Top 10 list of things to do while waiting

One thing that is a constant in the publishing world is waiting.

There is always something.

When you're querying agents, you're waiting on responses.
When you on submission to editors, you're waiting on responses.
When your book has sold, you're waiting on the editorial letter.
When edits are done, you're waiting and wondering about the cover.
When the book is basically done, you're waiting on professional reviews.
When the book is out in the world, you're waiting and wondering about sales and readers' reactions.

I am not kidding when I say it never, ever ends!

So you have to find a way to deal with it. Here are my top ten ways of dealing with the waiting.

10. Snuggle with your pet(s) and tell them all your worries.

9. Bake yummy things

8. Go do something fun, like float on the river. Unless it's February. Because, well, not fun.

7. Play Cards Against Humanity with friends (if you are over 18). You will forget everything in life and laugh your face off, and it will be glorious. Since I'm a decent human being (most of the time) I picked a clean one for the sake of the children.

6. Search out quotes and post them on social media. Why? Because it's fun to play with the apps, that's why.

5. Go for walks and take photos of pretty flowers. Unless it's February. Then stay inside and drink hot cocoa and scroll through your feed and remember days gone by and the pretty flowers. Actually, if it's February, just get on a plane and go to Hawaii.

4. Write a blog post and search out fun gifs. Like the following:

3. Watch a really good TV series. Personally, I've really enjoyed Rectify and Mr. Robot this summer. And good grief, if you haven't watched Friday Night Lights, what are you waiting for???

2 . Keep writing. Always keep writing.

1. All of this is to basically say, don't sit around waiting. Get on with your life!

The best thing publishing teaches you

Let's face it, publishing teaches you a lot of things.

Life isn't always fair.
It is impossible to please everyone.
Success is a relative term.

And, the one I'm going to talk about today. Patience is an excellent thing to have.

I think most people know publishing is known for its snail-like pace. Nothing happens quickly in publishing. Like, it generally takes about two years for a book to come out once the book is sold. Sometimes, it's much longer than that. Like, I have one book going on five years. Crazy, I know. I'm hoping it will be one of those things that is very much worth the wait.

Anyway, what I've learned is nothing good comes from worrying about it, thinking about it, wishing things would just hurry up already! In fact, all that does for me is to make me anxious and depressed. So I really try to put the stuff I'm waiting on (and have basically no control over) out of my mind as much as possible. This is how I manage to keep my good attitude while waiting.

Last month I made the big decision to give my home office a makeover. I started by ordering a desk from Pottery Barn that was on sale. It was on backorder and was due to be delivered mid-September to October. I decided this was okay because it gave me time to do other things - go through stuff, pack up boxes of books and sell the old furniture I didn't want anymore, paint the room, etc. etc.

Normally when I decide to do something like this, it is all I think about and work on from beginning to end. Because I want to get to the end result. I don't like the mess and the chaos and the ugliness that happens in the middle, so I try to go as quickly as possible to just be DONE. But this project is taking a long time. Well, a long time in my mind, I guess.

The good news is that the books are packed up and I've donated some I don't want anymore. I've sold some stuff on ebay. I've sold some furniture on craigslist. The room is looking emptier and emptier, which is nice. I think I've decided on a paint color, so the next big thing will be to buy the paint and let my talented handyman husband do his magic over a weekend. I was hoping we might do it next weekend, if the desk will be here in the next couple of weeks, but I checked the status of the order and learned that the shipping date is now not until sometime in October, which means I won't get it until mid-October through the first part of November.

Ughhhhhh.

More waiting. I e-mailed Pottery Barn and asked if there was anything they could do, because two whole months is a long time to wait for a desk and maybe I should look for a desk elsewhere. They said it's on back order through the supplier so there isn't much they can do, but the customer service rep did say she'd give me a 15% credit at the time the thing is shipped and my credit card is billed.

The thing is, I looked at a lot of desks before I placed my order, and there isn't a whole lot out there that I like. I really DO want my order. I just don't want to have to wait for it. But I'm going to have to. The nice thing is that extra money does help me keep a good attitude while I wait. It's going to help buy a new bookcase or two. And, it's not like I don't have a desk now - I do. It's ugly and crap, but I've been using it for the past 5+ years, so what's another month?

In publishing, a month is nothing. So, for now, I put the desk and the paint out of my mind. While I look at bookshelves, and look around to figure out what else I can get rid of around here.

Mess. Chaos.

Still, of I can wait two years for a book to come out, surely I can wait another month for my lovely new office.

