Two months since publication…

The good, the bad and the ugly

It’s been two months since my debut novel, THE FAMILY AT NO.23, was published. It would be easy for all the thoughts and emotions experienced in the aftermath of this to disappear into the general blur that follows such an event. So, I’m gong to try and get them down, warts and all.

THE GOOD

Holding a book launch party. Being in a room filled with people you love, who have supported your writing journey from the beginning, of all ages and walks of life, who have come together because they want to celebrate you and your book. It might sound ridiculous but it’s the closest feeling to my wedding day. In a similar way to that day (18 years ago) I was equal parts excited and nervous. 

I’m not great at big parties where I’m the centre of attention but I’m so glad I had a launch party to mark the occasion of my debut. Of course, you don’t have to but I really think it’s important to pay respect to such things as it’s as much a chance to say thank you to all those people who have cheered you on as it is a celebration.

Seeing your novel on the shelves in some of your favourite bookshops. To be honest, I did most of my own publicity and marketing for this book and contacted many independent booksellers in my region to introduce myself and ask if they would be interested in stocking my book. Some I knew well, others I didn’t. But in most cases the response was warm, congratulatory and welcoming. 

In return, I also organised my own bookshop / signing tour by checking in with those bookshops after publication, agreeing on a date/time, and travelling to visit them so that I could add my signature to their stock of my novel. It’s a great way to meet the owners / sellers in person, see your book in the flesh (which never, ever gets old), take photos to share on social media and thereby cross-promote to support the bookshop too and it’s useful for indies to be able to put a ‘Signed by the Author’ tag on stock to differentiate it from other retailers / sales formats. Top tip: try to spend some money in the shop if you can. Every time I visited, I tried to buy a book or a gift for someone.

Obviously bouquets, garlands, cards, and well wishes are a lovely part of this post-publication blur. Enjoy it for as long as you want and revel in every bit. My launch party balloons are going strong and are still up in my lounge because, why not? You only get to celebrate your debut novel once!

Your friends (and maybe even some lovely folk on social media) will send you photos of them reading your book on holiday next to a pool or spotted in a shop or local library. Enjoy every bit of this for similar reasons. I can’t wait to spot my book in a charity shop because it means that it is out there, hopefully being read and shared and passed on and enjoyed by as many people as possible. These are all lovely milestones to observe along the way.

THE BAD

Okay, ‘bad’ sounds melodramatic and comes with the caveat that none of this is really bad because YOU PUBLISHED A BOOK and so many would like to be in this position. So, just to say, I’m very grateful and conscious of my good fortune and privilege.

But, there are always downsides to every experience. One for me is the amount of low (and sometimes high) level anxiety that comes with being published. The feelings of imposter syndrome, the worry that the book will flop, not do well or not sell ‘enough’. By the way, the definition of ‘enough’ is an ever-changing thing I now realise. I still have no idea what ‘good’ looks or sounds like. 

When my publisher sends through weekly sales updates (which is normal for at least the first six weeks post-publication unless you request otherwise), I always respond by saying thank you and reiterating the fact that I’m just happy as long as they are. I’m guessing they would tell me (gently) if sales were disappointing or not as projected. To be honest, I don’t like getting into the numbers too much as that’s not really meant to be my job. I’m here to write the thing, not to sell it. But in fact it does feel like that is becoming increasingly part of the job for some authors these days.

My advice? Do whatever feels right for you, as little or as much as you can. If promoting your book on social media, recording podcast interviews, organising book shop talks or putting yourself forward for festival events makes you feel slightly more in control of this wild ride of publishing, then do it. The jury is still out in terms of how much those things actually shifts the needle in terms of sales but it’s not all about the bottom line. Being part of the book community online or in real life, supporting other writers and their work, sharing the love for retailers etc is the right thing to do, in my opinion and will hopefully have some subtle butterfly effect that is probably impossible to quantify but worthwhile nevertheless.

THE UGLY

Time to talk about reviews. As per my attitude to NetGalley, I try not to read my reviews on GoodReads or Amazon, much as I am very grateful for every reader who takes the time to leave one. Okay, I wasn’t quite so thankful to the person who left the very first one on Amazon, first thing in the morning on publication day, which was a lacklustre 3 stars. But hey, it could have been a lot worse (and has been!). Everyone is entitled to their opinion and this was soon followed up with lots of positive 4 and 5 stars. It’s swings and roundabouts. You and your book are not going to be everyone’s cup of tea and that’s okay. As one of my wise fellow debut authors said to me, ‘they just read the wrong book’. As in: it wasn’t what they wanted / expected it to be but that’s not your fault and doesn’t mean the book won’t be brilliant for someone else.

However, I do seem to have fallen into an unattractive habit of checking Amazon to see how many reviews I have (more as an indicator of how the book is generally doing). I’m thrilled to say that I reached a milestone of 500+ star ratings recently with an average of more than 4 stars overall but I appreciate this is not a healthy new obsession to have. As with so much of this stuff, there are many different markers of ‘success’ and you must decide what those are. My book hasn’t been stocked in supermarkets or made the tables of Waterstones (yet!) but it’s holding its own nicely on kindle. I’m just glad that people somewhere, somehow are reading and enjoying it because that’s surely the main reason why we get into this game, no?

You know what else isn’t a good look? Comparing yourself to other authors and their books. I’m sure we all do it and that’s totally normal and natural. But I try to be as supportive of other writers as much as I can. We’re all in it together ultimately because we want to share the love of books, reading and storytelling. I am in awe of what other authors can do but remind myself that maybe they couldn’t do what I do, in my own unique style and voice. Whenever I feel a bit uncertain or anxious about this whole experience, I try to put something positive out into the world. I share another writer’s book, visit the library and borrow, download something new to my kindle, hold a giveaway to share some free copies of my own book, listen to a bookish podcast etc etc. It usually makes me feel better.

I also think it’s really important to get out and about or away from your desk / phone / keyboard for a bit. Try to do non-book related stuff if possible. I always knit more at this time of year as it feels cosy, slow, indoorsy and crucially occupies my hands so I can’t doom scroll. Watch films, go to the theatre, see an exhibition, touch some grass (as the kids say). Yes, enjoy the milestones, celebrate the small and big wins — this is important and valid. Savour this moment. But remember to keep it all in perspective! And enjoy it ALL!!!!!