The Ying and Yang of Being an Author
There’s a somewhat discordant nature to being an author. When you’re writing and researching a book, you don’t want anything to do with people. They are distracting. They ruin your train of thought. They make you forget what you were writing about. They want you to do stuff. So, to avoid all interaction, I turn off the ringer on my phone, banish the cats to another part of the house and subsist on bags of peanuts and hummus (at least until my husband gets back home). Once a week or so, when I’m working on a book, I venture out to do research in a library, historical society or dusty church archives. However, that too is rather solitary work.
The schizophrenic part comes in when a book is finished, has been published and needs to be promoted—all while working on another book. Book promotion, unlike book writing is all about interacting with people. You need to make people aware that your new work has arrived in the world and it’s the one book (out of several hundred thousand published on the same day) that they just can’t live without. Of course, it is.
Book promotion means doing book signings, talking at libraries and book events about your topic, and posting on social media about your latest and next events. It’s kind of like a roller coaster—you’re talking a mile a minute one day and barely speak to anyone the next as you switch to writing mode. Can this really be healthy, I wonder?
Just looking at the math makes me tired. So far, I have 51 book events scheduled before the end of the year, and that number seems to be growing. The Jefferson book is due the end of August, right when the Painesville book comes out. And, of course, I have an idea for my next book to start on in October. How much energy do I have? How many book tasks can I juggle until something hits the ground? I guess we are going to find out.
For a partial list of my book events, visit sandypavick.com. As always, thanks for your support!