My new novel, One Hundred Moments Of Us, is published in three days, which is both wonderfully exciting and utterly terrifying at the same time. Being an author is many things but one of the more challenging aspects of it – apart from actually writing a 90,000-word novel – is publication day. Here's why:
We all have the same fear as writers. No one is going to buy my book. This isn't going to happen because I know that at least ten people will buy it - friends and family, thank you! But apart from them, will anybody else? I am lucky enough that I have built up enough readers over the years, so I'm expecting a certain number of sales but after that, I have no idea. Sales = money = continued ability to keep writing = happiness. It's a simple equation really.
What if people hate it? This is just slightly secondary to sales. What if I sell lots but people think it's utter drivel? This is a fear that I'm sure even the biggest-selling authors have. They might be sure of more sales than me, but they cannot guarantee that people will think it's utter horse shit. I have spent the best part of a year creating this whole world from scratch, slaving over every line, editing it for hours on end with my publisher, but what if the general consensus is: You shouldn't have bothered, mate?
Lastly, and one that perhaps people forget about. Maybe, I don't know, but for me it's true. The massive regret of all of the things you could have done better but didn't. I think, and this might be true for all authors, but probably every book I have written, I have some regrets. I could have spent a little more time on the plot, the characters, that ending could have been better, and what about the plot twist idea you had that never happened, and then even if the book is perfect, could I have done more marketing? Should I have spent hours learning how to be a better Tik-Toker – okay, that's never going to happen – and would that even have made a difference? You see, by the time a book comes out on publication day, we have made a million decisions about that book, and its success or failure is totally 100% reliant upon us. So, if it flops, it's our fault. If it does well, it's because we worked hard and made the right choices. There is, of course, one variable with this. If a book takes off and becomes a huge international bestseller, everyone will always say, I have no idea how it happened.
So, on Thursday, August 22nd, think of me and maybe, if you fancy it, buy my book. Thank you!
Jon
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