Okay. Well, this week, I've been reading ARCs of books that will be out later this year, and I sent a note to an author of one of them -- I'll write something about this book later -- about how totally cool this particular book is.
Part of the reason for sending the note was that the author told me that not many people at all have read the novel yet, and so was interested in my opinion of it. First of all, I'd never say anything to an author if I read a book of theirs and didn't like it -- silence, in the writing biz, is the sound of vomit through a megaphone.
So, anyway... yeah... this novel is totally freaking cool. And the author of it sent me something back, mentioning how it was a relief to hear it because, you know, we all get pre-publication jitters. That's where we doubt ourselves and our work, wonder why we ever set out to do this thing in the first place, get cranky and moody, and generally go crazy.
I guess every author goes through PPJ differently, but I am certain we all get it. For me, with The Marbury Lens, my PPJ has been particularly severe. And, as you can see by the countdown timer over there >>>>>, I have 212 days to go.
How do you deal with PPJ?
3 comments:
I suspect that pre-publication jitters are worst when you've invested the most of yourself into the book, and so the worse your jitters are the better the book is likely to be. :)
PPJ - is that a kind of spiritual TMJ? I know I grind my teeth a lot before a book comes out, and maybe for a while after, too. My best way to cope is to give the new book the silent treatment; pretend it doesn't exist; never look for it in bookstores, and then jump as fast as I can into a relationship with a new book. If you did this in real life, no one would be speaking to you. But with a new book, it really saves your sanity! :-)
for me, it's more a hollow sucking sound that travels through every minute of my life. other than that, it's not too bad.
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