Published!

I love that moment right before I hit 'publish'.

After I've been through the many drafts, the frustrations and hard work.

After I've sent the manuscript out to beta readers, and then had to fix, and tweak, and push myself to meet the challenges many of the beta readers demand.

After I've pushed it through editing, and fixed, tweaked and adjusted again.

After I've worked with the cover guy, giving direction and trying to get someone else to understand the picture in my head.

And after I've formatted to get it looking just right.

After all that, when the book is uploaded, the cover is loaded, and all I have to do is...

hit Publish.

That is my favorite part of this process.

I love that wide-eyed excitement to share something I've worked so hard on. To let my joy, my heart, and the collaboration of the final push trickle into the market place and soak into an ereader.

I love that rush. The wholesome feeling of a job well done. Of something finished. Of a long road finally at an end, and ready for the world.

And maybe it is this wide-eyed wonder that makes the aggressively negative reviews so hard to bear. Maybe it is waking up to the harsh realities, when the naivety of creation burns away, that makes the low of bad reviews so much lower.

But for that first 48 hours--for that brief time when you hit that button, and watch as your creation shyly steps into the brutal landscape of the marketplace--that is my absolute favorite part of this business.