Book Announcement!

Do you ever flit in and out of a book, picking it up for a chapter or two between other novels? I’m still working my way through a book of essays by Madeline L’Engle, even though I’ve probably finished 6 books since I started it. She’s a remarkable writer, of course we all know that, but I’m enjoying her humility more than anything else. In our world of self-promotion and striving, her accurate sense of her own importance is refreshing. It feels, in some ways, anachronistic, until I remember that Lord Byron and Ernest Hemingway floated their way around the world full of hot air and bravado. There’s nothing new about ego.

It's hard for me to contemplate doing so many of the things that I’m told need to be done to achieve success. Not the networking and relationships, I do that for fun. But the constant, constant demand to be out there – pithy and poignant, always directing the conversation back to myself and my work. I find the whole idea of it exhausting.

It’s en vogue right now to find that self-promotion to be morally repugnant, but I don’t see it like that. I come from a long line of people who are charming, funny, and can talk themselves both into and out of trouble. Sometimes you just have to go for what you want, and sometimes that means that you make sure that the person you’re talking to remembers who you are. It would be a little rich for me to condemn influencers when we all talk about P.T. Barnum as though he’s anything different.

But that’s not me. I want to communicate my thoughts clearly and memorably, and after that, I’d mostly like to be left alone to read or chat or snuggle with my cat. This isn’t to say I don’t have a big ego. I’m constantly taking on projects that I can’t possibly complete because of course I can figure it out! And you would think that getting in this many scrapes would dent that sense of competency, but nope. I just mostly don’t want to share that ego with other people. It’s too much work.

So when I think about self-publishing, I don’t stress about getting the book finished or completed. I stress about getting the book out there. And every author’s guide tells me to suck it up. Success depends on selling myself, depends of buying a hundred copies and going to every bookstore and convincing them to put my book on the shelves, depends on hammering on a door until it opens.

Maybe that’s true. I often find myself outright refusing to do something and then, in the end, coming back around to the idea. But when I think about success, all I want is for people to read the stories I write. Authors don’t make any money anyway (they really, really don’t). So, I’m going to try something different with this book. Let’s just say that this is my turn to bow to my ego.

I’m going to release my new book, The Mud Witch of Verdun, via Amazon Publishing, on April 15th. You’ll be able to buy it on Kindle or in paperback and read it to your heart’s content.

But, at the same time, I’m going to be really, really old fashioned, and release this book, bit by bit, over the next 6 months. It’s called serialization and it was all the rage back in the day. So, three times a week, I’m going to put up a section of 1,000 or so words, and in the end, the book will be available for free if you’re willing to click through. And if you want to speed ahead, you can always hop over to Amazon to buy it. Either way, my goal is that this story gets out there.

I don’t know if this is how it’s all supposed to work, but I know for me right now, this feels like the right way to release this book. I loved writing it so much that I even loved editing it! The story and characters made me laugh and cry and I hope that you will enjoy reading it. There’s a few more weeks of tweaks and changes that need to be made but in the end, I think it will be more than worth it.

While I’m releasing the book bit by bit, I’m going to ease off regular blogging for awhile and work on the stubborn manuscript that’s been on the back burner. I’ll pop back in when I can, of course!

I’m so excited to share this project with you all. I have been so bolstered by this blog and all of you wonderful readers. So, mark your calendars for April 15th. I can’t wait!