Friday, March 11, 2011

Happy (and Scary) Book Day to Me!

Today, March 11, is the official publication day of Second Sight! (And there was much rejoicing in the land.) Books are in the fulfillment warehouse and will start shipping out today, and I have many books in my apartment as well, should you like one hand-delivered in New York. (Would you like to know how to order one? Allow me to oblige you.) There have also been several more kind reviews lately, from Chris Eboch here and the King of Elfland's Second Cousin here; and the book has a Goodreads page as well, where it currently stands at five stars. (Based half on my own review, I admit. But also half on Martha Brockenbrough's.) If you get the book and you use Goodreads or another service, or Amazon, I very much appreciate any and all reviews.

I will be honest: There is also much terror in the land, or at least in my apartment, at seeing the scope of this project I've undertaken made real. So many books with my thoughts in them! That must be sold to recoup an investment! That will be read by others! That will be judged by others! And who knows how any of that will go? I am trying to take deep breaths, to calm down and remember publishing, reading, writing, is always a long game, not a short one, that Second Sight is just out today, that I am really proud of the book even if copies malinger here forever; that it is my true thing, as true as I could make it at the time, and that's all that a writer can do. And all of that is also true, and I am mostly succeeding at talking myself down. But for any of my authors or friends who have ever felt disturbed at my seemingly irrational calm in the face of your feeling of seemingly absolutely justifiable anxiety: I get it now.

So, today is about deep breaths and terror, but also remembering how far the book has come, and how much I like it, and that wonder of making that "Sunday in the Park with George" expresses so well: Look, I made a book -- where there never was a book. (And therefore, also, for both halves of the emotional spectrum: Today should obviously be about chocolate.) Thank you all for listening, and for your support.

22 comments:

  1. Congratulations, Cheryl. And may your experience of authorship be as joyous as mine.

    (I've ordered one!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awww, congrats Cheryl! and to think I saw you grow up right before my eyes:) I'm totally getting this book! I want to know your inner secrets:)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Congratulations! I admire the way you went about this.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm so excited for you. I can totally relate to the feeling of terror. I would feel the same way if I had a book being published. But your talks are brilliant so I know your book will be too. And by publishing it, you've done a great service to us kidlit authors. Thanks and enjoy your debut.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's a really, really helpful book: smart, insightful, funny.

    There's a definite As Good at It Gets factor, in that it will make you want to be a better writer, even as you recognize how difficult that is given the many moving pieces of a novel.

    I can't wait for my actual copy to arrive, so I can properly snuggle it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congratulations on the publication. I love that you thought outside the publishing box on this, and I'm looking forward to reading it!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Congrats, Cheryl! Looking forward to reading my copy! Also, though I realize this is easier said than done, don't sweat it. Speaking for myself, I know that everything I've published could be better, but I also know that everything I've published is the best that I could do. Had we world enough and time, we could revise endlessly. But we don't, and so we just do our best. From your blog posts, tweets, & from talking to you, I know you've done your very best with this book. Having heard you speak and read books you've edited, I know that your very best is impressive. So. Rejoice! Celebrate! Eat chocolate!

    ReplyDelete
  8. How exciting!!! Congratulations!!! Now I am going to snag a copy and I am happy to have found your blog today considering this is the first time I've heard of your book and ON RELEASE DATE! That means something?!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Congratulations on your first book. It's inspiring to know that you were able to survive the emotional writing rollercoaster. Deep breaths and terror can lead to success:-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Congratulations, Cheryl! I've truly enjoyed following your book's journey through your blog posts, and it's wonderful that the project has finally come to fruition. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Just got an e-mail that my copy is in transit. Looking forward to it all the more after reading the review on The King of Elfland's Second Cousin.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I received an email saying my copy was shipped today. Looking forward to getting it soon!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Awesome, can't wait to read it, congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I AM SO EXCITED FOR YOU! <- ALL CAPS EXCITEMENT! Ordering mine RIGHT NOW. Can't wait! And yay you!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Congratulations Cheryl! Best wishes on your new adventure!

    ReplyDelete
  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Cheryl, I took the liberty of posting a small pointer toward your book on my blog, I'm a small fish so I wouldn't expect a flood of supporters, but the pointer is there.
    Apologies if this sort of pointing behavior is frowned upon on the blog circuit. Cheers.
    http://munkdavis.blogspot.com/2011/03/trailer-treasure.html

    Oops forgot the link on my last post... I do that all the time at work too, it's like some kind of digital senility.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Congratulations!! As it happens, I've been on a long blog-reading sabbatical, but suddenly remembered your book... what a coincidence it's now finally available! Lovely.

    This has probably been addressed somewhere else on the blog (boy, lots of backlog for me to go through...), but will an ebook version be available at some point? I'd love to buy the book - as I've been looking forward to it for so long, too! - but I live on the other side of the world. Because of the shipping costs and the ecological issues, I'd much rather get the ebook version, if one is available :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Cheryl, I"ve been catching up on your blog and i don't normally comment but just wanted to say Congrats on the book coming out! I've enjoyed reading about your process.

    ReplyDelete