Do you ever go through a phase where something you’re doing feels like it might be a mistake, and you genuinely don’t know if it is or it isn’t? Or even if you’re sure it’s not a mistake…for example, if it’s something you’re lucky to have the opportunity to do…have you ever gotten the feeling that you might be screwing up BIG-TIME? Like you’re driving a clown car over Niagara Falls?
This kind of thing is rare for me, maybe because I’m what Gretchen Rubin calls an Upholder (as opposed to a Questioner, Obliger, or Rebel).
We Upholders are giant pains in the ass, from what I can gather. We’re the eye-rollers who think if a person’s going to do something, they should do it without fear or hesitation. Get up early, stay up late, cancel social plans, make it happen. The Nike slogan was probably invented by an Upholder.
So it’s a rare and unpleasant feeling to be pretty sure I’m about to screw up something I care about. The issue is that I recently discovered the novella I wrote in 2022 is coming out in JUNE. And now I’m realizing that everything I thought I knew about the publishing industry turns out to be not a helluva lot, when it comes to launching a book. For example, I don’t know:
- how preorders work
- whether I can ask a local bookstore to stock the book
- whether I will have actual books to sell at the inevitable party
- how to do a virtual launch
- how to invite people I know from social media to said virtual launch without sounding like all I want them to do is buy my book
- how often I can ask the publisher dumb questions before they take back the prize.
So far, the only thing I’ve figured out is that I really need a haircut and should probably lay off the Cadbury Fruit & Nut bars.
You can bet you’re invited to the virtual launch, which I hope you’ll attend…if only to see this clown car crash. And I will most definitely have a local party, so if you’re a subscriber from the Vancouver area, save the date (i.e., all of June, 2024).
Kidding. I’ll keep you posted.
Cheers,
Pat
Item 1: I just finished teaching the final live (Zoom) cohort of Developmental Editing for Fiction. What a great group. I’m pleased to report that I had a lot of fun. The students were amazing. For example:
If you like podcasts and are interested in neurodiversity, check out You Don’t Want a Hug…Right? It’s Hosted by Gwen and Kristen, who share “irreverently honest stories and wisdom gained through a collective 35 years of parenting FIERCELY EPIC neurodiverse humans.”
And if you’re into cooking, check out Weird Sisters Kitchen, whose recipes make my mouth water.
Item 2: Not to sound like a shill for the International 3-Day Novel Contest, but registration is OPEN. I’m entering again…this will be my 9th time in total. I cannot recommend it highly enough as a way to enlist your subconscious in the heavy lifting of writing a novel(la). You have no time to waste, so you waste no time. If you do register, send me a note and I’ll invite you to the Discord server where some of the 3dayers hang out.
Drumroll…meet contest winner Mo Gosh! Loyal subscriber Mo Gosh wins a signed copy of The Tenants for correctly guessing what the cover image depicts.
To quote from Mo’s email:
“It’s obviously a tent with a sleeping bag inside it and a possible raccoon infestation, but it also looks like it may have a plastic sheet partly applied for rain-proofing…all in all a quaint Vancouver homestead likely had for reasonable rent.”
Thanks to all who entered!
Book Bag
No Plan B, A Jack Reacher Novel,
by Lee Child and Andrew Child
Dell, 2023
This kicky novel has 57,826 reviews on Amazon, averaging out at 4 stars. Reader’s Digest says, “One of the best books of the year.”
I’m a Jack Reacher fan, but I wouldn’t go that far. I wasn’t sure I’d like this one at all, since it was cowritten by Lee Child and his equally long-legged brother Andrew. I’m glad to report that I did like it. The opening didn’t feel like a Jack Reacher book, but by the third chapter I was hooked. Jack is his usual gigantic, strategizing, gives-no-fucks self, and it was really fun to see him consistently underestimated by the other characters, some of whom lived to regret it. One point five thumbs up!