And now, back to bookshelf shopping!

10 books - how did that happen?

Tomorrow my tenth book is officially released. Here they are, in order of publication.

BABY CAN'T SLEEP (Picture book, Sterling, 2005)
I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME (YA novel, Simon Pulse, 2008)
FAR FROM YOU (YA novel, Simon Pulse, 2009)
CHASING BROOKLYN (YA novel, Simon Pulse, 2010)
IT'S RAINING CUPCAKES (MG novel, Aladdin, 2010)
LITTLE CHIMP'S BIG DAY (Picture book, Sterling, 2010)
THE DAY BEFORE (YA novel, Simon Pulse, 2011)
SPRINKLES AND SECRETS (MG novel, Aladdin, 2011)
FALLING FOR YOU (YA novel, Simon Pulse, 2013)
FROSTING AND FRIENDSHIP (MG novel, Aladdin, 2013)

Ten! How did that happen? Although it would be fun to say little elves came to my desk every night and magically wrote stories for me, that did not happen.

No, it happened through hard work and perseverance, plain and simple. Oh, and lots of tea and cookies.

Today I thought it would be fun to take a look back and see how I got to this place where I am now a full-time author making a living doing that which I always dreamed of doing - writing books for kids and teens.

I started writing seriously way back in 2000 and 2001. Yes, I know, it was so long ago. And in case you're wondering, there were computers back then, thank goodness.

The first thing I ever wrote was a chapter book, because my oldest son was in second grade at the time and we had a hard time finding things he wanted to read. He loved the MAGIC TREE HOUSE books, but that was about all I could find that he enjoyed. I thought - we need more chapter books, especially for boys! So I wrote one, because, hey, how hard can it be? Ha - turns out, very hard. Turns out it's one of the hardest things to write. But I was stupid and I didn't know that, so I wrote a pretty bad, pretty weird chapter book. During the time that I was writing it, I was also finding out everything I could about the publishing industry. Back then, there was a message board at writeforkids.com where I gathered lots of information about the industry, and ordered books they had on the subject as well. A few years later, Verla Kay put a message board up on her site, and everyone kind of gravitated there. It's still in place today (www.verlakay.com/boards) although I think it's merging with the SCBWI message boards soon.

I found a critique group through the writeforkids site and that was really helpful in my early days of writing. I ended up being a member of some different groups through the years, and I learned so much from the various writers I met in those groups.

It's true what they say - you don't wake up and decide you want to be a brain surgeon and make it happen in a month or two, just like you don't wake up and decide you want to be an author and make it happen in a month or two. Writing a book that is good enough to be traditionally published takes *most* people years and years of practice. Of course there are exceptions to that rule (pretty sure those people have magical unicorns as pets or something), but I wasn't one of them.

After the lousy and weird chapter book, I focused more on picture book stories. Back in the early 2000's, many of the houses who publish books for children were still open to submissions from authors. In other words, I didn't need an agent to submit to editors, and so, submit I did. And I racked up a lot of rejection letters. I still have a file folder with many of them, as a matter of fact. Is this a little bit like a soldier showing you his battle scars? Yeah, kind of. I "battled" with the publishers, and here are the letters to prove it.

If you look closely, you can see the letterhead from houses like FS&G, Little Brown, Dial Books for Young Readers, etc. Yes, back then, submissions were done through the mail, and the author was required to include a SASE for a response back. I SWEAR WE HAD COMPUTERS, young people reading this and shaking your heads. Publishing is just slow to get with the times. Every day I'd go to the mailbox, wondering if there'd be an envelope there waiting for me. It was usually NOT a good thing to get a letter back, because everyone knew good news came via a phone call. But it was hard not to hope for a letter. If I was really lucky, I'd get a personalized response with encouraging words about the story. Every author hoped for something along the lines of, "I'd be happy to see manuscripts of yours in the future." I remember one rejection letter said, "Although this doesn't quite fit our list, I would encourage you to keep writing. You're very talented." I practically framed that rejection letter, let me tell you.

I was lucky in that I had words of encouragement from editors, both in person at conferences and in those letters, throughout those early years of rejection after rejection. I am so thankful to those people now who took the time to do that.

Here's a letter with the date, so you can see it really was over ten years ago that I began this strange yet wonderful journey. Please ignore the title of the book mentioned. It's gotta be a mistake. I mean, come on, WHO would write about teddy bears from another planet? Are you even kidding me?

