, it still affects me.

Oh yeah, that is definitely a brutal little slice of limbo to be stuck in. I won’t lie, I’ve dropped and pulled way more stories because of silence than I have because of crit. Tried to read the minds of the readers and it turns out my imagination is an asshat. Hell, I even pulled stories that got tepid responses that I would now kill to receive lol. 

When I get harsh criticism, I get angry. What I consider a healthy anger. I vent to people I trust, I write angry letters I will never send, and I don’t allow myself to direct that anger at myself. After a healthy dose of venting, I find it easier to move on. By move on, I mean I can focus on other things, not that I forgive and/or forget, because I definitely don’t do that lol. I hold grudges… lol. 
I like to think I’m confident in my writing. I have very specific standards for myself that might get me frustrated and upset at times, but I’m confident of what those standards produce. But criticism does get to me. Of course, the silence gets to me. I question myself and tear myself apart when I produce something that is received with silence. And my healthy anger can quickly turn unhealthy when harsh criticism starts coming from all directions and the people I try to vent to, as you’ve been experiencing. I think it’s natural to spiral. It’s natural to want to pull everything and hide from the anonymous and not-so-anonymous assholes and friends that made you look at the work you used to love with panic and discomfort. 
Some writers allow it to crush them, and I think it’s so heartbreaking when that happens. I think sometimes it helps to analyze the opposition to death. To slather it in a thick layer of logic until you see it all as rudimentary shapes and you can pick and choose what advice will help you grow and what advice is only meant to sabotage you, and what advice was just someone else projecting their own insecurities. Or, if you can’t fathom creating that emotional distance, you could physically distance yourself from the things and/or people who are hurting you the most. Block them, take a week break from the story you’re feeling icky about until the ickiness fades a little: make changes that make you feel better about the situation. 
Whatever you decide to do, I got your back. 
Edit: Oh and “Invective” is now my word of the week. 

Yeah, I get it. The dude who does the voice of the grandma in squidbillies does it well like that too, by not making it a big joke about a man’s voice on a woman. (My sentence structure ran away on me there, hope it still makes sense lol.)

Two episodes ought to be enough. I completely agree that the animation is terrible, and there seems to be a deliberate effort to make every major character as unattractive as possible (a la Clarence). Also, I’m sick of female characters who are obviously voiced by men. Maybe that was funny for the first four or five decades of cartoon history, but it’s definitely a trope that needs to retire.

Oh yeah, that is definitely a brutal little slice of limbo to be stuck in. I won’t lie, I’ve dropped and pulled way more stories because of silence than I have because of crit. Tried to read the minds of the readers and it turns out my imagination is an asshat. Hell, I even pulled stories that got tepid responses that I would now kill to receive lol. 

Well, in the above example, the *why* to their nose picking could be a different trait...like an obsessive compulsive disorder (to keeping their nostrils clear).  Perhaps the character had a near drowning experience and though they nearly died due to a stuffed nose? 
Just feeding the plot bunnies…

Honestly, I get angry when friends of mine are subjected to cyber-abuse. I’m much more likely to pursue options to see them blocked or banned entirely in that circumstance. For myself, I’m much more prone to snubbing the trivial wretches.

Character picks nose and eats off his finger. Can’t use the “It’s good for immune system” excuse. Otherwise decent person, just a disgusting habit they’re semi-oblivious too. Other character wants to break them of it. It works then… they start chewing their toenails.
Because flaws are interesting.
 

