Hi Reader,
This week we’re talking about book launches.
I can tell you that releasing a book internationally through a traditional publisher is very different from self-publishing.
On the stress scale, 1-10, I’d put the number at…
Zero. None. Nada.
Because they don’t need me. I don’t know the markets. I don’t know the language. I wait, and eventually a box of books shows up at the house. Very cool.
Self-publishing in the States? Now that’s a different animal.
It’s not stress exactly.
Well. Maybe it is.
More of a low-key-lots-on-the-list kind of anxiety.
Let me give you a peek at what I’m working on before Noble Reckoning releases on September 24th.
First, there’s the regional book tour. Reaching out to stores and libraries to see if they’ll have me for an event. When you’re not a New York Times best-selling author, making these calls is sometimes akin to being a door-to-door Fuller Brush salesman.
Which makes you want to just wrap your arms around the store managers and librarians who support indie authors.
I don’t think I’m supposed to touch them, though.
Thankfully, because I’ve got a few more books now and a pinch more name recognition, it’s becoming a bit easier.
I'm happy to report we’ve already booked some great spots with more on the way.
Then there’s the work with the publisher that never seems to finish. Final manuscript approval. Final post-proofread approval. Final back cover and spine approval. The this-is-your-last-chance-to-make-changes/do-or-die approval.
Can’t forget the digital ARC, which has to be in the hands of hundreds of reviewers and Street Team members by mid-August.
Then there’s everything with the word ‘marketing’ attached to it. Ads. Trailers. Cover reveals. Podcasts. Industry reviews. And a serious update to my website that I’m not exactly looking forward to.
I keep my to-do list on a yellow legal pad beside my computer. Every time I cross something off, it seems I need to add two more things underneath it. When I grumble, Kath reminds me how much fun I said I was having.
I smile, nod, and thank her so much for reminding me.
There is one very big difference this time around.
I’m personally handling all the print preorders for Noble Reckoning in-house. This means ordering the hardcovers and paperbacks, signing them, and sending them from New Hampshire.
More work, obviously. But Emma Noble fans will get signed copies directly from me, and I’ll get a few more bucks that I don’t have to split with companies that own ships and private jets.
The problem is that I have to guess how many boxes to order.
And I’m a really bad guesser.
So, if you think you might be interested in preordering a signed copy of Noble Reckoning, click below and let me know.
**This is NOT an order**
(just a head count)
Okay, so you might look at all of this work and assume the author arithmetic must be pretty compelling.
Well, not so much.
For most of us, being an author is a pretty dumb way to make a living. A year to write a book. Then editing, design, production, ads, approvals, boxes in the garage, and a lot of miles schlepping books across a state or two.
So, why do it?
Becoming an author was my late-in-life revelation. It gave me work I care about, a sense of purpose I didn’t know I was missing, and connections with people I never would have met otherwise.
Writing is my escape—a place where I am in complete control.
And when life punches you in the nose, it’s really important to have work that gives you peace.
None of that shows up on a royalty statement.
Happy Friday!
Andy