I was working part-time at OHSU in their Human Resources department when I got the call from Sterling letting me know they wanted to publish my picture book story, BABY CAN'T SLEEP. It was a dream come true, getting that call. I still remember talking to the editor at my desk, pinching myself because it didn't seem real. Actually, that's not true. I was so glad the call came that day because I'd been up ALL night the night before with a vomiting child and before that call, I was literally falling asleep at my desk. How could I sleep after that call, right?

I started out writing picture books because I wasn't sure I knew how to write a novel. When I realized how hard it was to really make a career writing picture books unless you were Dr. Suess, I decided I wanted to try and see if I could write a novel. During those years of working part-time, I spent lots of time at home writing bad novels. I told myself they were good, but they were bad. I call those books the Twinkies of my career.

Eventually I took a full-time job at OHSU because we needed the money. I would get up early and write before going to work and write on the weekends when I could. Yes, people who want to write find a way, but it's not always easy. It was never easy. But I did it because I couldn't imagine not writing at that point. (Although I still went to bed every night hoping the magical elves would finally show up).

I look at the years 2004-2007 as my schooling, where I spent my time writing bad novels that would never be published. It's what I had to do to learn what not to do, I think. Things were changing, and it was becoming harder and harder to do anything in the kidlit world without an agent, so I queried agents on and off during those years with my wonderfully crappy novels (because I didn't really know they were crappy, dang it). Finally, in 2007, my wonderful agent, Sara Crowe, took me on and we sold I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME that same year. In 2010, things were getting crazy busy at the day job and with multiple books out and more coming out, I decided to quit my job. It was SO scary, giving up that guaranteed income. I was leaping, and could only hope the net would appear so we wouldn't have to sell the house and live on the street because of this crazy idea that I might be able to write stories about cupcakes and make a living at it.

Well, what do you know? Kids love reading about cupcakes (as is evidenced by the fact that since IT'S RAINING CUPCAKES came out, there are now approximately 4,237 books about cupcakes on the shelves for kids. Pretty sure mine was first. Just saying.)

This can be a hard, frustrating business at times. But it's also so fun, making up stories for a living. Hearing from readers, telling me my books have made a difference in their lives, is incredibly rewarding. Books and stories meant a lot to me growing up - it feels right that I wound up here.

I get asked often for advice on how to become an author. It really comes down to these five things (unless you can find those magical elves):

Read a lot.
Write a lot.
Find ways to learn about craft, through workshops, conferences, critique groups, etc.
Believe you can do it.
Don't give up.

Next year I have three middle grade novels coming out along with a YA novel. In 2015, two more books are scheduled. Will I make it to twenty published books someday?

You can bet your book-loving bippy I will!!

Amanda Palmer and the Art of Asking

I'm going to post the TED talk with Amanda Palmer here because, wow, it is SO good! It is worth the 14 minutes of your time to watch it, I promise!

 

I love what she has to say about trust vs risk, and how it comes down to CONNECTION. The things her fans have done for her, all over the world, in the spirit of connection, is so very wonderful. It proves that there are a lot of good people in the world.

There should be no shame in asking for what we need sometimes. I try really hard to connect with my readers. I answer every e-mail, every letter, every facebook post, as many tweets as I can, because I honestly like being connected to my readers. It reminds me that what I do matters. And yet, when it's time for me to start promoting a new book, I dread it. I dread anything that remotely says - please, buy my book!

I think she's right - there is an art to asking. And I have not quite figured that art out yet. But I honestly want to learn, so if anyone has any tips, lay 'em on me!

I find it interesting that readers have no trouble asking me to continue to write my books, however. Perhaps it is because in the same sentence they often say something flattering, like: You are so awesome, please keep writing books. It's a compliment that way, yes? So maybe I should write back: And I think you are amazing, so please buy my books. :) I don't know - it doesn't have quite the same ring to it, does it?

The thing is, and maybe this will sound corny, but when I get a note from a reader who says I love you and your work, I DO love them back. And I love that they felt moved enough to write to me. And mostly I wish we could just do this whole book business on a model of love, because wouldn't that be so much more pleasant? Alas, if only I could buy tea and cookies and dog food and college tuition and Lucy yoga pants with love.

I'll always keep writing. Whether or not a publisher will continue to buy them is the question. In a way, Amanda and I are a lot alike. My novels-in-verse are different. Her music is different. And what's hard is that different doesn't always sell the way "mainstream" does.

