Milestones, Rituals, and a Vague Dissatisfaction

I believe it’s important to have rituals to celebrate and commemorate one’s big accomplishments. Graduation, birthdays, marriage, childbirth*, and other milestones have their parties, their recognition from the community that something important has happened.

That being said, I don’t know what I will do to recognize my accomplishment of self-publishing this novel. I swore to myself that I would have a book party (the real name escapes me) but that was before COVID — I wouldn’t chance a gathering now because people I love are at high risk.

I used Canva to make an advertising poster and print it in 12×16, and it’s now framed and looking for a home. That seems terribly symbolic of my feelings right now. I don’t want to get to publication day and say “That’s nice, now what?” I need to find that ritual so self-publishing feels like the accomplishment it is.

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* Just don’t get me started on gender reveals, because gender is complicated and messy.

No Turning Back

Yesterday was a grueling day putting together my book materials and making sure they’re formatted right. Everything’s uploaded to KDP; there’s no turning back.

I could, if I wanted to, turn my back on it and not give it any publicity. I could do that. But I won’t. I will do the best I can on publicity, although this too scares me.

Publishing Kringle Conspiracy is an experiment, to see what goes well and what I could do better next time, if there is a next time. It’s a way of seeing whether this is a way I would want to go again.

At the moment, I feel more exhausted than excited, probably because I spent six hours on it yesterday. I need to work on the positives to keep going.

Wish me luck!

Panic time on the publishing front

So it’s Tuesday morning and I’m having misgivings about publishing. I don’t know if I’m doing it right because I’m not putting up advance reader copies (unless you’d like to read and review), I don’t know if it’s any good because it’s not as complex or serious as other things I write, I just don’t know …

But here I am, on the verge of submitting my materials to Kindle Direct Publishing. The cover I made myself, the layouts I’ve worked on, the words that hopefully are important.

What do I do? I’m panicking!

Odds and Ends

So, I spent a busy weekend getting writing things done. Finalizing my Pitch Wars packet, writing a piece of flash fiction for a contest, writing a little on a short story. And then last night, the silly little Chloe woke me up in the middle of the night licking my nose. Slurpslurpslurpslurpslurpslurp.

Morning comes, and I feel absolutely tuckered today, but it is Monday and time to go to work. I hope the coffee gets here soon. I really don’t know how to function without it today.

Coffee is with me now. Brazilian coffee, deep and chocolatey. I think I’ll live.

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I’m pretty much ready to submit the book to Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) except for one thing — I don’t want it posted to Kindle right away. The official book drop is November 1st, just in time for the Christmas season. I don’t want it posted before then. I should ask KDP if they can hold off on posting the electronic copy before Nov. 1st. Otherwise, the timing is all nervewracking — I know it will take a couple days for them to process it, but if things go wrong it might take more. How will I time that to get the book out of the 1st? A frustrating conundrum.

I should put some well-thought-out emails today to the KDP people.

Pitch Wars

Today I submit Apocalypse to Pitch Wars. Pitch Wars is a yearly contest whereas writers submit what is basically a query package — query letter, bio, synopsis, and first chapter — into selected potential mentors, who will in turn pick a writer they want to work with. They will help develop and polish query materials and give the writer the opportunity to meet with industry representatives to pitch their novel.

I’ve done this twice before. I guess the odds are less than 1% that one would get selected. I’m okay with that; I’ll keep trying. My novel has been improved. My query letter has been improved. I have grown as a writer. This may be the year.

Or it may not be.

But it will never be if I don’t try.

My not-so-secret double life

I now officially have a secret double-life.

Now that I’m self-publishing a novel (I understand my genre is called geek romance) I have to get serious on my professional presence. So now I have:

A writer Instagram (@laurenleachsteffens) vs a personal instagram (@lleachieishere).

A writer twitter (@lleachsteffens) — I don’t have a personal twitter

A writing blog (https://lleachie.wixsite.com/laurenleachsteffens) vs a personal blog (this one).

These are some of the many adaptations I’ve needed to make to get more professional. I now have a press kit, a timetable, and business cards. When things settle down on the COVID front, I may have to go to a conference or two. I will need to think about how to dress up a table there.

It’s a lot of work, but exciting work. I think I can handle it. I’m going to have to keep up the writing while I do so. It’s a good thing I hate watching tv.

My Feelings and Creativity

According to my horoscope, my feelings today are not going to be mild or even moderate! I’m supposed to let my feelings out through creativity. Good thing I already do that, eh?

That’s why I started writing — to let out a surplus of feelings. As a child, my feelings weren’t mild or moderate and tended to bewilder people. I wrote to keep my feelings manageable.

Now that my bipolar medicine keeps my feelings more manageable, I write a greater range of emotions, varied plots, different poems. I still, however, write my feelings into my work, shaping the words to my feelings.

Back to the horoscope. What will my feelings be like today? If the past two days are an indication, I will be impatient and frustrated. Great feelings for a poem.

Promoting my novel

Someone in a romance novel group on Facebook asked if I had a promotion plan for my new book. I hemmed and hawed, and pointed out that I had made advertisements for it. Marvelously, she gave me many websites for making a promotion plan, and I’ve perused the first site, Quick and Easy Guides, which has a course called 75 Ways to Promote Your Book. (This can be accessed for a nominal cost). I liked this course because not only did it have those 75 pointers, but it featured instructions on how to write a media kit, how to write a “cold letter” to bloggers, and how to write elevator pitches.

I have been working through these suggestions for my new book (due November 1) and I have a bit of a way to go. I need to find 5-10 suggestions on her 75 Ways page that are workable for me and write it into a plan. I also need to actually follow up on those, because planning is not enough.

Here’s a sneak peak at one of my promos:

A Snippet of Autumn

Yesterday afternoon, I looked out the window to see a maple tree striped with fire.

Astronomical autumn came quickly. Soon, leaves will tumble and be brushed into piles smelling of dust and bark. Evenings will grow dark sooner, and the motif will change from flip-flops and seashells to pumpkins and dried corn stalks. It’s time to reap the harvest and prepare to settle in our homes to wait for winter. Our schedules will not allow us that rest, but our bodies long for it as the days get shorter.

I will feel the temperatures drop, and I will wear a jacket against the chill. I will drink hot, smoky tea with cream to chase away the cold. I will feel the change of the seasons, even though my summer was spent inside and working due to the COVID-19. I will wish for a huge leaf pile, one that will accommodate my big, old bones.

Soon, the snap in the air says. Soon.

COVID check

How is everyone doing? I’m thinking of COVID again after six months of wearing masks and socially isolating, and just wondered how everyone was doing.

I’m not doing bad. I’m back to not going to the coffeehouse again because restaurants and other food establishments are the worst places if you want to avoid COVID. So my social life has been greatly cut back again. I’m getting a lot done. I’m getting the hang of teaching live while using Zoom. It’s not easy, but I’m feeling accomplished again.

If there’s one thing I’m still missing, it’s a writing retreat. I really need a change of scenery, especially since the cafe is off line. But I am restricted from retreats for the same reason I’m restricted from the cafe — too many people. Too many particles.

I think some things are changing in my life. I’m talking to more people on social media. I’m getting used to not eating at restaurants. I’m dependent on mail order. I’m appreciating what I’ve lost.

I’d like my life to go back to normal. I would like to be mobile again. I would like to go to restaurants and hug people and have a writers retreat and not wear a mask. But for now, I’m doing okay.