Launch Day

One of the most amazing things about being an author is launch day. At least, that’s what I always thought when I was working away at my desk, no agent or book contract in sight. I thought of how amazing it must be to hold a finished book in my hands, to smell the pages, to know that my story is finally going out into the world, touching people’s lives. And all of that is true. It is an amazing moment to hold a finished, printed book that I wrote, a wonder unequaled in the world.

But book writing is a business, too. Sometimes the business side of the publishing world can distract me from the beauty of creation itself. Working with bloggers and a publicist before a launch, writing guest posts and planning blog tours, worrying about whether reviewers and readers will like what I’ve done…all that can threaten to eclipse the joy of the book being born, of coming into print, coming into the world.

So on book launch days, I make an effort to celebrate the achievement with family and friends. I drink a toast to Eleanor, throw a little party for her and for me, savoring that moment that otherwise could seem a little anticlimactic after all the work of the publicity launch. I learned that, while there will be no marching bands in my living room to celebrate the launch of a novel, unless I hire one, of course,  I can and should rejoice.

So on this blog, I’ve started celebrating the launches of books I have read or have been waiting to read. Because launch days are an amazing moment in the birth of a novel. As writer, I cherish them, mine and other people’s.