But the people who do buy, they've got a lot of love in their heart! So what do I do? I write another story. It's my way of saying, I love you too. And I hope and pray it's good enough to make an editor take a chance on it.

I'm happy for Amanda Palmer and all of her success. She seems like a lovely person. Plus, hello, she's married to Neil Gaiman, who is another very lovely person! (I saw him give his Newbery speech live at ALA a couple of years ago and he is so charming yet very down-to-earth too.)

Peace and love,
Lisa

A note about Advanced Review Copies

Some reviewers have early copies (called Advanced Review Copies or ARCs) of FALLING FOR YOU (releasing 1/1/13) which is very exciting! A big thank you to those who read it with the intent of talking about it in the coming days or weeks.

If you'd like to try and win a copy, my publisher is giving away five of these early copies over on goodreads. You only have until December 10th to enter, so hurry!

I know, like every book, some will love this one, some will like this one, and some may not like it so much. And that's okay - whatever you end up thinking of the book, please know I'm thankful you took the time to read it.

I do want to mention one thing though. An ARC is NOT the final book. And it's not just typos that are an issue in ARCs, it's actual changes to the story. I made some content changes during the first and second-pass pages and those changes are NOT in the ARC.

If something didn't sit right with you, or you wanted more of an explanation about something, or... whatever, keep in mind you *might* get that in the final book.

Just something I wanted to mention, and something for reviewers to remember about ARCs. In order to get them out early enough for the professional reviewers, it's just not possible to get all changes in before they're printed up. It's not ideal, but it would be much worse, I think, to not have any early copies at all.

In the coming days, I have lots of fun things to share! In a couple of weeks, I have a fun countdown planned counting down the days for the release of FALLING FOR YOU. I have the book trailer I will share with you sometime in the next month. And there is a HUGE blog tour happening in January, that Gabrielle over at Mod Podge Bookshelf has coordinated for me.

It's going to be an exciting month!!

Thanks and Happy December! ho ho ho

On thinking positive

When my oldest son was 12 or 13, he had to wear head gear to bed every night for eight long months. It was not fun, as you can imagine. The day the orthodontist told him he didn't have to wear it anymore was a happy day. 

We stopped in at his favorite card/gaming shop to buy a pack of figures for this game he had as a reward for his diligence.

While we were walking inside, he said out loud, "I really want Captain America." (He has many, many Captain America comic books and has been a die-hard fan long before the movie).

These packs had random figures in them. You never knew what you're going to get. 

So, we went into the store with both of that in our brains. I thought, it would be so great if he got Captain America.

He told the guy he wanted a Hero Clicks pack (or whatever they're called) and we both stood there, and I knew we were both thinking the same thing.

The guy opened a brand new pack with a LOT of boxes. And he picked one from the middle. He handed it to my son, who smiled and pointed to the picture of the Hero on the box. They were all random as well. The Hero on the box was Captain America. I could tell my son was thinking, this is a good sign. 

When we got to the car, he opened the box. 

Not only did he get a Captain America figure, he got one that is REALLY rare. He was so excited!

I know we don't always get what we want. And my kids know that as well. They've had plenty of times when they've opened a card pack or a box of figures or whatever and not gotten what they wanted.

So what's my point?

My point is - think positive! Don't send that manuscript out thinking, why am I doing this, no agent/editor is even going to want it?

Send it out thinking, someone is going to love this! 

Today, for myself as well as for everyone out there wishing and hoping for good things, we need to remember

Captain America IS possible!!!!

Sequels and Lack Thereof

I love getting notes from readers. It is one of the best parts of being an author!

Just this weekend, I got a very sweet e-mail from a girl named Sarah, 15

"I just finished reading The Day Before and I absolutely loved it!! It was beautifully written and moved me to tears. Now I'm begging you to write a sequel. I desperately need to know how Amber and Cade's story turns out. Please continue writing your amazing stories."

Some readers, like Sarah, are like curious kittens. They want to know more!

But this kind of e-mail, the one that asks for a sequel, is one of the hardest for me to respond to.

You see, I know what it's like to love a book so much, you don't want it to end. To fall in love with the characters and to want to continue living through their eyes. And as an author, one of the highest compliments you can pay me is to tell me you'd love another book featuring the same character(s). But then, I feel like I have to break your heart in my reply, and tell you that no, there is no sequel planned at this time.

Today, I thought I'd share with you why I haven't written any sequels to my YA novels that are out now, and talk about sequels a little bit in general.

