In my previous post I discussed how I felt like I was on a roller coaster, climbing the hill, and ever so agonizingly slowly, reaching the summit. Well that moment, between submitting the final proof approval and my book now being on the market, was the moment when everything sat still for that miniscule second. I have now set off sailing down the other side of that hill, partaking in a ride of a lifetime! Everything seems to be happening so quickly I feel like I’m in a whirlwind.
Now comes the time when marketing really starts to kick in. Before I was simply telling people about a project that I hoped to have completed soon. Now, I have a product to actually sell. When someone asks me what I do I can say I am a writer, a novelist, an author, but now I have to add in the extremely important role as a marketer. I suddenly have more titles than I know what to do with. Being a stay-at-home mother suddenly seems acceptable to all of those scoffers that think no woman should be staying home when she could be working.
But now I have the one question that is always in the gleam of my husband’s eyes, “How many books have you sold?” In order to answer that question with a satisfactory reply I am going to have to work harder than I ever have before. Not only do I have to become a saleslady, but I have to sell myself with confidence as an author worth reading.
Writing this series forced me to face a lot of my own personal demons in which I had to overcome in order to get to this point. But those were demons that stopped me from doing something I love. Now I must face the demons that prevent me from doing something that isn’t necessarily my favorite part of being an author. I can write thousands of pages about an imaginary person but when it comes to myself, it’s hard to get beyond a single sentence that only reflects who I am in reference to others. So now I must face myself and answer the questions that came so difficult answering when I had to explain what my book was about in a single paragraph. I must find a way to describe and sell confidence in me and hopefully find the strength to push through the next series of obstacles as that next hill looms before me.