Blogger: Rachel Kent
Today is the day before my life changed forever. I became a mom on September 16. My daughter’s birthday is tomorrow; she will be 5. Five years ago today, I didn’t know I’d be having her (she was almost 2 weeks early), but I was ready for her. We had everything prepared–well almost everything. We spent the evening before she arrived fixing the crib–we had put it together wrong the first time. Maybe getting that fixed was what triggered labor? I don’t know. But we were ready. I wasn’t even nervous because I was so sure I had everything together and was ready to take on the task of being mom. 🙂 It is a harder job than I thought!
Launching a book, traditionally published or self-published, is similar to having a baby in many ways. They are book babies, created by you authors to one day release into the world. It takes time and lots of preparation to create that book and be ready for the launch. How did you prepare for your book’s release? Did you do any special marketing or promotion? Did you feel ready the day before the book released? Were you excited or nervous?
I have heard that the months leading up to a book launch are sometimes extremely stressful because of all of the preparation. Were you stressed?
Do you have any tips for authors who are preparing to launch their first book? What should they expect to feel the day before release day?
Have a wonderful weekend! I will be eating cake! 🙂
From my first experience launching as an indie publisher: no matter how well prepared you think you are…you’re not. But don’t let that get to you. If it isn’t the perfect launch, it’s not the end of the world. Analyse what isn’t going smoothly, take a big breathe, say a prayer, and fix what you can. Then just keep praying and move on. There will always be some glitches, but God is in control. When you see that first Kindle sale at the KDP site the day your book goes live, it feels great.
The stress and the learning curve doesn’t end with the first launch. Was the second easier? Yes. Was it flawless? Not mine and probably not yours, but I’d learned a lot from the first. It went so much better than I expected, but it hit the upswing in fiction purchases that moms make when their kids are out of school. I think that really helped my sales numbers.
*Will the third be easier? Sure. Will it be flawless? (Hear the explosion of laughter on my end?) Of course not, but my next is set for late November, so I’ll soon see whether what I learned from the first two makes the third one better.
*God is still in control, and if He wants people to read my books, the quality of my launch isn’t going to be the deciding factor in how they sell over the long haul.
Thank you for the encouragement!
Congratulations, Rachel! 🙂
* All I can suggest is ths:
Greet each day as if it were the first morning of the new world, and as if it were the last morning of all the worlds. Hold the wonder and the gratitude, for at their balance point you will see the Face of God.
Love this, Andrew.
Thanks, Carol. It did seem to fit.
Beautiful, Andrew~~
Beautiful!
Happy birthday to your daughter. My son’s birthday is on the 19th. He’ll be 2. I like the comparison, especially since my work-in-progress does feel like another baby.
As an aspiring author, I have no tips that I can pull from experience, but I’m looking forward to seeing comments from other authors. Spend time in prayer, and focus on building connections with readers.
Happy birthday to your son tomorrow! 🙂
Great advice.
Thank you for the post Rachel, and I send a very happy birthday greeting to your little girl. Mothering does change lives, the mother, grandparents, etc. , but no one experience more changes than a mother who has carried her child within her for months, and then goes through the labor and birth process. I was present as a nurse at many deliveries, taught prenatal classes, worked in a pregnancy clinic in Camden, New Jersey and in Neonatal Intensive Care and Wellborn Nursery on Duluth, Minnesota and Huntington, West Virginia. I was present in the laboring suites when one set of parents delivered a healthy new born to shouts of joy. The room I was waiting outside of was eerily silent as the mother pushed out her stillborn infant to the sorrow and shock of the parents. The doctors had tried their best to prepare them, but when you expect one thing and get a totally different it can put a vise on your mind and heart. I will never forget it, as I was handed the little baby and instructed to wipe the body and wrap it and bring it back to the mother with the sweet little face showing. Another nurse and I took that little bundle back into a room, and quickly cleaned it. Then we bundled her in a receiving blanket, and pulled the flap up over the back of her head. She was so sweet, so silent no one looking at her would have guessed we covered up the collapsed back of her skull where the brain had not developed.
As you can imagine that memory will be with me until heaven, but it has taught me much.
In regards to writing, only the mother has a relationship so connected, and meaningful to what her body has developed and brought forth. Like a writer with their beloved manuscript or wip. The writer like the.mother (a good mother) has chosen everything with careful consideration, thinking of how her choices will affect the outcome. And when the deli ery occurs be it to shouts of joy, or to an unexpected end, let us as other writers remain sensitive and encouraging so that does not remain as the end of the story, but that after time to recuperate the mother (writer) becomes pregnant again, follows the course and gives birth to a completely developed and healthy infant (book) that is the delight of her mother, father (God) and so many more.
Sorry for the length. When people mention babies and births, I have a ton of stories, but that one rose to the top tonight.
So true, Betsy. You tell it well, with compassion.
Thank you so much Shirley. I appreciate your comment.
Betsy, your comment is so beautiful and wise you should use it as an article for a writers’ magazine.
Thank you Janet for the comment and encouragement to write an article for a writer’s magazine.
Very well said. Thank you. And my heart aches for anyone experiencing loss and loss of a baby is incredibly awful, I’m sure. Thank you for being there to help those who deliver–whether it be a joyful or sorrowful day. You play an important role.
I’m not a mom so I won’t pretend to know the first thing about that comparison. I will say that my book had its first birthday on September 12, and it was fun to look back at the launch: the joy of seeing it for the first time, the cherished hopes and dreams, the special party and promotions. Now looking forward to the sibling coming in March 2018.
Plus, I’m in favor of any occasion that calls for cake. 🙂