{"id":2307,"date":"2022-09-30T05:17:38","date_gmt":"2022-09-30T13:17:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/?p=2307"},"modified":"2022-09-29T20:28:40","modified_gmt":"2022-09-30T04:28:40","slug":"final-friday-ready-or-not-to-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/2022\/09\/30\/final-friday-ready-or-not-to-launch\/","title":{"rendered":"Final Friday: Ready (or not) to Launch"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the three years we\u2019ve not only dealt with a global pandemic, but I came brick-wall-to-face with my mortality in the shape of a nasty little tumor. You\u2019d think something like a new book coming out wouldn\u2019t even register on my stress-o-meter.<\/p>\n

And yet.\u00a0 <\/span>If you thought that, you\u2019d be wrong.<\/p>\n

As I write this, we\u2019re in the countdown to my new book – UNCANNY TIMES launches on October 18th.<\/a><\/p>\n

Countdown.\u00a0 <\/span>Launch.\u00a0 <\/span>They\u2019re apt terms – because like any launch, the seconds, minutes, hours – and in a book\u2019s case, weeks – ticking down are fraught<\/i> with tension. Anticipation, yes, but also hyper-aware of every. single. way. things can go wrong.<\/p>\n

The emotional swing goes something like this: you\u2019re proud of what you\u2019ve done and also wondering if anyone is going to like your offering. You\u2019re clinging to the positive early reviews, while trying not to take the bad ones to heart.\u00a0 <\/span>You\u2019re hoping that you are doing the right things in terms of promotion, while trying not to stress over the things you can\u2019t<\/i> do, trying not to notice what other people are doing that look better than what you\u2019re doing.\u00a0 <\/span>And through all this, while acknowledging that the odds are always against you, you\u2019re nurturing that tiny nugget of a seed of hope that this <\/i>will be the breakout book – while also not letting your expectations set you up for disappointment. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a therapist\u2019s playground in our heads, really.\u00a0 <\/span>I mean, all<\/i> the time, but particularly now.<\/p>\n

The first few launches, most writers try to cover the board,\u00a0 <\/span>push every button, flip every switch, touch everything on the off chance that one<\/em> of those things will be The Secret to success.\u00a0 <\/span>And then time and experience lay the heavy truth on you: we can\u2019t control any of this. We can only do what we can do, time\/energy\/finances allowable, and let the rest happen as it will.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And often, it won\u2019t.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m looking back over what I\u2019ve written and my god, that all sounds depressing as hell, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0 <\/span>Send chocolate and CBD (where legal by state law).\u00a0 <\/span>And yet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And yet.<\/p>\n

For all the fraught-ness of the countdown, for all the ways that launch can and probably will fail, I\u2019ve found that the countdown is also that magical phase of absolute possibilities, when the work is been done and what you have left is hope.\u00a0 <\/span>For a brief shining moment, all the success in the world is waiting for you.\u00a0 It’s a gift.\u00a0 Wallow in it.<\/p>\n

And then, when you can\u2019t stand it any more, there\u2019s one more thing. Work.\u00a0 <\/span>Because in the midst of the countdown, there\u2019s another countdown going on as well: your deadline for the next book.<\/p>\n

And the chance to begin the countdown to launch all over again next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the three years we\u2019ve not only dealt with a global pandemic, but I came brick-wall-to-face with my mortality in the shape of a nasty little tumor. You\u2019d think something like a new book coming out wouldn\u2019t even register on my stress-o-meter. And yet.\u00a0 If you thought that, you\u2019d be wrong. As I write this, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":2308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,18],"tags":[147,602,57],"class_list":["post-2307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-publishing","category-writing","tag-book-launches","tag-final-friday","tag-laura-anne-gilman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2307"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2309,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2307\/revisions\/2309"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}