The Naked Author

Have you ever had that dream where you walk proudly into work or school or church, only to look down and realize you're completely NAKED?

You wake up, drenched in sweat, before you peek under the covers and realize you are actually clothed.  Phew, it was just a dream!

I think this is a pretty common dream for people to have.  I know I've had it a time or two, but it usually has me on a stage performing somewhere.

Yesterday, after much fanfare and shameless plugs (yeah, I know you saw them!), my newest book, Sandals for Christmas, released in ebook format.  I say newest because you might not know that this is the 3rd book I've released to the public.  The other two books are very near and dear to my heart, and I'll include links to them at the bottom of this post, but, let's be honest and say that I had no idea what I was doing when I released those books.  I was really just getting my feet wet in the self-publishing world, and I think I may have written a Facebook post that was something along the lines of "Hey, I just released a book!  Proud of it, and hope you'll get a copy." Sad, just sad.  

This time around, not only because it's a fiction book, but also because I've got just a tad more experience under my belt, I did some pre-marketing stuff in hopes to get people excited about the release.

And then yesterday morning, I woke up in a foul mood.  I'll tell you why: I felt exactly like that naked dream, only I felt like the "naked author".   I had lots of thoughts swirling through my head such as, Who is going to read this book anyway?  I should have done more to promote it.  Never schedule a dentist appointment on the same day as a book release!  I'm in such a bad mood. People aren't going to like the characters.  Ok, the third one really happened!  I had actually had my dentist appointment scheduled for the past six months, and it happened to coincide on book release day.  Never again, Kristin.  

After I had my little pity-party, I reminded myself that I get to choose my mood, and even if I wake up feeling one way, I don't have to choose to stay that way.   So, I did my little social media thing, letting people know that the book was available, still feeling very much like the naked author.

Something amazing happened: people overwhelmed me with support.  People I didn't even know told me how cool they thought it was that I was releasing a novel and that they bought it to show their support.  People shared my posts and encouraged their friends to check out the book.  I was dumbfounded.

There is something about releasing a BIG dream such as a novel or album or even a blog post.  It feels exposing.  Because what if someone doesn't like what you created?  Ok, the more honest question is, how many people are not going to like what you've created?  Because inevitably, someone is not going to like it. 

But you know what?  That's ok.  If they don't like it, I'll live.  Because I found out yesterday that there are a whole lot of people out there rooting for me and my little dream.  Naked author and all.  If you had a part in yesterday's book launch, I can't thank you enough.  Truly, I can't.  I'm still on cloud nine.  

If you missed the link to my new book, Sandals for Christmas, here it is:

Sandals for Christmas ebook

 

Wanna try it out before you buy?  Sign up for email updates and get the first chapter absolutely FREE.

To check out my other two books: Ten Weeks to a Better Voice  and   8 (Really Creative) Ways to Save

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