I’m almost speechless. Tomorrow, Tuesday, is the official launch date for my book TORN. It’s such a strange feeling.
I first dreamed up the idea for this book years ago, but I didn’t have time to write it. Then I finally sat down and—in my spare time over a period of many months—outlined, wrote, edited, re-wrote, re-edited, added, subtracted, and refined until I had something I knew I could be proud of. I searched for an agent, wrote a query letter, followed that up with a formal proposal, then a full manuscript. I signed with my agent, and we began the hunt for the right publisher, ultimately ending up with the wonderful folks at Jericho Books. Then meetings, a contract, edits to the contract, a signing, more meetings, edits, copyedits, legal review, typesetting, proofreading, last-minute tweaks, more proofreading, and waiting.
We changed the title about a million times, discussed cover design, got pre-release reviews, moved around the release date, and stressed over whether people would buy it. I started the blog, went to book expos, and helped create promotional materials. I had business cards printed with my book release date on them. I gave out some galley proofs. I sat behind tables and stood behind podiums.
Literally years of my life have gone into my first book. And tomorrow, it’s on sale everywhere.
I’m on pins and needles. Will people buy it? Will they like it? Will they tell their friends? Will it be a hit, or will people ignore it? What’s going to happen?
Wednesday night, I’ll be answering questions in a live video chat.
Thursday, I’ll be at a Barnes & Noble book signing.
All week, I’m going to be doing local radio interviews.
This weekend, I’ll be on All Things Considered.
But tomorrow, I’m going to walk into my local bookstore, head to the religion section, pick up my book off the shelf, and say, “I wrote this.”
And try not to get too emotional.