Each one of my four YA novels that are out now were written with a clear beginning, middle and end in mind. Each one was meant to stand on its own. And if you were to compare the endings of the four books, I think you would see they all have one big thing in common.

They end in a place of hope.

The character has made it through the hard stuff. She doesn't really know what lies ahead, but she feels much more hopeful about it than she did at the beginning.

When readers ask for a sequel, I *think*, like Sarah, they want to know what happens to the boy/girl relationships. In I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME, does Lyric go out with Cali, or does he keep pursuing Ava, and if so, does she finally give in? In CHASING BROOKLYN, what happens with Nico and Brooklyn? Do they grow closer? Does she come to love him the way she loved Lucca? And in THE DAY BEFORE, do Amber and Cade meet up in six months, when she comes home from Texas? Do they fall in love?

Writing a sequel means coming up with a new plot, unless the author has written the story line so the arc is set up over two or, in the case of a trilogy, three books. But I wrote each of my YA novels as stand-alones. If I were to write a new book, with the same characters, I would need a new problem for those characters to overcome. Some kind of conflict.

Because remember, plot = conflict.

Although you may think you might want to read 300 pages of Amber and Cade walking around the zoo, having fun, after being away from each other for 6 months, it would just not be very interesting if there weren't problems. How do the characters grow over the course of a story is an important one to ask when writing YA. In order to grow, you need to have obstacles to overcome.

In real life relationships, there usually is conflict. Couples get in fights. They break up. One wants to get back together but the other moves on. And I'm not quite sure that readers really want to see the characters having conflict like that. And to be honest, I'm not sure I want to write it.

I like to imagine Cade and Amber happily ever after. And the thing is, so can you!!

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the business side of publishing in this discussion as well. None of my books have been big sellers. I am very much a mid-list author. So, why should my publisher invest in a sequel for a book that hasn't sold all that well? For illustration purposes, let's say only 3,000 people bought the first book. Well, a year goes by, lots of those people forget about the book, so when the sequel comes out, there may only be 1,500 people getting the second one. It doesn't make much business sense to invest a lot of money in a book that won't appeal to many readers. Now, if we were talking 100,000 people who bought the first book, then yeah, the publisher could probably get behind a sequel. And I would probably be very motivated to write one, if a third of those people were writing to me, asking for one!!

But as it is now, I get that question maybe once every couple of weeks. And while I love my readers, and am so thankful for them, there just isn't a good enough reason to write any sequels at this point.

So... I encourage you to answer your own questions. What happens to Cade and Amber? Whatever it is you WANT for them can happen!!!

Why "oh well" should become an author's favorite words

On the eve of the 3rd anniversary of my debut novel, I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME (I know. Three years? Really? Wow!) I've been thinking about the realities of being a published author. So, lucky you, you get to hear some of my rambling thoughts today.

Many writers pursue publication for years.

Years and years and years.

And when it finally happens, when a hard working writer finally gets the deal, he is ecstatic. Like, over-the-moon happy.

It's going to be a BOOK! A real, live, honest-to-goodness book that people can pull off of shelf, open the cover with his name on the *front cover*, and read. Yes, people will read the words he sweated and slaved over, trying to create a story that would move a reader, amaze a reader, and stay with a reader for a long, long time.

Cartwheels are done. Champagne is popped. Gratitude is expressed right and left, up and down for the opportunity to be published. It feels SO good!

But often, after weeks or months of dreaming about the book out in the world, the vision starts to shift. It's not just an imaginary shelf somewhere, it's a shelf in Barnes and Noble, and every single one of the independents across the country. The author may start to imagine the book face out on the "New Releases" shelf. Or, even better, "The Best of..." shelf.

The author starts to wonder about reviews. Will they be good? Will there be *stars* involved? If it's starred, lots and lots of libraries will pick it up. Awesome. Maybe it will make special lists, or maybe, even better, it will win awards! Awards? Oh my word, it could win awards!!!

Hope is abundant in those months leading up to the release. And it makes sense, doesn't it? Hope kept that hard-working writer going, year after year, despite the rejections that piled up. Hard-working writers live and *breathe* hope.

And then, the day comes. The book is out. And here is where, for too many authors, it all goes to hell. One or both of the chains pass, so when the author goes to find it in a bookstore, he can't. Furthermore, it only gets one or two reviews, and they are so-so. One of those might even be bad. Buzz around the internet is for other books who have a big publisher push behind them. And the author wonders, why? Not just one why, but a hundred whys. Why didn't the bookstores want to carry it? Why didn't my publisher want to market it better? Why didn't I get a book tour like other authors I've seen at my book store? Why, why, why?

