As I Get Closer to My Book Release…
“I’m just so nervous. You know? And I’m also very excited. I’m nervous and I’m excited. It’s all very mixed up.”
That’s one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite movies, 10 Things I Hate About You. Granted, it’s no “Remove head from sphincter, then drive!” or “I know you can be overwhelmed and underwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed? I think you can in Europe!”
But I love the line because of the way the actor delivered the line, and because I can totally relate to it. He’s the audio-video geek about to enter the world of the cool kids at the party of the year. I’m the geek about to enter the world of the cool kid authors.
In just a few short months, my debut novel, TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD, hits the virtual bookshelves and as I get closer, I keep getting hit with firsts.
A few weeks, I was hanging out on Twitter (because that’s what I do best), when author KM Jackson mentioned that she was getting swag ready for Romance Slam Jam, an upcoming reader conference I’m attending. “Umm, swag? I have to bring swag?” I asked. “You’re an author now Jamie, so you got to start acting like it” was the response. Oh. Right.
This will be the first conference I’ve attended where I’m not an aspiring author hoping to get the attention of an agent or editor. Now, I’m an author trying to get the attention of readers. Gulp.
So I did some Internet research on the types of swag available. I also thought about the type of swag I like. Useful. It needs to be useful. For me, that meant lip balm and pens were the obvious choice. I scoured sites looking for the type of pen I wanted at the price I wanted. They came a few days ago and they’re so pretty and purple and pretty. I didn’t have as much luck with the lip balm. The labels were printed in black, not purple like I wanted. No bueno, so back they went. Hopefully, I’ll get the replacement shipment of lip balm with purple labels before I leave next week. *wipes brow*
But the new experiences didn’t stop at promo items. No, sirree Bob.
The past few days I’ve been working on my first set of copy edits ever. I know some authors have horror stories about copy editors trying to rewrite their stories. That has not been my experience, thank goodness. My copy editor is excellent, and I’ve made most of her changes with no hesitation.
But I have learned a few things about myself.
I hate when people misuse commas by haphazardly putting them in places where they have no business being. I didn’t realize that my aversion to comma overuse led to my comma underuse. Long live the comma!
I’m also stubborn. OK, I knew that already, but it’s really been driven home to me as the copy editor wants me to change something like “fundraiser” to “fund-raiser” and I head straight to the Internet to find some shred of evidence to back up my conviction that it should be “fundraiser.”
Oh, and speaking of “Internet?” I really, really hate when it’s not capitalized. The Chicago Manual of Style agrees with me. The Entangled Published Manual of Style does not, as my editor informed me on Twitter after I maybe, sort of said I wouldn’t accept the change to making it lowercase. *cries*
In other words, my copy edits are a learning experience that move me one step closer to being an author.
So yeah, I’m just so nervous. You know? And I’m also very excited. I’m nervous and I’m excited. It’s all very mixed up.
Oh, and I give you permission to tell me everything is going to be okay. And to tell me about a time when you were nervous and excited.
