“…And miles to go before I sleep”

I am not appropriating Mr. Frost’s classic line to wax philosophical about the course of my life, either as a person or as a writer. In this instance, I am referring to a book. Just one book.

The timeline of the creation of a book is well known to writers and to most readers. The spark of an idea. The development of characters. The arc of the story. The completion of the first draft. The revisions. The editing. Then…securing an agent or a publisher. The business portion including the signing of a contract. The intensive work with the editor. The book cover design. The galley. And finally, a release date.

It was right here that I announced the release date for SECRETS OF THE RIGHTEOUS: THE ARK CITY CONFIDENTIAL CHRONICLES, BOOK TWO. That was on April 21. The cover was revealed on May 2.

So there it is, right? Do a lot of work to write a book and get it published and let everyone you know (and maybe don’t know through social media) when it will be available for them to purchase.

Not quite.

You make the announcement too early, people will forget. You announce it too close to the release date, you’re not building up enough excitement. Whenever you choose to make your announcement, just know you are not done. It is a constant cycle of maintaining interest in you and your work, while at the same time ensuring your work is of sufficient quality to warrant a person to spend their money to be a part of your literary world.

Back in Boston in the early to mid 90’s, craft was the most important thing. Writing a good poem or short story that resonated and was worth of being called Literature or Art was the goal in and of itself. Sure, you might be able to afford to put together a chapbook and sell it, mostly to your friends who couldn’t afford it any more than you could afford to print it.

Now, there is the business end. After all, your publisher has invested their time and resources in you. There is definitely the desire to justify that acceptance. So, while you are all aware the book will be released on June 4 (You ARE aware, right?) I will be making sure your interest doesn’t wane.