Recently, I blogged about a certain face people make when I tell them I’m a writer. If you’re a writer or you are good friends with any writers, you’re probably nodding right now because you know exactly which face I’m talking about. It’s the judgy face, the “yikes” face, the withering one that makes you die a little inside. It’s not easy to market to that face.
But I don’t want to talk about “the face” people today. I want to talk about the handful whose expressions light up like lamps when they meet me and learn that they now know a writer, the few folks who become positively giddy when they hear that I have a book and am writing more. Although most folks show an expression like you just farted when you fess up to being a writer, these others are the shining few who go bananas. Sometimes they’re writers themselves, but sometimes they’re just bibliophiles, lit lovers, or people who are open-hearted and are interested in what you have to say.
These are the people who have made having a book on the market not just interesting, but downright magical.
This is a note I recently got from a distant friend who bought the book, but wisely didn’t tell me she had just in case it wasn’t her thing: “I I read Temp and LOVED it, so much so that I slept only a few hours a night for a few nights so that I could finish. Given that I have a baby and am chronically underslept, that's a big compliment.”
To me, a note like that makes the whole writing process, which is at times more agonizing than all-inspiring, worth it. When you’re a writer, you essentially sit alone in a room all day and talk to yourself or the characters you’ve designed. So when you’re finally ready to fling your baby book out into the public, it’s hard to know what to expect. I mean, I like Temp, but that doesn’t mean other people have to. There was no way to gauge what people would think or say.
As I have brought my book to market, some people, even those I considered close, have suddenly become anonymous and chosen not to show their support. But some, even strangers I chat up in the donut shop, get giddy. They like the concept, they like my style, and with bookmarks in hand, they go home and take a chance on a newbie by clicking “purchase.” The book hasn’t been out very long, but the response I have gotten so far makes me not only relieved that I took a chance on doing it in the first place, but geared up to do it all over again.
While the “face” some people make can be withering, toting my book into the open market has done nothing but boost my appreciation for and faith in people. The spark that my readers have given me more than lights my path to the second book, and it takes the sting out of everything else. From where I sit, there’s nothing but gratitude.
Thanks to my new friend and fellow writer Suzy Turner for letting me guest star on her blog! Cheers.
A.E Mayer, Author