When I get harsh criticism, I get angry. What I consider a healthy anger. I vent to people I trust, I write angry letters I will never send, and I don’t allow myself to direct that anger at myself. After a healthy dose of venting, I find it easier to move on. By move on, I mean I can focus on other things, not that I forgive and/or forget, because I definitely don’t do that lol. I hold grudges… lol. 
I like to think I’m confident in my writing. I have very specific standards for myself that might get me frustrated and upset at times, but I’m confident of what those standards produce. But criticism does get to me. Of course, the silence gets to me. I question myself and tear myself apart when I produce something that is received with silence. And my healthy anger can quickly turn unhealthy when harsh criticism starts coming from all directions and the people I try to vent to, as you’ve been experiencing. I think it’s natural to spiral. It’s natural to want to pull everything and hide from the anonymous and not-so-anonymous assholes and friends that made you look at the work you used to love with panic and discomfort. 
Some writers allow it to crush them, and I think it’s so heartbreaking when that happens. I think sometimes it helps to analyze the opposition to death. To slather it in a thick layer of logic until you see it all as rudimentary shapes and you can pick and choose what advice will help you grow and what advice is only meant to sabotage you, and what advice was just someone else projecting their own insecurities. Or, if you can’t fathom creating that emotional distance, you could physically distance yourself from the things and/or people who are hurting you the most. Block them, take a week break from the story you’re feeling icky about until the ickiness fades a little: make changes that make you feel better about the situation. 
Whatever you decide to do, I got your back. 
Edit: Oh and “Invective” is now my word of the week. 

I think we’ve all been on the end of advice which makes us feel uncertain about our work, and often ourselves. As writers, we invest a great deal of ourselves in what we write, and while most of us understand we’re not perfect, we’d rather not be berated or scoffed at in the guise of helpful advice.
I keep in mind the relative anonymity of the Internet, and the way it can bring out the baser sides of people who are otherwise probably quite decent. It’s astonishingly easy to level invective at someone you will never meet face to face, someone whose reality is still abstract at best. I reverse that for myself, and remind myself that this person doesn’t know me, or my life, and if they are projecting something from their own life onto me, it’s not something I need to own. I am responsible at the end of the day for the people around me, who I love, and who make my life worth living.
The words leveled at me or at my work across the ether of the electronic universe are only as valid as I allow them to be. If they contain sincere and constructive criticism, I’ll embrace them. I might not incorporate all of the critique, but I will welcome it in the spirit of wanting to grow as a writer. If they are mean-spirited, and designed to make me doubt myself, I’m sufficiently thick-skinned enough to let them slide past. That’s not always a helpful bit of advice, since words have a great deal of power to wound. We’re writers, after all, and we understand that. But words leveled at me which are designed to hurt my confidence rarely have that effect if they come from a relative stranger. I just write that person off as trivial, and move on.

LOL
No you are correct that there are some writers of the other gender that do a GREAT!!!! job writing characters of the other gender.
Now that book you mentions about the pirates, the way you described them just calls out to me, woman wrote it in that typical, obvious feminine gay characterization.
Just watch this episode of Johnny Test. 
 I think its harder, because there is that different mind set, that yes some characters will fit that bill perfectly, but others will never fit it, but many people write it that way.

One personal rule I try to follow is to avoid using “the” to start a sentence, and certainly try to avoid “the” to start a story. 

I agree. However I do try not to use the same kind of descriptions over and over. I have a horror of repeating myself except where I want to for emphasis. I’ve also had to start finding more subtile ways of describing things than using adverbs. Sadly this can make things a bit more wordy. I tend to be a bit limited in how to describe emotions and so-on too because, being unable to see, I’ve very little understanding of things like facial expressions and body language. It can be very hard to find alternatives to… “she said angrily,” “He said excitedly,” “she announced sternly.” I wonder too if sighted people might find my writing sometimes odd, since I tend to write in a way that makes my screen reader read it back most effectively, and that looks right on the braille display. I imagine sometimes that might not quite tally with ease of reading for a sighted person. For instance if I use italics, neither display nore screen reader gives any indication that they’re there. It would be great if I could use something like, “That is *really* bad!” However I’m told by everything I’ve read this isn’t really permissible. Even to me it doesn’t look right in fiction writing so I don’t… except when talking online.

Oh but of course! You must experiment. Always fun to do something , write it out to see how it plays out on paper.
 
Writing is  a particularly vexing art.  With music one must only create the suynds and arrangement one hears in one’s mind. In painting and sculp[ting, you must bring out the image in your mind. In writing you must convey through words the image in your mind in such a way that they paint the image in someone else’s mind.
 
The only hard set rule I have with my style is that I always use the OXford Comma.