Blog

Welcome to my new blog series: An Author's Hustle.

AAH (like the acronym?) will be the place where I'll chronicle the ups and downs of being a debut author--you know the nervousness, anxiety, the booksignings where no one shows up, the pressure to get celebrity co-signs and other "major publicity," dealing with your publisher, dealing with haters, etc.

For those of you who've been through the perfect storm known as "the first book experience," you probably already know why I feel the need for a platform to keep me sane.

For those of you who aren't authors or who have yet to release your debut, you'll probably find this series both insightful (you mean publishers pay to be on the front tables in Barnes & Noble?), horrifying, and exciting.

What's been so crazy about this experience for me thus far is the fact that through BackList, I've worked with tons of authors. I have a pretty firm grip on publishing reality. But this insider knowledge hasn't made this experience any more calming. A sista ain't been sleeping well.

Here are just a few reasons why:

1)You want your book to do well. And you know that a majority of this push falls on your shoulders. Publishers only have a certain amount of resources to push your title. The bulk of the responsibility is on you.

2) Knowing #1, you realize that there are MILLIONS of things that need/can be done to get the word out about your book. And some of these promotional opportunities aren't cash intensive, rather they require lots, and lots of time. Time, you realize is your greatest, but one of your most limited resources. So sleeping feels like a guilty act. Shouldn't you be sending MySpace bulletins?

3)     Releasing a book, or any art for that matter, really is like giving birth. And while you want your child to grow and reach people, part of you doesn't want it to be subjected to the mean, cold world.

4)     Authors don't talk enough about the fear/anxiety associated with releasing a debut. If I had more insight into the fiery mix of emotions I would experience, perhaps I would have better prepared myself.  

So in efforts to alleviate my insomnia, I'm going to put some of this bottled up energy into this series.

Let's get it started with some background information about my debut full-length book, THE MESSAGE. Cause you got to understand the history to understand the present and the future.

First let me say that writing a book isn't easy. Not to say that I ever thought it was. But I found the task to be much harder than I ever imagined.

There were many nights when I didn't think THE MESSAGE would ever come together. I mean I went through draft, after draft, after draft and still felt that nauseating feeling when you know something isn't where you want it to be. But after lots of praying, late nights, advice from others, and investing my heart and soul, I was finally ready to turn over the manuscript.

In the midst of writing, I learned that my publisher (Thunder's Mouth Press) was bought and dissolved. To make a long story short, my editor was laid off and now my book is being handled by Running Press, a new publisher.

Luckily, Running Press has been great in making the transition as smooth as possible, but it definitely was a horrifying way to pop my literary cherry.

I think uphill battle is appropriate for what I'm facing. THE MESSAGE drops in less than two weeks.

Let the hustle begin...