So, after nearly twenty years of thinking about it and plotting it out in my head, then three-and-a-half months writing the first draft, and finally about 17 months of rewriting, editing, and revising, I uploaded all the necessary files to Ingramspark and set the date of release for my novel, The Fall of ’79, for June 1, 2022. All the files were accepted and everything went swimmingly.
The full reality of it all set in a day later when I decided, just for chuckles, to do a search for my book. I knew that Ingramspark has a connection with Barnes and Noble, so I went to their website and looked it up. Much to my surprise, it appeared showing the release date and the ability to pre-order the ebook!
To say I was stunned would be a bit of an understatement. But there it was in black and white and color: The Fall of ’79. And then, just for further fun, I did a search on Amazon this morning. Not surprisingly, it didn’t immediately show up…until I clicked the Coming soon link. And then, there it was, both the print and ebook. Both available for pre-order and with free Prime shipping!
It’s all a lot to take in. I am — or will be as of June 1st — a published author. Granted, it is technically self-published since I own the imprint, but it is still published and ready to be available to the reading public in just under a month’s time.
Wow.
Excited? Absolutely! But, more than that, I’m absolutely terrified! All my worries about the book have come crashing down on me at once. Did I get the formatting right? Do the hyperlinks work correctly in the ebook? Have I messed up any names? Are there a bunch of typos or other errors? And, most importantly, is the book really any good?
And then I remind myself that mine is one of literally hundreds of books (or more) being released over the next month and it will more than likely be lost in the mountain of titles out there never to be heard from.
But what if it’s not?
Not to worry. I’m not delusional enough to think it has a remote chance of making it on any bestsellers list or that it will get a New York Times review or that Spielberg will read it and want to option it for a movie. I just hope whoever stumbles upon it finds it a good read. And no matter what may come of it, I can at least say I gave it a shot and finished what I started. And that’s not just something, that’s everything.
For those interested, you can find The Fall of ’79 available for pre-order by clicking here.
I read your book. I loved it for its simplicity and how it’s written from the inside out. It’s sort of written in blurts that follow a path of continuity. Anyway, it was grand.
Sorry it took me so long to respond. Thanks for the kind words.
Lee