Thoughts on the Release of THE THING I DIDN’T KNOW I DIDN’T KNOW (My New Book)
Releasing a new book is always cause for anxiety. How will people react? What will the reviews be like? Will the damn thing sell any copies?
I’ve been doing this writer-thing long enough that I now know that it’s impossible to predict the answers to those questions beforehand.
Last week, I released my tenth novel, The Thing I Didn’t Know I Didn’t Know.
I’ll just say it: I think this is the best thing I’ve ever written. I’m extremely proud of it, and it’s also a pretty damn personal book, about things and characters that I care passionately about (in one way or another).
So maybe I was a tad more nervous than usual.
The book’s been out for a week now, and I can report that…I feel really good about things. Most of the early readers (who are obviously my most devoted fans) seem to really like it. More than one has said exactly what I was hoping to hear: namely, that it’s the best thing I’ve ever written.
(It’s always nice to get compliments from readers, but it’s slightly less nice to get a compliment on something you wrote fifteen years ago, versus something you wrote last year.)
On one hand, I could say, “Well, these are my fans. They’re the people most predisposed to liking the book.”
Which is absolutely true. But guess what? Because these are my fans, it’s their opinions that I care the most about (by far). They’re my loyal readers, the folks who have repeatedly entrusted me with their time and money. I really, really, really didn’t want to disappoint them.
Anyway, I’m tickled pink that, so far, they seem to be pleased with the new book.
Cheers!
Brent Hartinger
P.S. The book is selling pretty briskly too. Whew! I guess I’ll be able to pay my mortgage for another year.
P.P.S. If you have read and enjoyed the book, an Amazon and/or GoodReads review would be greatly appreciated. I know it seems like those things can’t possibly make a difference to a book’s success. Guess what? They really, really do.
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