The elation the writer felt when the champagne was popped has vanished, and in its place, the writer finds disappointment and feelings of failure.

The big question then becomes - what next.

In the months leading up to the release of I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME, I wrote like a crazy person. I had one novel ready to go and another novel started. The completed novel was rejected. That's the way it goes sometimes. But the other novel, what eventually became FAR FROM YOU, became the novel I worked on in those months immediately following the release of I HEART YOU.

Now, yes, I HEART YOU made it into bookstores. It got pretty good reviews (no stars though). It sold well, and in fact, much better than I think anyone expected. And sure, I was happy about that, of course. How could I not be? But I had let it go a long time ago, in case none of those things happened. I had mostly released it from my mind and my heart, wished it well, and moved on.

Now some will say, No, no way Lisa, you don't know what it's like. You can't relate. You haven't really been there.

But I can relate because none of my books have sold as well as that first book. FAR FROM YOU, my second novel, came out in December 2008, when it felt like the world was about to fall out from underneath us. When people were getting laid off right and left and it felt like a second Great Depression was imminent. Expectations were high for that book based on how well I HEART YOU did, and guess what? Books were returned to the warehouse in droves. And not because it was a bad book, but because that's just how it goes sometimes. Things happen, books don't sell, expectations aren't met.

Oh well.

Yes, you read that right - oh well! It's NOT the end of the world!! And it doesn't have to be the end of your career either. Really and truly, it doesn't.

Remember when you'd query agents and you'd get rejected and sure, you might take a couple of days to be sad over a particularly hard rejection, but eventually you'd say, "oh well," and you'd submit again? So why can't you use those words now, when your book isn't selling the way you'd hoped it would?

I think writers should celebrate the sale. Then, work damn hard on revisions and make it the absolute best book you can make it. And when you send those final pages back, and you've done everything you're going to do on it, you need to open Scrivener or Word, and start in on a new project. Or if you don't know what to write next, brainstorm ideas for a week until you have one.

You have to let the sold book go, and let it become what it's going to become. Release it, like a kite. It'll fly or it will fall, but it's out of your hands. And we *must* remember, every book is completely separate from the ones that became before it and the ones that will come after it. Even if you're writing a series, the success of one book doesn't guarantee the success of another one. AND, perhaps even more importantly, the failure of one book does NOT guarantee the failure of another one.

I have seen too many writers crushed after the first book didn't do well, and they're done. They walk away. And these are good writers! I suppose it's the flight or fight response. So you fought all of those years for publication and now, when factors completely out of your control affect the sales of the book, you're going to run away? Someone might argue, but isn't my career over at that point?

WHAT!? Says who?? If you write a book editors can't say no to, your career is not over! It's as simple as that. So if you want to be an author, sit down and write a book editors can't say no to!

Maybe, after the whole rotten experience, some people decide they don't want to be an author. And that's fine, if it's a conscious decision. Believe me, I understand, it's a tough business. But, if you love writing, if this IS what you want to be doing, shut out the noise of the publishing world, open up a document, and write.

You might say, but what about promotion? I have to be out there, promoting my book, I can't shut out the publishing world. Look, let's get real. I have seen authors promote 24/7 for months and months, and their books still didn't do well. You *sold* your book to a publisher. When you've finished writing the thing, your job is DONE. There is nothing else you *have* to do (unless your house sends you on tour or requires appearances of you, I suppose). And I'm sorry, but the promotion we do on our own isn't going to make a whole lot of difference anyway. If you're out there doing school visits and events like that, yes, it will probably make a difference. But skipping out on twitter because you need to write? Don't feel guilty about that.

Writers write. After each book, I kept writing. I kept moving forward. By the time the book was ready to be released, I had something else ready to go out, maybe even already sold.

I guess I want to close by saying - if you've published a novel, regardless of how well it did, be proud of yourself! You have accomplished something that about 97% of the US population dreams of doing. It's no small thing!

And remember how you dreamed of someone pulling it off the shelf, with your name on the cover, and reading it, and just *that* image made you incredibly happy? Well, that happened. Some people read your book. Maybe not as many people as you had hoped, but it's a BOOK, and you've been read! *You* are an author. And everything else that didn't happen?

OH WELL.

And I bet at least a hundred people reading this post will think to themselves, I would be SO happy if that happened to me. (And then I ask, really? You really think so? Are you sure, if only *that* happened?). Ha!