Release Day Hangover

It was a bender, all right, but not one that involved alcohol. Well, not more than the celebratory toast anyway. Still, I felt like I had been drinking all night long and when I woke the next morning, all I wanted to do was go right back to sleep. I’m not sure if other authors suffer this or not on the day after their latest novel releases, but I was exhausted. There was no motivation to write anything or to edit Roll the Dice, which is the next novel to come out. I stared out my office window, as our cat, Bagheera, whined to crawl up into my lap, and thought that was the extent of what was to be accomplished that day.

The weeks leading up to the release of Sibling Rivalry had been a mad rush. We wanted the book out for an event we are attending this week in Jacksonville––the Book Obsessed Babes Author Event. We were a little behind in the edits and then formatting always drives us to drink heavily. We had gone through three different proofs on Losing Faith trying to get the cover right and this time we were doing the spine ourselves, so we were even more concerned. Luckily, though, it came out on the very first try. The print version of Sibling Rivalry was actually ready by the 6th of April and I was now moving on to the digital formats.

After learning how I had made more work for myself last time, I was able to streamline the process and had it set for pre-order on Kobo Books, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Amazon. Everything was set now for the release on the 15th.

Then it came time to set up shouts from different blog sites on Facebook––A quick thank you to Four Chicks Flipping Pages, One Book Boyfriend at a Time, Mom’s Dirty Little Secret Book Blog, Sinfully Sweet Promotions, Books Are Our Addiction and Indie Authors Book Blog for their shouts announcing the release of Sibling Rivalry. After that, it was time to share it on my own sites, the girls blasting it everywhere, and even a giveaway to go with it. We were busy all day long and kept watching the numbers. I can’t say how many times I hit refresh on the Amazon page, but we were all like kids on Christmas morning every time the numbers went up. It was exhilarating as it was happening, but once it was all said and done, it was also draining. The next day, I just didn’t want to move. I had used up all of my energy from the adrenaline of the release the day before and was wiped out.

Still, it was worth it and a great day. We even learned a few things that we’ll put into practice with Roll the Dice. And to me, that’s the best part––learning something new. We are always growing in this new endeavor and, even with four books under me, it still feels like a brand new journey, because of how much we keep adding to our knowledge bank with every event and release. I pray it never changes.

So, I settled back, sipped some coffee, messed around with social media, and caught up on some of my reading. I played hookie, basically, taking the day off. And why not? As one friend on Facebook said, I deserved it. It wasn’t until the day after that I picked up my red pen and the edits continued, with a fresher mindset and an eager stroke. After all, hangovers only last for a short time and then it’s back to work. There are more stories to tell.

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Until next time, keep chasing your fantaasies!