#TheCubeNovel - Highs and Lows of Week One

It’s been one week since my book birthday, but honestly, it feels like it’s been a year. In amazing, wonderful, fabulous ways, and in… other ways too.

It’s always been my goal to be transparent about the ‘path to published’ process so I debated whether or not to personalize my book launch. But, I decided that if anyone else is going through this process, or is thinking about going through this process, it could only help to hear the reality of it all. So, here goes.
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The Highs

• Photos. The absolute best is seeing people’s photos of them with the book. Or of the book in their home / in the wild. Or the selfie texts that I receive. Seriously, nothing has ever filled me with so much joy as people taking time to do that. I can’t even describe how great it feels.
• Spread the Word Posts. Getting help spreading the word means the world to me. Seeing people post links to the book on Amazon or hashtag #TheCubeNovel is so amazing. I cannot do this by myself. This is a word of mouth game now. So the fact that people are helping me spread the word is just incredible.
• Bookstores. Two local bookstores, The Book Cellar and Women & Children First, have agreed to stock The Cube! Sometime soon my book will be in actual bookstores. And that’s pretty amazing.
• Bookstores Part II. Speaking of bookstores, one of my sister’s friends made a special request for my book at a local Madison bookstore. So, we know that works! People can ask for The Cube in any bookstore. Yay!
• Passing the book to Glenn. My friend Glenn designed the book cover. I saw him on Friday and was able to gift him a signed copy. To see the look on his face when he was holding his own work in his hand. Man. That was just amazing.
• Creative friends. My friends are finding all sorts of creative ways to support me, including my friend Matt leaving copies of my book around C2E2. I don’t think we’ll ever know if anyone picked them up, but it was a fun adventure!
• The Launch Party RSVPs. Thank you to everyone who has already RSVPed for the Launch Party coming up on April 29. It’s going to be such a fun event. Still time to RSVP if you’d like to join us. I can’t wait to see you all there. (A double thank you to my friend Sara who is coordinating the event!)
• Reviews. I got my first Amazon review! Yay! This makes me happy not only because that ball is rolling, but also because that means The Night Ministry will get $1. Post more reviews, nothing would make me happier than writing The Night Ministry a big, fat check.
• My daughter. She calls me an author every day. It’s like she knows I need to hear it.
• Signing books. A couple people have asked me to sign books for them. I gotta say, it’s pretty fun.
• My publisher. Windy City Publishers has been so helpful. They have answered every question I have. The book marks and business cards they produced are lovely and have already come in handy for passing out. They are still helping me whenever I need it. What a great organization.
• Support. People are genuinely happy for me. Nothing is better than that.

The Lows

• Glaring Typo. A dear friend of mine was kind enough to post a photo on Instagram of himself with the book. So I wanted to make sure he knew he was in the acknowledgements. So I flipped to the back to take a photo to text to him… and saw… for the first time… that his name was misspelled. I honestly almost threw up. Instead of a happy text, I sent him an apology text. He was totally cool about it but I still feel nauseated every time I think about it.
• Racism. I’ve gotten a fair share of racist comments. Mostly from people who see my middle name on the book, ask me about it, and then proceed to say something racist (most of the time not even realizing what they are doing). I’m grateful that over the years I’ve grown a thick skin for this kind of thing. And, to be honest, I was sort of expecting it. But, I’m sad I still have to expect it. I mean, really.
• What am I doing? I had to take time off work to actually finish the book. And learn about the publishing industry. And my life and brain and consciousness grew to figure out how to write and publish The Cube. And that was super hard. And I still feel like I barely know what to do. And, now I have to learn and know how to market it. And I’m just battling every day to figure it out. Marketing is not natural to me. And it’s a daily slog. And I’m not going to lie when I say that there are days when I think I should just stop thinking about the book all together.
• Imposter Syndrome. Can I actually call myself a published author now? I mean, I can. But, as a human being, I haven’t been able to yet. I keep thinking of all the ways I can qualify this experience. I feel like I strong-armed my way in. And somehow that makes it less real or less legit. And I know I have to get over that. But, it’s proving difficult.

So, there you have it. I’m grateful the highs outrank the number of lows. And honestly, writing and posting this has been quite therapeutic! I’ve been on an emotional roller coaster this week and I’m just trying to enjoy the ride.
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Mostly, I just want to thank each and every one of you who has bought The Cube, or will buy The Cube, or who has told someone else about The Cube, etc. This is no longer my solo project. This is a group effort. And I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to have my back.

All my love,
Kel