Adrenaline spiking, nerves like porcupine quills, hopes and tears
My book came out yesterday
My fifth novel came out yesterday. In traditional publishing, books always “drop” on a Tuesday. So I was in fine company — other major house releases all appearing on the same day — which led to a deeper understanding of just how very much content there is out there.
And thus a severe crisis of faith, on this glowing day of new beginnings.
We authors are like kids in a classroom, frantically flapping our hands above our heads to be seen and called on.
For me the day was going to be different, not just from ordinary days when I don’t have a book coming out, but from any of the other four days in the past when my prior books dropped. See, I was known for going out on what media called the world’s longest book tour, months and months spent on the road with my family, traveling to bookstores, libraries, and book clubs.
But now there’s a pandemic.
So my passion pursuit — being out there face to face among book-loving people — and my strategy, to the extent that it was ever something deliberate or intentional designed to set me apart, is now off-limits.
I am one in the madding virtual crowd, hoping my book gets noticed.