I didn’t realize that launching a book would be so exhausting. I didn’t have a big book launch party or host an online event. I had a pretty normal day. The task of launching a book took over everything after I posted an announcement on Facebook.
I’m so tired, but I can’t sleep. Yesterday was a ride. A lot happened. I published the Facebook post announcing I was launching a book and shut my computer. I took a shower, shaved, and got ready for my client meetings. I had a meeting in Huntington Beach and a meeting in Laguna Hills.
On my drive to Huntington, I got a call from the office saying the client needed to reschedule. I was already outside of Los Angeles, so I decided to continue on to Laguna Hills and find a Starbucks to do some work. I listened to the section on launching a book on my audiobook — Write. Publish. Repeat — and got through the rest of the book on the drive down. I couldn’t believe I had finished it. It was about a nine-hour audiobook. I spent a lot of time in the car this week, for sure.
It took about an hour and a half to get to Laguna Hills. I hit some traffic on the way. I found a Starbucks not far from the client’s location. I ordered an iced coffee. An older gentleman cut in line ahead of me. I thought that was strange. But I was feeling good, so I didn’t bother with it. He ordered ahead of me, but my drink came first. Karma, right?
There was no seating inside. It was crowded with people hovering over their laptops. Maybe they were working on their novels. I wondered how many others were launching a book today.
I grabbed a table outside. It was a cool, overcast day. The temperature outside matched what it felt like inside the Starbucks. Starbucks usually cranks up the AC. I have a theory on that — it’s probably for the employees working with hot machines, but my theory is that it will drive the lingerers and the wifi dependents out after not too long.
Before I could set up my computer, a man in a wheelchair asked if I could help him to the bus stop. He appeared to be homeless, and he was having difficulty moving. He didn’t ask for money or food, he just wanted help getting up the hill to the bus stop. I told him sure, I could help him, but first I need to put my coffee and bag in my car.
As I walked across the parking lot to do that, I wondered if he thought I’d ditch him. I walked back, and he was still there. I grabbed the handles of the wheelchair and turned him toward the ramp. I could smell that he hadn’t bathed in some time.
We pushed on, across the parking lot to the sidewalk. I introduced myself, and he told me his name is CJ. He told me he was recovering from a broken hip and that’s why he was in the wheelchair. Then he lifted his hand to show me that he had broken it and sprained his thumb after the chair tipped over. I could tell the chair was kind of rickety. His hand looked swollen and tan. I figured it could have been tan from being outside all day, or it was just dirty.
I felt for the guy. If what he told me was true, he was going to have a seriously hard time getting around. I pushed him up the hill. It was about a 30% incline, pretty steep. There’s no way he would have gotten up there on his own. I would have trouble wheeling myself up that hill.
He asked me to put him next to the bus stop beside the trashcan. I wheeled him around and backed him into a spot where he’d be safe from the passing cars and facing the direction of the bus when it pulled up. He thanked me a couple of times and used my name to do so. I wished him well and did that awkward thing where I actually thanked him also.
I wish I could have done more for him. He never asked for money, but if I had any cash, I’d like to think I would have helped him out. Walking away, I felt good and I reflected on why I did that. I was in a good mood, but regardless of my mood, I’d like to think I would have helped him out. Even if I was running late, had he asked me for help I like to think I would have done the right thing.
I grabbed my coffee and gear and set up my computer outside. I remember thinking that if people see my big announcement saying I was launching a book, then they will probably google me or the book, and the page on my website was never updated.
Crap.
I pulled up WordPress to check the site stats. Yes, people were going to my website. They were going directly to the Naughty Week page. There was no information on there. So I downloaded the photo, copied over the blurb, and cloned the buttons I created on the Mixology page to link to Amazon. I used my affiliate links to link to the Kindle and paperback editions. My website needed some work, but that would have to wait. That’s a 20% issue right there.
I went to my meeting. It was at a mattress shop. I met with the owner and his wife. They’re not much older than I am, but they’re grandparents. This was the second meeting. Their grandchild came the day after our first meeting. The meeting went really well. They’re great people. It only lasted about an hour, then I got in my car and headed home.
A couple of things happened between pushing CJ up the hill and arriving back in Los Angeles. I received the dust jacket draft from Pintado for the hardcover, and my narrator auditions came in. I knew that I’d have some comments to respond to on Facebook, so when I got home I chose to finish my day job work before I’d address any of the Naughty Week chores. It only took about half an hour or so. I ate lunch while I was working. It was a late lunch, about 2:00 PM.
Then I went on Facebook and saw that I had 70+ likes and a few comments congratulating me on launching a book. I responded to those comments, but I didn’t realize there were more than three dozen other comments hidden. I couldn’t believe it. I responded with, at minimum, a thank you to each one and liked their comment. It was overwhelming. There just seemed to be an endless waterfall of comments.
More comments came in. People were commenting on my comment. “How do I get the book?” “I want to buy all formats.” “Just ordered my copy!” and the like. I didn’t write the post as a call to action. I just wanted to share my good news. I didn’t expect people to run over to Amazon and buy. I just wanted them to know that it would be available if they decided they wanted to read it.
People were buying copies. People were buying multiple copies. One of my childhood friends told me she bought a bunch of copies for our elementary school. That blew me away. There was so much support. I was on a high.
I looked over the dust jacket. It’s just about perfect. I asked Pintado to break up the blurb on the inside flap into three paragraphs. And then it will be done. I think he’s in another country. He’ll get back to me when he gets back to me.
I listened to the narrator auditions. This was fun. Also a little stressful. The first narrator sounded professional but way too cartoonish. The second narrator didn’t seem to have great recording equipment. She also sounded a little tentative. The third narrator nailed it. She was perfect. She paused maybe a little too long between dialogue, but that can be a note given before production. The fourth narrator was good, but not as good as narrator #3.
I booked #3. Keira Grace. I thought about waiting and having someone else listen, but she was so good! She got the tone of the story in a way the others didn’t. I laughed at her take on the “This is a true story” blurb in the beginning. She sounded professional and not too cartoonish. There was a certain irreverence to her tone. Awesome. Funny thing, she was not my first choice during the first round of auditions. But my first choice did not audition. And so it goes.
The comments kept coming in. I kept responding. I wanted to add a slider to my website. That took forever. I must have turned off or turned on a setting because it wasn’t performing the way I wanted it to. I fell down the rabbit hole. I needed to get it working. 20% problems. A lot of time wasted.
I did not work on The Swedish Fish. Nor did I exercise. According to my power list, yesterday was a Loss. The stats do suggest something entirely different, though.
Due to all those sales, by the end of the day, my book was ranked #73 among children’s Christmas books. I sort of obsessed over that into the night. It was hard for me to sleep. I was still on a high. I think I fell asleep around 1:00 AM. I’m pretty exhausted.
