Can we talk about authors and book launches real quick? Let's.
Because she said, "I love her work except for when she's launching a book."
I’m not launching a book right now but I will tell you that the paperback version of How to Walk into a Room will be available on August 5. Does that count?!1
For many years, talking to writers about writing was part of my job. I loved when writers got into a room together (either virtual or in person) and could connect about the actual writing life and also find support around the professional part of it, a part that they don’t fully realize when they sign a contract to write that book: how once you finish your manuscript, your work is only half done. This is true for all writers who want people to read their work, traditional and self-publishing alike.
In the open-answer section of the annual survey we sent out, someone commented that they love my work “except for when she’s launching a book.” This seems like a fun middle-of-July conversation, doesn’t it?
It won’t apply to everyone here, but on a platform filled with writers it seems like it may be relevant for a lot of us: either as authors, hope-someday-to-be authors, or frankly and maybe mostly, as readers.
I’ll frame it up with this: Have you ever watched a film with student filmmakers? If not, add this to your list of things to do at least once in your life. As parents of a film student, we’ve now attended three end-of-year screenings and it’s always one of my favorite things. Because watching a film in a dark theater packed full with the students who made said film is a journey of the best kind.
They laugh, they clap, they offer their full attention during every minute of every film whether they were part of that particular one or not. There is no talking, no looking at their phones, and NO LEAVING BEFORE THE CREDITS. You guys. For the filmmakers, the credits are the most important part. They cheer through the credits.
I cry every time.
I start here because as an author who understands the pain, the drama, the highs, the lows, the disappointments, the what am I even doing why is this so hard I just want to write so why am I making all these reels work of a book launch, I am almost2 always on the side of authors during their book launches.
Whether your book is for me or not, I will always cheer through your credits. Because it’s so damn hard to launch a book.
But that’s me speaking as a fellow author. We can’t expect readers to be quite so enthusiastic. For readers, I get that an author’s book launch season may begin to feel redundant after a while.
Even for those authors you love and support, that doesn’t mean you will watch or listen to everything they say about their new book. And it’s not because you don’t like them or their work. It may be because you've already bought/checked out/pre-ordered/read said book and the book-launch-related posts are not applicable to you anymore. Sometimes you’re not the target audience for the particular book they’re releasing and you may not get it at all. Other times you will mute them until the season has passed.
There are a million understandable reasons why you may not particularly enjoy an author’s book launch season (and chances are the author is likely not enjoying every minute of it either). But to say I love her work except for when she’s launching a book is sort of like saying I love her music except for when has a new album. “It’s so weird when she writes new stuff and then goes on tour and sings it and talks about it.”
Books and music are not exactly the same, but here’s the thing: