Today is the official “pub date” for my latest release, The Stranger I Married and I’m excited! For me, there is a lot of build-up involved in getting ready for a release date. Like most writers these days, the burden of promoting my work rests heavily and almost entirely upon my shoulders. I’m grateful that the success of my previous releases has eased some of the pressure I’ve felt in the past, but it’s just a lightening, not relief by any means. I still do/consider/worry about a lot and it’s draining–creatively, emotionally, and financially. So many factors can affect the sales of a book, not the least of which is the time of year the book hits the shelves.
I’ve been told that February is the best month to have a new release, followed by March, Aug, July and Oct. (In order from best to good.) No Dec or Jan? Hmm… Who knew? *g* Just one more bit of trivia for an author to worry uselessly about.
Maybe everyone is sick of shopping. Maybe some stores won’t shelve the new releases until the first. Maybe distribution is spotty. Maybe I didn’t promote enough. Maybe this, maybe that, maybe maybe maybe…
But right now I’m not thinking about any of the endless number of things there are to stress about. This blog, and the many blogs listed in the sidebars, and the romance novel forums/loops/review sites around the web, and periodicals like Romantic Times, and readers groups around the country are all dedicated to celebrating the joy of books and today a new one was born after a long and laborious gestational period. It is a piece of my heart that I’m sharing with readers and that’s something to celebrate. In the midst of all the business aspects of covers, blurbs, sales numbers, reviews, distribution, promotion, contracts, word counts, ms formatting, etc. etc. it’s lamentably easy to forget what’s most important — the sharing of a story.
So happy holidays to you, and happy birthday to my baby and all the other babies/books that share Dec. 26 as their b-day. There are new books for all of us to read, enjoy, and talk about. I’ll be thinking about that today and only that. All the other stuff can wait until tomorrow. 
Related posts:
Happy birthday to “The Stranger I Married”. I’ve got my gorgeous copy – muchos gracias – and can’t wait to dive in. It sounds delightfully wicked.
Thank you, Stacy! I hope you enjoy it.
There are quite a few January books that I’m looking forward to picking up. My local BN waits until the first to stock the new releases, so I’ll have to brave the mall at some point and visit the Borders Express. *g*
Happy birthday, S.I.M.!
Thank you, KeVin.
There are plenty of things to grumble about in regards to publishing. It’s important to relish the happy times, too.
Congratulations on S.I.M.! I’ll have to pick it up! btw, I gave my mom a copy of “Ask For It” for Christmas!
Thank you, Racy! I hope she enjoys AFI, and I hope you enjoy TSIM. (I really love that book.
)
Sylvia, good luck with the book! And Happy New Year!!