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As I prepare to launch my second novel, I am reminded on a daily basis that I am an author of a particular stature—that is, I’m small-time hoping to break into the big time. I think all authors, whatever their stature, get similar reminders in these desperate months leading up to a launch. The NYT bestsellers are taken out on exhausting book tours where eager readers invariably ask them, What’s next? Self-published authors pound away on social media, track their KDP page reads and ad budgets, and fend off a constant barrage of book publicity and promotion pitches and scams. I, too, have to deal with those publicity pitches and scams, and also rejections and straight-up ghosting from bookstores, annoying 3-star pre-release reviews, all of which result in crises of confidence that crop up much more often than I’d like. (Therapy is a wonderful thing at times like these.) But then the breakthroughs happen, and I’m reminded that I belong. In the case of Tristan 4 America, the book was chosen as a PW Pick by Publishers Weekly and received a Gold Book Award from The Literary Titan, and I’ve been invited to appear on podcasts and share thoughts and insights in writing. Finally, just when I thought I had run out of options for a launch event to match or at least come close to the life-changing launch of my first novel, the events manager at our local library took up the cause, and within a day, I had what promises to be a fantastic event scheduled, arranged, and committed—including an on-stage interview with prominent local journalist and author Geri Spieler. All of which reminds me that, not only do I belong, but I’ve actually been fortunate. The going gets tough—in fact, the going is always, eventually, going to get tough—but I have to recognize that I’m one of the few whose hard work has paid off. And for that, I thank my stars.
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