June 29th, 2006
My first book is trickling into bookstores near you and, I gotta tell you, I’m a nervous wreck. I don’t know whether I’ve done enough marketing OR what’s going to happen next, and not knowing is driving me right around the bend.
I am a major control freak, and here is a list of things about a book release that I can’t control:
- Whether bookstores stock the book;
- Whether bookstores that stock the book put it in a nice location that human eyes can see;
- Whether people buy the book;
- Whether people who buy the book actually like the book;
- Whether people who buy, dislike and trash the book on Amazon.com outnumber the people who buy, like, and recommend the book on Amazon.com;
- My Amazon.com ranking (1,080,954 as of thirty seconds ago, 1,065,529 yesterday); and
- My Barnes & Noble ranking (92,729 as of thirty seconds ago).
Here is an exhaustive list of things I’ve personally done that were LESS stressful that waiting for public reaction to my book:
- Going to law school;
- Taking law school exams;
- Studying for and taking the bar exam;
- Planning a wedding and getting married; and
- Giving birth. Twice.
Other authors have told me to stop worrying and just enjoy the experience, and I plan to do that. Eventually. Like, maybe, a year from now.
In the meantime, I’ve stocked up on Tums, Tylenol, and chocolate.