It’s always an unsettled time when a book I’ve written goes out into the world. Here is this project I’ve created, fussed and fumed over, revised, worried about and wept over–and then, in the months since turning it in to my publisher, virtually forgotten about.
Now, suddenly, this thing I’ve created is back in my face, like an adult child who left home and then boomeranged. I see it when I pass the books section of the grocery or drugstore. I see it featured in USA Today, my Costco circular and, oddly, in a Wal-Mart ad on the same page as meat. I hear it mentioned in a radio ad.
And the reviews! I would love to take the high road and say, “I never read reviews.” In my opinion, any writer who tells you that is lying. How can you not read a review when someone took the time to read your book and actually write something about it? That seems almost rude. (I’ll post later about my theory on bad reviews.) One thing I can tell you is, I don’t go looking for reviews. Because here is Susan’s Secret Sauce of Sanity– When it comes to reviews, your friends will take care of you. If they are truly your friends, they will stay mum if they’ve seen a snarky review, and if they see a good one, they’ll tell you. They’ll send you the link or the clipping or sometimes even the whole magazine.
So far (and remember, this novel is still an infant in the marketplace), reviews have been good. A starred review from Publisher’s Weekly and a Top Pick from RT Book Reviews. I’m a happy camper. I’m not going to go trolling for more.
Ultimately, the book will take on a life of its own. While I was writing it, revising it, endlessly discussing it with my writers’ group, my husband, my girlfriends, my borrowed Doberman, the book wholly belonged to me. Now it’s been released into the wild and it doesn’t belong to me at all anymore. Which is as it should be.
And now, a word from my publisher. They’ve done a way cool thing. They created this dollar-off coupon you can print off and take to the store, so now instead of being $7.99, it’ll only set you back $6.99. You can’t beat that! The one catch is, the coupon is valid for one week only, from January 30 to February 4.
Here’s a link to the coupon. Feel free to pass it on.