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.
By Miranda Beverly-Whittemore
Dan and I had lunch together yesterday and it was this kind of amazing firestorm of Ohmygoodnessit’shappening!!! combined with Howarewesupposedtofeel??? crossed with Whathappensnext??? In between, I stole his french fries.
So what do I feel? Well, of course I feel excited. In two weeks the bookstore I walked into today will (hopefully) be selling Bittersweet! But if there’s one thing book publishing has taught me is that there are many other feelings, good and bad, that come along with this whole big old process. I’ve been talking to a few other writers who have books coming out in the next little bit of time, and they’re running the gamut of feelings too, perhaps best summed up in this fantastic Facebook post written by Porochista Khakpour, whose novel, The Last Illusion, is the featured book in today’s OMG! All The Books! Giveaway:
Here are my feels for today, in no particular order:
– I’m feeling guilty that I haven’t been posting on this site in recent weeks!
– I’m feeling nervous that none of the possibilities that my publicist mentioned in our phone meeting today might come true.
– And then I’m feeling chagrinned, because *one* of those possibilities will probably happen, right? Right???
– I’m feeling a general wash of anxiety when I first wake up every morning. I’ve learned the best solution to that problem is to just get my butt out of bed and start the day, but the anxiety still comes in little waves of ohmygoodness as the day goes on.
– I’m feeling distracted- I can’t really focus on much of anything for a long period of time. So I’ve started lots of small projects in my house, but my husband can attest to the fact that the dishes really aren’t being washed all that regularly. Still, I like to think that all that distraction is making me a fun mom, since I’m much more likely to curl up with a book or suggest we watch some Tom & Jerry or be up for a trip to the ice cream shop.
– I’m feeling moved and honored to see so many people I know and love (and a growing number of people I haven’t met yet) feeling enthusiastic about Bittersweet as we near publication.
– I’m also prone to burst into tears much more often than usual. Like, about anything.
My mantra for these next two weeks: be easy on yourself. A good mantra to adopt for the rest of my life, I suppose, and yours too!