It's funny what people think when you publish a book. Comments like "Oh, you're going to be famous", and "you're going to be rich now", to which both I say, "Kafooee!"
People who are non-writing types have no idea about the writing world and the tremendous amount of work that goes into the business end of writing. The business end that a writer must do to keep up with the 50,000 or so books being published each year.
Personally, I hate the business end of writing. It takes up all my writing time. Besides taking up all my writing time, it involves hours of networking to try and get somebody to notice the book or to get some buzz going about the book. Mostly useless hours of letting the hook dangle with no bites.
Every once in a while, all those hours I thought of as useless,actually make me feel like I may have gotten somewhere. Like when I write to a reviewer, and they write back saying they'd like to review my book: "YES!" Or when I contact a bookstore and they say they'd like to stock my book: "YES!" Or when somebody just calls me out of the blue to say they really liked my book and want five copies signed: again, "YES!"
Those are all glorious moments for a writer. They're just few and far between.
The hours I spend on my computer (his name is Lurch and we really don't get along that well) steal away time that I could be doing something else, maybe something fun, maybe even finishing book two in this series. So yes, the business end of writing brings up some resentment.
This week was a plug-along-week, rolling my eyes alot, and making big sighing noises as I worked on the business end of my writing career. I wrote a bazillion emails, to which I received about five replies. And just when I was so exasperated with all this work, one of those glorious moments appeared.
I received a review back from Erik The Great at http://thiskidreviewsbooks.com He gave me a super review and asked if he could read a section of my book aloud for National Read Aloud Day. This inadvertently started some people buzzing and talking about the book.
He did such a wonderful job. He brought tears to my eyes, happy YES tears. And once again, I am reminded of why I do what I do. I am a writer because it is my destiny. I am a writer because I have to be.
Please read the review and watch Erik's video at; http://thiskidreviewsbooks.com/2012/03/07/sir-princess-petra-by-diane-mae-robinson/ Also, read all the posted comment about this review.
And thank you Erik.
Diane M. Robinson
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