Today Marianne talks about her first sale, A Connecticut Fashionista in King Arthur’s Court, which was published May 3, 2005 with Love Spell.
Don’t forget to leave a comment on any of Marianne’s posts this week to be entered into the drawing for one of SIX books she’s giving away!
Marianne, thank you so much for being here with us this week. We had a wonderful time.
___________________________
My friend Leanna Hieber (www.leannareneehieber.com) just had her first e-book novella published this week from Crescent Moon Press (Dark Nest – a terrific sci-fi romance, go check it out!!!) and on Monday our writer’s group went out for food and margaritas to celebrate her launch. (Hey, it was Cinco de Mayo—not that you ever need an official excuse for margaritas!) She was so excited. Bright eyes, flushed face. The unfettered joy of having one’s hard, thankless work, finally available for all to see. And it made me think back to when I had my first book, A Connecticut Fashionista in King Arthur’s Court, published back in 2005.
It was a dream come true to the get “the call” from my agent at work. I seriously felt sick to my stomach I was so excited. I could barely get the words out to tell my coworkers what had happened. It seemed so surreal that the manuscript I had slaved on for so long was actually going to be on bookstore shelves some nine months later.
Then came the wait. I don’t have any kids yet, but I can imagine it’s the same type of anticipation of being pregnant and waiting for your baby to be born. After all, your first book is your baby in many senses.
Finally, in May, the big day came. We had a huge party and invited everyone we knew. I signed books while guests ate pizzas and ordered special martinis the restaurant had created for the event. (The Fashionista, The King Arthur, The Mancusi, even!) I was over the moon.
My extended family and all my friends read that first book. My friends accosted random people at bars to tell them I was an author and they should check out my novel. (This was highly embarrassing!) My mom got in trouble at B&N for moving my books out to the bestseller shelves. (Go mom!) It took a village to promote that book and we all were a team, working together to do so.
It was such a fun and exciting time – full of pride and hope for the future. And I have to say, I miss that today. It becomes so easy to become jaded—the publishing world is tough—and to lose that optimistic innocence. Now when I release a book, I worry about things like bad distribution or bad reviews or how other authors seem to effortlessly become New York Times Bestsellers and why isn’t it me? I worry about people slamming me on Amazon or out in the blogosphere. (Gotta have a thick skin – those people can be mean and catty and not remember that there’s a real person behind their posts or reviews!) I never tell my friends and family when I have a new book out anymore – not even an email – not wanting to “bother them” and I never seem to have the time or energy to put together a book party and on release day. In fact, I’m usually too stressed about my current deadline or my day job to even celebrate with a drink. And I barely ever bother to go into bookstores and look at my book on the shelves.
But when I saw Leanna’s face, I suddenly realized something. I want the innocence back. I want the unfettered joy I once had. I want to celebrate each book and to stop worrying what people will think about it. Sometimes we authors get so wrapped up in the business of writing – with deadlines and contracts and sales – that we forget the reason we started writing to begin with. To put words on a page that will entertain, encourage, and take readers to a new world. To distract them from their own stresses and frustrations and worries – even for an hour or two. That’s what’s important when all’s said and done.
And that’s worth celebrating.
Thank you for having me here this week!!!
Marianne
_______________
You can visit Marianne on the web at her blog and her website.
Check out her books here.
This is an interesting dilemma. It’s kind of like giving birth: first, you come up with the idea, then you spend several months incubating it, until finally it’s here and there is the let-down for some people (fortunately, I’m not one of them). Even after all this time, I still baby envy – sometimes.
I think you should start celebrating every book release you have – it’s your work! doesn’t matter if it’s the first of the sixth, it still should be celebrated. 🙂
maybe writing a first book in a new genre and/or new line is kind of like starting over again? i know one of the other authors for writes for the ‘shomi’ line created a whole new pen name for that work
I agree with Wendy, celebrating every book sounds like the way to go. I mean, they’re all your babies so why not?