This is part of the Bittersweet Book Launch case study, where Dan Blank and Miranda Beverly-Whittemore share the yearlong process of launching her novel. You can view all posts here.
As summer wound down for Miranda, she said “In only nine days, I’ll be back in my “normal” life.” And that “normal” life for an author is, well, work.
We romanticize the lives of creative professionals. We envision them with loads of freedom, of being able to react on whims, and that their successes are fueled by passion, not grueling hard boring work. And yet, the life of a writer can, and perhaps should, include copious amounts of grueling hard boring work.
Now, these are clearly not the right words to use, but I am simply trying to make a point. One of my favorite movies is Jiro Dreams of Sushi, which embodies the value of dedicating oneself to the habit of work, and what can be achieved via sustained effort over the course of decades.
Miranda and I talked about the space that was needed in late summer, even though she was working hard on editing, pursuing blurbs, laying the foundation for revising her author platform, and setting up the FriendStories.com blog (which is not yet really launched.)
It would be so easy, it would feel so natural, to just keep ambling along, waiting for 2014 to really start efforts to get the word out about Bittersweet. And yet, here we are in early September, getting back to work. For Miranda and I, our summer check-in phone calls are quickly changing to more structured calls, and assigning “homework” each week.
I am seeing lots of momentum building in Miranda’s life around the book already, with a HUGE thanks to the many folks involved in bringing Bittersweet to life. Yes, Miranda is at the very center of that as the author, but so many others are invested in this process.
And now it is our job to serve them, and help them serve the story.
It’s time to go to work.
-Dan