Tomorrow is the big release for Equals, the novella I told you about a month ago. It took longer to finish than I expected. The feedback I get from my talented team of pre-readers is something I take very seriously. When they told me they felt like things were missing, I listened. When they told me tweaks needed to be made, I agreed. I took their feedback, read through the story again, and made the changes. Not every single last one–there are always a few suggestions that I know just don’t feel right for the characters–but I thought them all over thoroughly. And they were right. Before, I felt like the story was good. Now, I feel like it’s great. Well, at least I did.
In the last few weeks as I put on the final touches, polished the document with my editor, and prepared the book for publishing, my confidence began to waver. When I thought about the July 11 release date, my stomach knotted. Had I done everything I could to make it a great story? What if I should have fleshed out this scene more? Cut that one? What if the character motivation wasn’t strong enough? What if it bored the reader to tears?
The questions multiplied. What if it was just regurgitating the same old story? What if I got it all wrong? What if everyone finds out I don’t have a clue what I’m doing?
Why the hell am I doing this writing thing anyway?
Self doubt is horrible. It’s painful and crippling and as the release creeps closer the worse it gets. In the past, I knew there was a limited audience for short stories. My releases were small. I knew the bulk of my readers were friends, people I already know. There’s more pressure with a novella. And I’ve set up a blog tour to promote the story and bring in new readers. I had a blast preparing for it and I think you’ll love the excerpts and interviews. But it somehow makes this much more “real”. Cue the anxiety.
The book is done, the advance review copies are in the hands of the bloggers, and there’s nothing to do but wait. Tomorrow everything starts rolling and all I can do is hang on. I’ll be posting links to the blog tour and of course I’ll have links to where you can buy the book. I hope you’ll give the book a chance and that you’ll visit the blogs on the tour. What will I be doing? Well, I’ll be swimming through the what ifs and doing my best to make it through to the other side.
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