| By my usual East Coast standard, I'd be posting this late... but as I am in Arizona right now, I'm still somewhat timely in getting my Monday blog in... so nyahh! I've been a bit absent the last few weeks, mostly due to book touring stuff or book stuff related to my day job in publishing. I'll try to be a bit more regular with my posts here and all... If being a published author is an iceberg, seeing your book go out onto the shelf is just the tip. These past few weeks I've been experiencing the rest of the iceberg, which is to use a technical term, gigantinormous! The love of writing and sharing it is the big reward, but all the support of it is EXHAUSTING. I'm trying not to sound whiny about it because I know how fortunate I am to see my words in print, but until you've lived it, you just never really know how fully draining an experience it is. Perhaps my other Leaguers will chime in on their peeves as such, but the surprise hardship beyond the book for me is doing signings. Most of them have been fun and managable. Small pockets where I'll sign maybe 60 max at a time. You get to spend a little time talking to everyone, be personable, and that's that. But last week... 350+ copies were signed in a period of three hours as giveaways for B&N College Managers as I was asked to be a guest at their annual Back To Campus show. I loved doing it, but it was perhaps one of the most exhausting things I've ever done. For three hours, I was "on", talking to everyone, signing, watching the line stretch off... never ending... It flew by in a blink, but by the end, my voice was shot, my hand had gone numb and since I had been sitting for three hours, making my legs work too awhile. It was a brief, if insightful, taste of what it would be like to be a top list author... I now have a slight inkling what it would be like if every signing was like that and I have a newfound respect for all those authors out there who can do it, and do with with ease... and with a smile. And yes, I know you'll all going "Oh boo hoo, published author, poor you," but really my point is that there's always something to keep an author on their toes. First it's the hurdle of getting an agent to look at it, then finding an editor, then getting to publication, and now... this. I wonder what the next fun hurdle will be? I do know this, though... I will Chariots of Fire my ass through it! |
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Ah, Anton... poor thing. ;) Sorry, couldn't help myself. Though with my inability to sit still for 30 minutes makes me cringe at the thought of 3 hours in one spot. My tush- she would be numb! So go you for getting through it! *sigh* Someday... someday...
And I'm curious: how does combining your authorial and publishing duties work? I assume that they would want to get you out to sell you but at the same time, are you missing much in the office? You probably have a pretty unique position for a writer.
As long as my day job is getting done, they're pretty flexible in helping me support my book as I work for the publisher I pub with.
I also have a work laptop, so a chunk of my day job can get done on the road, but as a new author, they're not sending me anywhere tooo far reaching yet, so I'm still doing local NY events or stuff in my hometown area of Mass when I visit.
And should I ever need to fake being in the office, I have a mannequin all set up to use ala Ferris Beuller-like...
Very classy... ;) I'm impressed. But it's nice that they work so well with you to get you out there. But then again it makes sense.
Do they make greeting cards for things like this?
"Cheer up, friend! Sorry about the whole ass falling asleep thing."
h boo hoo, published author, poor you
haha
I don't know about you, but I've never felt like I was dragging this aging carcass around before this past month.
Mark- I just want a thousand year slumber right now... perhaps at the bottom of the ocean until I am awakened by cultists...
You know what they say... what doesn't kill you leaves you undead.
Alana- let's hope so!